The Secret To Delivering a Triple-A Presentation

I have always been a keen student of interpersonal skills and along the way have developed a hands-on, step-by-step approach to training the various business applications. I generally stick with this pragmatic stance in my sales and negotiating skills workshops, but when I conduct my presentation skills sessions, I do concede the need for a more creative approach, and often surprise my trainees by stepping a bit wide of my ever-practical methodology. Yes, I forgo some of the structure in favour of a little philosophy, along these lines...

As much as we hate to admit it, modern society has coerced most of us into a materialistic approach to life. By motivating ourselves against personal achievement and measuring our gains in the form of our belongings, often with too little regard for those around us, we tend to overlook the inevitable - that we are really just temporary custodians of these things anyway. We must ultimately leave the tangible items behind for others to use, and the milestones for others to surpass. As a career businessman and keen sportsman, I am the first to concede that there is a time and place for this driven, competitive approach to many aspects of our lives. However, if we take the time to step back a pace or two, surely our real purpose in this comparatively short stay on earth is no more complex than to live harmoniously with our fellow human beings, to compassionately share what we can with them, and to strive to make some meaningful contribution to their lot in life. This means taking the time to really understand others, to really connect with them.

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It is this aspect of the philosophy which directly relates to our ability to convincingly present ideas and concepts to one another. It all boils down to just one thing - EMPATHY. The effectiveness of your presentation will not be measured by how well or otherwise you believe you have delivered your material; it will be judged by how well your audience absorbs it, is moved by it, and if appropriate, acts upon it.

In my sessions, I therefore set out to cover the essential presentation skills with one simple underlying premise - 'how genuinely you get to understand and appreciate your audience is just as important as the detailed planning, preparing, practising, and performing routines that surround it'. How closely you relate to your listeners, how completely you satisfy their mixed-bag of wants and needs, will be the ultimate measure of your success... irrespective of what's in it for you. As a presenter, you certainly do need to exhibit confidence and authority, but at the end of the day, it really is a case of putting ego aside, and putting others before self!

It can certainly have its rewards too! Very little in life can equal the adrenalin rush of a competent platform performance, and the satisfaction of a well-earned ovation from an enraptured audience. Just ask any successful actor, comedian, musician, or dancer - it just doesn't get any better than that! While the prime objective of your talk may not necessarily be to entertain, your stage performance can still reach the same dizzy heights of audience appreciation and the acclaim that follows.

However, it's not all that easy. Having to address large groups often strikes terror into the hearts of people who are otherwise perfectly capable and confident individuals. It's said that it ranks just behind death and divorce in the 'fear' stakes, and we know that the difference between good managers and great managers is often the level of their presentation skills. Sadly, the potential of many otherwise excellent managers is limited by apprehension, even a reluctance, to embrace the challenges of public speaking. Yet history reveals the secret...

For most of us, our speaking career begins in earnest before our second birthday, just after we have mastered the art of getting up and about on two legs. Sure, we are still a little short in stature to see over a lectern, and a bit lean in the vocabulary and writing departments to prepare notes, but nevertheless our very health and welfare has already begun to relate to how well we can communicate with those around us. In these early days, our audience may be limited, usually focused on the main provider of our needs - our mother. Yes, our early audience may be little bigger than our immediate family, but it is that very same audience from which we are learning the fundamentals, the platform on which we will ultimately build our speaking ability. After all, it is they who have basically taught us how to talk.

So here is our first lesson, and it must become a lasting one - if we are to aspire to becoming a convincing presenter, we must learn everything we can from our audience, and everything we can about them. If we don't, we will never know if there is likely to be anything new or beneficial in what we are presenting to them - a reason for them to give us their attention. As we progress through school, into the social scene, onto the workforce and beyond, our audience may well get wider, but that basic rule of communication will never change.

Yes, if we really want to master the knack of presenting, and gain our 'Triple-A' rating in public speaking, our absolute focus must be on - Audience, Audience, Audience!