Practicing Your Delivery
TABLE 16.5 PRESENTATION DISASTERS
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TABLE 16.5 PRESENTATION DISASTERS
We've seen enough presentations in our years of teaching and consulting to get a good sense of what does and doesn't work with an audience. Here are some of our more memorable "presentation disasters."
• Factual errors. One group of MBA students who served as consultants to a local business not only got the name of the company wrong, they misspelled it on every slide. It should go without saying:
Proof once, proof again, then get someone else to proof visuals for you. If you miss something as basic as the company name, your audience will start to wonder what else you might have missed.
• Inappropriate attire. We've seen everything from project engineers in scruffy jeans to executives in too-trendy clothing that included loud colors and short skirts. There is no single correct way to dress, but you should always appear professional and in sync with the rest of your team and with the audience. (If you mowed the lawn in those pants, they probably aren't right for a presentation.)
• Condescending attitude. Sometimes this happens because people really are smarter than the rest of us, and their impatience shows; more often, it's to make up for feelings of inadequacy or lack of confidence in the content. Either way, it puts off the audience and lessens a speaker's credibility and impact. If you're not sincerely interested in getting your message across, you are doomed to fail.
Every single audience deserves respect.
• Lack of preparation. This is one disaster we've seen all too often. The audience resents lack of preparedness as an intrusion into their busy time. As a consequence, your image suffers. Even if you have great charisma, you can't charm your way out of a poorly prepared presentation. Black out the time you need to prepare and practice so you do your professional best.
• Practice with your visual aids. Nothing tries the patience of an audience as much as technical problems with visuals, and there is nothing more certain to heighten a speaker's level of anxiety. Use your visuals when you practice to make sure they work properly. Confirm that you have matched the timing and placement of visuals to the talking points of your presentation.
• Practice with a tape recorder or a video camera. Using a tape recorder or a video camera will give
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you an opportunity to hear how you sound and to critique your content and phrasing so that you can make any necessary adjustments ahead of time.
• Practice in front of an audience, if possible. It can be extremely helpful to have a coworker, colleague, friend, or spouse listen to your and comment on your presentation. People close to you want you to succeed and will be brutally honest in their evaluations if you ask them. Furthermore, if you can give your presentation to a family member with all the distractions of home about you, you should have no problem when it comes to the real thing.
End Point
Delivering a presentation well is a matter of planning and practice. If you understand the types of delivery available and aim for an extemporaneous style, you will establish rapport with the audience and improve the likelihood of accomplishing your goal. Concentrate on avoiding any behaviors or mannerisms that would be distracting to your audience. Use your voice and gestures to enhance your message. Finally, practice. It is the key to improving your delivery style, enhancing your confidence, and increasing your chances of success.
Even if you need to improve in a few areas, don't panic. Work on one or two areas at a time. Major improvements seldom come overnight.
Remember, your initial goal is be mechanically adequate, to do nothing that distracts from your message.
Your goal is not to have people leave saying, "What a great speech!" Your goal is to have them saying, "What great ideas!"
Page 168 Stellar Performer:
Practicing Your Delivery
Dr. William Pickett
When Dr. William Pickett became President of St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, in 1986, he brought a number of firsts to the formerly Catholic college. He was the first lay president in the history of the college, the first president to be involved in significant outreach to the community, and the first president to use his presentation skills to open up the process of leadership to the entire campus community.
One of Dr. Pickett's early institutions was the Annual State of the College address. "The President of the United States has a State of the Union, and many governors deliver a State of the State address," says Pickett. "Even the mayor of Rochester gives an annual State of the City address.
This seemed like a good way to inform the trustees, faculty, staff, and students about what was happening at the College and what our plans for the future were." The process that Dr. Pickett used in planning and preparing his speech serves as a model for how any professional should prepare for a major presentation.
During the summer months, when the office routine slowed somewhat, Dr. Pickett began planning his address to be given in late September. "I first outlined the main points I wished to cover, and jotted down a few ideas under each," reports Dr. Pickett. "Then I circulated that outline to my senior staff for comments. After receiving their feedback, I began to outline my remarks, using outlining software to keep the ideas organized." As he drafted each section, Dr. Pickett would take it to the individual with expertise in that subject area to check for accuracy and make additions and deletions. Finally, when the entire draft was completed, he again circulated the full manuscript to the entire staff for final comments.
Dr. Pickett also made rehearsal an important part of his preparation. In addition to practicing on his own in order to become familiar with the content and phrases, he also practiced in the auditorium where the presentation would be delivered. "It was important for me to practice with the
microphone to make sure I was comfortable with the sound system,'' he says. "In later years, as I incorporated visuals into my talk, I would practice with the slides and overheads. This helped my confidence because I knew everything worked properly and the timing was accurate."
One of his biggest delivery challenges was that he had to give a speech he knew would be published as a report to various constituencies of the College. "I realized that reading the text was not a very interesting way of presenting," says Dr. Pickett. "The last two or three years, I actually talked from an outline and tried to cover the material that was in the text. I think that improved the quality and liveliness of the presentation and still produced a text for publication."
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On the day of the presentation, Dr. Pickett would leave the office at noon, go home, have
something to eat, relax, and review his notes one final time. He arrived at the presentation focused on his agenda and thoroughly prepared.
Note: Dr. William Pickett is now the Director of Pastoral Planning for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, New York.
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