Make a Winning Presentation: Think Like a Listener

The difference between closing a sale and losing it rests with the presentation. Whether you’re selling a product or an idea, the ability to present effectively is the difference between acceptance and rejection.

Yet, most Americans would rather die than give a speech. Whatever the facts, the idea of standing in front of an audience ranks far below going to the dentist for most people.

Even though the fear of public speaking runs deep, the ability to get an audience’s attention, hold it for a period of time, persuade them to your viewpoint, and then move them to action is a skill that anyone can learn.

Speaking - like writing - is valuable in business because it indicates an ability to think, analyze ideas, make judgments, develop arguments that command attention, and organize information in a way that moves people to action. Just as good writers are in demand, the ability to speak can open doors of opportunity.

If speaking is so rewarding and highly regarded, why will we do almost anything to avoid doing it? Although it’s relatively easy to cover up most mistakes, giving a presentation to two or 200 people can lead to very public personal failure and embarrassment. How many times a day do we hear co-workers make excuses when they’re asked to explain why something did or didn’t happen: "I didn’t know about it." "I didn’t have time to get it done" "I didn’t realize you needed it." "I thought someone else was taking care of that." When making a presentation, there’s no room for excuses because the exposure is total. You’re there by yourself; you’re the one being put to the test. The emperor has no clothes.

Because the fear of failing is so strong, we run for cover. Anyone who has taken a class in public speaking knows the feeling. When the moment comes for the next presentation, everyone slides down in their chairs. The key to becoming an effective speaker is conquering the fear of failure.

To make a successful presentation focus attention on the audience rather than on what you’re doing. You’ll overcome your fear by learning to think like a listener. By following these suggestions, speaking can become an enjoyable and rewarding experience for you and your audience:

• Prepare yourself for the critics. Even experienced, professional speakers have critics. Because speaking means exposure, some people delight in challenging you. They enjoy poking holes in arguments and bringing up exceptions in an effort to diminish the speaker. No matter how well you prepare a presentation, someone will want to disparage what you’ve said. It’s easier to maintain your mental equilibrium if you know that this will happen.
• Recognize that stress minimizes mental agility."I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but the minute I got on my feet, I forgot everything." Of course. Because speaking is always stressful, we tend to forget what we planned to say. Walter Cronkite, the retired dean of TV news reports, said that he never ended an interview with a world leader without forgetting to ask a question.
  
  The key to overcoming stress is thorough preparation. This doesn’t mean you have to memorize a speech. Write it out word-for-word, or prepare a detailed outline. If you’re haunted with stress about what you’re going to say next, you’ll have no energy left to relate with the audience.
• Set the stage for success.The overall setting includes the room and the way it’s arranged, the introduction of the speaker, and how the speaker begins. It’s your responsibility to control all these elements.
  
  There is no ideal room or room arrangement. Hotels generally have long narrow rooms with center aisles and poor lighting — a no-win situation for a speaker. The distance between the speaker and the last row creates a gulf too difficult to bridge; you’ll never establish rapport with the back half of the room. Try to arrange for proper seating, lighting, and sound.
  
  Every speaker deserves a proper introduction that establishes an atmosphere in which they can succeed. More often than not, the announcer is so nervous or unprepared that the introduction fizzles. There are two solutions to this problem: First, provide a written introduction. Second, assume the introduction will be inadequate. Be prepared to introduce yourself. This isn’t self-serving. A speaker has a right to be viewed by the audience as a competent individual with a message worth communicating.
  
  The final element in setting the stage is to never apologize. "I only wish I had more time to prepare." "I’m not a public speaker." Many speakers seem compelled to begin with self-deprecation. Apologizing serves one purpose: it destroys the speaker’s credibility with the audience. To paraphrase Sir Winston Churchill, never, never, never, never, never, never, never apologize.
• Build the presentation on a solid structure. An outline works well for most presentations because it gives a sense of completion. The outline has three elements: problem, analysis, and solution:
  • Problem. This is the issue that brings you to the podium. It might be the reason why a new product should be introduced, a customer should buy your product or service, a branch office should be closed, or a new vision statement should be adopted. In this part of the presentation you must make the audience feel that the problem is real and deserves attention.
  • Analysis. The analysis explains why the problem exists. To impact the audience use actual experiences, particularly when you can support them with facts, expert opinion, and statistics.
  • Solution.Once you’ve identified and analyzed the problem, spring the trap by presenting your solution.
  Although there are emotional elements in any effective speech, the audience will be with you to the degree that you present a reasonable case. To buy your solution, the audience must view it as a sensible approach.
• Understand your audience. Many speakers are so concerned with what they want to say that they forget that the goal is to have the audience accept their ideas. Show your audience that you know who they are, why they’re there, and what issues confront them. If it’s a hostile audience, let them know that you understand their viewpoint and why they hold it. Unless you establish common ground with your audience, your speech will fail.
• Speak slowly and move quickly.Although a speech should seem conversational, the actual delivery is quite different. First, the listener must get the message the first time; there’s no chance to go back and replay it. Therefore, speaking slowly and distinctly is essential. "Word point," or pausing between words, provides a useful technique for maintaining the audience’s attention.
  
  Second, the mind moves about four times faster than the mouth. We think at about 500 words a minute, while we speak at about 125 words a minute. This disparity causes listeners’ minds to wander. This means that a properly paced speech is essential in order to maintain listener interest.
• Let the audience know where you’re going. "The speech didn’t seem to go anywhere" is the one audience complaint you must avoid. It’s the killer. A presentation can have excellent content and address critical issues, but you’ll lose the audience if they sense that you’re rambling.
  
  Set out guideposts so the listener can follow easily. One and two sentence summaries along the way are helpful: this is where we’ve been, this is where we are, and this is where we’re going. Listeners need road signs to know where they are and where they’re headed.
• Interact with your listeners.The worst speakers are those who go to the podium, take out notes or text, and then deliver their remarks as if they’re speaking to an empty room. Asking questions and requesting comments at certain points changes the dynamics of the situation. Speaker and audience are both participants.
  
  Even though speakers often interact with audiences, any type of interaction transfers some control from the speaker to the audience. Although discussion within a presentation can be an effective method for increasing acceptance for the speaker’s views, it takes experience to do it successfully.
• Make the presentation motivating, not motivational. If a group needs firing up, it’ll take more than a speech or seminar to do it. Motivational speeches don’t do the job. Although they might give an audience a temporary emotional jolt, they don’t change behavior. An effective presentation should give the audience the ideas, techniques, and tools they need to take action.
• You’re not competing with a celebrity speaker.Audiences are often disappointed when a so-called celebrity speaker leaves the podium. Listeners come with high expectations, but what they get is a "canned talk." Big names often don’t customize presentations for a particular audience, so their message fades faster than the applause.
  
  Audiences appreciate speakers who make a genuine effort to understand the group and prepare a presentation that will be helpful to them. Besides, big names aren’t always great speakers.
• Make it visually interesting.Until 100 years ago, listening to speeches was our nation’s primary form of entertainment. This was the age of the orators, speakers who could hold audiences for hours. The arrival of the motion picture changed audience expectations.
  
  Any successful presentation should include compelling visual elements, either on screen or with props. For example, one speaker describes changes in the business environment as "dog bone demographics." Along with computer-generated visuals, he brings a huge dog bone as a prop that immediately grabs the audience’s attention. When he talks about the need for long-term marketing strategies, he holds up a six-inch fir tree and suggests that the lumber industry is an example of businesses that think long-term.
  
  Although visual interest is essential, don’t allow visuals to dominate or control a presentation. They should enhance, not overshadow the message.
• You are your message. Although some speakers believe that what they say is all that counts, it’s not true. You’ll gain credibility only when you hold the listener in high regard. Good speakers are willing to share themselves, as well as their ideas. A presentation is validated when this happens.
  
  In other words, effective speaking isn’t contrived. The words aren’t lifted from a bevy of books. The text isn’t sprinkled with quotations that are meant to impress but don’t quite fit. When a presentation springs from experience and a desire to communicate, the audience finds itself on the speaker’s side.
• The goal is action. The only reason to speak is to promote action. Even speeches designed to inform rather than persuade are action-oriented. Information influences how the listener thinks about a subject. Any presenter asks one question: What do I want the audience to do? Perhaps it’s just to stay the course, or maybe it’s to change their minds. It might be to motivate listeners to some overt act. Unless action is the goal, there’s no presentation.

Whether it’s preparing a one-on-one presentation, a seminar for 100 salespeople, or a speech to an entire convention, those with the skills to speak to groups play a key role in business. The key to good speaking is to think like a listener. These guidelines offer a checklist for evaluating presentations before they’re given.