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Phoenix Public Speaking coaching and workshops

Archive for June 2019

Don’t Wing It. Nail it!

By Michele Trent
Public Speaking Coach

WHAT DO YOU do when you are asked to give a business presentation to a group? Do you calmly say “yes” and then jump up and down internally with excitement? Or perhaps you calmly say “yes” and then your stomach drops and the chills begin. You dread that day on the calendar and chastise yourself for agreeing to speak in the first place. Or perhaps you are in between those two extremes. You feel OK about presenting but you feel like you don’t have time to put something together that is good. You resolve to just “wing it.” After all, who knows your business or your role in the company better than you do? Well, likely no one.

However, unless you are a fabulously skilled presenter who can organize your thoughts on the fly, you should give time and attention to put together your remarks. Speaking in front of an audience is a privilege. Connecting face-to-face is powerful and when all eyes are on you, you want to be ready. You want to ensure that those who come to hear you speak feel like the time or money they spent was well worth it.

Audience Considerations

There are many things to consider as you prepare for a presentation. For purposes of this article, we’re going to focus on one – the audience. As you sit down to think through your presentation, you should first consider who your audience is. What do you know about them? What are their needs? What might they fear? What victories of theirs can you reinforce? What do they already know about the subject matter? What is it the audience needs to know the most.

Just thinking through these questions will give you all kinds of intelligence you can incorporate in your remarks. Think back to a time when you heard a powerful speaker whom really connected with you. You probably felt as though they were speaking right to you. What made it seem this way? Most likely, that speaker did their due diligence. They understood who would be in the audience and they crafted their remarks accordingly. It is not a coincidence that the speaker connected with you. Nope. It is because they did their homework and understood who you were. You can do the same.

Craft your remarks with your audience in mind. It sounds so simple and yet it means so much. What if you don’t know who’s going to be in your audience? Put on your detective hat and find out. Who invited you to speak? Ask them about the audience. Does this group meet regularly? If so, try and visit a meeting prior to the one when you are the featured speaker. How about a survey? Can you send something in advance with a few relevant questions? Let your contact know that you want to customize your remarks and ask if they would be willing to send out a short survey on your behalf. Incorporate your learnings into your presentation. Is there any information online about the group? What can you learn from their online presence?

Connecting with Your Audience

As you learn more about your audience, your confidence will grow. What was unknown and perhaps scary becomes more known and comfortable. Instead of “winging it” and maybe connecting with a few people in a haphazard way, draft your content in terms of your audience and increase your chance of connection. Your audience will know that you care about them when they hear content that is meaningful to them, shared in a relatable way.

When it comes to making a presentation, don’t “wing it.” Instead, “nail it!”


Phoenix Public Speaking coachingNeed help to prepare for your upcoming business presentation? Check out our 1-on-1 personal coaching packages.

7 Presentation Tips from a Workshop Pro

By Jeff Herrington
Guest Blogger

Your industry has asked you to present on your field of expertise. But the thought of presenting makes your palms sweat.

Calm your nerves. Follow these seven tips and you’ll likely get applause from your audience, not rotten tomatoes.

  1. Remind yourself nobody’s going to throw rotten tomatoes at you – Your audience is rooting for you. Still, establishing rapport up front helps. Ask about someone’s lapel pin or laptop case. Don’t glad-hand everyone – that comes across needy. Be friendly but be authentic.
  2. Don’t let a slip break your stride – Correct your malapropism (or excuse your cough) and keep on presenting. People care more about how a presenter reacts to a snafu than the fact they made one. Just smile, say “oops,” and offer your next key point. Your audience will be impressed you withstood a faux pas far better than they would have.
  3. Move around. But don’t make people seasick – When you start, anchor in a location and remain there for several minutes. Once you’re into your presentation, however, feel free to gently roam. Audiences like to know their presenter isn’t some remote-controlled robot. But you’re not a thoroughbred vying for the Triple Crown, either. Glide. Stop. Present for a while. Glide again.
  4. Dialogue more, monologue less – Engagement is the goal. People learn more through conversation (and are less likely to doze off). Pitch questions: ‘Who has encountered this challenge and how did YOU solve it?’ Even let your audience answer one another’s questions. But control the room. This is YOUR presentation, not The Jerry Springer Show.
  5. One point per slide – I’m stunned some presenters still put six bullet points on one slide. Like there’s a dearth of PowerPoint slides out there and we need to conserve them. Deliver your points one at a time, visually as well as orally. You’ll more easily recall what you have to say and your audience will more easily recall what you said.
  6. Expect pushback. Know how to manage it – Challenging authority has replaced baseball as our national pastime. Expect someone to dispute some point you’re making. Here’s where “getting along” must transcend “proving you’re right.” Ask challengers how they derived their view (you may find some truth in their perspective, allowing you to then show how nuanced your topic is). If their view’s incorrect, or outdated, don’t say that. Focus on what the evidence reveals (“We used to think the world was flat, but explorers have disproven that by sailing around the world.”) That moves the dispute from one of opinions to facts.
  7. Conclude by asking for questions. And, for enlightenment – In wrapping up, I ask what surprised the group most about what they heard. What they learned that they hadn’t expected to. What they’ll do differently as a result of my talk or continue to do with greater passion. Their answers should convince your hosts that you got your points across well. And, that they should invite you back to present on another topic.

ABOUT OUR GUEST BLOGGER

Jeff Herrington has conducted hundreds of writing workshops in the U. S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., and Germany. Companies that have been brought Jeff’s workshops on-site include JPMorgan Chase, American Century Investments, Arizona Public Service, IBM, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Jeff also has provided consulting expertise for such companies as Coca-Cola France, Whirlpool, John Deere and Wausau Insurance.

In addition to his consulting, coaching and workshops, Jeff also has composed several crossword puzzles that have been published in The New York Times, and he writes under the name of Jeffrey Eaton as a murder mystery author.

You can connect with Jeff on LinkedIn or on his Jeff Herrington Communications website.