Presentation pointers


"Talk low, talk slow and don't say too much."
John Wayne

Who are we to argue with The Duke? A speech is a performance, not a lecture. An audience's TV-fed expectations are as unforgiving about delivery as they are about the words themselves.

The key here is practice. Read the speech aloud. Time it. A good speaker will run about 135 words per minute. A better speaker will walk at 100.

There is an entire industry devoted to the art of presentation. I'll confine my comments to the nuts and bolts.

Leave nothing to chance

  • Is there a stage? Find out where the stairs are.
  • Is there a podium? Find out what kind of microphone it has.
  • Is there a backdrop? Make sure any signage will be appropriate to your remarks.
  • Will the house lights be up or down? For a more alert audience, especially right after lunch, up is better.
  • Rehearse. NO exceptions. Okay, in your case, maybe we can skip this little nuisance. But first tell me: What are you going to say when the bulb on your lectern fails? Or the fire alarm sounds? Or when your script flutters to the floor like an October snowfall? Or a door opens and every head swivels that way? Or a wisecracker in the fifth row starts feeling his three-margurita lunch? These are not hypothetical what-ifs. They can and they will hit the fan. On-site rehearsals hedge against the unexpected.

I have a colleague who goes so far as to give clients a briefing binder with a separate tab for crisis recovery. If the ship hits troubled waters, she wants her clients at the helm and in command.

Besides that, a dress rehearsal is not solely for your benefit anyway. It's a chance for the staging crew to get comfortable with your style. It's a chance for the lighting guy to make sure you are lit for best effect. It's a chance for your event manager to find a different podium if the one in your room is too high or too low. It's a chance for the sound technician to make sure every word is heard right to the back.

These folks get paid to make you look as good as you possibly can. Don't short circuit the process just to save a little time. Any pro will tell you, the most successful and spontaneous-looking performance is also the most rehearsed.

Handle multimedia with care

  • If you plan to use visual support, make it punchy and make it flawless.
  • Your message comes first. Don't let graphics, video and sound compete with your pitch.
  • Unless animation says something you can't, cut it.
  • Use short words and large fonts. Less really is more. A PowerPoint slide is not a legal document.
  • Computers crash. Run your software on the hosting system in advance. Have a backup just in case.

Change up the pace

A compelling presentation keeps the audience shifting gears mentally. You can change up the pace any number of ways...
  • Multiple presenters. Audiences are more receptive to a collection of voices. Three twenty-minute speeches are more memorable than a one-hour filibuster.
  • Think interactively. Get the audience involved. The technology exists to allow real-time input from locations across the country. Try to work your front-line people into this mix.
  • For serious media buzz, think about broadcast video. Your CEO could kick things off live, followed by the wide-screen creative from your latest ad campaign, followed by the GVP for marketing via remote video feed. I've done it. It works.

If it's not on the page, it's not on the stage

Ignore this truism from the world of theater at your own peril.

It's a natural temptation: You're in the airport limo rushing to the venue. You decide to give your speech a quick polish. You trim a few words here, add a line or two there. Nothing major.

Two hours later you're standing in front of 500 cheering delegates. About halfway into your talk, you realize by the bewildered looks out front that something has gone terribly wrong. A quick glance at the projection monitor tells you that the points you are covering in your text are not the same ones the audience is trying to decipher on screen.

What incompetent is responsible for this foul-up?

Sorry, Chief. If you scratch a line at the last minute, especially a bridge point like a slide change in a PowerPoint deck, only a mind reader is going to anticipate that, certainly not a technician trying to sync an unfamiliar script with unfamiliar graphics. If you decide to fine tune your script, give the crew fair warning.

The same advice holds for spontaneous impulses like wading out into the crowd for an impromptu meet-and-greet. Wearing a radio microphone still doesn't free you to wander off stage while the spotlight chases you. Most stage areas are painted in careful pools of light and darkness. There are good reasons for this, such as the need to keep stray light from obscuring projection displays.

Aim for a tightly scripted show and then stick to plan.

Manage your Q&As

Too many speakers allow questions from the floor to derail an otherwise controlled presentation.

Here again there is no substitute for practice. Beforehand, brainstorm every question your listeners could ask. Answer each in turn. Don't duck the tough ones. Take your time and take the high ground. Audiences notice these things.

Once the Q&A is underway, tread carefully. Be frank but pointed. Structure your answers so they bridge back to YOUR focus, e.g., "...That said, there's a more important matter at stake here. And it is... [YOUR THEME]"

In the same vein, try to recast difficult questions in a way that frames criticisms more positively:
Reporter: "Mr. Chairman, many people are calling your operation a sweatshop. Is it true your piecework contracts pay the very least of any in the industry?"

HASTY REPLY: Chairman: "No, it is emphatically untrue that we are a sweatshop paying the lowest wages." (What a juicy sound bite: Chairman Denies Running "Sweatshop")

BETTER REPLY: Chairman: "Compensating workers fairly, no matter how simple their task, is a commitment we take seriously. Here is the situation as I see it..."

Field mines like these are an occupational hazard. Fortunately, there are very few loaded questions that prepared speakers can't find a way around—that is, if they've already checked the map.

Most important, remember who's running this show. Canny speakers never end a Q&A session with an answer. They end as they began-- firmly in control: "Ladies and gentlemen, I see our time is nearly up. Before we close I'd like to underline one essential fact... [YOUR THEME AGAIN]"

Have the last word. Remind them why you're there and why they should care.

Speaker’s Notebook: A Guide to Savvy Speechwriting