Posts Tagged public speaking

You are about to give an important presentation and you want it to be perfect! How do you avoid the pitfalls and make a business presentation that people will remember? Here are some mistakes and tips on how to avoid them.

1. Presenting Abstractions without specific examples. Think of an abstraction as hiding the details. Abstraction is your enemy. If you are communicating abstract concepts, give extra preparation to vivid analogies and word pictures that can be visualized by your audience.*

Messages that come out of your mouth need to be shorter, simpler, and less complex than messages you put in press releases, columns, brochures, manuals and books.*

S.I. Hayakawa notes four levels of abstraction:

• Level 4 is the broadest and the most abstract. It’s just a concept: Society.
• Level 3 is the noun class. A broad group with very little specifics: Most people.
• Level 2 has more details: Spoiled Child.
• Level one is a specific and identifiable noun: My little sister, Kate.

Many business presentations contain mostly level 4 and level 3 abstractions. The presenter assumes that the audience understands what these abstractions mean. The problem with this thinking is it leaves a lot to interpretation. In level 4 abstractions, there are literally millions, billions if not trillions of examples. Marry your abstraction with a specific example.

2. Use of Jargon. The problem with jargon is it stops people from understanding your message. Popular jargon today is cloud computing or supply chain management. Just to be safe, define your jargon. Verbally or in a handout.

3. Trite expressions or clichés. In business in North America we have:

• Pour the Kool-Aid.
• Drink the Kool-Aid. (That has been poured.)
• Mission critical.
• Think outside the box.
• 30,000 feet level
• Sculpting Fog. (My favorite.)

Examine your presentation for trite expressions or clichés and remove them.

4. Sameness. According to Patricia Fripp, this is the enemy of the presenter. This is a lack of variety. For example, you lecture from start to finish and present numerous spread sheets or charts. There is no variety. Add what I call and trademarked, Presentation Variety™. Change your delivery method every 5 minutes. Switch from PowerPoint to a story. From a story to group discussion. Change it up.

5. PowerPoint Parades. One mind numbing slide after another. Typically all text. Lack of variety. Ask yourself the following question: What is the best way fro me to make this point without PowerPoint? Challenge yourself even more: give your next presentation unplugged. No technology.

6. Data Dumps. Thinking that data is the most important part of the presentation, you dump a ton of data. People don’t want data, they want your analysis or interpretation of the data. Give people results. Have handouts ready if they want the raw data.

7. Lack of an emotional connection. Patrica Fripp says there are two ways to connect with people: intellectually through data or content and emotionally. You don’t have to connect with them emotionally, unless you want them to remember what you said. Add flesh and blood, people examples to your presentations.

8. Bury the lead. According to Wikipedia, this means “to begin a story with details of secondary importance to the reader while postponing more essential points or facts.” According to Randy Illing, author of the book Let’s Get Real, or Let’s Not Play: “Good [business] presentations are not like mystery novels…read eagerly to the end to find out what happened. Good [business] presentations give the conclusion up-front and spend the rest of the time revealing how you got there.” Begin with the most important part up-front. Begin with the essentials first.

9. Weak opening. “Hi my name is ____________, happy to be here.” Come out punching! In 30 seconds or less tell people what’s in it for them. When I present this topic this is how I begin. “There are over 20 mistakes that business presenters make that ruin their advancement in their careers. Are you making any of these mistakes? What impact are they having on your career? Raise your hands if you’d like to find out what they are and how you can fix them.”

10. Opening with a joke. The only person I’ve seen who does this well is the evangelist Joel Osteen. Otherwise, I do not recommend it.

11. Opening with an apology. Even if things are not going well. Press forward. The show must go on. Have a plan B.

12. Opening slow or long winded. In business presentations, you have less than 60 seconds to get to the point. If you are not entertaining, get to big idea quickly.

13. Not having a close. Again, to repeat my favorite speech coach Patricia Fripp, “Last words linger.” You want to control the last words the audience hears.

14. Running out of time. I always coach my corporate clients to have three versions of their presentations. The original version for the time allotted: 30 minutes. A plan B version: 10 to 15 minute version, and a 5 minute version. This way you are prepared for anything.

15. Introducing new information at the close of your presentation. It called the close for a reason. Schedule another meeting or include this information in the body of the presentation or in a handout.

16. Having Q & A at the end. The author Tony Jeary says “Handle Q&A and the summary before the close. Ending your presentation with a call to action and then asking for questions is a recipe for disaster. Answer questions first, to uncover all hidden and stated objectives, then close. [This way,] you avoid off-the-wall questions to derail your presentation at the critical close.”

17. Not practicing or rehearsing. One minute of practicing will save you 10 minutes of rambling. See my blog on how to rehearse your presentation.

18. Talking too much, without audience involvement or participation. It’s a good idea to check in with the audience to make sure they are with you before moving on to the next idea. Ask the audience if they have any questions. Build in activities or exercises to ensure comprehension. Check for comprehension before moving on to the next idea.

19. Too Technology Dependent; can’t go unplugged. I have seen presenters completely fall apart because their technology did not work. I plan on it. I use a Mac, and occasionally, they are not compatible with older LCD displays. I arrive early enough to my presentation that I can test the equipment. In one case, I could not get it to work. I had a backup of my presentation ready to load on a Windows-based PC. And if that did not work, I was prepared to give my presentation with a flip chart, white board, and handouts.

20. Not relating to your audience’s behavioral styles. There are four basic styles in any audience.

• Driver. Think of Donald Trump. Keep it fast paced and big picture.
• Expressive. Think of the Robin Williams. Keep it fast paced and fun.
• Amiable. Think of Mr. Rogers or former President Carter. Build rapport and keep it light.
• Analytical. Think of Bill Gates. Keep it logical.

Profile your audience. Determine in advance what percentage of your audience fits the above profile.

* TJ Walker – Media Training Worldwide