Presenting: More Important Than Your Notes

For those who have a fear of presenting, I’m sure you’ve been to several workshops that promise to magically make you a better presenter after an hour, or so you dearly hope. I’ve gone to those too. The good news for all of us is that NON-VERBAL communication is actually more important than you forgetting your next point. Once you master how your body moves, you will become a better presenter. You’ve been reviewing the wrong notes all along!

 I am currently reading a great book called Body Language: It’s What You Don’t Say That Matters by Robert Phipps. This article will be a quick summary of the tips from the Presentation chapter from the book.  I’ve also added some stuff from a Voice and Speech course I took in university.

1)      Breathing is the most important thing in public speaking. Before you begin, take a deep breath and feel the ground beneath your feet. Sounds cheesy, but it will give you a confidence boost right off the bat.

2)      Decide on the formality of the presentation. This means choosing whether or not to button your blazer or leaving it open. The magic is in the details.

3)      If there is a podium, avoid hiding behind it and stand to the side if you can. It creates a better connection between you and your audience.

4)      Rule of thumb is to stand still when delivering your key points (this allows your audience to focus more on the key slides with information), and to move around in between to ease the tension.

5)      Studies show that retention when someone is speaking is 10%, and retention with speaking AND a visual is 51%. It’s a no brainer to try and add visuals whenever possible.

There’s another interesting concept I’ve recently discovered but haven’t had a chance to try yet.

Setting Up a Trigger When Presenting:

A trigger is a motion or action you set up throughout the presentation that you can start using near the end if you are trying to persuade the audience to your side.  This may sound a little bit manipulative but it’s just something that will help you, especially in sales presentations. For example, throughout the presentation move your right hand outwards when sharing information and bring in your left hand whenever you are interacting with the audience. By the end of the presentation if you require interaction but the audience is not as responsive, use the left hand gesture and it might be a trigger for them to participate.

Another great example of a trigger I read was using the clicking of a pen in a sales meeting. Every time there is a point and the buyer seems to agree, you ask “do you agree with this?” and when they say “yes” you click the pen. This creates  a trigger and when the buyer is hesitating about something, you might be able to click your pen and they will have more confidence to agree with your point.

I know this one sounds very sneaky. The disclaimer is that of course it won’t work all the time and if someone doesn’t want to buy something you are selling, they won’t buy it even after 100 clicks of a pen. The point is, you tried your best. You can set up a trigger that you are most comfortable with.

Hopefully the above tips will help you the next time you are presenting. Note that life is all interconnected, so chances are, even if you aren’t presenting in the near future, these will sure make you a better communicator.

 

Happy D-coding,

Darya

Phipps, Robert. "Chapter 7 - Presenting". Body Language: It's What You Don't Say That Matters. Capstone Publishing, © 2012. Books24x7. Web. Dec. 10, 2012. <http://common.books24x7.com/toc.aspx?bookid=46073>