Episode #164: Leading An Intentional Presenter Life In 2020

Are we going slowly glide in 2020 carrying all the bad habits and bad baggage from everything we have thought, done and procrastinated on up until now? Or are we going to seize the opportunity of a man made temporal illusion to divest ourselves of the sins and misdeeds of the past and strike out anew? The change of the calendar for some signals a new financial year, when new budget numbers and plans are fixed. For others it has already passed or is soon to fall upon us. Regardless, this opportunity should be seized to review and plan for the next calendar cycle. Rarely though is presenting skill part of that process. Let’s change that this time.

Here are seven things to commit to in 2020 as a presenter.

1. Look for every opportunity to present. “Practice makes perfect” may or may not be true for you, but the more we do presentations the more chance we have to become better. Don’t hide from or refuse occasions where you can get up in front of people and talk. Even better, list up organisations who need speakers and make contact. Give them a range of topics you can speak on and see if there is a match of interests. What have you got to lose? Nothing, so go for it.

2. Swear a blood oath to rehearse before you give a talk. Rule number one in presenting is “never practice on the audience”. Rehearsing gives us time to work on our timing, to make sure we are congruent with our planned content and the time allotted within which to deliver it. It helps with controlling our nervousness and builds our confidence.

3. Decide you are the boss of this presentation. Don’t yield power to your notes, from which you will read the presentation. Don’t be overshadowed by the slick corporate video. Forbid the slide deck from out muscling you on stage. Make your face, voice and gestures the center piece of the delivery, such that all eyes and ears are encompassing you because your grip on the audience is so intense.

4. Banish the internet. Start your talk with a gripping opening that so immobilises your audience that they release their desperate grip on their phones. Ensure they cannot abandon you and escape to the titillation of the internet and assorted apps that are the siren’s call competing for your spot in the limelight.

5. Always wrap your statements up in the cotton wool of context to protect them. Every time you stray into statement land, that charming, well behaved audience mutates into a howling pack of ferocious critics, disagreeing with your ideas and conclusion. This reaction is usually based on nothing more than ignorance and prejudice, because they don’t have the proof, the evidence, the background. All they hear a bald faced statement, of which they are doubtful. Instead tell them a story which is deep with context, evidence, data, testimonials, a tsunami of proof, from which they cannot escape.

6. Prepare two closes for before and after the Q&A. Smoothly wrap up your talk and then call for questions. Answer the questions and then seize control back from the random direction the questions have taken. Remember the final questions are often the worst, because all the better questions have already been asked. The worst questions are those which having little If nothing to do with the topic and these will come up. Your second close gets the whole show back on track and allows you to issue you main message again, such that it is all that is ringing in the ears of your listeners, as they depart the venue.

7. Video your presentation for review and/ or ask trusted friends of colleagues to give you feedback. Make sure that it is structured feedback because you want to ask about specific things, rather than “how was it?” This type of broad based feedback isn’t so helpful. Also make sure you instruct them to tell what you did that was good and how you can make it better next time. Never allow critique to raise its ugly head. If it comes up, stop them right there and redirect them to good/better feedback.

Let’s change up our professional game as presenters in 2020 and go back to the basics. None of this is complex or difficult. It just requires the time allocation and the mental attitude of wanting to master the art of presenting, rather than being a second rate show for the rest of your life. Turn that around with these seven points. You will become a person of influence and persuasion with those around you and 2020 will be a much better year because of that.