Episode #250: Building Anticipation With Your Audience

Whenever I hear that Jesper Koll, CEO of WisdomTree Investments Japan, is going to give a talk here in Tokyo, I want to attend. I have heard him speak before and he is very good, so my anticipation level of another great presentation is high. I am not alone in thinking like this and his talks are always packed. This underlines why being able to present at a professional level builds your personal brand. The basis for a professional presentation is receiving high level training and then getting a lot of practice to hone the craft. You might be thinking, “well I don’t get that many opportunities to give talks, so the frequency index is a bit low for me”. Fair enough, but you can get the training and that is the starting point to get the speaking spots. All professional business speakers did a lot of speaking for free, before they ever got paid. In business, we will have to give excellent talks from the very start and then at every opportunity, to build our reputation. This is why the training needs to come first and the frequency becomes a consequence of the training results.

For those who are not in the “established reputation” group, which obviously is the majority, there are things we can do very easily to join them. While we are working in our companies, there will be chances to give updates, reports, represent the section, etc., and this is where we need to start building our reputation. Fortunately, there is rarely a queue formed on the right to give these talks. Most people hate speaking in public, because they have no clue what they are doing. They just bumble along, shuffling forward like the army of the dead reluctant presenters. Good, keep bumbling. That means we can get the opportunity to volunteer our services instead.

When the top bosses see you give your report and your slides are crystal clear, well presented and your delivery is really excellent, you will be noted as someone who can represent the firm. It may not happen quickly, but don’t worry, those very same abilities as a competent presenter are also the requirements for leading others. You are likely to be promoted in your firm because you are seen as a skilled communicator, someone with persuasion power.

Rising through the ranks opens up more possibilities for giving presentations. Often the big bosses themselves hate presenting too and will be very happy to throw you the speaking spot. Grab it every time. Once you get into the public arena, other will start to notice you. More invitations will come. I have never asked Jesper about this, but I will bet he wasn’t an overnight success as a speaker. I am sure he took years to polish his delivery. As you wise up to how the system works, you will start creating your own chances. You will be nominating yourself to give pertinent talks, on some worthy subjects for the local burghers. Don’t let “imposter syndrome” hold you back. Remember that 99% of people giving business presentations range in skill from average to rubbish. You have every right to be out there and because you have received the training, you are automatically in the top 5% straight away.

Picking topics which are hot is a no-brainer. This is where your copy writing skills are called upon to draft the gripping blurb advertising your talk. Don’t rely on the hosts to do this for you. This is your brand we are talking about here and you must have total control over how you are represented to an audience. This is what the people will see and on that basis they will attend, until such time as you are well regarded speaker and people will turn up to hear whatever you have to say regardless, because they are fans.

This is what happens for me when Jesper’s name is bandied about as a speaker. I just go straight to the signup page and register, without reading the finer details, because I know it will be good. The other dimension is that not everyone will be able to attend your talk but many, many more will see the notification. They will start to associate your name with a particular topic. In Jesper’s case it will be Japan’s economy, because he is an expert economist and that is what he talks about. Your name in lights as an expert on a topic is part of building an audience and personal brand for the future.

When we get to the delivery stage, we can also build anticipation. You are introduced by the MC, who is absolutely quoting from the brilliant introduction of yourself, which you prepared in advance. I say “absolutely” because you need to nobble the MC beforehand and give firm instructions they follow the script and don’t go off piste. It should be brimming to overflow with credibility and this starts to build a positive anticipation in those who don’t know anything about you as yet.

When the MC introduction is finished and you are on stage, don't start immediately. Just hold the proceedings for a few seconds, which by the way can seem like an eternity and then start. If you want to see an anticipation build of stupendous proportions, then watch the video of Michael Jackson, when he performed at the Super Bowl in 1993. He didn’t move a muscle for one minute and thirteen seconds. At that point, all he did was change his head direction to the left. He then held that new pose until the one minute thirty two mark and then he began his performance. It takes a huge amount of guts to hold an audience for that long. Well folks we are not Michael Jackson, so we can only hold our audience for a short time, but we should still hold them in order to build that anticipation.

Keep close the idea of creating anticipation in the mind of your audience and develop your presentations accordingly. If you start this way, you can anticipate a lot of success for your personal and professional brands.