Goodbye Presentation Nerves
Unexpectedly, twelve time Grand Slam Tennis tournament winner Novak Djokovic has some good advice for public speakers. “I believe that half of any victory in a tennis match is in place before you step on the court. If you don’t have that self-belief, then fear takes over. And then it will get too much for you to handle. It’s a fine line. The energy of those moments is so high: how are you going to use it? Are you going to let it consume you, or are you going to accept it’s presence and say, ‘OK, let’s work together’. ”
What he is saying is we don’t worry about having fear or not having it, we look for how to control it. When we feel fear, our psychological fight or flight response provides energy to our major muscle groups in the chest, arms and legs. This is great energy to tap, in order to bring our belief and our passion to our messages. If the energy is a bit too high and you are feeling too hyperactive, then try and burn some energy off before you go on stage. Out the back, out of sight, pace up and down strenuously for about 5 minutes and take some of the edge off those nerves.
The opposite feeling of “butterflies in the stomach” is a result of the blood being directed away from our internal organs to our major muscle groups. The body is getting ready for survival mode. To overcome the butterflies feeling, just find a quiet place off stage, sit down and do some slow, deep breathing from the diaphragm to inject more oxygen into the brain. Take it slowly though, because if you do it too fast you may become dizzy. This oxygen hit will sharpen us up, get us concentrated and ready for the speech. The slower breathing will also help to slow down the pulse rate.
We should accept that fear is part of the process of public speaking. Let’s use the adrenalin coursing through our veins as a power source to hit key words, have more energy, use bigger gestures than normal and send our power vibe out to the audience.
Speakers who look tired, bored or uninterested, are never going to be persuading anyone of anything. I hate those presentations. I saw the head of a huge division of a major global resources company, give a totally lifeless presentation. This guy was rich, immaculately groomed, in charge of thousands of people and billions of dollars of revenue. Yes, he spoke in concert with the slide deck, was not nervous, spoke slowly and clearly but with absolutely no energy, passion or commitment to his message. It was seriously painful to watch and his audience was lost to his message about his company. Despite his big title and big bucks he was a dud. We judge the entire organization on who we see in action. Sadly that day, his organisation’s reputation was harmed as a result of his lifeless presentation.
I read that Frank Sinatra felt fear every time before he performed. He always worried that the first note would not be there. Once he got going however, he could relax and enjoy the process. That applies to us as well – we have to get that first couple of minutes settled down and then we can relax and enjoy the opportunity to help the audience through providing our message or our valuable information. Fine, but just how do we do that?
Here are some do’s and don’ts.
Don’t put unbelievable pressure on yourself by trying to memorise your talk. Do have some key points you can elaborate on though and have them in a logical sequence, that will be easy for an audience to follow.
Being able to speak to your points is a basic requirement. You have knowledge of your subject, you have experience in this field of expertise, you know stuff we don’t. You know what you want to say, so you can glance at notes briefly for data points as you need them.
Remember, in the room, only you know the order of the talk and the content, so if you get it mixed up, keep going, as no one else will know. Keep any disasters, errors and mistakes to yourself.
A recent speaker I saw got herself into serious trouble by trying to read the line by line from the screen on her laptop and also simultaneously make eye contact with the audience. Looking to and fro, she was losing her place, this triggered an attack of nerves, such that she had to stop speaking and try and regroup. The problem was obvious to all and she then compounded the error by telling us she was nervous.
She lost 100% of her credibility at that point. She should have paused briefly, taken a slow (silent) deep breath and carried on. We would have just imagined it was a pause. Nobody is going to dismiss a speaker who takes a pause or reflects before they speak. It is a very natural thing to do and we accept it.
Don’t spend all of your preparation time putting together the slide deck. The slides are not the main game – we speakers are the main attraction. Our face is one million times more convincing and more powerful than whatever is up on screen. Even when trying to use slides for impact, there are usually too many, too much text, too many different colours, poor sizing of graphs (too small and too many).
The tool itself is misused. If you can use photo images with no text and just speak to the point that is ideal. One or two words with the photo is also good. We don’t need a lot of text every time in order to be persuasive. Apart from our face, photos and images are the next most powerful mediums.
Also, don’t rely too much on video. There is always that break in the flow while the video is retrieved, the sound adjusted etc. I often see visiting big shot CEOs get up to talk, then abrogate responsibility for their presentation by going straight into the corporate video. What a wasted chance. They do this because they are scared, shy, lazy or out of their comfort zone. Unless the video is demonstrating something that can’t be shown at the venue, like a new technology etc., then don’t use it at all or make it very short.
We want the audience to connect with us, to become our fans, our supporters. We have limited time in which to do that, so don’t squander opportunities to connect with people.
Do allocate time for rehearsal. The amount of time spent before our speech is the key to success. Incredibly, most people spend zero time rehearsing and wonder why presenting is so stressful. Ideally, during rehearsal, have supporters provide feedback. Don’t just let them do this without any direction or they will start critiquing your performance and undermine your confidence. Rather, ask them for two pieces of feedback only – what was good and how to make it better.
If you can’t have a live audience during rehearsal, then watch yourself on video if possible. Most of us have video on our phones or iPads, so the technological barrier today is pretty low. If that isn’t available, then use a mirror and record the audio on your device, so you can review how you sound.
I have found that when travelling to give a presentation, the windows of the hotel room become mirrors at night when the room lights are off and this provides the visual feedback I need. Rehearse as you will give it, looking around at all sectors of the audience, gesturing, using voice modulation, inserting pauses etc., while talking to your imaginary listeners.
When live, don’t look down at your notes or laptop screen for too long. Do look at the people in your audience and make eye contact with individuals, one by one, so you can speak directly to as many people as possible. Around six seconds each works well – not too short and not too long. Look around the room but not in an easily predictable way. Don’t always going from left to right. Instead break it up, so you are looking at the back, then the front, the right, then the left. If you use predictable eye contact, people know what is coming and they mentally switch off. Keep them guessing.
Don’t make eye contact however, with audience members who are scowling, doubtful, unhappy, angry, negative, laughing at you, cynical or sneering. Do ignore them completely and look for the audience members who are nodding, smiling, agreeing and look either supportive or at least neutral. This will help to maintain your confidence and equilibrium.
I was giving a speech in Kobe in Japanese to a room full of 100 salesmen and one guy about half way down on the left, sat through my one hour talk and had the angriest expression on his face you can imagine. He did not seem to be buying one word I was saying. At the end of my talk, he jumped out of his seat and bolted up to the front. I thought he was going to punch me. Instead, he shook my hand and told me how great the presentation was and how much he appreciated it. I was almost speechless, given how hostile his face appeared during the presentation. So we never know how to interpret what appears to be negativity, but let’s be on the safe side and only look at our supporters.
Don’t be thrown by anything unexpected - the show must go on. So unless it is an emergency and we have to leave the building, keep going no matter what. This is not always easy. I was giving a speech to 300 people in Nagoya arranged by the local Japanese Chamber of Commerce. Again, I was speaking in Japanese, had barely gotten into my first sentence, when a senior official of one of the Japanese Government Ministries, sitting in the front row to my left, suddenly erupted into raucous laughter upon hearing my first burst of Japanese.
Being a non-native speaker of Japanese and always a bit shy about my dubious command of the subtleties of Japanese grammar, you can imagine how debilitating that very public outburst was for me. I looked at the guy incredulously, but kept going for the next 40 minutes.
In that instant, I had to put all of my linguistic self-doubts and paranoia aside. I purposely only made eye contact with audience members who looked like they were supportive. There were others in the audience who seemed to be impressed that I was trying to speak their language and that really helped me to keep going. I will never forget that rude outburst and when I think back to that incident, I am reminded that there is never a dull moment in Japan!
Like Novak Djokovic let’s tap into our nervous energy and work with it, rather than try and fight it. We need energy to be a successful presenter, so let’s try and surf the wave of our nervousness, rather than have it wipe us out.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Rockin It Women Presenters In Japan
The presentations world is still a male bastion in Nippon. I attend lot of events in Tokyo and probably the vast majority of even the internationally oriented business audiences that I see here, have a 70/30 male female ratio. The number of women presenters though is about 5%-10%. In the case of very domestic, Japanese language based events, the female ratio of attendance is maybe 1%-2% and the speaker ratio usually a zero ahead of two or three decimal places.
For any presenter, understanding your audience is a key part of the preparation and delivery. Women are still walking three paces behind the men here in Japan but amongst those rarities who are female and who do get asked to speak to businessmen, I have noticed a few commonalities amongst the most successful. Here are some tips and what I have seen work well for businesswomen when speaking in public in Japan.
Confidence is the overwhelming positive first impression. This is communicated in a number of ways. The voice is strong and clear. Even relatively soft female voices can become powerful enough, through using the microphone technology available today, so there is no excuse for letting a weak voice derail the presentation.
Funnily enough, many macho male businessmen seem clueless about how to use microphones. You see them actually wave off the offer of the microphone, because they have a fear or distaste of it. Now if your voice is strong and the venue not so cavernous, then that may be completely fine. If not or if you have any concerns, spend some time with the microphone to understand how to use it properly, before the audience arrives.
Thumping the microphone at the start of your presentation and asking your audience if they can hear you at the back is the mark of the rank amateur. Also, consider a lapel microphone or a hand microphone, as good options for mobility during your presentation. If you are using a hand microphone and you discover your hands are shaking furiously through nervousness, then simply hold it to your chest, so it can’t fly around.
Eye contact is another powerful tool of the skilled female speakers. Looking at our audience allows us to connect with them. This might sound obvious, but sometimes looking at the many faces in the crowd peering wistfully back at us may suddenly trigger nervousness and self-doubt. The successful women I have seen in action pick out individual members of the audience, look straight at them and speak directly to them. They are constantly doing this throughout their entire talk. If the distance is far, then the twenty people sitting around that single person all think the speaker is making direct eye contact with them. Importantly, they are only holding the gaze for about 6 seconds, so it is neither too short nor too intrusive.
Japan has a cultural preference for very limited eye contact, so many people misunderstand the difference between our role in a normal conversation and our role as the speaker. They mix the occasions up and worry about making eye contact with their audience. Instead, they look at everyone and no one at the same time. This is ineffective and the speaker has an obligation to get their audience behind what they are saying. Woman or man, eye contact gives tremendous connectivity because we feel the speaker is addressing us directly. Good eye contact allows the speech to improve from being a one to many, to a one to one experience. It is so powerful because when the speaker looks directly at us, we feel they are personally connecting with us.
Looking at our laptop screens , the big screens behind us or our notes, takes our eyes off the audience. We don’t want that. We need to see the audience to ascertain whether they are buying what we are selling or not. Studying their body language, their faces helps us to read how we are doing with our audience. Are they following us, are they bored, are they in rabid disagreement? We need to know so we can adjust our delivery accordingly. Absolutely do not let some helpful venue staffer turn off the lights, so the room becomes darker.
This happens all the time. In my own case, recently I was presenting to a visiting delegation of lubricant distributors from Vietnam and sure enough the Hotel staff member turned off all the lights to make the screen easier to read. No, no, no! We want the audience to see us and we want to see them. The projector technology today is very good, so we can leave the lights on and everyone can still read the screen. When someone suddenly turns the lights off, I have seen the skilled women speakers stop presenting and politely request they turn them back on again. They know the power of eye contact.
The successful presenters want to use all of their body language to assist their communication so they are not trapped behind the podium. Podiums can sometimes be a challenge for shorter ladies. Trust me, having seen this a number of times, your carefully arranged coiffure bobbing just above the waterline of the top of the podium is not the best look.
If the podium is too high, ask for small platform to stand on, to give yourself some air space. This is another reason why we always need to get to the venue early and check all the mechanics and physical layout arrangements. Don’t apply a vice like grip to the podium, this looks nervous and negates our ability to use gestures to emphasis key points we want to make.
Standing apart from the podium, to the side or in front of it also works very well. You can easily turn the podium itself around ninety degrees, so that you can see the laptop screen and push any buttons, without having to stand behind it. In this way, you can see what you need to and your audience can see you.
Freeing ourselves from the podium is good and powerful female presenters don’t then pace across the stage, left and right, showing possible stress and anxiety. They usually stand to the left side of the screen, so that the audience will look at their face, listen to their voice and then read the screen left to right. They are communicating a subtle command - “look at me, now look at my information on this screen”. In this way they dominate the screen, rather than the other way around.
What they put up on the screen follows the “less is more principle”. Think Zen garden here rather than Times Square neon heaven. They see the value in having more images than text. They have one graph per screen not four and they don’t go crazy with more than two colours.
They make themselves the centerpiece of the presentation, not what is put up on the screen. By contrast, Japanese male CEO screen presentations are usually totally horrible. Crowded, obtuse, ugly, impenetrable, gaudy – they may be Japanese samurai businessmen, but clearly no Zen happening here.
Persuasive women demonstrate their confidence by NEVER EVER apologizing for their state of health, degree of nervousness, lack of preparation, jet lag or any other excuses. I doubt very many men care about the speaker’s health status or any other excuses from any presenter. The successful women have worked this out and they keep their health issues, etc., to themselves and want to be seen as true professionals.
They don’t seek sympathy by telling us: “I am sorry, I have a cold today” or “I didn’t have enough time to put this together”. In my experience, men don’t care all that much for that type of detail and there is no particular empathy for these types of excuses.
If these successful women presenters are ever feeling anxious, they make sure not to show it. Consequently, they are taken at face value by the men in the audience and get full credit for being a business expert in their area of expertise.
I was at a presentation recently by a visiting speaker and everything was going fine until about 5 minutes into the presentation. She started to lose it. Super surprisingly, she announced to us she was losing it and that she needed a deep breath. After a couple of repeats of this “poor me” routine, she finally pulled herself together.
She had done quite well at the start, telling us about her rise to success and how she did it, but at the meltdown point, as she got into her key topic, her entire credibility flew straight out the window. She damaged her personal brand beyond repair and forever.
The interesting thing is, unless she had told us, we probably would never have known she was so nervous. So no matter what, carry on as if it is all part of the plan. Generally we men are not that smart or sensitive, so we will never know unless you tell us.
There are plenty of professional, competent female speakers in Japan, so ladies, please take note of what is working for them and join their ranks.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Persuasion Power Trump Style
Donald Trump isn’t a textbook presenter. He breaks many of the rules of presenting, but nevertheless he has been effective in getting his message across. Love him or loath him as a contender for the Republican Party Presidential race nomination, as the Republican candidate and as the President, he won against the expectations of the vast majority of American political experts. He had large numbers of people turn out to hear him speak. What was he doing right? How was he being persuasive with the audiences who came to hear him. Are there any lessons here for us, when we come to give our own presentations?
He is authentic when he speaks. There is no speech writer grinding away in the background polishing his prose to within an inch of its life. He rarely used those semi-invisible prompters on the left and right to drip feed the polished input. He does have some notes to keep him on track, but he barely refers to them. He likes Twitter because it provides what he likes: brief, simple messages and gets him directly to his audience. This is how he speaks in public.
He is not a highly polished speaker by any means. He digresses, goes off on tangents, gets sidetracked, but the audience understands this is the price for the speaker being non-scripted. He keeps their attention because he concentrates on his audience. So let’s take the good bits of what is working for a guy who only relatively recently started as a public speaker and drop the rest.
Here are a couple of fundamentals we can all safely adopt - be yourself, don’t ape anyone else. Trump is not a copy of anyone and this adds to his credibility with those who come to hear him. So yes, be you, but try to be the professional you. Focus on your audience, not on the technology, the laptop, the big screen behind you or your notes. Having fewer thing to focus on makes the public speaking task easier, so divest distractions. Trump focuses on his audience, he seeks out interaction, the connection. We should look for opportunities to do the same when we are presenting.
One observation is that he has been getting a lot of practice over the last year or so. Prior to this run for the Presidency, he rarely had to make such long public speeches. Like the rest of us, he had to learn by doing. Repetition is key to learning new skills and so seizing every chance to present is needed to improve our professional craft.
Sounds terribly logical doesn’t it. However, many people shy away from presenting because they are lacking in confidence or are too nervous. For a very long time, I was one of them. I avoided public speaking because I was terrified and scared of failing. Fortunately, there are various techniques for overcoming nervousness. These can be learnt and by increasing the frequency of presenting, we gradually become more comfortable with the process. Eventually, I came to enjoy speaking, but I needed to get the practice to tap into the pleasure as opposed to pain zone.
Trump’s messages can be quickly understood. Build a big wall; everyone is more cunning than we are; make America great again; read my Art of the Deal; it’s my own money so I don’t owe anybody; politicians are useless; I am rich and successful; I know how to get things done; I am not politically correct; drain the swamp, etc. He is derided as a demagogue and rabble rouser but as a speaker he presents his ideas such that we can remember them. Isn’t this what we also want with our audience?
Think back though, how many key messages can you recall from the many business presentations you have heard over the course of your business career? I would guess not many or none. Here is the key question - will people remember yours?
When we speak, we need to have clarity around the key points we want to get across, in the time we have available. Taking on too much content (“death by Powerpoint”), nullifies the key messages we want to have resonate with the audience. A major information dump is also a communication killer, especially when quoting lots of data. Overload just destroys the message and the audience are lost.
I notice that diplomats are very much prone to data dump. They have an important role to represent their country and promote key messages. I used to work for the Australian Embassy here in Tokyo. I often thought some of those public speeches were killing the messages by overloading the audience with too much content. The intentions were tremendously sincere and purposeful but ultimately the delivery was ineffective. Did they ever get proper training and improve? No, they just kept on repeating the same error, over and over again. Less is more when it comes to the number of messages you want to get across.
Trump totally radiates self-confidence. Confidence certainly sells and if he had any self-doubt (?) about his new public speaking role when he started, he certainly has not shared it with his audiences. Now, we may not have his same degree of self-belief or his many billions, but we must exude confidence when speaking with our audience. Some people say, “fake it, till you make it”. Remember, in the room, the reality is that there is only one person who knows you are not confident and that person is you. Unless you run around advertising it, nobody else will have a clue. So never apologise for your perceived poor speaking ability, your lack of confidence, nervousness, that you have cold, or whatever – just carry on regardless.
In Dale Carnegie we bolster public speaking confidence through embracing the 3 E’s: We have Earned the right to speak, because we know our subject; we are Excited because of our positive feelings for the content; and we are Eager to share with our audience, because we feel this will help them. You will qualify under all three of these conditions, so go about your task with positive energy.
There is an important cross-over point to become a successful a speaker. That occurs when you stop concentrating on yourself and what is wrong with you and then you start concentrating on your audience. We have to get to that point as quickly as possible. Employ the 3 E’s and you will become confident. Even if we are not super confident at first, never ever show that to the audience – they buy speaker self-belief and our job is to provide it.
Trump tell stories, lots of stories. NBC begged me to do a new season of The Apprentice; Carl Icahn told me he is ready to be my negotiator with China; I saw all of these Japanese cars in LA coming out of the biggest ship I have ever seen, etc. He weaves these vignettes into his speech to highlight his key points. Storytelling works and as he demonstrates, they don’t have to be lengthy stories to be effective. Sprinkle some real life stories into your presentations to make you and the content come alive for your audience. There are specific techniques for that though.
Talk about people, places and emotions that the audience can identify with. Don’t say, “we were having a meeting”. Talk about, ”It was winter in New York and we were in the wood paneled boardroom of the client, on the 36th floor of the Rockefeller Center, having a tough meeting with the CEO Jane Smith and I was becoming more and more nervous.” Now we have taken our audience to the place (New York, The Rockefeller Center, 36th floor company Board room), added in the people (my colleagues, Jane Smith), the season (winter), the atmosphere (conservative décor, tense). This story takes less than 15 seconds to tell, so it is very efficient to draw our audience into what we are saying. Now our audience can clearly visualise the situation in their mind’s eye and like a well written novel, they want to know what happened next. This is how we need to use stories in our talks.
Whether you agree with him or not, it is a simple fact that if a novice like Trump can learn to become persuasive as a public speaker, then we can too. He may become a great President or a disaster – time and your personal viewpoint will tell.
Regardless, take the advice offered here and study successful speakers, adapt what works, hone your skills and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. The latter, by the way, is the most common error of unsuccessful presenters – they forget to make time to rehearse the speech before they give it to their audience. Some good advice in business is don’t practice on the client and that includes public speaking! Being persuasive is a massive advantage in life and in business and few possess this skill. Become one of the few.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
Wow Them At The End Of Your Presentation
It is rare to see a presentation completed well, be it inside the organization, to the client or to a larger audience. The energy often drops away, the voice gradually fades out and there is no clear signal that this is the end. The narrative arc seems to go missing in action at the final stage and the subsequent silence becomes strained. It sometimes reminds me of classical music performances, when I am not sure if this is the time to applaud or not.
First and last impressions are critical in business and in life, so why leave these to random chance? We need to strategise how we will end, how we will ensure our key messages linger in the minds of the listeners and how we will have the audience firmly enthralled, as our permanent fan base.
Endings are critical pieces of the presentation puzzle and usually that means two endings not just one. These days, it is rare that we don’t go straight into some form of Q&A session, once the main body of the talk has been completed. So we need an ending for the presentation just given and we need another ending after the Q&A. Why the second one, why not just let it end with the final question?
The pro never lets that happen. Even the most knee quivering, voice choking, collar perspiration drenched, meltdown of a speaker is in 100% control while they have the floor. The audience usually let’s them speak without denunciation or persistent interruption. Life changes though once we throw the floor open to take questions. At that point speaker control is out the window and the street fight begins.
The members of the audience are able to ask rude, indignant questions, challenging everything you hold to be true. They can denounce you as a charlatan, scoundrel, dilettante and unabashed poseur. Sometimes, they even launch forth into their own mini-speech, usually unrelated to whatever it was you were talking about. Or they move the conversation off to a new place, which has nothing to do with your keynote content.
The original topic of your talk is now a distant memory. That is why the pros ensure they bring it all back together with a final close to the proceedings. The last word is now with the speaker, not some provocateur who happened to turn up to the event.
There are a number of ways of bringing the speech home. In the first close, before the Q&A, we might harken back to something we said in our opening, to neatly tie the beginning and end together. Or we might restate the key messages we wish to get across. Another alternative is a summary of the key points to refresh everyone’s recollection of what we were saying. We might end with a memorable story that will linger in the minds of the audience, that encapsulates all that we wanted to say.
When we do this, we should be picking out key words to emphasise, either by ramping our vocal power up or taking it down in strength, to differentiate from the rest of what we are saying. Speaking with the same vocal power throughout just equates the messages together and because it is not clear enough, makes it hard for the audience to buy what we are selling,
At the end of the final sentence we need to hit the power button and finish with a rising crescendo to really put the passion behind our position. Many speakers allow their voice to become weedy and just trail off into oblivion. They appear exhausted and energy drained, rather than on fire with belief. Instead of fading out, we need to bring energy to our final words. We then add a small pause to let our words sink in with the audience and then smoothly move into inviting audience Q&A.
Don’t miss this key point: always specify the time available for Q&A at the very start when you call for Q&A – never, ever leave it open ended. Why not? If you are facing a rabid gathering of foes, critics and opponents and you just end proceedings, it looks cowardly and weak, as if you can’t take it when things get hot. By mentioning the amount of time available for Q&A at the first close and then referring back to it again at the end, allows you to depart with your dignity intact. Just ending, packing up and departing can make you to look like an wimp, scurrying out the door, because you can’t take it. Not a great final impression.
Also, if you are trained on how to handle a hostile audience, you will sail out of there looking like an absolute legend. Few people have any clue on what to do when under pointed attack. The rest of the audience will look at you in awe and admiration, because they know if it had been them up there on the stage, they would have been mince meat. By the way, we teach this, if you are interested to know what to do when the gloves come off and all hell breaks loose, let us know!
Now, back to our topic. The second or final close can be very similar to what we discussed earlier for the first close. Tie it all together or re-state key points or a summary. In addition, this is also the point to use a pertinent quotation to leave a rousing call to action in the minds of your audience. Again, the voice rises in strength at the end of the final sentence. Don’t let it fade away.
When you get the ending right, you can then thank your audience, relax and bask in their warm applause. This is a good feeling.
Action Steps
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.
That Vital Two Second Window
Question: how long does it take you on average to form a first impression of someone? My presentation training participants tell me “two seconds”. Wow, I nearly fell over when I heard that the first time. I was thinking, “what does this mean for the speaker?”. It could be in the boardroom, the meeting room, at the networking event, a public presentation or at the pitch to the client. Regardless of the occasion, one thing is sure – everyone is a critic.
Think back to the last time you saw someone present – be it an update, a project submission, an overview or a fully fledged speech. Were you indulging in a little mental aside, “I hope this is good”, as you swiveled around in your chair to view the speaker? Did the speaker get right into it or was there some logistical finessing of the laptop, the lapel mike (“can you hear me?”) or the notes being shuffled on the rostrum? Was the speaker looking at the audience or up at the huge screen behind them or down at their laptop? Did we have some good old hand microphone thumping to see if it was working properly? If there were any such diversions, then our two second window for the first impression has come and gone completely.
What would help us to maximize this incredibly brief two second window we have been given? Getting straight into the content without any distractions, is so important because it allows us to set the tone for the occasion.
Traditionally, we could thank the organisers for the opportunity to present. Doing this with a huge, warm smile would be a good use of the two seconds. Even if nature has not blessed you with a killer smile, give us the best you can do.
We could start by telling an episode, an incident, a story. We love listening to interesting stories involving real life and real people, because we can easily identify with the content.
We could refer to a member of the audience, immediately shattering the mental barrier separating speaker and audience. “Anne Smith from XYZ and I were chatting earlier and she made a very good observation about….”. We are now one unit – audience and speaker. We are being inclusive and this is a powerful connector that promotes a positive first impression. It also helps to lessen the critic propensity in our audiences.
After having launched into proceedings, we can now backtrack and use the laptop, our notes, the spreadsheets or whatever we need to explain the content. Rather than wasting our initial two second window on these adjustments, we instead get right into it and capture the attention of our audience from the very start. Once captured let’s keep them so.
Japan has a few set pieces with presentations. I am sure you will have seen some of these: have trouble with the technology, not be conversant with the content because one of the underlings prepared it, kick off with a perfunctory apology for being a poor speaker. To really set the tone, now look down and read every single word on the screen or on the notes page. Non-Japanese speakers though are often guilty of the same things, especially jet setting big shots winging in from afar for a cameo appearance.
Another powerful tool, left in pristine condition through underuse is voice quality. Again nature may not have blessed you with a deep throated baritone or mellifluous instrument that harkens the angels, but no matter, do the best with what you have. That means speak clearly, with sufficient volume, so that you can easily be heard. Use the microphone properly by holding it just under your chin and speaking across the mesh.
Have some variation in the delivery so it is not totally predictable. Hit key words with a roar or a whisper to highlight them. At the start, go for the roar rather than the whisper. Show confidence through voice power. Slowing the words down for emphasis is equally powerful. For example, “This--is--the--moment” and delivered slowly with a dramatic pause after each word. Our attention is all yours and we are bursting to know where you are going with this talk.
Eye power is a must. Pick a single person about half way down the middle of the venue and start by speaking directly to them. Smile and look them in the eye. We have now personalised our interaction in that first few seconds and created a connection with the audience.
I recommend holding the person’s gaze for around six seconds, as this allows for engagement without generating fear of retina radiation burn. Spend the entire talk selecting one person after another, randomly selected and speak to them maintaining eye contact. Do this without allowing your sight lines to stray to the floor, ceiling or the back wall. Keep your eyes glued on your audience. You not only want to enhance that one-to-one personal connection with your listeners, you also want to gauge their reaction to what you are saying.
This means carefully instructing the venue organisers beforehand to not drop the lights on the audience or yourself. You want to be able to read their faces for confirmation they are with you. We also want them to be able to see us clearly, rather than disappearing into the shadows on stage. As often happens, someone “helpfully” plunges the venue into darkness, so your slides are easier to see. Stop what you are doing and ask that the lights be brought back up and don’t continue until that happens.
Don’t leave it to random chance or good fortune – decide to own the first impression and enjoy the glide to the finish. When we understand how important the start is, we make sure it is a winner for us. After all you only have a couple of seconds to nail that positive first impression.
Engaged employees are self-motivated. The self-motivated are inspired. Inspired staff grow your business but are you inspiring them? We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. Want to know how we do that? Contact me at greg.story@dalecarnegie.com
If you enjoy these articles, then head over to www.japan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our "Free Stuff" offerings - whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. Take a look at our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules.
About The Author
Dr. Greg Story: President, Dale Carnegie Training Japan
In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development. Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making and become a 30 year veteran of Japan.
A committed lifelong learner, through his published articles in the American, British and European Chamber journals, his videos and podcast “THE Leadership Japan Series”, he is a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. Dr. Story is a popular keynote speaker, executive coach and trainer.
Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate and is currently a 6th Dan. Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.