Episode #267: How To Be That Charismatic Presenter

This speaker has it all. You are sitting down the back of the room, yet you can sense their inner energy, confidence, surety of what they are saying. You feel they have charisma, that compelling attractiveness as a presenter. You want to be like that too, but how? Let’s see how you can increase your presence and appeal as a speaker.

What the audience won’t see you doing is rehearsing on them. This sounds infinitely logical, yet so many speakers deliver their talk once. They are practicing on their live audience. Is this what professionals do? Of course not. Professionals walk on stage after they have given their talk many, many times in rehearsal. They have worked out the correct length, the high points, the cadence, the humour and every small detail needed to make the talk a success. For feedback, they never ask, “what do you think?”. Instead, they ask “what was good?” and “how could I make it better?”. They use video and audio review to improve. If they are travelling to make the talk, they know that with the lights out, a hotel room’s windows become mirrors, so that they can check their delivery.

Fully Prepared

When you get to the venue, the speaker is already there and in fact has been there an hour earlier checking everything is ready. They get a sense of the room. They sit in the cheap seats and see how they will appear up on stage. They make sure their slide deck is loaded and working correctly. They know how to work the slide advancer correctly and have worked out the sound levels for the microphone. You never see them bashing the microphone and asking “can you hear me down the back”. They have told the venue crew to leave the lights up and not dim them down to suit the screen. While waiting for people to arrive, they have diplomatically instructed the MC to read their introduction exactly as it has been crafted to project their personal brand.

They are standing near the door as people arrive, introducing themselves and asking what attracted them to today’s topic. They are working the room before the event kicks off. They give each person they engage with 100% of their attention, listening quietly, never interrupting them, finishing their sentences nor jumping in with their own clever comment. They are building tremendous good will with as many people in the audience as possible before they get anywhere near the stage. They remember your name and the main details of what you said. They are genuinely interested to meet you and find out what you are doing. They have demolished that invisible barrier between speaker and audience.

They are perfectly dressed for the occasion. They look the part of success. Every detail has been thought through. They don’t allow bright ties, puffy pocket chiefs or big scarves to compete with their face. They know their face is a million watt power source and they make it the main reference point for the audience, rather than being dominated by the slides.

Dominate The Space

The MC calls them on to the stage, after reciting their turbo charged credibility resume, exactly as requested. They walk to the center of the stage and start immediately, spending no time switching computers and loading their files. They have arranged for such pedestrian logistics to be handled by their support crew. They have purposely freed themselves up to absolutely nail the first two seconds impression window. They know that we live in the Age of Distraction and the Era of Cynicism and all we have is two seconds for the audience to decide their first impression of us. They don’t waste that opportunity. Their opening is a real grabber that cuts through all the competition for audience mind space. They reference a couple of the people they were speaking with earlier in the audience. “Mary made a good point about….”, “Bill had a wonderful insight on today’s topic….”. They are broadcasting to everyone that we are all one unit today and there is no longer any space separating speaker and listener.

They are projecting their ki bouncing it off the rear walls, pumping out high energy to their audience. What they say is clear, concise, well structured, supported by slides which are on point and Zen like in their clarity. The key message is crystal clear and their evidence is unassailable. They are engaging each individual audience member in six seconds of eye contact creating the feeling that the speaker is talking directly to them and no one else. What they say and how they say it is totally congruent.

Control The Final impression

They finish the talk with their first close and smoothly transition to Q&A stating how many minutes for questions. They paraphrase the questions, so that everyone in the audience can hear what was asked. As they answer, they give the questioner six seconds of eye contact and then work the room with six seconds of eye contact each for the other members of the audience. They don’t try and duck difficult questions. They mention, “I don’t know, but I will find out and get back to you. Who has the next question?”.

At the end of question time, they seize back the initiative to focus on their key message. They don’t allow the talk to finish with a question which may be totally off topic. They use their second close to repeat their key point and have that ringing in the ears of the audience as everyone departs the venue. They determine their final impression with the audience. They have organised their schedule to be able to invite audience members to swap business cards and chat after the talk. They are gracious and charming with everyone and cement their fan base for the next talk. They have it all, they are charismatic.