We are at our best when telling stories.  We are more animated, make better eye contact and are generally more confident.  If you are more confident telling stories, start using them frequently. Anything that makes you appear more confident to the audience, make you more persuasive.

The folks in your audience have a short attention span.  After about 2 minutes people start wandering in and out of the speaker’s comments. There are tricks to keep them tuned in.  Eye contacts keeps people more connected. An animated speaker helps. A strong voice also keeps attention longer.

A transition from one point to the next is a great opportunity to bring the audience back. The transition should not be seamless. Make it abrupt.  It gets attention.

As you start the transition pause briefly, then, with new energy, or different modulation or different pacing begin the new topic. It’s as if the audience is being treated to a whole new speaker. They’ll be reinvigorated. So will you.

I can’t tell you how many times people who are about to make a presentation decide to change something crucial in their presentation, on the fly.  Often, they change the opening.  It happens because a previous speaker gave them a new idea, or just because they had second thoughts.

When you change at the last minute you don’t have a chance to rehearse.  No rehearsal means less confidence.  And, when you don’t have confidence, the audience can smell it.

Give the presentation you planned and rehearsed.  You’ll do great.

Good posture signals to your audience that you want to convey things to them which you are confident to discuss. Good posture for meetings and presentations is not a military posture, which can look anything but relaxed. It’s a prideful posture. Chest out, shoulders slightly back. Head held high. Big smile. You’re not slumped over. You’re not looking like you just found out your cat will never get into college.  You believe in what you are saying.

If you’re seated, sit closer to the edge of the seat, lean in towards the table but don’t slouch.

Posture is just as important in Zoom presentations. If you are too far from the lens, or slouching, you’ll start to lose your audience. 

Often in my workshops when someone is called up to speak, they walk tentatively up to the front and mumble something like “might as well get this over with.”

When you are called to speak, walk up to the front with great purpose, conviction and confidence.  Even if you are scared to death, let the audience believe you can’t wait to talk.

Be strong. Walk forcefully with your head high and a bounce in your step. Look everyone in the eyes and belt it out.

I guarantee you’ll be better for doing it this way.

Where does energy come from?

Sometimes speakers are criticized for not having enough “energy” in their presentation. One easy technique to inject more oomph into your talk is to speak in a stronger voice. It’s a human-nature trick. When you speak louder, your face becomes more animated, your posture straightens out, and, your arm and hand movements are more engaging.

Don’t yell. Just speak in a large, commanding voice.

The winner in every political debate is the one who seems the most confident. It’s rarely about the issues. Presentation is everything.

The ability to seem confident when speaking is the strongest card you can play.  Stand up straight. Look people in the eye. Smile. And believe what you are saying.

Another reason for smiling has to do with your voice. It’s much easier to modulate your voice when you’re smiling. Try the opposite. Put your serious face on and talk. You instantly become monotone. You’ll notice that your face reflects the monotone. No animation. No smile. No nothing.

A smile makes your voice much more interesting to listen to.

When presenting at a conference room table, don’t sit at the end of the table. Sit close to the middle.  You can be heard better and work the room easier.

When it is your turn to present, sit on the edge of the chair, make sure the chair seat is as high as it will go, then lean in with your arms on the table. Don’t sit back until you are finished with your presentation and have answered every question.

Many people think that the sign of a good speaker is someone who never uses verbal ticks like “ah” and “um”.   But, I disagree. The best way to judge a speaker’s impact is if that person conveys a sense of confidence.  Audiences are swayed when they believe the speaker is confident. We all have verbal ticks.  As long as you don’t have so many that the audience is counting you’re OK.

What really matters is that you look and sound like you believe in what you’re saying.  If a few ahs and ums slip in while you’re talking, don’t let it bother you.

Resolve not to be your own worst enemy. Don’t tell yourself you can’t present, or that you’re not good in front of people or anything like that. Presenting is learning a new skill. You’ve got to master a few of the basic techniques, practice, get good feedback and you’ll be great.

Bottom line: If you can stand up straight, look people in the eye, speak in a big voice and smile, you can be a great presenter.

While making a presentation, if someone in the audience asks a question or makes a comment, it is important that you listen “actively”. React. Nod your head. Acknowledge you understand to show you are listening intently.

Actively listening and reacting keeps you in control of the presentation and shows supreme confidence.

What do you do when your audience starts to glaze over?

Here are a few tactics:

• Pause. Whenever the presenter stops speaking, everyone looks up to see what’s happening.

• Change your tone. Slow up and speak a little softer, or speed up and speak louder.  It’s an attention-getter.

• Move. Just changing the side of the room where you are presenting to the other side will refresh the audience.

• Address the issue.  Ask if people need some clarification or if they want to take a short break.

• Be self critical. Are you speaking too long? Are you really connecting with the audience?

It’s a very good idea to contact members of the audience by phone afterwards and ask them to evaluate the presentation.  Everyone needs feedback.

You can make a good presentation is you learn a few basic skills. You can do ballroom dancing if someone teaches you a few steps. Playing golf requires learning how to stand, how to hold the club, the motion of the backswing and other movements.

If you want to be proficient at something, learn the techniques required to do it correctly.  Don’t wing it.

Most people aren’t born great presenters.  They can become great by taking lessons and practicing them.

We all get nervous when going into a business pitch and we sometimes paint a picture of the prospects as being stoned faced, ill-humored people who hate everyone.  That couldn’t be more wrong.

Prospects on the receiving end of a pitch want you to be great. They want you to hit the ball out of the park. Their responsibility is to interview a bunch of companies and pick the one they think will the do the best job.  If you’re great, you’ve just made their job really easy.

And by the way… when you think the prospect hates you, they will.  You’ll make sure of that. Think positive.

The audience is your friend. Be great.

It happens.  The audience is just not responding to you.  It could be the subject matter, the speaker, or the audience is tired and uninspired.  Who knows?

You’ll be tempted to crack jokes and lighten up the delivery.  Don’t.  Continue to make eye contact. Smile but stay serious and focused. Don’t rush. Finish according to plan.

It’s impossible to Wow the audience every time.  There are too many moving parts, many of which are out of your control.

Improve your personal curb appeal when presenting.

Research shows that people are more likely to listen and agree with someone who is dressed well.

Persuasion takes more than words.

Your presentation can be loaded with facts and figures, but if the audience doesn’t believe in you, then you won’t convince them.

Look confident and they will buy whatever it is you are selling.

It’s you. You Are the Presentation.

No one reads a comic strip because it is great art. They read it because they like the characters and story.

No one watches a presentation because PowerPoint is awesome.  They watch because of the presenter and the topic.

Gestures help the audience and the speaker. 

Gestures increase attention and paint a picture for the audience.  If you are saying that the effort to do something will be huge, for example, just holding your hands up and far apart underscores your point and is memorable to the audience. 

Gestures add energy to your voice and delivery. It’s hard to be monotone and quiet when moving your hands and arms.

In the past few months, I have seen almost 75 presentations.

The ones that stood out all had one common element. The presenters spoke with passion. You could see it in their body language. You can hear it in their voice.

It’s difficult to coach speakers to be more passionate but if you can help them find what ignites their own passion within their narrative, the presentation will be unforgettable.

The most persuasive technique in a presentation is eye contact. It compliments people in the audience. It makes you look more confident.

Tom Peters was asked what he reminds himself about most in a business presentation. He said, “Do I make eye contact 100 percent of the time?”

Passive language makes you sound weak and uninspired: “We understand that you want to complete this project in record time. Here is our approach.”  Active language tells the prospect you are in charge: “Here is our approach to complete this project in record time.”  It’s a subtle but very powerful difference.

The bonus for using active language is that it will convince you that you are the leader, and you’ll act accordingly.

We’ve all seen speakers who start by blandly saying “how excited I am to be here today”.

Are you really excited?

Really? Excited?

Would you mind telling your voice, face and personality that you are really excited?

Know your audience.

Connect with them. Make eye contact Ask them questions. Make them comfortable. Smile.

Enjoy. You are bringing the audience a gift of your knowledge. That gift will help them in their life and career.