The Value of Themes

When establishing your audience, ask questions not only about the people but also the event that is bringing them together. Most conferences and events will use a Theme, motto or similar device to create a sense of event and to aid in the transitions between parts of the program.

For the process of developing a presentation, referring back to the theme of the presentation lets your audience understand that you have prepared with them in mind. It also provides a starting point for determining your goal.

While these things on their own make themes valuable, linking your speak with the external (event or audience), themes can also be used internally to link and hold your speech together.

There are as many ways to achieve this as your imagination allows. The theme can either be on topic or totally unrelated to your presentation, but using an internal theme in either way will bind your presentation together.

An example of an “on topic” internal theme might be a speech which uses the same key phrase several times within the presentation. For example a speech which discusses the installation plan of a new computer network, might include a discussion of the specifications concluded with the phrase “Our new network will be faster, simpler and more flexible” – this part of the speech is followed by a second point about the end user support, also concluded with the same “Our new network will be faster, simpler and more flexible”.

An example of an off topic internal theme might be along the lines of baking a cake and preparing a speech – Your 1st step in deciding to make a cake is to work out what type of cake it will be – flavour etc. and for the speech it is the same, 2^nd point of your speech might be choosing your ingredients which are the contents of the speech, 3 rd point being the actual preparation (baking your cake) and the last step being practicing and refining your presentation (adding your Icing and candles).

In choosing an off-topic theme, choose something that would be widely known, this ensures that your audience can follow along your presentation easily. Also link your theme tightly to the actual topic and prior to presenting, it is a great idea to review the speech and ensure that the message is still clear.

In the example above the cake story served to link the points of the presentation into a logical order and provide transitions between your points, however if the audience emerges with a fully detailed recipe it would be safe to suggest your theme has by this point dominated your purpose. ( I don't follow this?)

Both External and Internal themes add value and power to your presentation; they differentiate your presentation from the every day and make your message more memorable.

Tips for taking telling to a true transfer of ideas

· External thematic links demonstrate thoughtfulness to the audience – this presentation is for them and not just the repeat of a stock presentation

· Internal Themes add interest and variety. They also have a capacity to hold various parts of a presentation together.

Developing a Presentation - Extracting Ideas From Social Media

The range of media available to us today can be seemingly endless, and each type of media allows opportunities to develop presentation ideas. When stuck for a message for a meeting or event, your solution could be in one of the newest of the many forms of media – Social media.

When I talk about social media, this includes sites such as Facebook and MySpace which allow you to see and interact with others online. Social media is an online presence where the content is produced and shared by the users of the media rather than the operators of the system.

These sites incorporate a function where users are able to provide updates about what they are doing and thinking about and users also have the capacity to upload pictures and clips which have caught their attention or interest.

A clip which is widely shared in this way is referred to as having gone Viral.  Introducing your presentation through referring to a viral clip or posting from social media establishes a link with those of your audience who had previously been exposed to the clip. It also demonstrates to your audience that you are aware of things happening in the broader community.

There are however things to be aware of in relation to the use of “Viral” media. The first is that the on-line world moves extremely quickly and where clothes might last a season (or more) things that are current and everybody is talking about today can be forgotten in a week or two. There are exceptions such as the audition clip of Susan Boyle which gained such a high and lasting profile in transitioned from social to news media, however for most viral media the shelf life is very short.

Also consider the audience when using social media references. Do you think the majority of the audience are likely to be familiar with social media? If so and you spend too much time describing the media article which they have already seen for themselves, their attention will soon wane.

From the opposite point of view, also be aware of making assumptions. If you introduce your presentation with a reference to a social media clip without enough content or background to explain it, those that have not seen the media item will not understand the reference. In practice it is a balancing act and the successful speaker will need to find a middle point to meet the whole audience.

Another social media platform is Twitter, and no, those posts from people using the site should not be referred to as a twit, rather they are called tweets and provide a very short comment about what the user is thinking.

An interesting function in Twitter is the trend information. Trend data allows users to see what topics and authors are currently popular and this, like the viral clips, provides an insight into what things are of interest to many people at any given time.

Incorporating content that you know is on broad interest is going to increase your opportunities to engage your audience and bring them with you through the presentation journey.

Tips for taking telling to a true transfer of ideas

·         Social Media can provide very up to date information on what is of interest in the community

·         Use social media that is fresh and recognise its generally short shelf life.

·         Provide an appropriate amount of context around the social media content, don’t over explain or provide too little background

Overcoming Writers Block

“Sorry that this update was late, I was just having trouble working out what I wanted to say” … well that might be an expected opening from someone suffering from writers block.

The experience of reaching a point in preparation and being unsure how to progress is one most people involved in developing presentations will be familiar with, and how you manage this will make a significant difference to your outcomes – resulting in either a presentation that is rambling and disjointed or a presentation that flows smoothly and is easy to follow

Despite the advances of modern medicine, in many cases the effective healer is time and likewise writers block can often be resolved though pausing and turning your attention to something else temporarily. While the fastest point between two points might be a direct line, pushing yourself through a block in the writing process can produce a product that is not as good as it could have been.

Of course using time to resolve the block to the writing process only works if 2 factors are present, time and commitment. If you have left the preparation to the day before you are due to deliver the presentation, you may feel that sense of stress that there is no time to wait for the presentation to develop at the back of your mind.

For this reason I always recommend that you develop the broad outline of the presentation a fair way in advance. The detail and examples you use to illustrate your presentation may be filled closer to the presentation date however a general structure, purpose and goal are good to develop in advance.

A commitment to the presentation is also required; it is not effective to allow the field of your presentation to lie fallow unless you are going to return to it.  Sometimes the ideas of how to move the presentation forward will come from a variety of places – things to see or hear in your day, television or newspaper articles – the sources of ideas are endless and so is the capacity to use these to overcome your blockages.

Discussing the issue with another person can also be an effective strategy to progress forward. Often the process of putting into words the presentation will help to clarify and define where you are and where you want to be.

A person to act as a sounding board to bounce ideas off or to explain the situation to can be invaluable, if fact your sounding board will often not need to say anything at all, just through stating the problem the solution will appear.

Without wishing to seem to be channelling a Cher song from the late eighties another strategy that can be applied is a process of turning back time. A speech or presentation is a journey and as such it may help to think of it as a journey through a series of caverns within an underground cave complex. You are leading your audience towards the light however from each cavern there are multiple tunnels leading onwards to more caverns.

The writer’s block may demonstrate that you have reached a dead end, a cavern with no exit, or at least no exits leading you towards the light of day – if this is the case moving back to the previous cavern and trying another tunnel, or if we are to move away from the metaphor, moving back to the previous section of the presentation and considering other options may provide a new path, or paths, towards the light.

If taking a step back is not assisting in providing some resolution, consider starting back at the beginning - what is your cause, your goal. As discussed above, the block maybe indicating you have wandered off the path and if you clearly understand where you are trying to get to, then that may provide the direction you need.

Sometimes however we set ourselves goals that on reflection we come to understand we cannot met, so reassessing the presentation goal as a whole may lead to you gaining an understanding that the presentation simply will not work or flow as you want it to.

Rather than persisting beyond this point, consider asking yourself the following “Is it good enough?”

It is very rare for me to be completely happy with any presentation, either in terms of development or delivery. This is not a reflection on the fact that the presentations are poor, but rather the constant feeling that it could have been better.

There is value, when you are stuck in the preparation at the point where every option you consider you find yourself rejecting to consider if you being too hard on yourself – while you are not happy with the next step in the flow of the presentation continuing on and using that segment that is not up to your standards may allow you to continue through and develop the rest of the speech and then see the problematic passage in the content of the whole presentation.

At this point you may see that the part that you were unhappy with is really not as bad as you initially thought, or alternatively the rest of the presentation provides ideas for improving that segment.

Tips for taking telling to a true transfer of ideas

·         Time – Allow plenty of preparation time some you can let the presentation lie

·         Talk – have support people you can discuss the issues with as vocalisation can lead to resolution

·         Turn – turn the speech around by back tracking to prior points or the presentation purpose

·         Try – work through a weak segment and see if the presentation as a whole leads to ideas to resolve the issues

Selecting your Topic

It has been said that the greatest challenge faced by a writer is that of the blank piece of paper and similar challenges can exist for anyone involved in the development of a presentation. At times you may have a general idea or outcome required of your presentation; however there are multiple methods to get to your goal. Perhaps the more challenging situation is when as a presenter you are given a brief to “just entertain them” … often prompting the question in the presenter’s mind of “Have I just been given enough rope to hang myself?”

2 factors to consider in approaching your presentation are cause and comfort. Cause is where you wish to take your audience; comfort is about how you want to get them to the destination.

Thinking about cause in more detail, your brief might be to inform a group of sales people about a new product line that they will have access to. Your presentation might be constructed around the technical specifications of the product or alternatively you might develop a presentation that highlights the new features and how they would benefit the consumer – both of these presentations (technical and marketing) achieve the brief you have been provided but would result in two quite different presentations.

The question in this scenario is do you want your audience to know the product or to be enthusiastic about the product. It is possible to achieve both outcomes however your initial strategy in preparing the presentation should be to focus on one goal, then review to incorporate the other goal. Trying to hit both targets too early in the development of the presentation can result in you missing both.

Your cause should be direct and if it takes more than about a dozen words to express it is probably in need of refinement. The more focused the cause, the more use they provide in getting your presentation to meet the audience.

As a speaker you are always asking that your audience trust you in some way, whether that is trust in your knowledge or authority on the subject on which you are speaking or simply your honesty and sincerity in your communication.

That trust can be easily lost if the audience senses you are acting or pretending. If your natural speaking style is to be informative and accurate, a presentation where you are vague or focused on humour can appear disjointed.

Does this mean you should never stretch yourself and always stick to what you know? Definitely not, I would encourage all presenters to try in each presentation to incorporate something new as these both expand the range of tools you have as a speaker and makes the presentation fresh – but if you have the option in choosing your style of delivery, you would be wise to consider what style you are most comfortable with.

By designing your presentation to play to your strengths you will find yourself more comfortable with the presentation and that comfort will communicate itself to the audience through confidence.

By having a cause to focus your presentation and a style of presentation that is comfortable, your presentation is on the way.

A tactical strike approach

Targeting your audience with specific strategies allows you to establish that sense of rapport, to engage the audience and build a degree of emotional support to carry you as a speaker through your presentation.

Any group that you are delivering a presentation to will share certain things in common, and by incorporating these shared traits into your presentation, you are able to deliver a presentation that will be of more interest to your audience.

Some of these shared traits include geography, that your audience is all (or at least a large proportion are) from the same local community. For a speaker from outside the community, referencing local landmarks, historical events or even sporting teams communicates to your audience that while you may be an outsider you have taken the time to try to gain a level of understanding of them.

These can be quickly incorporated into your presentation simply by leaving space and undertaking some observation, for example “flying into <insert name> airport and travelling to my hotel with its view of <Insert River or landmark> the aspect I first noticed was the hospitality and friendliness of your city …”

Another trait that your audience might share is an interest or occupation. Particularly when addressing industry conferences or community sector conferences, there is something that has brought your audience together and through referencing and linking your presentation to this interest you are able to establish a link between yourself and your audience.

An example is a recent presentation we conducted to a conference of medical staff on communicating with patients – not being trained as a medical professionals we didn’t even try to establish a link through medical terminology or history but rather picked an obscure town planning law and presented it in a way that assumed the audience would understand what law was about – This introduction produced the expected responses of puzzled expressions on the audiences faces who were suspecting that either we or they were in the wrong conference.

We were then able to transition to the body of the presentation by saying “What I just told you would have perfect sense to a town planner with years of working experience, however to an audience without that professional background the message was lost … Each of you are professionals with many years experience and training in your field however you too may find your message being lost in the complexity …”

This established both the fact that we understand where our audience was coming from and also highlighted a “light on the hill” a common point where the audiences needs and our presentation meet, answering in the first minute of the presentation the questions lurking in the audiences mind: “What’s in it for me” and “What could this person possibly be able to tell me”

Another strategy is to add context to your presentation by drawing upon previous events the audience has shared. This might include a situation where you are the third or fourth presentation of the day – you could refer back to the content of an earlier presentation and link it to the content you are delivering. This establishes a common starting point and helps your audience see your presentation as being for them specifically rather than a mass produced, oft repeated script.

Your group might also consist of a core group that attend the recurring event each time and that you have addressed previously. Referencing your previous presentation allows the audience to connect, particularly if there was something noteworthy that occurred – “Some of you will remember the airline shut-down that was occurring at our last conference together, I am hoping this weekend will not produce similar dramas but the fear of being trapped here with you all was certainly not keeping me away …”

For groups you are not familiar with presenting to,  never be afraid to ask questions of the organisers of the conferences or events questions to discover more about the audience:

·         “What can you tell me about the participants?”

·         “How has the event been promoted? How did you advertise the event?”

·         “Is this an established group where the participants know each other or a new group?”

Such questions can provide valuable information as part of the process of developing your presentation. I would always suggest that despite all preparation for your presentation that you retain a degree of flexibility and if possible arrive at the event prior to your presentation and take the opportunity to speak to several audience participants.

While asking the organisers what they would us to speak about is a standard question, we always maintain an awareness that what the organisers think the audience needs to hear and what the audience actually are interested in hearing about maybe two quite separate things. Part of the art of presenting is in creating a presentation that meets both needs.

Reaching out to your audience through building on common experiences is a very effective way to build rapport and enthusiasm and is easy to achieve when deliberate effort is applied.

Tips for taking telling to a true transfer of ideas

·         Ask questions of event organisers to get to know your audience

·         Ask yourself what do your audience share in common?

·         Think about what things you and your audience share

___________________

Feel free to share, but please mention me and include a link to http://rjgreenconsulting.blogspot.com/

A Shotgun approach

There are a number of different construction processes that can be followed in developing a presentation. Sometimes you as a presenter will have the opportunity to develop a presentation which specifically targets your audience on a given occasion, with a clear message and intent like a tactical missile.  There are however times where a presentation will be more general in nature, constructed to be all things to all people, much like the spread of lead from a shotgun.

 A shotgun approach delivers certain benefits in that it allows a standard presentation to be recycled, delivered with only minor tailoring, to many audiences, reducing your preparation time. There are many examples of these shotgun standards, In politics these presentations are referred to as “Stump speeches” and are a staple part of the political process, likewise they are used in sales as a product spiel – designed to share the value of a product with an audience where the sales person knows almost nothing about the people.

Shotgun presentations are often useful where the author of the presentation will not be the person delivering the information and the author wants to limit the variation in content between audiences, something that can be significant in seminars involving legal issues.

In developing generic presentations, different skills are required of the author and the speaker, and it is important if you are performing both roles to consider the requirements of both separately.

As an author of a generic or shotgun presentation you are still seeking to engage with the audience, even though you do not know who they are. A strategy for doing so is the use of the “Generic Themes” that is things that will appeal to pretty well everyone:

·         “Do you want to save money/time/effort”

·         “Do you want to enjoy better health/holidays/relationships”

are examples of generic themes in that everyone is likely to respond yes, although how important those things are will vary between audience members.  By building your presentation around those values you are able to clearly articulate what is in it for the audience without actually having any knowledge or the audience.

The risk involved in the “Shotgun Standards” are that they by their very nature are generic and can result in even the most passionate and eloquent of deliveries reaching audience members that respond with “That’s all very nice but what’s in it for me?” or potentially even worse, communicate a message that is inconsistent with the audiences beliefs, such as a presentation of the value of a vegetarian lifestyle with a group of Cattle ranchers.

Another cautionary note for authors of generic presentations is that because generic presentations are so common, some of the terminology has become value loaded such as Family-values, society expectations. These phrases on their own don’t have negative connotations however they have become linked with previous presentations, previous presenters with the result that your presentation maybe tarred with the same brush (or in extreme cases Tarred and feathered).

For the speaker, handed a generic presentation, your challenge is to incorporate those messages into something meaningful. The very first recommendation is to determine how much scope you have to adapt the presentation.

A presenter delivering a presentation on a word for word basis (essentially reading or reciting a presentation) faces the challenge of making the presentation interesting and establishing a degree of comfort with the content. Even if you didn’t prepare the presentation, it needs to sound like you at least understand and support the content, without this the presenter may as well be a tape recording, the audience will quickly disengage from a presentation where the speaker is seen as simply being a mouthpiece of another.

Equally important however is not varying the content too far from the prepared information; doing so can create a situation where an important caveat or essential message is missed in the adaptation.

The speaker is the only person who is able to judge the response of the audience and as such, if you are delivering the message you need to be continually assessing your audience, asking yourself is the language appropriate? Does the presentation assume they have knowledge they don’t? Are the members of the audience looking confused? Are the audience angry with the message?

Unlike a presentation prepared by the speaker, in the case of a generic presentation the responsibility is shared to make the presentation a success and as such both parties need to be committed to the presentation and the audience.

For many presentations of generic information I have observed in the past, the presentation ends up being a fight between the presenter and the author with comments of “We will just skip this part” leading the audience to question the presentation, preparation and professionalism of the entire product.

At the end of the day, a presenter needs to put the people in front of them and the front of their thinking – this will build a quality foundation.

Tips for taking telling to a true transfer of ideas

·         Seek to appeal to your audiences shared interests

·         As a presenter, understand the core parts of the message you are delivering

·         Be flexible and prepared to adapt if your message is missing the mark

 

Remember, you are welcome to reproduce this article, however if do, please remember to include the following:

Article reproduced with permission of
Robert Green from RJGreenConsulting
http://rjgreenconsulting.blogspot.com/

And of course let us know that you found it useful by sending an email to: \
RJGReenConsulting@gmail.com

Understand your Audience

You have paid out convention fees, travelled a great distance and given up your valuable time to hear presentations about new and emerging trends in your field, You sit amongst a crowd of your peers as a speaker is introduced, striding across the stage to shake the hands of the master of ceremonies. The applause settles and you and the rest of the audience lean forward towards the speaker as the presentation is about to commence.

As a presenter we need to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of the audience in that moment – what is it that they are hoping for? What are they expecting? How do we reach out to them?

Understanding your audience is critical to establish esteem, engagement and enthusiasm, all of which are going to add power to your presentation.

Esteem is about how the audience sees you as a presenter. Many traits will affect the level of esteem with which the audience sees you including you past interactions with the group, what they have heard about you, the introduction to your presentation and even your physical appearance.

Building esteem as a presenter is about building an authority with your audience convincing your audience that you have something to share with them.  For a formal presentation this maybe achieved though the introduction and this is an opportunity to establish that first links.

Many times I have heard speakers introduced with a resume, providing a generic description of what experience and qualifications the speaker holds to establish their authority with the audience. While effective to a degree, rather than a generic resume I find value in tailoring the introduction to both the purpose of the presentation and the audience.

A generic introduction may include qualifications that are not overly relevant to the message or the audience and the audience really does not expect (or for that matter want) to hear about every single detail. Ask yourself the simple question “What in my past would make the audience want to hear from me”.

In practical terms, a strategy is to quickly tailor a presentation is to have a full written introduction that is able to have the irrelevant elements quickly deleted. This tailoring allows the audience to get to know why they should listen to you without having the audience fall asleep waiting for you to take the stage.

Having a sense of esteem from your audience will provide confidence in your presentation, a sense that your audience respects you and is wanting you to succeed in sharing your message, however esteem on its own means that the audience think you have something to say, but not yet that they have any reason to listen – these reasons are the engagement of the audience.

The most basic element to engagement is the often over-used phrase “What’s in it for me?” This does however capture an essential question – what is motivating the audience. The earlier in your presentation you can capture what is motivating your audience, the higher the level of engagement the audience will have in the presentation, so as a result most presentations trying to drive those motivators home in the introduction and link the audience and the speaker.

Opening with an appropriate question that focuses the audience on their own needs is effective. Asking an audience of teachers to reflect on their own memories of their schooling and to think of a teacher that made a difference in their own lives and to move the group to the desire to make a difference in the lives of their students would be effective in building engagement, however the same opening to a group of accountants would not be as effective.

If you have esteem they are prepared to listen to you talk at them, if you have engagement they want to listen to you talk with them, but enthusiasm is about the audience wanting not just for you to share with them but are actively hoping that you will carry them on a journey through the presentation.

This enthusiasm is sometimes referred to as the energy in the room. The time of day, previous speakers, the weather and the environment can all have an affect on the energy levels and experience in delivering presentations will be your best friend when determining the energy level.

When developing the presentation, think of the energy level appropriate for the presentation.  Enthusiasm is not just the type of speech of a fire and brimstone preacher trying to elicit a “Amen” after every sentence – while this is an example of visible enthusiasm it is equally possible to have an audience with quiet energy, which maybe more appropriate to the content and culture of your audience.

Enthusiasm results from an audience that respects the person delivering the message, both that the speaker has something to say and that the message is relevant to the audience, delivered in a way they understand and relate to.

Tips for taking telling to a true transfer of ideas

·         Prepare a tailored introduction to establish esteem in your audience before you even open your mouth

·         Know what your audience have in common and use those common traits to engage them

·         Understand the energy in the room and make sure that it suits the presentation

______________________________________________________________________________

Remember, you are welcome to reproduce this article, however if do, please remember to include the following:

Article reproduced with permission of
Robert Green from RJGreenConsulting
http://rjgreenconsulting.blogspot.com/

And of course let us know that you found it useful by sending an email to: RJGReenConsulting@gmail.com