This article was originally published in Medium on June 12, 2017 by Lindsay Portnoy
When was the last time you gave a pitch, taught a class, led a professional development, or facilitated a training? Did you use Powerpoint slides, Prezi, or one of the 36 other platforms for presenting information? Was it successful? How do you know?
Last week one of my co-founders and I attended a conference where Powerpoint was the template of choice, but the approach to presenting varied wildly. While networking and skill building was of the utmost importance, my educator brain clung tightly to seven habits of those who were most successful in engaging the audience, able to create a sense of urgency across discrete fields, and charismatically commanded attention throughout their presentations.
With each new presenter a novel takeaway emerged building an important list of do’s and don’ts for being a highly successful presenter. Without further ado, the seven habits of highly successful presenters:
1: Know your audience
A great presenter knows their domain so well that they they can reduce jargon and speak to any crowd. So too does a stellar presenter who takes it a step beyond by learning about the audience they are speaking to so they can tailor their message for the greatest impact.
Imagine citing a reference that is far too old/young/niche for your audience to grasp or using technical language such as schemas or mirror neurons which ensures a pithy presentation to a group of cognitive psychologists but leaves a group of mechanical engineers lost in the dust. Likewise, discussing “stress analysis” may have a different meaning depending on the audience.
Understanding simple things like the range of educational backgrounds, the size of the group, the experience levels, and even better, the problems faced by members of your audience will ensure your message is on point and well received by every person in your audience.
2: Know and use your space
A good presenter visits the space before they present. A stellar presenter does too, but they also ask about the space while preparing their talk to make the best use of the stage, the mic, and the room.
Questions to ask to ensure a successful presentation include: How large is the room? How is the seating arranged? Are there large round tables with a dozen audience members at each or are they sitting in an auditorium? Is there a podium or a standing mic? How can I move and engage the most amount of people during this talk? Simple questions like these can ensure you can better reach each audience member.
We’ll talk about engagement in #5 but knowing the layout of your space before giving your talk ensures that you are prepared to engage your entire audience, and can plan those interactions ahead of time.
3: A picture tells a thousand words
Cognitive load refers to the amount of effort your brain requires to process information. Successful presentations limit the cognitive load by using single words or better yet, engaging graphics, that supplement the speaker’s talking points.
To do this successfully your talk should be written before the presentation is created. If you need powerpoint to help script your talk that’s fine, but talking points should be replaced with images that trigger your memory so you’re not reading notes from a screen or worse yet saying something distinct from the graphics the audience sees.
4: Tone and motion sets the stage for engagement
Practice truly does make better (notice I didn’t say perfect, I’ll save that for another day). This one requires some serious reflection. Depending on the presentation you’re giving you’re likely to prepare your talk ahead of time. Instead of running through it in your head or even out loud, consider recording yourself to hear how you sound.
Are there certain words or ideas that you are saying more or less loudly? Does the inflection in your voice change as you speak? Are these changes intentional and do they correlate to key concepts that you wish to highlight?
Emphasizing important concepts with your voice and your body makes your presentation more engaging and helps the audience focus in on salient items with your gentle guidance.
5: Make room for interaction
In 7th grade Algebra it was not looked upon kindly to be called upon by the teacher. The same holds true in professional spaces today. But that’s not to say that there’s no room for engaging with your audience.
Asking your audience to identify with different issues, concerns, or thoughts by raising their hand is a quick way to help you speak more directly to those in attendance (see # 1). It will also make your audience feel like they are part of a conversation and not empty vessels upon which you are disseminating your brilliance.
If you’re feeling particularly confident, consider asking questions during your talk that require audience participation, knowing that the responses may vary and you will have to think on your feet to connect their responses to the flow of your talk. But know that increasing audience participation also increases engagement so consider it for your next talk.
6: Connect honestly
Everyone fails. A lot. What everyone does not know is how often even the most successful people have failed. Engaging audiences is about being authentic and honest. You don’t have to share the most embarrassing story of your failures but sharing about your highs and lows makes people tune in and want to learn more.
If the audience can see themselves in your shoes whether through a story of emotional triumph, a hard won success, or a failure laden with insights, they are likely to take a great deal away from your presentation and likely seek you out again in the future.
Among the myriad speakers at the recent convention there is one that stands apart as the most engaging, inspiring, and thought-provoking speaker who spoke (with visual aids, see #3) about the failures and what was learned from each. I could connect, I was curious, I engaged. So too did the audience who did not miss a beat laughing at the jokes and waited with baited breath for each new morsel of knowledge.
It wasn’t simply the silliness of this scientist who was using a washing machine as a cheap centrifuge but the earnestness about how it did and did not work out and later how building a successful team required him to go outside his comfort zone and ask for help in places he might have otherwise never ventured. Simple. Straight-forward. Honest.
7: Lead with a question, leave with one too
It’s common in presentations to lead with an outline or bullet points of the topics you wish to share in chronological order. This is important as it centers your audience and prepares them for the flow of your talk. But it’s a missed opportunity to really pull them in and engage them at the beginning and again at the end to check in and encourage them to continue thinking beyond your time together.
In the first 30 seconds of your talk ask a question. Not a what-would-be-your-last-meal kind of question, unless your audience is filled with professional chefs looking for inspiration, but a question that gets right to a problem that your audience is trying to fix.
In a room full of teachers I might ask: which student has been your most difficult to reach? Why? Starting with a question tailored to the audience (see #1) brings them in and gets them connecting the content to their own experiences. After a talk about how growth and development influence a child’s ability to engage with different grown ups I might end with a question such as: what information about how children develop might have been helpful in meeting that student you thought of at the beginning of our talk? How might you have changed your approach if you had this information sooner?
If you clicked on this article you may be a teacher, a marketer, a business owner, or hold any number of careers that require you to give presentations. If you’re feeling the pain of an imperfect pitch, hopefully you’ll start your next talk with a question in an effort to ignite the synapses in your audience’s brains, allowing them to connect with your content in a deep and meaningful way.
To recap:
1: Know your audience: What is the range of education, experience, age, and content area represented within your audience? This will help you reduce jargon and create a clear message
2: Know and use your space: What is the size of the room, where is the mic, how are audience members seated? This will ensure you maximize your reach of audience members.
3: A picture tells a thousand words: Less text = more listening. Write first then find images that serve as cues while you speak.
4: Tone and motion set the stage for engagement: Be mindful of your vocal inflection as it guides your audience
5: Make room for interaction: Ask for a show of hands or for a specific response to a pressing question to increase engagement and connect.
6: Connect honestly: Relevant personal stories provide a narrative frame that is both engaging and memorable.
7: Lead with a question, leave with one too: Pull people in with a question that is relevant and then leave with a question that encourages them to think about what you just shared in a new way that is relevant to their needs.
Presenting is like teaching. The more you present and the more reflective and open you are to change, the better you become. What’s important is that you know your story and can tell it in a compelling way that is approachable, engaging, and tailored to fit your audience.
Which of these habits do you already possess? Which ones do you need to work on? Which habits have I missed? Share your thoughts below: