Author: Gail Zack Anderson

What’s your message? So many times we have data or facts we need to get across, but without a message to tie it together, set the stage or give it context, those facts can get jumbled or just ignored.

For speaking success, start and end with a big-picture message about why you are speaking and why the audience needs to hear what you have to say. It is up to you as the presenter to figure out what the message is, rather than hoping it will become clear as you go. You know the content best, and if you are planning the presentation or meeting, you should know what you wish to accomplish.

Do this even if you think it should be obvious. It isn’t. And even if it is, the audience still needs to hear it from you. They need to hear it in the clearest, most compelling way you can tell it.

Some examples of messages:

• As we migrate to this new software, we will have new efficiencies and accuracies that we’ve only wished for in the past.
• By turning in your vacation requests when due, we will be able to process your vacation pay and make sure your requests for time off are honored.
• Adopting kaizen measures in our plant will result in cleaner, more efficient workspaces, making our jobs easier and most likely saving time and money.
• Purchasing this new equipment for the office will allow us to operate more safely and efficiently.
• A deeper understanding of accounting principles will help us to make better financial decisions on a day to day basis.
• The purpose of this meeting is to bring everyone up to speed on the project, and to determine and assign action items that will keep us on track.
• In our phone conference today let’s hear from each of you on customer concerns so we can use that information to improve our service.

What did you notice about these examples? Hopefully, you noticed they:

• Are complete sentences, not phrases or questions
• Are short in length, and use simple, common language
• State or imply benefits for the audience, team or organization
• Are big-picture, generally not including specific details
• Suggest actions to be taken by those listening
• Tell the audience what to expect

In order to create a strong message, take time to answer these five questions:

1. Who is your audience?

2. What do you want to say?

3. What do they want/not want to hear?

4. What strategies can help you bridge any gaps between 3 and 4?

5. What do you want them to do, say, think, feel or remember?

The answers to these five questions should help you formulate a message or overview statement. As you begin to capture your ideas about what your message is, play with the words, tighten the message, and say it out loud a few times.

If you aren’t convinced, then your message isn’t right–yet. Walk away for a few minutes, and come back to it fresh. Or ask someone else to talk it through with you. Just don’t settle for a message that leaves you cold; that is not a great way to start your presentation.

Once you capture it, you will experience a positive recognition that “this is it.” Be sure you capture your message on paper so you remember to start and end with it.

When you approach your next meeting, training session or presentation with a clear and compelling message, you can speak with confidence, and your audience will be able to understand and remember what you said. How great is that?

How many times have you sat through a meeting or presentation that was so dull and lifeless, you could only wish for it to end? What does suck the life out of these communication modes, and how can we get it back?

Here are some ways you can add more life and living to your speaking:

Only speak on topics that you can get excited about. If you can’t breathe life into them, maybe you should let them go. Write a memo or email instead.

Find the personal connection. How do you relate to this topic? How has it impacted you or those close to you? Why is it important? What are one or two stories you could tell to breathe new life into this material?

Get as close as you can to your material. Steep yourself in it. Read or scan books, blogs or articles so you will be refreshed and full of new thinking on the subject.

Engage the audience. Give them a quiz, put them in small groups to work on a problem, or ask them to share their thoughts with each other. Ask them for their stories and experiences. Often you can bring your energy and theirs together to make the content come alive.

Thoughts on bringing laughter to your speaking:

Don’t force humor. If you try too hard to make people laugh, you often just make them uncomfortable. Laughter is meant to relax and connect, so the more you force it the more it won’t work. Don’t try to be funny; just be lighthearted and see what happens.

Don’t tell jokes. Again, the harder you try the less funny you will probably be. Jokes are especially worrisome; there is always someone who gets laughed at. And so many times you run the risk of offending, or wasting time, or forgetting the punch line.

Do find natural, spontaneous humor and go with it. When you take a light-hearted approach, things just seem to happen that are funny. Mistakes can be funny as long as no one gets hurt; I often laugh at my own spelling or handwriting on a flip chart. Yes, it’s that bad. But if I can laugh at that, you might feel less concern if you make a mistake.

Laugh early and often. I find if I can get a chuckle or even a sparkle in someone’s eyes in the first 5-10 minutes, it’s going to be easier to laugh and have fun throughout the day. This dispels anxiety—mine and the listeners’ and makes the whole experience more human.

Have you ever thought about your audience, really connected with them to the point that you could say you loved them? If you have, you know what a moving experience that can be. If not, you might be missing out on making genuine connections, and that could leave you worrying about being perfect or impressive when you speak. Instead, think of connecting with and loving your audience, and you will see something shift.

How to “love” your audience:

Target your content to them. Never give a canned pitch or presentation; people can smell them coming a mile away and no one wants to hear them. Target you message, your language, and the examples and stories you tell, so that the audience sees that you understand them. (If you can’t do that, then use universal stories and themes that most people can relate to.)

Be curious about them. If you are all wrapped up in yourself, trying to be perfect every moment, you won’t have any energy to think about the audience. When you start to wonder about what they are experiencing, you can make stronger connections. I recently worked with an individual who never asked a single question about me in two days of working together. If he was curious or cared about me as a person I had no way of knowing.

Be helpful to them. If you desire to be perfect in your communication, that puts tremendous pressure on you to perform rather than to connect. Audiences always want to know how the information will impact them. If you can provide useful information, they won’t care if it is delivered perfectly or not.

Be real with them. For years, I wore a mask as a professional trainer. I didn’t let people know much about me, as I didn’t want my presentations and workshops to be about me. Over time I learned that it is about them and me. Just as you “see them” the audience wants to “see you.” Who are you as a person, what is important to you, and what kind of cookies do you like best? The audience doesn’t want to hear about you ad nauseum, that’s for sure, but don’t hold back everything either. Let them see you, and let them see you care.

So live, laugh and love your audience. Bring your content to life, and share your laughter and personality. Yes, get down to business. Have good information, well organized. But be sure you don’t overlook the human side of speaking.

Let’s begin with those Killer slides. These days, there is just no excuse for poorly designed slides. Pick up a book like Resonate by Nancy Duarte, or Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. You will quickly see that less is more, that slides need to be visually appealing, and that you can use the rule of thirds to create visual harmony. If you don’t have enough time for the books, read the blogs by these and other experts to get plenty of good ideas about creating slides with visual appeal. I especially like Reynolds’ before-and-after slides that show how to highlight information rather than obscuring it.

In addition to simplicity and harmony, add photos. You might subscribe to a royalty-free photo service where you purchase credits, pay as you go, or purchase a subscription for a certain time. These services provide royalty free photos that you can easily search by topic. Tight budget? There are hundreds of creative commons sites, including Flickr’s Creative Commons area. These images are typically free to use, as long as you follow the stated rules on their use and on giving proper credit for the photos you use. Another great option is to use photos you take yourself. Your team, nature, or objects can all be useful, and you’ll have unique photos without the worry about who owns the rights. I especially like to crop my pictures, or remove the background, or change the artistic effects or color. This is such a fast and easy way to customize your photos and graphics, and to show something unique.

In addition to simplicity and photos, consider turning those ugly bullet-pointed lists into graphics quickly by converting them to Smart Art in PowerPoint™. With one or two clicks you can put text into a circle (great for a quotation or phrase,) show relationships or just turn long lists into boxes or colorful shapes. And you can change the color or style with a single click. For some simple examples, look below. This is quick, colorful and almost too easy. Just don’t get carried away by all the options available. Your overarching goal is to communicate the information in a more eye-appealing manner, not to try out every effect possible.

Finally, remember KISS. It seems to stand for either Keep it Simple, Stupid, or Keep it Short and Simple, which I think is a little nicer and more to the point. In any case, keep your visuals as clean, uncluttered and simple as you can. Photos and color always look best on a simple white background (rather than prepackaged templates.) But even on a simple background, if you add too many boxes, fonts, and styles, and shapes, it can quickly look cluttered, so keep subtracting rather than adding.

Another aspect of KISS is with animations and translations between slides. Most of the time these are just plain unnecessary. If you have one or two simple builds or transitions in a presentation, they can add impact. Too many and they are just distracting. If you do use an occasional animation, don’t use crazy ones that swoop in and spin around three times….unless somehow that is the point you are trying to make.

Go through your slides one final time to ensure headings are all the same font and size, that clutter has been removed, and that typos and punctuation errors have been corrected. Better yet, get a second set of eyes to proof read it, because chances are you are too close to see these little things that can be so annoying to your audience.

Yes, all this takes time. But if you keep it simple enough, and use fewer slides, you should have just enough time left over to rehearse your presentation out loud one more time. I guarantee that will be time well spent.

We continue with the alphabet of presenting.

J is for the pure Joy of presenting. How often we view presenting as a chore, something to be worried over, gotten though, and sometimes frightened by. The truth of it is, if we can get into the moment, presentations can be nearly effortless and even joyful. In addition, when we come from joy, not fear, our presentations are far more compelling to our listeners. Yes, you need to be as fully-prepared as the situation requires, no matter how much time it takes. But instead of approaching the presentation with dread, approach it with joy. This is an opportunity to connect and influence people. This is a chance to do good in the world. Use a little self-talk if you need to: “This is a joyous occasion, and I am so happy to be speaking and influencing people in a positive way.”

Speaking of joy, J is also for Jagger. Mick, that is. Here is an old soul, a 68 year old rocker who still rocks. Picture his swagger, observe how he uses his whole self to communicate with his audiences, think about the joy he brings to performances. Tentative? Timid? Unsure? No way! Here is a guy who goes all-out no matter what. I suspect if each of us had that mind-set and that commitment to our causes, our presentations would be so much richer and more compelling. Swagger a little? Better than creeping around feeling like a mouse. If you can’t rock your own presentations, who can?

J is also for Jobs, Steve Jobs. Well known for his casual dress and his conversational style, but also for the Wow Factor he always brought to presentations and announcements. Here is what I want you to know about Jobs; he wasn’t born that way. By all accounts, he started out a low-key, rather unimpressive speaker. In order to achieve the greatness we all associate with him, he had to work harder than most, and he spent untold hours rehearsing over and over, every aspect of the presentation, until it looked natural and spontaneous. Don’t resent the time it takes you to prepare in order to look smooth and polished in your delivery. In the long run, all your presentations and everyday communication will be better as a result.

There you have it, Joy, Jobs and Jagger.

Have you ever stumbled a little over your introduction? I sure have! I vividly remember once I was being introduced, and the person introducing me forgot my name. The nervousness must have been contagious, because when I started to speak, I practically forgot my own name as well. Not an auspicious beginning, right?

Introductions are such a great opportunity to step up and make a powerful first impression, and with a little advance thinking, you can ace this important aspect of presenting.

3 Tips for introducing yourself

1. Don’t leave it to chance. This part of your presentation is so important that you will want to plan and rehearse it. And if you are uncomfortable speaking about yourself in this way, do your best to get past it. Your audience needs to know a little about you in order to make a connection with you. They also need to know you care about them, which is why I often talk about the audience and their concerns first, ask a few questions, get them engaged, and then tell them about me.
2. Add something personal. My goal in my introductions is to connect with the audience. One way to do that is to tell a little story about yourself, as long as you make it brief. One of my favorite stories involves the time I was at a conference and on break I met some participants that would be in a future session. They all glanced at me, and then one person spoke up: “Oh, you’re the presentation lady.” At first I was so impressed that my reputation preceded me, I just smiled. But when no one else smiled, I got it. They knew who I was and they were nervous about the session. I have been able to use the story several times, and it always gets a chuckle. It also reminds me not to get too big-headed.
3. Don’t tell all. Instead of going on and on about yourself, think about what you have in common with the audience and then stress that part of your background rather than giving a detailed biography. One of my clients is in the agriculture business, and every time I ask people to introduce themselves, practically every one mentions having grown up on a farm. Now, I was a city kid, so I can’t pretend otherwise, but I can mention the summers I spent on my uncle’s farm. That resonates more than going into great depth about all my credentials and professional background, most of which they could care less about. Having spent some time on a farm creates a personal connection that is more important than degrees or honors.

Introducing yourself is a key component of your presentation, and one that is often overlooked. Do yourself and your audience a big favor; take time to prepare and polish your opening so you can make a great first impression and get your presentation off to a strong start.

As you know, we continue our alphabetical count-down of communication attributes and skills. Today we focus on some key words for the letter H.

H is for…

Heart. When we focus on just the facts, we are missing such a critical element; the heart. Great speakers speak from their hearts. They have an attitude of caring about the content and the audience. They have a personal connection that can only come from caring. Keep asking yourself; why am I speaking rather than just sending the information in an email? What difference can I make? Why do I care, and why should the audience?

Head. The logical side must also matter. You may choose to use statistics, examples or testimony, but in each case select your facts carefully, quote them accurately, and spell out the “so what” of each piece of evidence. Don’t make the assumption that facts or statistics will automatically create the connections you are trying to make. And don’t rely only on facts and statistics, but balance them with heart or emotion. This is why stories and case studies are so compelling; they can blend fact and feeling.

Humor. The great speakers can find humor in nearly any situation, and they know how to use it deftly. If you can make your audience laugh in the first two minutes, you will probably “have them” throughout your presentation, no matter how serious the material. How to do this? Play with words, exaggerate slightly, laugh at yourself (gently,) tell a story or anecdote that gets a laugh but makes a point relating to the content. Watch how subtly and simply great speakers get a chuckle that brings the whole room together. And then practice ways you can do it that are authentic and comfortable for you.

Honesty. Remember how your children howled when they received a shot from the nice doctor? I think the howl was indignation as much as or more than pain. “You didn’t tell me this was going to hurt!” they seem to be saying. You can’t beat honesty. Your audience will probably sense that they aren’t hearing the truth. And they will resent you once they know the truth. You can try to sugar-coat it all you want. And you can downplay it if you dare. But speaking straight is probably going to be more successful in building trust in the long run. Yes, “This is going to hurt a little, but the outcome will be worth a bit of pain now.”

Are you speaking with Heart and Head, Humor and Honesty? If yes, let us know how this is working for you, and if not, start today. Yes, this is going to take some effort, but the results will likely be well worth your time.

Here are some of the words starting with the letter G that we can use to describe a highly effective speaker. See which ones you resonate with, and then let me know if you can think of others.

Gracious. I know it sounds obvious, but when we are speaking we often become terribly self-focused. Instead of thinking about yourself, imagine what you would do if you had special guests coming to your home. You would clean and tidy your home, put yourself into a receptive mood, and then greet them at the door. You would be welcoming, friendly and kind. In other words, gracious. Somehow we get into the mindset that our special guests (audience members) are boors and we have to be on our guard at all times. Afraid of what questions they might ask. Afraid we might be boring. Or worse, wrong. What if you relaxed, smiled and treated them with warmth and graciousness? Make the people connection. It is far more important–at least at the beginning–than the data.

Greeting. Quick! What is the first thing you should say when you begin a presentation? When you pick up the phone you say “hello” or “good morning,” so why wouldn’t you start with a greeting in a presentation? Without a greeting you can sound cold and set an unfriendly tone. Take time for a smile and a hello. But no need to go overboard with gratuitous “thank you for being here” comments. Especially if people have been told they must attend, or feel they must. Instead, how about a warm and sincere “Good morning! I am so glad you are here. Let’s get started.” Ten seconds. Bam!

Gestures. When we are at ease, we rarely think about our hand gestures. They just happen…naturally. Somehow when we stand up to speak, we are struck with an odd kind of awkwardness and self-consciousness. Suddenly we don’t know how to use these appendages which had been doing just fine without our attention. We clam up and shut down, jamming hands into pockets or clasping them tightly. Not good. Begin to pay attention to what your hands do when you are engrossed in a conversation. Try to allow the same thing to happen when you are presenting or speaking in front of a group. Great gestures are descriptive, varied, and expressive. You can’t “make” yourself gesture, you can only let it happen.

What other words come to mind when you think about highly effective speakers? Next time–the letter H. Any suggestions?

We continue with our alphabet of terms for great speaking.

Focus. When we speak in a focused way, all our energy works toward the same end–getting our message across. Our thoughts, our words, and our bodies all work together to send a unified, cohesive message. When we are in this particular state, words tend to come more easily, we gesture more dramatically, and it is almost as if we forget about ourselves. We speak fluently, with fewer fillers like “um” and much more dynamic expression. So how do you get to focus? Sometimes it is by directing our attention on the audience and what we bring to them. Sometimes it is being clear and passionate about our subject matter. Very rarely does it happen by thinking about our own selves or how well we are doing.

Friendly. Once again, when we focus on ourselves, or on the words themselves, we tend to get very serious. Our faces tense up, and often our bodies do too. We are there, but not there. We are all in our heads, not present in the moment. We often don’t even see the audience in front of us. Next time you speak, before you begin, make a conscious effort to connect with the audience. Look at the faces before you. Extend your gaze. Soften your eyes. Put on a welcoming smile. Breathe. Now you are ready to begin. Allow yourself to be present, to give of yourself to your audience. Don’t worry so much about what words you use, but about the thoughts and messages you wish to share.

Fresh. Are your ideas, your words, your very phrases stale and outdated? Or do you bring fresh perspective every time you speak? Sometimes we give the same presentations over and over until we get bored with them. We go on autopilot, mouthing the words without really connecting with them. Guess what? The audience can tell! If you have ever gone on autopilot, consider it an opportunity. Once you know the content well enough to go on autopilot, you have the opportunity to play with it. Change the sequence. Change the stories and illustrations you use. Instead of telling, use dialog to get everyone discussing the information. One well-known consultant in our area says he changes one third of his content every year, so he is constantly adding fresh content, and every three years it is completely revamped. This seems healthy to me. If your presentations seem stale, do something different each time you speak. Trust me, it will wake you up and keep you on your toes. It will make you a better speaker.

Are you a focused, friendly and fresh speaker? How did you get that way? How do you stay that way?

If you think of great words for upcoming letters, please add a comment.

If you follow this blog you know we are working our way through the alphabet, selecting words for each letter that embody different aspects of speaking and presenting. We have made our way to the letter “E.”

Energy. We all know how important energy is; too much and you feel like a nervous wreck, speaking too fast and bouncing off the walls like a toddler with too little sleep and too much sugar. Too little energy and you can come across as sleepy, slow, b o r i n g. Managing your energy so it is just right is a little tricky, but once you learn how to use it properly, you will be able to handle yourself under all kinds of pressure. As a result, your energy works with you and gives you power. (One little tip; stop thinking about nervousness, and think instead about using your energy rather than letting it act on you.)

Engaging. Usually the second thing my clients say makes a great speaker is being engaging. (The first one is confident!) A great speaker doesn’t just talk at or even to the audience, instead they engage them in dialog. You really can’t be boring if you are truly engaging. The best speakers use stories, examples, metaphors, visuals, discussions, or activities—whatever it takes to bring content to life and life to the audience. They ask questions, listen intently and care what the audience thinks. Great speakers encourage their audiences to ask meaningful questions, and they answer honestly. They foster give and take in every aspect of their presentations. They turn every talk into a conversation. And guess what? You can do these things as well.

Eye contact. This is such an important delivery skill, and one we sometimes overlook or underestimate it. Think about it; when you are face to face, eye contact is the single most important way to connect with your audience. Trouble is, when you are focusing on your thoughts, your words, or your slides, you might forget to look at your audience. Or it might be distracting, so you look away. Take time today to monitor your eye contact, and see if you can make a slow, steady connection with each person you are speaking with. Better yet, ask a trusted colleague to observe you and give you feedback on your eye contact. Ideally, it will be slower than sweeping the audience, but shorter than a staring contest. Two to four seconds per person is realistic but takes plenty of practice to master.

How have your embodied these attributes in your speaking? What results or outcomes have you enjoyed?

What other words come to mind for the letter E? And how about upcoming letters? Submit your ideas and get extra credit!

We have been exploring the qualities of great presenters, starting with A and on our way to Z. Each week we list one or several attributes of great presenters and communicators, and suggest some ways you can build that characteristic in your own speaking.

If you want to play along, suggest your own great words starting with that letter of the week. Better yet, help me out by suggesting a word for the next letter of the alphabet! And let me know how you are using these ideas to build your own habits and characteristics for great speaking.

Dynamic: having life, energy, passion about your topic. Nothing can replace this! If you are worried about remembering your lines, this can rob all your energy and leave you flat. Audiences today have very little tolerance for a speaker just reading the slides. Break away. Tell a story. Talk about the problem, or your solution, or your audience. Breathe life into your presentation. Ahhhh! Much better!

Daring: if everyone else just reads through the boring bullets, are you really going to do the same thing? You could, of course. But why not be a little bit daring? Hide some of your slides. Edit out some of the detail. Add in a few great graphics. Photos of the team or the customer’s plant. Hit the “B” key while presenting a get a black screen, turning the attention off the slides and onto you. Now that’s daring.

Distinctive. What is your unique presentation strength? What makes you special? If it is your expressive voice, play that up. If it is your ability to tell stories, weave them in. If you are really good at humor—and you might want to ask someone to validate this—sprinkle some in. If you are great at facilitating a lively discussion, feature that in your presentations. No one can be you, so find what makes you distinctively different, and run with it.

How have your embodied these attributes in your speaking? What results or outcomes have you enjoyed? What cautionary tales would you add to those willing to be daring, distinctive and dynamic?

What other words come to mind for the letter D?