Here is my method to prepare to deliver your presentation. It is not the only way. There may
be other techniques that are equally valid. But it is the technique which I have developed
over the years and has served me well. I will not impose a list of rules on you to remember.
Instead, I offer a methodology, an approach, to follow. Give it a go. It is a method which has
worked for many presenters.
Let's take the plunge... To begin, first remind yourself that preparing your presentation-
composing it and choosing the appropriate slides for it etc- is not the same thing as
preparing yourself to deliver that presentation. They are two separate and different
processes and roughly equal time should be spent on both.
It has lately become popular to think of preparing to deliver a presentation as if you were
preparing to tell a story. You may have heard terms like delivering a 'corporate narrative'.
There are a slew of books about storytelling and its relationship to the delivery of
presentations. They make the case that they are quite similar. Both have a beginning,
middle, and end. Both contain core facts and supporting information to make those core
facts clear. Like a good story, an effective presentation uses images, concepts, and
metaphors which connect you to your audience.
The key to this approach is to find the right balance between the facts you hope to share
and the images, concepts, and metaphors you choose to communicate those facts in a
creative and enjoyable way.
In this way, your audience will feel engaged. This idea has gained much traction recently,
because a good story leads the listener along and grips their attention.
I take no issue with that, but I offer you here a different way of thinking about preparing
yourself to deliver your presentation.
Imagine that you are now on the spot and all eyes are on you as you brace yourself to begin
addressing your audience.
You may be picturing yourself facing a skeptical group. You may be feeling butterflies in your
stomach. You may be shaking your head to chase away your self-doubt or armoring yourself
for a fight.
But wait. Before you set off, shouldn't you think about the practicalities? You may need to
test the devices that you want to use during the presentation, so you are confident that they
are functioning just as you wish them to function.
And before you open your mouth, it is always good practice to get to know the space in
which you are presenting. If you have not been in that space before, you might ask
someone, who has been there, what the room is like. And in these days of miracles and
wonders, it may be possible to preview the space virtually online.
To prepare to deliver your presentation properly, you must come to know the room.
Understand the environment in which you will speak. Consider not only what the room looks
like, but also its lighting, its acoustic nature, and any distractions that may compete with you
for the attention of your audience.
I refer to distractions like a large window behind you with people out walking on the street.
There may be overly loud voices in the corridor. There may be the sleep-inducing, soporific
hum of the heating and cooling system.
Master the room in all its facets and make it yours. Command the room. There's an old
saying about this. "If you cannot remember the color of the walls of the room in which you
were presenting, you were not really in the room". There is truth in that. You must 'take the
room' with you.
Another consideration lurks right there in the room in front of you. That elephant in the room
is your audience. In preparing yourself to deliver your presentation, spend adequate time
considering the composition of your audience.
Who are they? What are their roles? Why are they there? What might they really want from
listening to you? How can you influence them?
This is self-evident when presenting at a team meeting or in a classroom, but when
presenting to a group, who you do not know, you must get to know as much about them as
possible. It gives you a good head start to your considerations on the best way to address
them.
My usual practice is to hunt for someone who may know this audience. Preferably, this will
be someone who has presented to them in the past. If you are given a list of delegates who
will be at your presentation, use social media to learn as much about them as you can.
Dedicate as much time and effort as possible in getting to know your audience. If you do, it
will make it that much easier for you to connect with them. And to connect with your
audience is the first part of your three-part 'Task'.
Fabulous! You have spent time getting to know the room and its environment. You did what
you could do to get to know who will be listening to you. You have tested your equipment.
You are all set to go.
But again, hold on a moment. There is one final element to consider in your preparations
before you shove off and set sail. And that final element is- you. But how do you prepare
yourself to present? How do you make yourself ready?
Let me share with you my method to prepare myself to give myself every chance to be
effective and have 'personal impact' in my presentation.
Everything I do to prepare myself is done in order to 'draw myself out' and 'externalize'
myself. I give you a motto to follow:
'Get out of the little room and into the big room'.
Work to 'Get out of the little room (your head) and into the big room' (the space in which you
are presenting). End your interior monologue. Stop talking to yourself. Draw yourself out.
Get in the room and stay in the room. After all, you are presenting in the room and not in
your head.
Your presentation is not about you. It is about your audience. You are audience-focused.
You address the needs and concerns of your audience. Not your own needs and concerns.
You present to the audience there in the 'big room' with you. It is in the 'big room' where you
need to be and where you need to stay. But to stay there, you first need to master yourself.
There are a plethora of old sayings and maxims about mastering yourself. Different cultures
have different ways of putting it. In Britain we might say, "Steady on!" or "Will you listen to
yourself?"
There are other cross-cultural versions too. "Deal with it!" "Chill out!" "Lighten up!" "Get a
grip!" and a host of others. I share this with you, because it is vital to learn how to 'Get a hold
of yourself'. You are your own master. Your nerves do not own you.
When I first started presenting and things did not go as well as I had hoped, it dawned on
me that I was letting myself get in the way of my own message. I began to think about
presenting in a new way. I would tell myself that I was being selfish. I was more concerned
about myself and how I was doing than I was about my audience and their requirements.
I discovered a way to 'get over myself' and started caring more about my audience than
about the 'Great Me'. Now, I always get out of the 'little room' and into the 'big room' for that
is where your audience lives.
I perform a little trick to remind myself of this. Steal it, if you wish.
Even when presenting in a room that I know well, I first take a quick scan of the space and
look for something that I imagine no one else will have noticed. There is always something
in any room that others may not notice.
This practice takes me away from myself and puts me into the 'big room'. I look for that 'spot
in the room'. I do not stare at it as I present, but I know it is there. It takes me out of myself
and into the room. It is a reminder not to get in my own way. It helps me to take the room
with me.
Surrender yourself to the room you're in. Be there. Stay there. Relish the experience of
being there. Enjoy the company with you there.
Do not resist and let your fraught body language send out mixed signals that conflict with
your verbal expression. Let yourself be there in the 'big room'. Happily abide there as you
lead your audience along with you.
'Get a hold of yourself' and be there for them.
THE THREE GIVENS
That is easier said than done. Your own fears and foibles must be mastered in order to
achieve it. But they can be mastered. And this is what I have come to know and embrace
that allows me to manage it.
I accept the 'Givens'.
I accept the 'givens' in my presentation. In my view, there are primarily three of them.
Let's go through them one by one and see if you too can accept the 'givens'. Let's learn how
to accept the 'givens', the realities of your situation as presenters.
If I am speaking to an audience who are all capable of seeing, I accept the first 'given' that I
will be seen. Your audience will see you anyway, whatever you do. Accept that as given.
Whenever I see a presenter fiddling with a pen in their hands or rocking from side to side or
swatting at 'invisible birds' and gesturing without pause or purpose, I take pity on them. I
think to myself that they have not truly accepted the fact that they will be seen. I view their
nervous anxiety and stress as a form of 'hiding'.
Take this 'given' of being seen even further. Commit to yourself that you 'intend to be seen'.
You will be seen for good or ill and you intend to be seen well. You will be seen. Accept it.
Admittedly, that may not be an easy thing to do. You may have some deeply engrained fear
of being noticed in a group. It could well be a primal fear. Perhaps it goes back to our
ancient past, when we went out on the hunt with our fellow hunter-gatherers and were
successful in trapping and killing a wild boar.
We drag the poor creature back to our cave and have a feast together. But we know that
after the feast, one of us must be sacrificed to appease the 'hunting goddess'. So, we try
our best to keep a low profile to make sure that we are not the unlucky one who is chosen.
Our fear of being seen by a group may be as deeply buried a fear as that.
But certainly no one is going to sacrifice you after your presentation.
Overcome this primal fear by accepting the 'given' that you will be seen. Accept it and strive
to be seen well. Do not allow your fear to affect your body language and get in the way of
your presentational task. 'Get over yourself'. You will be seen. Accept it. It is a 'given'.
The second of the three 'givens' is much like the first. If you are convinced that your
audience is perfectly capable of hearing you, accept the 'given' that you will be heard. You
will be heard for good or ill. Accept this reality and take it further. Commit to the idea that
you 'intend to be heard'.
When you mumble incoherently or ramble so quickly that no one could possibly take in all
that you are saying or speak so softly that no ear could possibly hear, you have not
accepted the 'given' that you will be heard. 'Deal with it'. Accept it. It is a 'given'.
This matter of not wishing to be heard may also go back to some sort of primal defense
mechanism. Perhaps, back in our cave-dwelling days, we once saw a saber-toothed tiger
lurking outside its entrance. It was a matter of survival to be as still and silent as possible.
This fear of being heard may be as deeply rooted as that.
But surely your audience does not consist of saber-toothed tigers.
After many years of listening to presentations, I have noticed that this is a fear for many
presenters. Overcome that fear by accepting it as a 'given' that you will be heard whatever
you do.
There is a third and final fundamental 'given'. It is less straightforward, so let me address it
in the following way.
When you deliver a presentation, no one would come up to you afterward and say, "Well
done! You remembered all your content". It is expected of you to remember the content of
your presentation.
It too is a 'given'.
You get no prizes for it. You are a professional presenter, your workplace pays you a salary,
and it is part of your job to know your content.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this third 'given' involves work on your part. You must
work to learn your presentation. Spend time doing so. Go over it and over it. Come to know
your 'pillars'. Work to recall the supporting information for each pillar. Remember what slide
image goes with what pillar and in what order. Put in the hard graft to learn it.
But at some stage in this learning process, you must muster the courage to tell yourself that
you do know your presentation. Once you have put in the prerequisite effort, accept that you
know it.
Accept the 'given' that you know your presentation. I call it the 'I know this presentation
moment'. Commit to yourself that you know it and stop second-guessing yourself to the
contrary.
Put down your presentation material and only look at it again to 'bone up' on it, if time has
elapsed from the time you learned it to the time you must deliver it.
Take this confidence-building step and let your script go, confident that you do now know it.
You worked hard so that you would know it. You own it. It is yours. Accept that you know it.
It is a 'given' that you know it.
Create a symbolic ceremony once you commit to yourself that you do know your
presentation. Slowly lower the screen on your laptop or close the folder where your
presentation lives.
And leave it closed.
Unless you accept this 'given', you will become trapped into trying to recall your content
instead of delivering your content. You fall back into the 'little room' where you torture and
question yourself. You start to doubt yourself and lose confidence. Creating a symbolic
ceremony to signal that you know your presentation reminds you that you have accepted this
'given'.
So, give yourself a reward for taking this action. Have a cup of tea or chocolate bar to mark
the occasion. You have had your 'I know this presentation moment'.
Celebrate it. You deserve it.
I am often asked by my workshop delegates to help them gain confidence or have more
confidence when presenting. In response, I usually repeat the same mantra.
'Confident people do confident things.'
Confidence is not some hereditary trait like blue eyes or brown. Confident people do
confident things. Accepting the 'givens' is a confident thing to do and therefore builds your
confidence.
Of course, there are many occasions when you are afforded little time to learn your
presentation. We are all under pressure. And I accept that as a 'given' too.
Let me offer you a fictitious anecdote to help you remember that you need to find the 'I know
this presentation moment' even with limited time at your disposal.
I was recently asked by my partner to help prepare a meal for our guests who were arriving
that evening. I am no master chef, but I was put in charge of baking some potatoes for the
meal. I can just about manage that. And so, I began.
I preheated the oven. I put the potatoes in a colander and washed them. I dug out the bad
spots with a knife. I took out a baking tray, put the potatoes on the tray, and seasoned them.
I then checked the time and put the potatoes in the oven. I had an hour or so to kill before the
potatoes would be baked. I went into the living room and began reading a Sunday
newspaper magazine article. But after a few minutes, I thought to myself, "I wonder if those
spuds are still in the oven?" So, I went back into the kitchen and, sure enough, they were still
in there. Back I go to reading the article and then after a few more minutes, I again asked
myself, "Did I put those potatoes in to bake?" And I am back in the kitchen again, opening
the oven door again and, sure enough, there they still were.
I share this anecdote with you in the hope that you will grasp why you must accept the 'given'
that you know your presentation. If in the fairytale I just related, I kept opening and reopening
the oven door, my potatoes never would have baked properly. I would have continually let
out all the heat. My presentation would be half-baked. To help you remember this third
'given', I give you another motto.
'Let your potatoes bake'.
Once you accept that you have done the proper work to know your presentation, let it bake
and stop reopening the door to it. Don't mumble your content to yourself in panic as you
prepare to deliver it. You have already accepted the 'given' that you know your content.
Accept it even when given little time to learn it and must microwave your potatoes instead of
slow-baking them in the oven.
Yes, you must know your presentation. You have no excuse not to know it. But keep in mind
that your presentation is not solely about getting all your content spot-on in a word-perfect
sense across to your audience.
Were that the case, you should simply put the entire content of your presentation together,
slides and all, and send them to your audience. They then would have all the words in the
right order just as you prepared. There would be no pressure on you. They would all have
your content and could absorb it for themselves at their leisure.
But if you went down that road, you would neglect the 'Task' of your presentation. You would
lose the opportunity to connect with your audience and win them over to your cause. You
would not be able to lead your audience along in the direction you wish to lead them.
And, most importantly, you would forfeit your chance to influence them in what you say and
by the way you say it, so that they will respond to you. Your human-to-human live
presentation would no longer exist. You would forego your moment in the sun where your
message can shine.
Don't be overly obsessed with getting every single word out perfectly. After all, you are only
human. You might forget some supporting information to one of your pillars. It is okay. It is
not the end of the world.
If that should happen, you may be able to include what you forgot in your answers during the
post-presentation question section. Just because you have forgotten something does not
make your presentation a lost cause. Lead on to the next pillar without regret.
But may you not forget this. Failing to accept your 'givens' will lead to difficulties in your
presentations.
You will lose control of your body language in a vain attempt to 'hide'. You will develop
problems with your vocal delivery, if you neglect to remember that you will be heard. You will
struggle with your intonation, articulation, projection, and your tempo of delivery.
You will put yourself in danger of 'drying up' and start stumbling through your presentation by
failing to commit to yourself that you know your content.
If you accept the 'givens', many of your body language issues and vocal delivery problems
will fade away on their own. You will be able to manage your behavior more easily and avoid
getting in your own way.
You are now prepared to present and you are ready. Be confident in it. Do the confident
thing.
It's time to face reality. Accept the reality in front of you as a presenter. Accept the 'givens' of
your presentational interaction. If you do not accept them, it will not make them magically
disappear.
Your audience will still see you. They will still hear you. You still must know and deliver your
content.
PREPARING TO PRESENT