Episode #104: Presentations Fake News

We all know a little knowledge is dangerous. I have witnessed this many times when it comes to some advice being pandered by so called experts about public speaking. Let’s dodge the fake news and learn what we should be worrying about in our presentation.

Professor Albert Mehrabian’s 1967 study of communication concluded that 55% of the presenter’s message was received visually, 38% from voice tone and only 7% through the words. A number of gurus and pseudo experts have built businesses around emphasising the importance of how we look when we present. So, according to this misplaced logic, how we look accounts for over half of the impression of how we come across, so pay careful attention to dress etc.

Professor Mehrabian nearly 50 years ago, flagged an issue that has reached epidemic proportions today – audience distraction. In his day, he was worried about factors that might compete with the key point we were trying to get across. His research showed that this 55/38/7 split only applied under one very critical condition.

When what we are saying is not congruent with how we are saying it, the audience leaves us. They go off message and get distracted by our dress and appearance in 55% of the cases. Others are no longer listening to what we are saying, but to how we are saying it. So 38% are focused on how we sound, our voice qualities, our accent, our pronunciation, etc. When we are incongruent between what we are saying and the delivery, only 7% of the words are registering with our audience.

When we say “incongruent” what do we mean by this. Mehrabian’s work tells us that when we don’t match what we say with how we say it, we lose our audience.

Wooden faces, devoid of expression are precisely the target for Mehrabian’s research results. These are often the experts in their fields who rely on their reputation and authority to carry the day. They are heavyweights and their faces are ever serious, never smiling. The problem is they are only able to manage one facial expression throughout their presentation, regardless of the content. Not every sentence in a presentation is of such heavy weight seriousness. Consequently, the audience leaves their message.

We need to have highs and lows in our presentations. Serious and light moments, complex and simple components of the message. Each of these requires a face and voice of its own, that is in synch with the content.

If the topic is serious, be serious but be prepared to ease off the pressure from the constant seriousness. It is exhausting for an audience, they need a break or we will lose them. If we are flippant and light all the time, we will not be providing enough variety for our audience at the other end of the scale.

If we focus on being congruent when we speak, then we will be more successful in getting our message across to our audience. That 7% number will flip to become close to 100% and that is what we want.