Presentation skills
October 14th 2006 06:54
Here’s one for Damo.
A couple of months ago, I attended the Ensemble Studios’ open day, and a presenter presented on presenting. I've never done Toastmasters or anything similar (the closest I’ve come is reading descriptions of Roman and Greek oratory), so this was all new and exciting to me.
Some notes -- make of them what you will.
In short
* “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.”
-- Consider the way you dress.
-- Don't be predictable/boring in the way you begin your presentation. Avoid formality, be adventurous, say more with less words.
* “How you deliver your message will impact more than what you say.”
-- Prepare to use your physical equipment. Consider posture, breath control, vocal range, facial expression, eye contact, gestures and body language.
* “If you feel it -- you sell it.”
-- Control your nerves.
-- “Psyche up” to your performance.
* The take-aways:
-- Content preparation -- eg designing a strong beginning and finding a thematic statement, a “quotable quote” that will be memorable for a long time.
-- Physical preparation -- eg considering the use of pauses, gestures, body language.
-- Mental preparation -- eg psyching up, controlling nerves, considering posture and “psychological gesture”.
In detail
Preparation of content
You must know the subject backwards. (Heard elsewhere: know, and have read, five times more than the class.)
Prepare the speech to the extent of deciding what words you’ll use; if your audience can't quote you a month down the track, you've largely wasted your time. You need catchphrases, quotable quotes.
Use emotive words. Some words have their own emotive impact -- “family”, “future”, “you”, “success”, etc.
It’s spoken, not written language -- use everyday conversational words.
Gameplan, strategy: think about in what order to arrange the various parts.
Ideal time: 20 minutes. As long as you’re doing something interesting, you can hold the audience’s attention for 20 minutes. At 20, you’ve got to take stock, and change something to maintain their attention (for instance, get them to stand up, use some sort of interactive game, etc). (My own experience: I used to instruct first aid; and the best presentation I gave was in my “how to control bleeding” class -- I had enough gimics built in that people were kept awake, and an hour passed without them realizing.)
Physical preparation
Research venue and audience before you arrive. Check what volume you need to speak at. Take into account, also, the time of day (will you have to contend with sunlight coming through those windows, which direction do you want the audience facing…).
Warm up voice and body before the presentation.
First impressions are based on appearance. There is a scale in terms of how you can dress for business impact: at one end of the scale, you are the most credible and powerful, but lose approachability and friendliness; at the other end, it’s let’s party. What shifts you towards the corporate end are: dark colours (often blue and black); glasses; hairstyle; style of clothes; the presence of a jacket; the style of jewellery.
Directors are notoriously short-sighted -- will pigeonhole auditioning actors in the first 30 seconds.
Eyes are the window to the soul; people want to see your eyes; it’s important that people have access to them; sunglasses will make people less inclined to trust you. Even reading glasses are an immediate barrier, though they can make you look more studious. But if you have to wear them, thin frames are better than thick, and non-reflective lenses better than reflective.
Beards and moustaches are also barriers.
Physical side to speaking
Simply lifting your eyebrows, reacting to a certain part of your speech, says to people “I’ll share with you how I feel”, encourages them to open up to you. The more expressive you are, the more people will trust you, believe you, listen to you.
Smiles are very strong -- if you smile at someone, they’ll smile back.
Speak clearly.
The norm is three syllables per second; any faster or slower, and people are hard-pressed to stay with you. But don’t always stay at the same pace. Rein back the delivery at the key moments, or speed up to make the audience excited.
Pauses are very powerful. Use pauses to add impact to what’s just been said, and to heighten anticipation for what follows. Use the first pause before you even start to speak: look at the audience, start communicating, but wait -- it creates a strong beginning -- don’t rush your pleasures. (Hitler was famous for this device. He’d take a long pause before speaking, apparently waiting for something, and the crowd’s excitement would build to fever pitch.)
How long can you hold a pause? A long time if the impact of the content matches it. But there is a theory. At the first second, the audience thinks, “This will be important.” At the second: “Very important.” At the third, “This better be important.” At the fourth: “Oh, he’s forgotten.”
Body language and gestures: people will take in more of your message via their eyes than via their ears. Even the way you stand makes a difference -- use your full height.
Never thrust fingers or wave fists at the audience, or use any aggression. Even holding a palm facing them is defensive, negative.
Examples of useable gestures: turning palms upward is like making an offering; putting index and thumb together make a point; counting off gestures gives a clear visual illustration (but don’t look at your fingers while counting); frozen gestures are very powerful.
Three main functions of gestures:
-- They help you to shape your delivery -- they bring out more vocal and facial expression in you;
-- They paint pictures, like miming;
-- They shape the audience response and join you to the audience -- eg an offering gesture makes a friend of the audience.
Mental preparation
If you feel it, you’ll sell it. Psych yourself up, get motivated. If you don’t believe what you’re saying, the audience won’t. (Teri Hatcher and Chris Howard basically make the same point.)
Prepare strong positive attitudes about yourself, the content, the presentation, and the audience. If you find a way to love your audience, they’ll respond to the care.
How to deal with nerves: firstly, know that you will be nervous; and, in fact, if you’re not excited, then something is wrong. Secondly, find some way to use those nerves, some place to put the nervous energy into.
One trick: find someone in the audience that you’re going to help -- tell them in your mind, “Don’t worry, I’ll look after you” -- and when you’re busy reassuring, worrying about someone else, you’ll forget to feel nervous for yourself.
“Psychological gesture”: the actual gestures and postures you use will change and reinforce how you feel. At the very least, use an upright posture and a smile. (This terminology, “psychological gesture”, comes from Stanislavsky.)
A couple of months ago, I attended the Ensemble Studios’ open day, and a presenter presented on presenting. I've never done Toastmasters or anything similar (the closest I’ve come is reading descriptions of Roman and Greek oratory), so this was all new and exciting to me.
Some notes -- make of them what you will.
***
In short
* “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.”
-- Consider the way you dress.
-- Don't be predictable/boring in the way you begin your presentation. Avoid formality, be adventurous, say more with less words.
* “How you deliver your message will impact more than what you say.”
-- Prepare to use your physical equipment. Consider posture, breath control, vocal range, facial expression, eye contact, gestures and body language.
* “If you feel it -- you sell it.”
-- Control your nerves.
-- “Psyche up” to your performance.
* The take-aways:
-- Content preparation -- eg designing a strong beginning and finding a thematic statement, a “quotable quote” that will be memorable for a long time.
-- Physical preparation -- eg considering the use of pauses, gestures, body language.
-- Mental preparation -- eg psyching up, controlling nerves, considering posture and “psychological gesture”.
***
In detail
Preparation of content
You must know the subject backwards. (Heard elsewhere: know, and have read, five times more than the class.)
Prepare the speech to the extent of deciding what words you’ll use; if your audience can't quote you a month down the track, you've largely wasted your time. You need catchphrases, quotable quotes.
Use emotive words. Some words have their own emotive impact -- “family”, “future”, “you”, “success”, etc.
It’s spoken, not written language -- use everyday conversational words.
Gameplan, strategy: think about in what order to arrange the various parts.
Ideal time: 20 minutes. As long as you’re doing something interesting, you can hold the audience’s attention for 20 minutes. At 20, you’ve got to take stock, and change something to maintain their attention (for instance, get them to stand up, use some sort of interactive game, etc). (My own experience: I used to instruct first aid; and the best presentation I gave was in my “how to control bleeding” class -- I had enough gimics built in that people were kept awake, and an hour passed without them realizing.)
Physical preparation
Research venue and audience before you arrive. Check what volume you need to speak at. Take into account, also, the time of day (will you have to contend with sunlight coming through those windows, which direction do you want the audience facing…).
Warm up voice and body before the presentation.
First impressions are based on appearance. There is a scale in terms of how you can dress for business impact: at one end of the scale, you are the most credible and powerful, but lose approachability and friendliness; at the other end, it’s let’s party. What shifts you towards the corporate end are: dark colours (often blue and black); glasses; hairstyle; style of clothes; the presence of a jacket; the style of jewellery.
Directors are notoriously short-sighted -- will pigeonhole auditioning actors in the first 30 seconds.
Eyes are the window to the soul; people want to see your eyes; it’s important that people have access to them; sunglasses will make people less inclined to trust you. Even reading glasses are an immediate barrier, though they can make you look more studious. But if you have to wear them, thin frames are better than thick, and non-reflective lenses better than reflective.
Beards and moustaches are also barriers.
Physical side to speaking
Simply lifting your eyebrows, reacting to a certain part of your speech, says to people “I’ll share with you how I feel”, encourages them to open up to you. The more expressive you are, the more people will trust you, believe you, listen to you.
Smiles are very strong -- if you smile at someone, they’ll smile back.
Speak clearly.
The norm is three syllables per second; any faster or slower, and people are hard-pressed to stay with you. But don’t always stay at the same pace. Rein back the delivery at the key moments, or speed up to make the audience excited.
Pauses are very powerful. Use pauses to add impact to what’s just been said, and to heighten anticipation for what follows. Use the first pause before you even start to speak: look at the audience, start communicating, but wait -- it creates a strong beginning -- don’t rush your pleasures. (Hitler was famous for this device. He’d take a long pause before speaking, apparently waiting for something, and the crowd’s excitement would build to fever pitch.)
How long can you hold a pause? A long time if the impact of the content matches it. But there is a theory. At the first second, the audience thinks, “This will be important.” At the second: “Very important.” At the third, “This better be important.” At the fourth: “Oh, he’s forgotten.”
Body language and gestures: people will take in more of your message via their eyes than via their ears. Even the way you stand makes a difference -- use your full height.
Never thrust fingers or wave fists at the audience, or use any aggression. Even holding a palm facing them is defensive, negative.
Examples of useable gestures: turning palms upward is like making an offering; putting index and thumb together make a point; counting off gestures gives a clear visual illustration (but don’t look at your fingers while counting); frozen gestures are very powerful.
Three main functions of gestures:
-- They help you to shape your delivery -- they bring out more vocal and facial expression in you;
-- They paint pictures, like miming;
-- They shape the audience response and join you to the audience -- eg an offering gesture makes a friend of the audience.
Mental preparation
If you feel it, you’ll sell it. Psych yourself up, get motivated. If you don’t believe what you’re saying, the audience won’t. (Teri Hatcher and Chris Howard basically make the same point.)
Prepare strong positive attitudes about yourself, the content, the presentation, and the audience. If you find a way to love your audience, they’ll respond to the care.
How to deal with nerves: firstly, know that you will be nervous; and, in fact, if you’re not excited, then something is wrong. Secondly, find some way to use those nerves, some place to put the nervous energy into.
One trick: find someone in the audience that you’re going to help -- tell them in your mind, “Don’t worry, I’ll look after you” -- and when you’re busy reassuring, worrying about someone else, you’ll forget to feel nervous for yourself.
“Psychological gesture”: the actual gestures and postures you use will change and reinforce how you feel. At the very least, use an upright posture and a smile. (This terminology, “psychological gesture”, comes from Stanislavsky.)
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Comment by Damo
I'll keep them in mind
Comment by Anonymous