Presenting in Business
Contents
Presenting in Business¶
The idea of making a presentation in public is the No. 1 fear reported by people in the U.S.
—Paul L. Witt, PhD, assistant professor of communication studies at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
“Where shall I begin, please your majesty?” she asked.“Begin at the beginning,” the king said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end. Then stop.”
—Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Introduction¶
Talking is the primary medium of presentation.
“A presentation consists of a set of ideas spoken to an audience. The ideas are prepared in advance along with supporting material such as slides.”
“By some estimates, 30,000,000 PowerPoint slides are displayed per day.”
Leading People¶
Leaders persuade to motivate people, to align them with organizational goals, and to have them accept new ideas and practices to collaborate and cooperate effectively.
Resolving Differences of Opinion¶
Employee may disagree about business issues.
“Leaders and managers need to be able to probe, question, and negotiate, but they also need to know how to use persuasion to resolve differences of opinion.”
Obstacles to Persuasive Presentation¶
Following are the obstacles for persuasive presentation:
Fear of speaking
Overreliance on slides
A failure to engage
A misconception about persuasion
Fear of Speaking¶
“Communication apprehension (fear of public speaking) is normal, but it can be a problem when it is intense and chronic. There is even a medical term for extreme cases: glossophobia.”
“Being the focus of attention in a room and having sole responsibility for making something happen can stimulate fear. The fear creates a vicious circle. You fear speaking and avoid it, but the more you avoid it, the more you fear it—and the less likely you are to acquire the skills you need that will help reduce the fear.”
Nervousness is a natural stimulant that enhances performance.
Fear of speaking is manageable and certain techniques are available to limit it’s negative effects.
Overreliance on Slides¶
“Quite a few speakers have come to regard slides as the presentation, not as a complement to the presentation. And when the attitude that “more is better” encounters feature-rich presentation software, speakers can saturate audiences with information: slide after slide of bullet points, charts, tables, and graphs filled with so much content and formatting clutter that they are unreadable. Slides that convey too much create a dilemma for audience members.”
Most audiences try to read the slide text or listen to the presenter simutaneously, splitting their attention and lessening the amount of information they can take in.
“Presenters can unwittingly use PowerPoint as a means of coping with stage fright. Slides can shift attention away from them. No longer are they speakers connecting with an audience; they are narrators of a slideshow. Even their posture can protect them from contact with the audience. To read the slides, they turn their backs to the listeners.”
“Most business audiences have sat through scores of presentations in school and on the job, and the odds are that many of them were boring and delivered too much information. Presentation fatigue is therefore a characteristic of business audiences. Very quickly, audience members can enter a state of minimal attention—a habit formed from many disappointing experiences.”
Making better use of presentation tools is one solution to “death by PowerPoint”.
The Realities of Attention¶
Average adult can concentrate for less than a minute.
“The external environment teems with distractions, and a constant stream of thoughts, emotions, memories, data from the senses, and other physical sensations flows through your mind.”
“Presenting isn’t about seizing and holding people’s attention continuously for long periods. Presenters must constantly reengage the audience.”
Managing Distraction¶
Human have three capacity for attention:
Alerting: Awareness of one’s surroundings, particularly changes in them.
Orienting: Attention that allows one to concentrate on something. Also called focus.
Executive attention: Attention that helps one to plan and make judgments.
“As a presenter you have to accept the reality of distractions and realize you compete with many other stimuli in the environment. The challenge is to stand out from the background noise. The most robust source of engagement and reengagement is not PowerPoint or other media. It is you and your engagement with people in the audience.”
Misconception About Persuasion¶
“Much writing about persuasion emphasizes winning.”
Misconception: Persuasion always involves a degree of competition.
Persuasion as Collaboration¶
“You can be a better communicator by thinking of persuasion as collaborating with the audience to accomplish goals that neither party can secure entirely on their own. Defining persuasion in terms of winning or losing can limit your thinking and thwart positive outcomes.”
The Dark Side of Winning¶
“The idea that persuasion is about winning or losing has a potential dark side. To win, people can believe that the end justifies the means and take shortcuts such as manipulation, deception, and outright lies.”
“The unethical use of persuasion seems to have a natural limit.”
Analyzing a Communication Situation¶
“Analyzing a communication situation includes understanding the purpose of a presentation and audience characteristics relevant to it, and then using the resources of reason, emotion, and character to create the message. What you learn from the analysis informs both the message—the content of the presentation—and the delivery—the manner in which you communicate it to the audience.”
Persuasive Presentation¶
Persuasive presentation is about the audience.
“When communicators persuade, they want something from their audiences—to adopt a desired belief or an attitude, to gain their consent or support. Presenters preoccupied with themselves—their own thoughts and feelings—lose sight of the fact that to satisfy their needs they must satisfy the audience’s needs.”
“What is in it for the audience?” is the first question that needs to be solved.
Arguments and Persuasive Presentations¶
“Arguments in a presentation need to be efficient. In business, presenters have a tendency to flood the audience with data and other information. But the more-is-better approach completely ignores the needs of the audience. Speakers, guided by the less-is-more principle, must make hard choices about the content of their arguments.”
Emotions and Persuasive Presentations¶
“In a persuasive presentation, the communicator wants to align audience members’ feelings with her purpose so that both the arguments she uses and the emotions she evokes pull the audience toward the same destination: accepting the presenter’s conclusion.”
“Emotions—the audience’s and yours—can be hard to understand and even harder to influence, but they have a key role in persuasion.”
Character and Persuasive Presentations¶
“To improve your persuasion abilities, you need to learn how to shape audience members’ attitude toward you. An audience always has an attitude toward a speaker. You want to foster a favorable attitude toward you.”
The Halo Effect and Its Opposite¶
Halo effect is beneficial for the communicator and reverse halo can be detrimental.
“When the audience does not know you, their first impressions can function like a halo effect. According to researchers, people make a global evaluation of a stranger in a tenth of a second. They obviously make that judgment based on very limited information: your facial expression, posture, clothes, and movement.”
“Studies have shown that first impressions are remarkably durable and hard to change. A positive first impression can be a long-lasting asset for a speaker, while a negative one can be a serious liability.”
Facing a Hostile Audience¶
“Provocative audience members can lead you to responses that sour the attitudes of all audience members toward you.”
“Try to keep in mind that negative feelings toward someone in the audience will distract you from what you are there for: to address everyone in the room, not spar with one member. You may not be able to persuade everyone. Do your best, but you should not halt your presentation to try to convince one person.”
Practical suggestions for responding to hostile audience behavior:”
Disagreement: Someone interrupts you to dispute what you are saying. If the person has a legitimate point, acknowledge it (for example, “You have a point and thanks for sharing it”) and resume your presentation. When you think the objection is not valid, acknowledge it by saying something innocuous (for example, “That is an interesting point”) and move on.
Interruptions: An individual either starts talking and will not stop or frequently interrupts. Ask the person to talk to you after the presentation. If that does not solve the problem, say something like: “I want everyone to hear my ideas and decide for themselves whether they make sense. I’d like you to listen to the rest of my presentation and then we can talk afterward.”
Arguments: An audience member becomes argumentative. Grant her the right to an opinion, recognize the difference between the two of you, and move on. If the individual persists in arguing, try the approach described in the previous suggestion.
Side Conversation: Two people in the audience talk to each other during your presentation. Ignore brief conversations, but when individuals persist in talking, walk toward them and make and hold eye contact.
The Message: Organizing the Content¶
“The ICAA organizer, or template, stands for Issue-Conclusion-Argument-Action. It is designed for persuasive presentations and provides a shortcut for creating ideas and arranging them.”
Components of ICAA:
Issue: The issue needs resolution and you should be able to express it in one or two sentences. Stating it as a question can often be helpful to the audience.
Conclusion: The conclusion is your answer regarding the issue. You should be able to state it in one or a few sentences.
Argument: The argument consists of the reasoning and evidence that back up the conclusion.
Action: The action portion of the presentation specifies how to implement the conclusion. It corresponds to a written action plan, except that it is not as detailed. You can offer the audience a written plan as a handout.
Why Not Start with PowerPoint?¶
“Note that the development of a presentation begins with creating and organizing ideas, not with PowerPoint or other presentation software.”
“When used well, slides visually reinforce the essential ideas of a presentation. A presentation begun in PowerPoint starts with the reinforcement rather than the ideas and fosters the view that the slides are the presentation. That view may encourage a presenter to build a large slide deck crammed with information. And it may undercut a presenter’s motivation to engage with the people in the room.”
“A large body of research demonstrates that people learn more through a combination of sight and hearing than through one or the other alone. Slides therefore have an essential function as a learning channel parallel to speech—but not superior to it.”
Putting the Conclusion Last¶
“In some cultures, speakers are expected to reveal their thinking gradually and defer a conclusion until the end or imply a conclusion but never state it in so many words.”
“Presenters can also employ the conclusion-last organization as an inductive approach to proof:”
Issue: First, they state the issue.
Argument: Second, they argue against the major opposing opinions.
Argument: Third, they argue for their conclusion.
Conclusion: Fourth, they state the conclusion.
Action: Finally, they discuss actions based on the conclusion.
“If you decide to put your conclusion at the end of a presentation, the essential content of the argument remains the same as the conclusion-first presentation. However, The ICAA organizer has a slightly different order.”
How Much Evidence?¶
“Business presenters often immerse audiences in large bodies of data. However, an oral presentation, even one that uses visuals, is not an effective medium for large amounts of data.”
“An orally delivered argument still requires proof, just as one in writing does.”
Amount of evidence required depends on the audience.
Openings¶
A real-world audience can refuse whatever you are asking of them.
“For the content of the opening, ask what you think the audience most wants to talk about, the most common question they have in mind, or the most serious reservation they have about your topic.”
“At some point in the opening of the presentation, you should also state the issue and your conclusion and furnish a simple roadmap of the presentation—the major points of interest on the trip to the destination.”
Closings¶
“At the end of the presentation, leave the audience with a concise memory of the points you most want them to remember. A visual can be used for this purpose. A striking image, a brief story, and an emotional appeal connected to the key points are just a few ways to fix your core message in the listeners’ memories.”
“Speaking past the scheduled end of the presentation violates an implicit contract with audience members. The speaker agreed to a presentation of a certain length and the audience members planned accordingly; then the speaker changes the contract without their consent. Audiences do not appreciate a speaker unwilling to let go of them.”
The Message: Preparing the Plan¶
Although the length of a presentation depends on many variables, such as audience interest in the topic and the nature of the content, keep it as short as possible. You can use a target of 18 minutes. Rarely do audiences complain about presentations being too short.
Auditory memory is more limited than visual memory. Although a good presentation has visuals, you communicate most of it through speech.
Presenters also have to contend with the time an audience can concentrate. As you have learned, every speaker is engaged in a continuous competition for audience members’ attention, attracting it, losing it, and bringing it back. No matter how good a presenter you are, you can only expect to draw listeners back so many times. The longer you talk, the more likely you are to lose the struggle for attention.”
“Here is a seven-step process for planning and creating a presentation:”
Generate ideas and take notes.
Group content.
Create the presentation plan.
Plan slides and other media.
Prepare slides and other media.
Edit the presentation.
Practice the presentation.
Generate Ideas and Take Notes¶
In whatever medium you are comfortable—paper, word processing, or mind-mapping software—list ideas for the content of the presentation. Don’t worry about the order of the notes—capture ideas whenever they come to mind. Be as detailed as you want.
“Set aside your notes and take a break. When you return to them, you’ll bring a fresh perspective. Wait until the next day if possible. The phrase “sleep on it” is good advice, according to neuroscience. When we sleep, we seem to consolidate and stabilize memories.”
Group Content¶
“As you review your notes, think about your purpose for presenting. Write it down—you should be able to express your purpose in one or two sentences.”
Always step back and think about the best way to communicate the prepared slides.
Create the Presentation Plan¶
“Create a simple outline from the notes. The groups of related content you identified in the last step will be the major parts of the presentation. Put them in the order they will be presented. The plan should be sufficiently detailed to remind you of the key points. You should not write a word-for-word script because a presentation is not a speech.”
“If the content comes from a document, review the organization carefully. You may find that it needs to be in a different order for oral communication.”
“Again, take a break or set aside the plan until the next day. Check it and rearrange as necessary. You may need to fill in gaps that the plan has exposed. Now think about how you will open and close, including any media elements. Add the ideas to the plan.”
Plan Slides and Other Media¶
“Review the notes you have made about media and add or subtract visuals or other reinforcement that you think will help. Do not limit your thinking about media to slides. Consider video, web content, pictures, props, and flip charts.”
“Use a storyboard to capture your ideas for slides and other visuals. Sticky notes are a handy way to create one. Write ideas for slides or visuals on notes and stick them on a piece of paper in the order you will use them. You can replace notes, remove them, and rearrange them.”
For presentation, have clear concise storyline and simplify.
Prepare Slides and Other Media¶
“When you’re satisfied with the storyboard, use PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, or a similar application to copy the key point of each sticky note into a new slide file. On each slide, type the main idea, such as an image, text, or a chart, and then build it.”
“Most presentation software uses the single-slide format. The online application Prezi takes a different approach, giving you a visual space with which to work. You fill in different areas of the space with groups of content. For the presentation, you move from one grouping to another.”
“Go back to the storyboard and start work on any other media you will use. For instance, say that you will be presenting a series of innovative ideas generated internally to interest department heads in funding them. You could describe each one with bullet point slides. But you think the people behind the ideas are as important as the ideas. Having them each present in the room would be unwieldy. Instead, you can make short videos of each person explaining her or his idea. You have to decide when in the presentation to show the videos and plan their production.”
Edit the Presentation¶
“To start the editing process, estimate the time of each part of the presentation. “Talk the presentation” from beginning to end. That means speaking out loud.”
“In your estimate of the time, include the time needed for the discussion of each slide, audience participation, use of props, and any in-session logistics such as telling the audience how to operate a handheld device they will use for a poll.”
“Your time estimates will help you determine whether you have too much or too little material. Edit your written presentation plan first, then the slides and other media, making them as lean as possible. Presenters typically overestimate the amount of content they can deliver comfortably in a given period of time—sometimes by a large margin.”
“Walk trusted colleagues or friends through the presentation and the slides and ask if they think anything is missing or can be dropped. Listen to them carefully. A slide filled with data you think is absolutely crucial may be, in their eyes, impossible to understand.”
Practice the Presentation¶
“Rehearse the presentation out loud with slides and other media as often as you can. Practice how you are going to express your ideas, make sure the presentation doesn’t run too short or long, and orchestrate other presentation elements such as slides and props. Practicing can increase confidence and reduce nervousness.”
The Message: Enriching the Presentation¶
“During the planning of a presentation, keep in mind that you have many choices for adding texture, energy, and interest. You do not have to settle for bland explanation and bullet point slides.”
Energizing the Speech Channel¶
“You can enliven the speaking part of a presentation with storytelling, audience participation, handouts, and vivid language.”
Storytelling¶
“Humans seem to have an inherent interest in stories. When someone starts to tell a story, we generally want to hear how it ends. We watch, read, or listen to thousands upon thousands of stories during our lifetimes and never seem to tire of them. As a presenter, you can use stories to galvanize the attention of people in the room.”
“Stories help both speakers and listeners remember details. Stories seem to promote longer-term memories in several ways, one of which is the stimulation of emotions. It is no accident that for thousands of years, preliterate societies told or sang stories to communicate information across generations.”
Audience Participation¶
“Audience participation makes presentations two way and stimulates active engagement.”
“Here are some ways of directly involving the members of your audience:”
Ask a question.
Present a problem and ask for solutions.
Take a poll. (You can use handheld digital devices for this.)
Ask them to generate ideas with you.
“To avoid making the presentation too long, audience participation should not require too much time. It should also be voluntary for the audience—you don’t want to put anyone on the spot.”
“Whatever form the participation takes, it should be connected—and stay connected—to the content. Audience members can slide off onto tangents or irrelevant topics. Be ready to steer the discussion back to the subject or take back the floor. You are responsible to the entire audience and have to protect the time needed to deliver your message.”
Handouts¶
“Handouts can reduce the content load of the spoken portion of a presentation, and thus allow time for activities that enliven it.”
“Handouts can be a takeaway reminder of your key points. They can also furnish additional information or evidence that you do not want to include in the presentation.”
“Presentation software can print slides, but using them as handouts forces you to make many copies and audience members end up with a stack of paper. Preparing an outline of the presentation in a word-processing program means less paper and more convenience for audiences.”
“The best time to distribute handouts is at the end of the presentation, not the beginning. An audience with handouts will be reading them much of the time rather than looking at you.”
Vivid Language: Quotations¶
“Quotations from experts or famous individuals lend credibility to your point of view. Because of the speaker’s authority, a quote can have a greater impact on an audience than your own words.”
Vivid Language: Analogies¶
“Analogies compare two things, usually to identify similarities. Analogies can be useful because people learn new ideas better when they can connect them to something they already know.”
Vivid Language: Metaphors¶
“Metaphors describe something using language unrelated to what is being described. Metaphors can make language more memorable for an audience. Often, they have an emotional impact, too.”
Energizing the Visual Channel¶
“As you know, audiences learn more through the dual channels of hearing and sight than from one or the other. You can use the visual channel for content other than slides, props, and handouts.”
“A quick and simple method for adding visual content to a presentation is the traditional flip chart. Like slides, use them to communicate key points. Flip charts can also be used in conjunction with audience participation. For instance, if you ask the audience a question, you can record responses on the flip chart.”
Images¶
“With or without words, images can be emotionally evocative. Get in the practice of exercising your visual imagination.”
Charts and Other Graphics¶
“Quantitative information expresses relationships and relationships usually make good visuals. Spreadsheets serve a purpose in handouts, but they are ill suited to presentations because of their visual complexity.”
“From spreadsheets and other structured arrangements of numbers, extract the relationships of greatest importance to the presentation: major differences or similarities, relevant increases and decreases, notable trends, critical sequences, and the like.”
Videos¶
“Video has become a valuable tool for communicating with business audiences. Cellphone video cameras have gotten better and video-editing software is cheaper and easier to use. In addition, some screen-capture applications can create videos for presentations.”
“Even so, video has to be used carefully, like any other visual content. You should take the less-is-more approach. Video clips should be short—under 30 seconds. Poor-quality video can make the presentation seem unprofessional.”
“Say that your presentation requires the explanation of a highly technical financial concept. Instead of trying to explain the concept yourself, you can record an in-house expert explaining the point and play the video during the presentation.”
Internet-Based Technologies¶
Potential internert-based technologies that can be used during preaentation:
Youtube: For posting videos.
Skype: Conferencing application to interact with expert.
Internet Databases: Structured data can be directly used in the presentations sometimes.
“Technical malfunctions can make using online material perilous. You have to manage the details of web technology before and during the presentation, just like you do display equipment in the room. In addition, you need a contingency plan for technical failures.”
Props and Demonstrations¶
“Props can be used in presentations to illustrate a point, reinforce the message, and capture audience members’ attention.”
The Message: Preparing Slides and Other Media¶
“Slides should be at the end of your presentation to-do list.”
“When you start to design slides, do not allow the need for handouts to constrain you. Presenters often use printed versions of their slides as handouts. But effective designs do not necessarily print well. Slides with a solid dark background may be nearly illegible when printed on a black-and-white printer.”
“To solve the design conflict between slides and handouts, create separate handouts in a word-processing program.”
Slides as Organizers¶
“The visual nature of slides makes them well suited to organizing a presentation for listeners.”
“At the beginning of a presentation, provide a roadmap slide of what you are going to say; at the end, provide a summary slide of the points you want the audience to remember. In the body of the presentation, sign post slides tell the audience where they are.”
Number of Slides¶
“Here is a process for keeping your slide count under control. Imagine that you aren’t going to use any slides for a presentation. Then ask these questions:”
What are the points I will have the hardest time getting across to the audience using only spoken words? Create slides for these points.
What emotions that align with my purpose could I draw out better using slides instead of spoken words alone? Build emotion into the slides you’ve already created or create new ones.
What additional slides do I need to assist the audience? Examples are the roadmap and summary slides.
Lead Lines and Bullet Points¶
“PowerPoint templates for formatting slide titles assume a headline of a few words. However, in the report of a 2005 study, investigators concluded that one or two full sentences at the top of a slide are better memory aids than headlines. They added a caveat: These lead line sentences need to be short.”
“Not all slides serve the same purpose, however, and some do not need a lead line.”
“Probably the majority of presentation slides you have seen had bullet points with a title. For presenters, bullet points let them put a lot of information on a slide. For the audience, they pose a problem. Too often slides have too many bullet points with too much text in each item. Not only do these slides tax the concentration of the audience; but they also are not efficient. Most audiences will remember little or nothing of the detail on them.”
“Try to limit use of the bullet point design. In many cases, you can do without bullets by putting a single concept on a slide and telling the audience the details.”
“When you do use bullet points, keep the items short. When you show the slide, use the “Build” function to display bullet points one at a time. Literate adults automatically read written language. A slide that displays all of the bullet points at once forces viewers to read them, which can cause information overload.”
Slide Animation¶
“Presentation software has many different slide animations, including multiple options for moving text, images, or objects onto the screen. Some animations like builds (the sequential appearance of items) can be useful.”
“Animation can divert audience members’ attention from the content. And animation quickly becomes stale with repeated use. Animation also takes time; if it is used on many slides, it can lengthen the presentation considerably. Use slide animation sparingly, if at all.”
Designing Effective Slides¶
“Effective slides have these essential qualities:”
Relevance
Simplicity and clarity
Forcefulness
Readability
“To design effective presentation slides, use the following questions as a guide:”
What is the essential point I want to convey with each slide?
What is the minimum information necessary to understand that point?
How can I communicate the required information in the most visual way possible? What are the alternatives to bullet points or data-infested charts and tables?
What other means can I use to share information too dense for a slide? Alternatives include a handout, a document that includes backup information related to the presentation, or a link to a webpage that includes the information.
Relevance¶
“People retain more of a presentation’s content when the visual and speech channels reinforce each other. Visual content irrelevant to the spoken content actually reduces retention.”
Simplicity and Clarity¶
“Simplicity has two dimensions: a manageable amount of information and uncomplicated design. A slide with clarity immediately communicates its meaning.”
“Good presenters have great faith in their ability to use the data rather than merely display it. They break down complexity into smaller pieces and show how they fit together.”
“The culture of complexity isn’t going to yield overnight, but you can be part of furthering a culture of clarity.”
Forcefulness¶
“Slides can have a significant impact on audience members. Skilled presenters use less text and exploit the power of images and sound to make an impression.”
Readability¶
“The benchmark for readability is a yes answer to the following question: Can the person farthest away from the screen read the slides easily?”
“To fit a large amount of text on a slide, the size of the type has to be small. Small type makes slide text hard to read.”
“Don’t use type smaller than 18 points.”
“A second good practice is to have a clear contrast between the type and the background. A lack of contrast reduces readability.”
The Delivery: Communicating the Message¶
“The list of dos and don’ts for presentation delivery is long. Those imperatives can be confusing, discouraging, and even annoying. But the imperatives do have an underlying rationale. They support the core of a presentation: a connection between the speaker and the audience. Despite all the media tools available today, you are the content of a presentation. You are the reason people are in the room.”
“Another reality of face-to-face presentations is that emotions are always alive in the room. If you simply stand in front of an audience and say nothing, the audience will have feelings about you. Delivery shapes the way listeners react emotionally. You want to align what they feel with your purpose.”
Communication Apprehension¶
“Nearly everyone gets nervous before they present. That is not a problem. In fact, nervousness is a natural performance enhancer. It energizes speakers and makes them more alert, focused, and attuned to the situation. But too much nervousness can be a problem.”
“Surveys show that public speaking is one of people’s greatest fears. This fear, called communication apprehension, strikes both novice and experienced speakers.”
“Communication apprehension can have long-term consequences. Individuals who suffer from it can dodge opportunities to speak and improve. Sadly, research has shown that communication apprehension reduces academic performance, limits career choices, spoils job interviews, and erodes satisfaction with work.”
“Whatever level of fear you experience, you need to accept it. Trying to ignore or suppress communication apprehension does not work. But acceptance does not equate to resignation.”
Causes of Communication Apprehension¶
“Research has identified three causes of communication apprehension: the situation, the audience, and the speaker’s goals.”
Situation: Physical aspects of speaking, such as the room or the number of people
Example: Speaking to a large number of people
Audience: The people the speaker is addressing
Example: A non-native speaker of English presenting to an audience of native English speakers
Goals: The speaker’s desired outcome
Example: Asking the audience for a large sum of money to keep a company afloat
Locating your greatest sources of anxiety can inform the coping strategies.”
Coping Strategies¶
“Research has identified numerous practices for coping with communication apprehension. Here are seven that are widely used.”
Welcoming Anxiety: Anxiety about speaking should never surprise you. If you have felt it before, you should expect to feel it again. Allow the anxiety to unfold; it is not an alien force taking over your body. But be prepared. An expert on communication apprehension recommends that you write out an anxiety management plan describing how you will respond. Any of the six remaining tactics can be part of the plan.
Instruction and Practice: As you become more skilled at something, you worry about it less. People who do not like presenting often try to avoid it. But instruction and practice can help build confidence and be conducive to other ways of reducing communication apprehension.
Visualization: Visualization can also build self-confidence. It involves making a movie in your head of a successful presentation. Visualization helps only when you imagine the entire performance, not a single scene from it, and for several days in a row prior to speaking.
Reframing: When you reframe something, you change the way you think about it. A speaker who is anxious about the audience can reframe them as people who are interested in his topic and open to what he has to say. You feel vulnerable if you view a presentation as a solo performance with all eyes on you. But you can reframe it by practicing it as a conversation with a friend. You can also deal with the anxiety that all eyes are on you by “sharing the stage” with a video, a prop, audience participation, or a co-presenter.
Writing Thoughts and Feelings: Expressing yourself in writing can lessen anxiety. Answer questions such as: What are my greatest fears about public speaking? What is the worst thing that can happen if I don’t present well? Putting fears into writing makes them concrete. When they are in writing, you have a chance to reflect on them, considering whether they are realistic. You can write down positives about the presentation you will give. For example, you might say that you are grateful to have a chance to talk about a topic that’s important to you. Regardless of the content of the writing, it is most effective when you do it regularly. You also can record your thoughts and feelings after a presentation, creating a baseline for your speaking experience grounded in reality.
Positive Self-Talk: Negative self-talk can be self-fulfilling by stoking fear. Positive self-talk can do the opposite—focusing you on positives such as the fact that your accent has never been a serious impediment to communication. You can script your self-talk by reading from positive written comments you have written previously.
Staying in the Present: Fear of consequences from an unsuccessful presentation can trigger communication apprehension. Because those consequences are in the future, an antidote is staying in the present before and while you speak. With a racing mind and stressed body, you cannot will yourself into the present. You need to engage in an activity that grounds you. Techniques for grounding include listening to music, challenging exercise (such as running up stairs), counting backward, and meditation.
Voice¶
We can train our voice.
“Voice communicates something about who you are and your feelings about what you are telling the audience.”
“Five characteristics of your speaking voice are critical:”
Projection
Emphasis
Rate of speech
Tone
Verbal fillers
Projection¶
“Projection is how well a person’s voice carries. The goal is to speak so that the person farthest away from you can clearly hear your words. Achieving the goal can be a problem if you have a soft speaking voice.”
“Projection does not require you to shout. If you talk much louder than you normally do, you strain your vocal cords and alienate listeners. To project, do the following:”
Stand erect but not rigidly.
Speak from your diaphragm rather than your throat.
“Good posture helps the body produce more resonant speech. Speaking from the diaphragm projects your voice better than speaking from the throat and saves wear and tear on your vocal muscles. If the room is large, consider using a microphone.”
“Using your diaphragm for speech takes practice. Try the following suggestions:”
Take a few breaths while concentrating on pulling the air in with your diaphragm—this is called belly breathing. It also triggers a relaxation response, which can be useful to calm nerves. Put your hand on your stomach; if you are breathing from the diaphragm, you should feel a pronounced in and out movement.
After you get a feel for belly breathing, hum as you expel air. This exercise lets you experience what making sounds from the area below your lungs feels like.
Continue belly breathing. Try saying a single word as you expel air. Then try saying the word from your throat. You should feel a difference.
Emphasis¶
“Listening to a monotone is not only fatiguing for an audience, but it also strips away a dimension of meaning. We change the pitch of our voices as part of the meaning of spoken words, especially to signal significance. All words in a sentence do not have the same importance. The voice tells listeners which ones are and are not.”
Rate of Speech¶
“You have no doubt heard speakers whose concern to get through a presentation as quickly as possible caused them to speak rapidly. Rapid speaking can be a side effect of nervousness. The faster they talked, the less likely it is that you listened carefully.”
“Rapid speech has another bad effect from the audience’s point of view: It eliminates emphasis on key words.”
“Talk at a comfortable pace. Monitor your rate by making audio or video recordings of your rehearsals.”
Tone¶
“Tone expresses how speakers feel about the topic and the people they are speaking to. Many speakers unwittingly adopt a tone that does not make a good impression on listeners. Speaking in a monotone or a colorless tone of voice may be due to nerves or a consequence of reciting from memory. However, listeners can hear this tone of voice as boredom, indifference, or fear.”
“Be very careful about a negative tone. It may be appropriate on rare occasions, but in general that type of tone will complicate or sever a connection with the audience.”
“Practicing a presentation by delivering it to a friend will help you maintain a conversational tone—one that has energy and positive feeling.”
Verbal Fillers¶
“Uh, ah, and um and phrases such as you know and like—these sounds and phrases are verbal fillers because they fill what otherwise would be silence. Occasional fillers are not a problem, but when they are frequent, they distract and annoy listeners. This problem has a simple solution: Replace the fillers with silent pauses.”
“While the solution is conceptually simple, the implementation is difficult. Fillers are habits so they need to be ushered out of an individual’s vocabulary gradually. Also, speakers tend to be afraid of silence and often have an exaggerated sense of how long a silence lasts, even though audiences do not notice when speakers pause or they quickly forget that they did.”
“Here are suggestions for gradually eliminating fillers:”
Start monitoring how you use them in everyday conversations.
Start substituting a pause for some of them.
Set a goal of reducing your use of fillers over a period of time.
Nonverbal Communication¶
“Nonverbal communication conveys meaning through facial expression, gestures, and other means that do not rely on words. Nonverbal communication can be divided into five sources:”
Facial expression
Eye contact
Posture
Movement
Gesture
“This form of communication has a profound effect on people, starting with first impressions. As you know, people form a first impression of a stranger in about a tenth of a second.”
“Audience members are likely to feel more positively toward you if you exhibit what psychologists call immediacy behaviors, or nonverbal behavior that brings individuals closer to each other. They include:”
Smiling
Relaxed posture
Eye contact
“Exhibiting immediacy behaviors while speaking nurtures and sustains a favorable impression. The behaviors can be augmented with expressions of feelings such as concern, reassurance, humor, confidence, and empathy.”
“Your physical appearance matters too and should fit what your audience thinks is appropriate, for instance, business attire for bankers and casual clothes for video-game developers.”
Facial Expression¶
“Smiling is a vital element of immediacy behavior.”
“Anxiety about speaking can lead to a blank or frowning face. The people in the room do not know what you are feeling; they can only go on what they see and hear. From their viewpoint, you may appear slightly hostile, unhappy about having to present, or uninterested in the topic and them.”
“You want the audience to like you. When people smile at you, you tend to like them—that is a well-documented psychological response.”
“You don’t have to smile all the time. Many other expressions are appropriate according to the circumstances.”
Eye Contact¶
“Whether you are moving or standing still, face the audience as much as possible and look at audience members in their eyes. That keeps you connected with them. Try not to stand in one place, rotating your head back and forth to scan the audience.”
“At a visceral level, we have negative feelings about people who won’t look us in the eye. This reaction is not a conscious judgment. It happens automatically and can color our attitude toward the speaker without our being aware of it.”
“In certain cultures, steady eye contact is not regarded as a positive behavior. As always, you have to be sensitive to the cultural context.”
“One of the biggest liabilities of presentation slides is that they exert an almost magnetic attraction on the presenter’s eyes. All of us have stared at the back of presenters who seem mesmerized by their own slides—and probably all of us have turned our own backs to an audience. Part of rehearsing a presentation is establishing the discipline of facing the audience as much as possible.”
Posture¶
“When speakers stand erect but relaxed they seem comfortable with us, and we usually feel comfortable with them. As for the perennial question of what to do with your hands, when they are not doing something—such as making gestures—put them where nature did: at your sides.”
“Slumped shoulders, a rigid body, standing sideways to the audience for long periods—all of these postures signal a presenter’s discomfort, which is readily communicated to audiences.”
“Even the position and movement of your head can affect audiences. In psychological studies, people tend to perceive a slightly raised head as expressing confidence or happiness and a lowered head as meaning sadness or submission.”
“A head tilted to the right or left is usually seen as a desire for rapport, although when combined with a negative facial expression such as a frown, it communicates disagreement or disapproval.”
Movement¶
“Movement helps maintain the audience’s focus on you. Remember that people have three systems of attention and one, alerting, is sensitive to movements.”
“Maintain purposeful movement while you speak. For example, walk toward part of the audience, make eye contact with individuals, and then walk toward another part of the audience and again make eye contact. Return to a spot in the front of the audience and stand for a few moments. Then repeat the process, but approach different parts of the audience than you did the first time.”
“Getting close to individuals in the audience breaks down the barrier of space and strengthens the impression that the speaker is talking to each of them.”
Gesture¶
“Along with movement, gesture is the kinetic companion of speaking. Think of gestures as visual aids that happen to be attached to you.”
“Gesturing helps people think. Scientists speculate that the movement of arms and hands makes people’s thoughts more concrete. The gesture–thought connection implies that suppressing gestures can make speaking more difficult.”
“Some people say that they feel exposed and awkward with their hands at their sides. They want to do something with their arms that makes them feel safer. Instead of fighting the tendency to clasp hands or put them behind your back, keep them at waist level, close together but not clasped. The hands need to be free so that you can gesture with them.”
Useful Gestures for Speaking¶
“The most useful gestures are those that come naturally. Let your head, hands, and arms move as they do when you have a conversation. However, you can employ a few standard gestures when speaking. The two standard sets of gestures are enumeration and emphasis.”
Practice¶
“You should spend more time practicing your presentation than actually delivering it.”
Speaking involves both mind and body and the only to get better at is practice.
“Presentation practice has a memory component—learning the content of the presentation so that you can deliver it fluently but not memorizing anything more than a few sentences, if that.”
“Presentation practice has emotional and physical components. You should get used to smiling and other immediacy behaviors as you speak. Monitor your speaking voice for a positive tone. Allow your hands and arms to gesture naturally, move forward, and maintain a comfortable posture. Practicing silently in your head may help you remember the content, but it does nothing for the other elements of your presentation.”
“Researchers who study memory recommend fairly brief periods of practice (10 to 15 minutes), short breaks, and then tests of what you have learned. Studying chunks of content and other aspects of the presentation followed by self-tests to see if you can perform the chunk without major mistakes leads to better retention than studying all of the content at once, along with all the slide changes, movements, and other details of speaking.”
“You also are better off practicing different parts of the presentation rather than practicing one part over and over. If you have divided your presentation into smaller parts, practice them one at a time.”
Memory Aids¶
“The best memory aid is practice. The ideal is to speak without notes. An individual speaking to the audience without referring to notes or constantly looking at her slides helps establish a strong connection to the audience and enhances how they perceive her.”
“But a memory aid, such as an outline, is helpful as a reference. Memory aids can make a presenter feel more secure, because he has recourse if he forgets. Slides can serve the same purpose as notes, but be sure not to become over-dependent on them. If you do, you will have your back turned to listeners and read the slides to them.”
“Do not read your presentation from notes or recite it word for word from memory. Both kill any engagement between the speaker and the audience.”
Four Ways to Practice¶
“You should try to practice in the room where you will be speaking. The venue makes a difference: Speaking in a small conference room differs markedly from speaking in a large room or auditorium. For example, voice projection and movement are variables that depend on the size of the space.”
“Practicing in the room where you will speak gives you an opportunity to check conditions such as lighting and equipment.”
Four ways to practice:
Use Video
Watching a video of your rehearsals is probably the most effective teaching tool available other than audience feedback. Most people do not like looking at themselves on video. Recruiting a friend to watch with you can moderate the tendency to harsh self-criticism.
For realistic practice, ask several friends to serve as the audience. Have them sit on your right and left so you can get used to moving and making eye contact with the audience. Ask them for honest feedback.
Because of cellphones with video cameras, recording is easy. You can have a friend record you or do it yourself by placing a phone on a flat surface or using an inexpensive mini-tripod.
Use a Trusted Audience
Rehearse in front of a trusted audience without recording yourself. Arrange the audience members as described in number 1. Then ask them for feedback.
Practice with a Mirror
Practicing in front of a mirror can help you work on specific visual aspects of delivery such as posture. As you watch, you can change the way you are standing or refine a gesture in real time. However, watching yourself in a mirror can be distracting and can encourage bad habits such as not moving.
Practice without a Mirror
Rehearsing by yourself without a mirror or video camera is better than no rehearsal—as long as you talk out loud. You might feel self-conscious sometimes, but you need to use your voice, as you will in the presentation.
Answering Questions¶
“Think of a question-and-answer (Q&A) session as part of a presentation rather than an add-on. For a persuasive presentation, a Q&A provides more opportunities to convince the audience as well as a chance to reengage them when their interest and energy may be flagging.”
Preparing for Questions¶
“You can never include every important point about a topic in a presentation—nor should you. To prepare for questions, consider what you are leaving out that audience members may have questions about. (Sometimes this thinking will identify content that does need to be in the presentation.)”
“Every conclusion about a complicated, controversial issue inevitably has weaknesses or downsides. These can often be the subjects of audience members’ questions. A good response will explain how to mitigate those weaknesses or downsides. You may also have to defend your conclusion by reviewing the evidence you have presented. You should know how to summarize it quickly.”
Rehearsing a Q&A¶
“Write down the questions you expect so that you can practice answering them. A practice method is using online or mobile applications for creating flashcards. (Many of these applications are free.) They allow you to randomize the order of the flashcards, and some of them have the capability to speak the questions. Another option is to have a friend ask you questions.”
“Try to practice answers as you do the presentation: Stand and speak out loud.”
Conducting the Q&A¶
“After delivering a presentation, you are probably keyed up and may have strong emotions. This is not an internal state conducive to listening patiently. But that is what you need to do in a Q&A—observe questioners closely and listen to them carefully.”
“Watch the body language of the questioner: To strengthen your concentration, note questioners’ nonverbal communication—facial expression, posture (even when seated, people have different postures), and gestures. The information helps you concentrate and assess the questioner’s motivation and attitude.”
“Understand the question: Be certain that you understand a question. Your job is to answer questions, not sort out vague or confused audience statements. Never answer what you think was asked—ask for clarification. For example, “I have a sense that you don’t find the evidence convincing. If that’s true, tell me why you aren’t persuaded and I can speak to that.” Be alert for questions that give you an opening to reinforce your main points.”
“Speak to everyone: Repeat the question so that everyone knows what it is. Remember to speak to the whole audience, not the questioner alone.”
“Accept criticism gracefully: You have to take to heart the fact that no position is without weakness and therefore no presentation is impregnable. In addition, understand that you probably can’t convince everyone in the room. Show respect for critics, even if you think they are wrong, and do not try to deny or hide from fair criticism. What if a questioner has noticed a mistake in the presentation? Thank her for it. It is embarrassing, but it is better to have the chance to correct the mistake than to have audience members realize it later.”
“Do not fake it—ever: When you do not know the answer to a question, say so. Faking an answer risks destroying your credibility. If your answer is wrong and the audience accepts it, it could lead to bad consequences later on. Tell the person who asked the question that you will get back to him with an answer. (And make sure you do.)”
Maintaining Control¶
“Occasionally, audience members can feel competitive with speakers. They may think they are right and the speaker is wrong, and attempt to hijack a Q&A for a counterargument.”
“As soon as you see this situation developing, politely tell the individual that you want as many audience members as possible to have a chance to ask questions. Propose a conversation after the session has ended. Without an audience, the individual often will not be interested in pursuing the discussion.”
“Another risk is people who do not dispute the presentation but want to talk about something they consider more interesting. Be watchful for topics that have nothing to do with the presentation. If this happens, a response similar to the one just described is appropriate.”
Team Presentations¶
“In business school and the corporate world, presentations are often done in teams. Team presentations are not merely a series of individual presentations. They add a layer of planning, preparation, and practice to the individual presentations.”
“Presenting in teams demands coordination and continuity in four areas:”
Content
Slides and other visuals
Delivery
Transitions and timing
Content¶
“Content may be the toughest aspect of a team presentation. As with any form of teamwork, individuals easily head in different directions, resulting in incoherent, disjointed material. To avoid this, all members of the team should agree on a written presentation plan. A crystal clear statement of purpose forms the foundation of the plan.”
“Use the plan as a blueprint to assign team members responsibility for the major parts of the presentation. Their first task is generating content. Teams should regularly communicate about progress and discuss any problems that crop up. For example, a team member may find little material for the part she has been assigned. The team can decide whether to change the presentation plan or see if they can help with the research.”
“Use the plan as a blueprint to assign team members responsibility for the major parts of the presentation. Their first task is generating content. Teams should regularly communicate about progress and discuss any problems that crop up. For example, a team member may find little material for the part she has been assigned. The team can decide whether to change the presentation plan or see if they can help with the research.”
“Assuming the team will take questions, each member should write out a few questions that audience members may ask about his or her portion of the content. Team members should ask each other the questions and answer them as part of the presentation practice.”
Slides and Other Visuals¶
“If slides are used, the team should develop a common slide template to ensure a consistent look and feel. Because people have different ideas about slide design, the group should also talk about design principles.”
“The team should discuss other visual materials, such as video or props that could enhance the presentation and decide who will be responsible for them.”
“Having another team member advance slides and handle other media takes some pressure off the speakers and eliminates the need for them to take turns holding the remote.”
Delivery¶
“Everyone has a unique personality and therefore a unique delivery style. The differences are an advantage because they can keep audience engagement alive.”
“But all of the presenters should follow certain best practices. They should express a similar level of emotion, such as enthusiasm, and make similar efforts to engage the audience, such as eye contact and body movement. A high-engagement speaker followed by a low-engagement speaker will jar audience members and possibly cause them to wonder whether the low-engagement presenter believes in the team’s message.”
Transitions and Timing¶
“The transitions between the team’s speakers should not be left to improvisation. The team should agree on how to handle them and practice them. One approach to transitions is having each speaker introduce the next one. Or one person can handle the transitions; that person can also open and conclude the presentation.”
“Presenters can practice their parts on their own, but the team should rehearse the full presentation, including transitions, several times. Team members should give each other honest but constructive feedback.”
“Careful attention should be paid to how long each person speaks and the total time of the presentation. Adjustments should be made when one person runs long and puts pressure on the speakers that follow to cut short their remarks. Making adjustments in front of the audience is much more stressful than making them in practice sessions.”
“Speakers can lose track of time in front of an audience. A team member should be responsible for monitoring the time speakers are taking and give a sign agreed on in advance if they do not finish when they are supposed to.”
Web and Video Conferencing¶
“Internet-based conferencing applications are routinely used for business communication. Although they have real shortcomings, their physical and economic benefits ensure their wide usage.”
Technical Considerations¶
“For virtual presentations to be successful, both the speaker and the audience need to know how to use the software. Presenters, therefore, should practice extensively with the application they will use, especially when they are new to it.”
“Even when they are skilled, however, presenters should have an experienced producer for every event. “
“Experienced producers can save web presentations from disruption. They can be responsible for making sure that participants have correct login information in advance and are able to connect to the event. They can monitor the software during the presentation, troubleshoot, assist participants, and manage communications such as chat and email.”
“A virtual event can quickly run into trouble if participants are unfamiliar with the software. Presenters should be sure the audience knows the software before the day of the presentation. If they do not, the presenter should make sure they receive the necessary technical support.”
Strengths of Virtual Presentations¶
“Audience size: The “virtual conference room” of a web-based presentation can accommodate a few participants or hundreds or even thousands.”
“Distance and Time: Because it is web based, the technology can reach all over the globe and make time differences less important.”
“Cost: Virtual presentations can be far less expensive than face-to-face meetings if significant travel is involved.”
“Maturing technology: Software used for virtual presenting has been in use for years. Reliability has improved and the range of features and tools is large.”
Weaknesses of Virtual Presentations¶
“Audience attention: The competition for the audience’s attention is worse during virtual presentations than live events. Audience members can be doing anything instead of listening and watching—reading and writing emails, texting, or staring out a window.”
“Nonverbal feedback: Presenters receive no nonverbal feedback from the audience. They can’t read how attentive participants are or their emotions such as confusion, satisfaction, or dissent.”
“Making a connection: Except when using high-end software, virtual presenters have limited ways of making a connection with the audience: voice, facial expression, simulated eye contact (looking directly at the video camera), limited gestures, and slides and other visual material.”
Preparing Virtual Presentations¶
“Set realistic limits on presentation content and time: Virtual presenting diminishes the human connection possible in face-to-face encounters, thus making it harder to keep the audience’s attention. So does the fact that participants can do many other things while they are supposed to be paying attention. Therefore, you should cut the content down to the bare essentials and restrain the length of the presentation.”
“Persuade with the purpose: Prepare a statement about why participants should pay attention to you. Think of them as sitting in their office or home with many options for directing their attention. Give them reasons why they should choose you and your message.”
“Divide the presentation into short chunks: A presentation consisting of several small chunks with clear boundaries can give the audience a sense of forward progress. The momentum can assist you in keeping them focused. Prepare yourself to describe the structure at the beginning of the presentation.”
“Build in interactivity: Since the interaction between the speaker and audience is so limited, build in two-way events such as question-and-answer periods, discussions (including calling on audience members by name), problems participants have to work through, polls, games (if appropriate), and teamwork.”
“Design simple slides and eye-catching visuals: Keep your visual messages as simple as possible and tastefully eye-catching. For example, visually simple charts and graphs in bright colors will attract and hold attention better than tables with rows of numbers.”
“Practice with the software: Practice the presentation as much as possible, using the software. If the application has the capability, record rehearsals, critique them, and practice again.”
Delivering Virtual Presentations¶
“Make a bargain with the audience: Besides telling the audience why they should listen, let them know that in return for their attention, you will keep the presentation moving and end on time. Then clearly state the purpose, structure, and length of the presentation.”
“Do a sound, video, and interface check: Make sure everyone can hear you (and see you if using video). Check whether any participant is having a technical problem.”
“Position the camera correctly and speak into it: Check the positioning of the video camera before you begin. It should be at eye level and far enough away that viewers can see you from the waist up. Speak to the camera most of the time.”
“Pay attention to your voice: Your voice is your main medium of communication in a virtual presentation. For presentations without video, it is your only medium other than text and visuals. Use it wisely. Speak at a moderate rate and modulate for emphasis. Be sure you are talking at a volume comfortable for the listeners.”
“Use gentle gestures: If you have a video channel, gestures play a role in communicating meaning. So use them, but remember that in the small frame of the typical web video camera, movements are magnified. Try not to move your hands and arms quickly and keep them close to the body.”
“Do not interpret silence as attention: As the presenter you can’t be constantly worried that people are paying attention. At the same time, silence can be a bad sign. Asking a participant by name if she understands a point you’ve just made shows the audience that you will be monitoring their involvement. Other types of interactivity accomplish the same goal.”