What to say and how to say it… the art of presenting
Last week was particularly busy and included a number of seminars and workshops with speakers and presentations and yet out of nine people I heard talk my critical eyes and ears were only properly entertained by about one-third and this got me thinking.
Presenting comes much more easily to some than it does to others, and yet the golden rules remain pretty much the same:
Identify who you target audience is
Work out what you want to say and why
Decide how long you are going to talk for and plan it
Manage your slides
Practice
Presenting is in essence all about messaging. There is a reason that you are giving a talk whether it be as a business pitch, imparting information at a conference or workshop, conversing with your team or other colleagues or simply for entertainment purposes in a lighter context but come what may, you are in the spotlight and you owe it to yourself and to the listeners to get it right.
It sounds so obvious that you should work out exactly what you want to say and why, and yet unfortunately all too often a speaker seems almost as surprised as the audience when they stand up to start! Presentations need planning, and this involves the slides.
If at all possible it helps to scope out the room and the kit available so that you know that you are comfortable with it and everything works.
With regards to slides I would always encourage people to work on the ‘less is more’ approach. The bullet points are there to guide the listeners and to give structure, but it is you that they have come to listen to. Don’t write too much as otherwise the audience will be concentrating on reading that rather than listening, and whatever is written should be clear and concise. If you can’t easily read it then don’t bother putting it on a slide, and this applies to graphs and tables too.
Hearing a speaker made a quip about ‘how good your eyesight is’ and then repeat it slide after slide isn’t good. If the slide doesn’t work and can’t be read then don’t include it!
‘Practice makes perfect’. - It may be boring, but its true. Deliver your presentation to a mirror. Look at yourself as you speak and be aware of any distracting mannerisms that you may need to control, be that simply saying ‘um’ or how you wave hands around.
Time yourself. You should know exactly how long you are going to speak for and be able deliver the presentation seamlessly moving from slide to slide without hesitation.
Project your voice; embrace the room; look at people in the eye and smile! - If you look as though you are relaxed and enjoying it then there’s a far greater chance that the audience will too.
The best presentation I’ve ever seen was delivered by Stephen Fry at Lords Cricket Ground in 2021 when he gave the MCC Cowdrey Lecture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybpMcSbYPtE . It was an incredible display of note-perfect presenting without pause, stumble or hesitation and no notes. Whether or not you like cricket it really is worth watching if you have a spare hour and a half.