What’s the secret of super presenters?

Seasoned public speakers get their skills from knowledge, desire, effort, and practice. If you want to create high-impact presentations, you have to cultivate a genuine interest in delivering your message to an audience, strive to learn the right techniques, and practice, practice, practice. Before you know it, you’ll be using your presentation skills and nutrition expertise often to spread the good word about food and nutrition!

Methods for High-Impact Presentations:

• Jitter Management 101
• Tailoring to Your Audience
• Techniques for a Smooth Topic Flow
• Pre-presentation Checklist
• Tips for a Special Delivery
• Hints for Powerful PowerPoint
• Surviving the Q&A

Jitter Management 101

Even pros get nervous before speaking in public. Fear or anxiety is public speaking barrier no.1. Fortunately, it’s manageable. Here are a few tips:*

• Put your fear of speaking into perspective. This is very common and widespread, so you’re not alone. Seventy-five percent (75%) of people experience anxiety without negatively affecting their performance, and only five percent (5%) have it so bad that they can’t get through a speech.
• Build confidence through being prepared and practice. A lot of anxiety is caused by not being prepared for the speech (in these cases, anxiety is a very telling symptom!).
• Use relaxation techniques to deal with the physical effects of fear. If your muscles get tense or you get butterflies, you can focus on deep breathing, tightening and then relaxing certain muscles, visualizing peaceful things, etc. Or, if you get hyper or on an adrenaline high, take a brisk walk around the block to calm down.
• Use positive self-suggestions. Visualize yourself speaking successfully. Rather than thinking about “performing for” an audience, think about “talking with” them. This will draw on your already-developed ability to just talk with people and carry on a conversation. Also, think of anxiety as energy. This energy can either be channeled in less helpful ways (worry, stress, etc.) or more productive ways (spontaneity, enthusiasm, etc.)

*Adapted from Walter J. Carl, PhD. HCOMM544-Professional Communication (class notes). Tufts University, 2004.

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Tailoring to Your Audience

Many speakers mistakenly assume that the audience knows (or cares) about the message they want to communicate. Before you create your actual presentation, you have to analyze your audience.*

• Demographic Analysis: Who are they? Knowledge of basic traits (i.e. age, gender, educational level, economic status, religion, etc.) helps, but the best way to understand your audience is to think about how their specific experiences contribute to how they view or make sense of the world.
• Attitude Analysis: What’s their attitude towards you and the topic? Are they favorable to your topic, neutral or could they care less? What are their psychological and emotional preconceptions? Are they opposed to taking action, not inclined to act, ready to act, already taking action? What does your audience think about you?
• Situational Analysis: What do they want to, need to, and expect to hear? The last thing you’d want to do is an “information dump.” Think about the size of your audience, what brings them together, how they’ll make use of the information, and the events surrounding your particular presentation.

Based on your analyses, here are general tips on how to tailor your presentation to your audience:

• Match the main idea and structure to your audience’s characteristics.
• Narrow your topic scope. Given a limited time (and audience attention span), define the message you want your audience to receive. The more specific, the better.

Examples:

• Make your supportive materials relevant.
• Adapt your speaking style to audience expectations.

*Adapted from Walter J. Carl, PhD. HCOMM544-Professional Communication (class notes). Tufts University, 2004.

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Techniques for a Smooth Topic Flow

How do you organize your presentation in a way that captures your audience’s attention and gets your message through? Start with an outline to maintain logical order and stay within your topic scope. The basic structure is as follows:

I. Attention-grabbing opening. You’ve got two minutes capture attention and answer two main questions that are in the audience’s head:

Attention-grabbing openings can be in the form of one of the following:

• A startling fact
• A question
• A quote
• A demonstration
• An anecdote/story
• A comment about a current/local event

II. Meaty middle. Support your main idea with one or more of the following:

• Example—Provides instances or samples of people, places, objects, actions, conditions, or experiences.
• Definition—Clarifies an unfamiliar word or phrase
• Comparison—Clarifies term by showing its similarity to a more familiar term
• Contrast—Clarifies term by showing its difference to a more familiar term
• Statistics—Clarify or prove a point with numbers
• Testimony—Clarifies or proves a point using the speaker’s words or those of an expert
• Research—Provides facts based on actual studies

III. Memorable ending

• Summarize key points. This will help the audience refocus on the main idea and retain the information.
• Give a call to action. Tell the audience what you want them to know or do.
• Wrap up with a great quote, anecdote, or personal observation.

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Pre-Presentation Checklist: Logistics

Do take care of logistical details before you actually deliver your presentation. These proactive measures can reduce your tension and may even spare you from an awkward situation.

• Arrive early. Give yourself enough time to get settled and prepare for the presentation.
• Know your contact person. Don’t waste valuable time looking for someone you don’t know!
• Bring your own intro. Make it easier for the organizers of the presentation to get the audience acquainted with you—without the risk of leaving out important details.
• Check out the room. This is gives you an idea of the size of the audience as well as the equipment that’s available (or will be needed) for your presentation.
• Have everything you need in place. Equipment, flipchart, handouts, etc.
• Test equipment. Make sure that the laptop, overhead projector, sound system, etc. are working properly. Know the personnel in charge of these equipment so that they can address potential technical problems.
• Prepare a backup plan. Anticipate last minute changes—especially cutbacks. In such instances, determine which parts of your presentation are absolutely necessary so that you can deliver these intact.
• Turn off your cell phone! There’s nothing more distracting than a cell phone ringing in the middle of a presentation. So, turn it off for the meantime.

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Tips for a Special Delivery: Cultivating an Engaging Speaking Style*

• Practice, practice, practice. Practice the speech at least three times (use a watch to time yourself and record each time; this will tell you if you are over/under or right on target).
  • First, in front of a mirror by yourself
  • Second, in front of one other person
  • Third, in front of 2-5 people

If you have props and other special equipment, be sure to practice with these materials as well to
avoid fumbling during your presentation.

• Speak naturally and clearly. Skip the script and beware of vocal fillers such as “ums,” “uhs,” “likes,” and “you knows.” Other things to keep in mind:
  • Pay attention to your vocal volume. Talk to the person at the back of the room; the more people, the louder you’ll have to speak. Adapt your volume to overcome external noise.
  • Vary the tone of your voice. Don’t use the same tone pattern so often that it becomes monotonous to the audience.
  • Vary the rate of your speech. Audiences perceive people who talk too fast as less trustworthy and people that talk too slow as less credible and sometimes condescending.
  • Use pauses judiciously. These allow the audience to reflect on something that was said or build anticipation for something that is to come.
• Connect with the audience.
  • Be enthusiastic.
  • Use appropriate humor.
  • Tell little stories.
  • Make eye contact. (As a guideline, you should have eye contact with your audience at least 85% of the time)
  • Move around, if you can. Sometimes you’ll stand behind a podium the whole time, but on other occasions it may be appropriate to move to the left, right, front, or back. Use movement to emphasize the content of your speech.
  • A smile can go a long way to helping the audience feel comfortable and involved in your speech, as long as they do not perceive it as an attempt at manipulation.
• Eliminate distracting mannerisms. Most behaviors aren’t distracting in and of themselves, but appear only so to an audience when they are constantly repeated (e.g., pushing up glasses on your nose, rocking on your heels, etc.). Awareness is the first and most important step for dealing with mannerisms, so be sure to solicit feedback about this aspect of your delivery. Then you can develop a systematic plan to reduce the frequency of the distracting mannerisms.
• Keep hands available for gesturing. A lot of hand movements and gestures can, and will, happen naturally and appropriately if you let them (i.e., you’re not strangling the podium, drowning your hands in your pocket, or giving yourself a bear hug). Keep your arms, wrists, and fingers relaxed so that your hands can move when you need them.

*Adapted from Walter J. Carl, PhD. HCOMM544-Professional Communication (class notes). Tufts University, 2004.

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Hints for Powerful PowerPoint

• Contrasting colors. If you’re using a dark background, use light text and vice-versa. Try design templates to make the appearance of the slides consistent in theme and professional- looking.
• No more than 3-6 brief points per slide. Don’t try to cram too much text into one slide. This will help the audience focus on the content of the slide better.
• Simple font, no less than size 24. Times New Roman or Arial are good choices for fonts. Anything smaller than a font size 24 will be difficult to read. Make the font size of slide titles larger (and/or bolder) than subsequent bullet points for emphasis.
• Mix of text and graphics. A balance of these elements will create visual appeal.
• Avoid too many bells and whistles. Too much color, graphics, movement, and special effects can be distracting.
• Check for typos. Review the slideshow contents and correct misspelled words, erroneous figures, etc.

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Surviving the Q&A*

1. Don’t Panic. Stay calm and confident.
2. State the Ground Rules. Let the audience know how much time will be allotted for Q&A and what kinds of questions will be and not be answered.
3. Restate and/or Clarify the Question.
   • This ensures that the entire audience has heard the question.
   • It allows the questioner to correct you if the question was misinterpreted.
   • It allows you to make the question clearer and to the point.
     • Never answer a question you do not understand.
     • Compliment the question if appropriate with “good question,” “I was hoping someone would ask that,” etc. (This works well with hostile questions and can refocus on the issue rather than on personal attacks.)
4. Answer the Question.
   • Know your topic and anticipate questions.
     • Success often depends on preparation and research.
     • Anticipate potential questions and formulate possible answers.
     • If it is a persuasive presentation, know the weakness of the argument as well as its strengths.
   • Be brief and to the point.
     • Shorter answers are easier to remember.
     • Less of a chance of making a mistake or being misquoted.
     • The shorter the answer the more questions can be answered.
   • If you don’t know the answer, admit it.
     • It’s ok to say “I DON’T KNOW.” Often the best response is “I don’t know, but I will try to find out and get back to you.” Get the question on a business card and respond promptly.
     • Do not lie or make up answers you aren’t sure about.
   • Be careful of what you say in public.
     • Nothing is “off the record” in a public setting, so try to avoid comments that can be taken out of context or misquoted.
   • Look at the questioner while he/she is asking the question to make sure you hear everything, but answer the question to the entire audience
5. Check the Response with the Questioner. As the presenter, it’s your decision whether to return to the questioner or not.
6. Direct Attention to the Next Questioner.
   • It’s your discretion as the presenter to choose who asks the next question. Try to answer in the order that people indicate interest in asking a question (usually by them raising a hand).
   • If a person has been hostile, wants to monopolize the floor with questions, or otherwise proves difficult, you do not need to—and should not—call on that person again.

*Adapted from Walter J. Carl, PhD. HCOMM544-Professional Communication (class notes). Tufts University, 2004.

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