Think about the times you have seen an exceptional presentation. You lose all track of time and find yourself excited about your newfound knowledge. How do they do that? Do good presenters just have a knack for communicating or is it something else? I believe there are four core principles you can follow to guarantee an exceptional presentation: care, content, coach, and connect.
1) Care
Providing an engaging presentation on a topic you find dull is a talent for only the best of actors.
More than anything else, you must care about your presentation topic. I’m sure you’ve sat through boring sessions by lackluster presenters. They seem to have no interest in their topic, which gives the audience little confidence in the value of the topic. While training speakers, some have told me, “but, I don’t care about this topic.” Sometime our jobs or responsibilities require us to present topics we don’t love. Maybe you don’t think accounting or compliance are fascinating, but hopefully you are excited about what your product or service can do to help. Let that be the care fueling you. Providing an engaging presentation on a topic you find dull is a talent for only the best of actors.
Think about the way it feels when you talk about a topic you are passionate about. You could do this anywhere, anytime, at any length, to just about anyone, right? This is the care you want to tap into when giving a presentation. This kind of energy can’t be fabricated, it has to be genuine. Care is subtle, but necessary.
2) Content
Attendees exist to learn something they didn’t know before. When you commit to giving a presentation, you owe it to your audience to provide organized and valuable information they can easily take with them.
While care is necessary, it won’t be enough without well-developed content. Content is the valuable stuff that makes up your presentation, the “takeaways” your audience is there to receive. I recently attended a one-hour seminar featuring a C-level employee of a large well-known company. While his information indicated he was a good leader and smart businessman, his presentation was scattered and felt unorganized which indicated to me he didn’t take time to prepare his content. Attendees exist to learn something they didn’t know before. When you commit to giving a presentation, you owe it to your audience to provide organized and valuable information they can easily take with them (a.k.a. a “takeaway”). So, in preparation, think about the one thing you want people to acquire by attending your session. Then, build your content around that one thing.
A common mistake when preparing content is putting it all on slides. I’m certain we will continue to be subjected to presentations with slide after slide of too much text or clip-art that has yet to be returned to 2001. Slides should only be used to communicate something you cannot say with words. Think images and charts, things that help the audience better understand the idea you are trying to convey. A slide covered in text does not help, but distracts as attendees wonder if they should be reading the slide or listening to you. The slides are not the presentation, you are.
3) Coach
Coaching gives you a chance to address any issues that could make your message unclear.
Once you have your content prepared, it is time to coach. There are several levels to coaching. The more you do, the better your presentation will be. Start with “self” coaching by practicing out loud to discover what works and doesn’t work for you. Then take it to the next level by recording yourself and watching the playback. Watching yourself present is as beneficial to your development as it is painful to your ego. Next, get some “shared” coaching by asking a truth-telling friend or colleague to critique you. Make sure to provide this evaluator with specific criteria to review. What was confusing about my presentation? What did you find especially interesting? How was my voice, eye contact, body language, presentation aids, etc.? Here's a feedback form you can use.
Expand your “shared” coaching by presenting for a small group of people. Finally, do some “familiarity” coaching to be comfortable with your transitions, media, and presentation room. You don’t want to be trying to remember why you have a picture of a whale when it flashes on the screen. And my personal least favorite, you don’t want to find out at the last minute you won’t have easy access to a secondary monitor for your notes.
People commonly skip the coach step, opting to wing their presentation instead of presenting a polished version. But, just like editing drafts of a paper, coaching gives you a chance to address any issues that could make your message unclear.
4) Connect
Connecting with your audience means you are taking them on the journey with you. They feel comfortable, welcomed, and happy to tag along.
Connecting should be considered when preparing your content and when coaching, but you can only truly connect in the delivery. Connecting with your audience means you are taking them on the journey with you. They feel comfortable, welcomed, and happy to tag along. When two people meet for the first time, there are always natural barriers. As the presenter, it is your job to take down those barriers to make both you and your audience comfortable.
As we are people first and machines second, start with a genuine smile. Then, try this two-step method. Visualize there is a line splitting the room, halfway between you and your audience. You need to metaphysically bring yourself to the line, then help the audience meet you halfway. You can bring yourself closer to them by sharing a hobby, recent experience, or other personal information; share something to make you a person in addition to a presenter. You can bring them closer to you by asking them to engage through polls, question responses, or silly activities. It’s best if you can tie these connection tools into your presentation content for a “full circle” kind of experience.
Presentations built on the four principles communicates to your audience they are the important character in this story and you are their trusty guide. Care. Content. Coach. Connect.
About the author:
Leticia Saiid has a passion for helping others achieve their goals and become better versions of themselves. She trains professionals on public speaking, serves as a professional coach, and donates her time teaching youth. Early in her career, she built the Tandem Support and Training department from the ground up and has been the Director of the annual KEYS Conference for the past 5 years. Leticia currently servers at CoNetrix focusing on corporate projects and employee care.
