Posts Tagged Darren LaCroix

Get Your Presentation Out of Your Head and Into Your Heart

“Barack! Feel – don’t think! Get out of your head. You’re over-thinking.” These are the words of the wife of a young senator from Illinois — today you know him as President Obama. Early in the campaign, he was on a conference call with his top advisors brainstorming the finer points of his position for an upcoming debate. Michelle Obama was listening in and finally could not take it anymore.

“Don’t get caught up in the weeds. Be visceral! Use your heart and your head.” What Mrs. Obama was advising her husband to do was to use his gut and to get out of his head.

Ever have an experience where you were caught over-thinking? How did that work out for you? Have you given a presentation that was all “head” and no “heart”? Perhaps it was loaded with Abstract-Speak™ — techno-jargon which includes facts, figures, and data — and made absolutely no impact on your audience at all. It’s easy to get so focused on facts that you can forget to focus and connect with your audience.

Michelle Obama was concerned by her husband’s debate performances where he had been tripped up by his rivals early in the campaign. Are you tripping up your own presentations by being too much “in your head”? Are you memorizing rather than internalizing?

Internalizing means that you own the material and it’s a part of you — it’s in your head and your heart. It’s visceral. It’s in your gut. As a result, you come across as real, authentic, and genuine. And if a speaker as experienced and talented as Barack Obama can get tripped up by being in his head, it can happen to the rest of us as well.

I have two coaching clients with excellent content, but their delivery was stuck in their heads — they were memorizing rather than internalizing. The first client sent me a copy of his speech. It was well-written and funny, and it had many brilliant insights. I could not wait to see his DVD performance, but I was disappointed after I watched it. This very talented, outgoing, and energetic presenter was surprisingly stiff and uninspiring — he was in his head. It was as if he were someone else someplace else. He was not engaged with the audience.

My second coaching client is an executive of a major information technology company. He, too, is very talented. When I saw his DVD, initially, I was very impressed. He started strong, told stories about audience members and had two funny one-liners. Then, he disconnected from the audience. He started rattling off facts, figures, data, and jargon — Abstract-Speak™. While it is useful, information like that is not memorable. I had to play the last fifteen minutes of the presentation repeatedly to recall the message. He was in his head. The audience just happened to be there.

I’m no exception to this affliction. I was asked to audition for a speaking/training company. It was a rare opportunity, so I decided to compete. I made it to the finals. However, I did not make the final cut. Imagine someone who is a World Champion of Public Speaking and a Certified Speaking Professional losing? The feedback was overwhelming and unanimous: “Ed was too much in his head.” I was not engaged with the audience. I was so focused on memorizing the material that I forgot the most important thing — to focus on the audience. I was in my head and not my heart or my gut.

So what can we do about it? The good news is this is easy to correct. Here are seven suggestions for getting “out of your head.”

Suggestions for Getting Out of Your Head

1. Closet envy. And no, it’s not what you think. This is a term coined by Darren LaCroix, the 2001 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking. Darren has the recordings of every presentation he has ever done in his closet. Record every presentation you make — your rehearsals and your final presentation. Here’s what you are looking for:

• Robotically citing jargon, facts, stats, or abstractions.
• Trying to remember something.
• Looking at the ceiling or the floor for long periods of time.
• Taking your eyes away from the audience.

2. Use notes. It’s okay to use notes. If you forget or do not know your material well, it’s better to have them available. Here are some tips for making them useful.

• Double space the text and use a large font (14-point font or larger).
• Use different colored highlighters or post-it notes to draw attention to key points.
• On the podium, lectern, or table, always display two pages at a time. It makes it easier to find your place.
• Rehearse using your notes. Practice this routine: pause, find your place, make eye contact, and continue.
• Be audience-centered rather than speaker-centered. When you memorize your speech you look (speaker-centered) good, but it doesn’t necessarily serve your audience. Choose to be audience-centered.

3. Focus on the connection, rather than the content. The biggest mistake that most presenters make is thinking that their content is the most important part of their presentation. They spend all of their preparation focusing on content and zero time on audience connection. The most important part of your presentation is how you will connect your content with this specific audience. Here are a few connection tips:

• Pre-session Interviews.

* Interview five attendees prior to your presentation. Ask them questions about success and challenges the organization is going through.
* Interview the leadership of the organization and get their perspective on the economy, industry, and competition.

• Study websites (specifically, the “About Us” and “History” links), newsletters, articles, and annual reports.
• For more connection tips, check out Connect with Any Audience: How to Read and React to People in Front of You! (http://www.edtate.com/products.html)

4. Be conversational rather than presentational. When you are with your family and friends, do you have conversations or presentations? Hopefully you are having conversations. Having a conversation with your audience will help you connect with them and engage them in your presentation.

5. Know your purpose and focus on what educator and professional speaker Pam Gordon calls the KFD® — what do you want people to Know, Feel, or Do?

6. Focus on the core message. If you only had one minute and could tell them one thing, what would that be? In my award-winning speech, “Tate’s Rules on Bullies,” the core message is this: “Violence is not the answer. The greatest weapon you have for solving your problems is your mind. Thinking through your problems is the answer.”

7. Trust yourself. Trust your talent. You have everything you need right now to be an outstanding presenter. Being in your head comes from the fear of forgetting a part of your message and not trusting yourself.

7.5 Get coaching. Here is a bonus technique. The best golfer in the world, Tiger Woods, has a coach. If coaching works for him in his avocation, it will work for you too.

Even seasoned presenters get stuck in their head. It happens to everyone. However, with the right amount of preparation and using the 7.5 strategies for getting out of your head, you can avoid this embarrassing situation. Remember to:

• Record, review and debrief every presentation.
• Use notes.
• Focus on audience connection and content.
• Be conversational rather than presentational.
• When closing, know your KFD – What do you want the audience to Know, Feel or Do?
• Identify your core message. In one (short) sentence, what is your presentation about?
• Trust yourself.
• Get coaching.

By internalizing rather than memorizing your next presentation, you will come across as persuasive, professional and positive.