How To Be Confident When Presenting

The Mochizuki Room of the High Performance Center Akasaka opens up and today’s class members gradually file in, finding a seat, hanging up their winter coats. They mostly don’t know each other, so there is a little bit of nervousness in the room, as they start meeting their classmates and their instructors. At the outset, we ask them to set a vision for the training. It is written in the present tense, but the timing is set 6 months in the future. This requires a bit of mental gymnastics. That means it is not written as, “I will do something or other” but “I am”, as a form of expression. It assumes they have achieved some outcome and that is was a big success.

They have to project forward to a point where they will be giving a future presentation and they have to describe how successful it was, as if it really happened already, even though it is in the future. Next we ask them to imagine after that successful presentation, that they are the last to leave the room. As they are walking out of the building following the crowd, they can hear some of the attendees of their talk discussing their presentation. We ask them to nominate what are the three attributes they want to hear used to describe their presentation, from those who have just heard them speak.

When we ask our class participants for High Impact Presentations Course what are some of the attributes they want to have referenced as presenters, the word “confidence” comes up in almost 99% of cases. Other attributes include: clear, interesting, professional, fun, motivating, impactful, logical, valuable, passionate, interesting etc. Why is confidence the most widely sought after attribute?

We know that confidence sells the message. Someone who doesn’t look confident about what they are suggesting is rejected right then and there. If you can’t believe it yourself, then why should we believe what you are saying. This reaction makes sense doesn’t it.

Confidence also presumes a positive mental state. Speaking in front of others can be contemplated as a negative. Perhaps at school they gave a report and classmates laughed at them, crushing their confidence forever. Maybe they presented their tutorial paper at University and they were diced up by their classmates. Somewhere in their past there may be a recollection of the intense shame, humiliation and despair they felt when they have to present in front of others.

Usually a lack of confidence is associated with nervousness. Being nervous is one thing and putting yourself in that state is another. We are all trained to avoid pain and unpleasantness. Knowing you will become very nervous if you have to present in front of others, automatically has us looking for the escape route to avoid that situation. We know what is coming and we don’t like the look of it. Having the adrenalin coursing through our veins, our breathing feeling constrained, the blood draining away from our major organs releasing a queasy feeling in the pit of our stomach is not a state we want to enter into if we can avoid it.

That was me too. I avoided public speaking for decades, because of my lack of confidence. Was I half smart enough to go and get some training to overcome these fears? No. I did nothing but sweat and tremble in trepidation that I would have to speak in front of others. I passed up on opportunities to build my personal and professional brand and to promote my organisation.

This is the point – we are not confident because we don’t know what we are doing. Any task we have never done before or which is technical and requires some degree of training is going to make us nervous about doing it. Public speaking is no different.

Like these attendees of the High Impact Presentations Course in the Mochizuki Room, we can all overcome these fears of insufficiency to the task, by getting the training. They learn how to deal with fear, with the fight or flight syndrome all speakers have to face. They learn speaking structures that will enable them to prepare any presentation format. When you can just pour the content into the right format, life gets a lot easier. Understanding the point of the talk is another simple but key element. Am I here to get action, to entertain, to inform or to impress? Learning how to design the start and finish of the talk, how to properly design the slides for the talk, how to analyse the audience to know how to present the talk are all the basics we need to know.

When you add in the personal coaching from the instructors it all starts to improve. You only get positive feedback, so your delicate nervous state is not totally upended. You get specific things to work on and lots and lots of practice. You hit the magic marker. This is when you learn how to switch the focus from yourself and move to focusing on your audience. It doesn't happen immediately but it does happen. Once you do that, all the fears about speaking in front of others, which is all about you by the way, disappear.

This is when you can start to notice the impact of what you are saying is having on your audience. You can see the impact because you are watching them like a hawk, never taking your eyes off the audience and you are using your eye power to engage them one by one, throughout the presentation. People nodding approvingly really boosts your confidence and you start to enjoy the process.

With training, you never fear the Q&A. This is when the event potentially becomes a street fight with no rules. When we are speaking we have control of the time, the agenda and the content. Q&A can see questions which have nothing to do with the topic, severe critiques of what you have just said and someone’s own diatribe on a subject they hold near and dear. You cannot control this but you can control your response. When you have been trained you can weather any storm and can become bulletproof against any attack. Trust me, this knowledge makes you very confident when presenting.

So get trained and increase your confidence when presenting. It is that simple. Once you have done it, you will kick yourself as to why you didn’t get the training earlier. It makes you happy to get the skills but sad to think of how much time and opportunity you have lost for no good reason. Better late than never though, so let’s get going!

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 podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, "THE Sales Japan series", THE Presentations 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.

Having More Presence As A Speaker

Two different presenters and a big occasion. The five star hotel ballroom was packed and a lot of attention was being given to these two leaders, both new to their roles. Presenting is a cruel world. It has no respect for position or pedigree. Like the first presenter, you can be a big shot at your mega company, but unless you have the goods, no one will be impressed and in fact you will damage both your personal and company brand. In the case of the second presenter, you might be a VIP and in Japan this is a big deal and pretty good, because of the way everyone fawns over you. The gloves come off though when you get up on stage to do your presentation. If you are a dud, average, mediocre or uninspiring, then the sheen on that old VIP status starts to look a bit dull and tattered.

If the big shots are having trouble, how about the rest of us? How do we have a presence on stage when we speak? I teach our High Impact Presentations Course and do a lot of one-on-one Executive Coaching for presentations. Often, I hear the request from the participants and from the executives around how to have more presence when on stage.

It is true isn’t it. The vast majority of people we meet in life have very little presence. Why would they suddenly be transformed into a presenting god at the podium? It is the same inside companies. The Japanese executives are often requesting help with having more “executive presence” when they are attending large, high level, internal meetings. Part of it is language skills in English. Part of it is cultural – be humble, play yourself down, don’t stand out, be respectful of those older or more senior than you in the room. Part of it is a complete lack of training.

When we present there are three levers we need to pulling on hard and they are the words, our voice and our body language. The words obviously relate to the content and it has to be excellent. If what we are saying is boring, obvious, unremarkable or insignificant, then don’t expect to be carried from the hall on the shoulders of your supporters, as they parade your triumph along the cobbled streets to the town square.

Japanese presenters need to lose their obsession with linguistic perfection. The audience just doesn’t care. So what if a grammatical mistake is made or a word mispronounced? In this multi-cultural, global, matrixed world, native English speakers are used to hearing non-native speakers mangle the English language. Actually they don’t have a problem with it, because they are used to it. We correct what is being said, inside our minds and connect the dots, so we can follow where the speaker is going. We are doing this without conscious thought because it has become so standard and natural.

The voice is a powerful instrument. This is where we need to rise to the occasion. A presentation should be delivered as if we are having a fireside chat but at a volume and strength, that is made for the public occasion. We keep the intimacy, but we elongate the vocal range. We are creating variety and are staying as far away from a monotone delivery as we can get. Japanese language is a monotone, so it is handmade for putting the audience to sleep. Even in Japanese though, we can use variety in speed and power in our delivery to give us sufficient vocal range to keep the punters awake.

Body language includes gestures, posture, eye contact etc. The hidden key to having more presence really requires skills in this area though. I have been training in traditional karate since 1971. I also did ten years of taichiquan before I had to stop when I came back to Japan. In both cases, called chi in Chinese and the ki in Japanese, there is magical energy in the body. All martial arts are devoted to harnessing that power.

Does this mean you have to take up martial arts to be a speaker and tap into the energy source. I don’t believe so, based on our ability to coach people to have more ki when they present. The amateur presenter is consuming all the energy within themselves. They haven’t worked out that you have to project that energy into the audience. They miss this because they are focused on themselves and what they are doing, rather than being focused entirely on their audience.

Here are a couple of simple things to adopt from now on whenever you have to present. I will condense 47 years of training down to key points. When you speak, look straight into the eyes of the individual in your audience, for about six seconds, before moving your gaze on to the next person. Keep this up throughout, with no wavering. Also, do it in a random fashion so that it cannot be predicted. Cover all areas of the room, front, back, left, right, middle as you look at individuals.

At the same time as using your eye power, project your energy to that person.   Imagine it was like an energy laser beam you were projecting to the people sitting in front of you. Use your voice to shoot the words out to these people you are looking at. Gestures add power to the words. Combine your body language together to direct more presence to the person you are speaking to.

All of this is taking place at the same time. What it means is that you are directly 100% of your attention to one person at a time when you are speaking. Many speakers are looking everywhere and nowhere when they are talking. Instead use this total power direct into the audience.

By the way, in a big hall, the 20 people sitting around your target person, will all feel your attention is being directed toward them. What the audience feels is your full energy and power when you present.

This is what they mean by having “presence”.

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 podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, "THE Sales Japan series", THE Presentations 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.

How To Come Up With Speech Content

Their request arrives. “Would you please give a presentation to our group?”. You check on what they would like you to talk about. Usually, the answer is a bit vague. The content will not be so finely or specifically designated. It may cover a broad subject area or they may mention what people usually speak about or they might just throw it back to you completely. Okay…. So how do we come up with a speech title and description?

We need both to be decided rather early because they want to promote the event and get the message out about the coming talk. That is a pain for a procrastinator like myself. I now have to think! The problem is that you need a snappy title that will attract an audience. People in marketing and advertising get paid a lot of money to come up with these brilliant little gems but we are doing it ourselves. It can’t be too long, has to reflect the content of what we will speak about and it has to have a hook that will grab attention. Copywriting is a finite skill and we are usually rank amateurs. We need a title and supporting text that is going to get people motivated to turn up.

We need a theme though first and so how do we choose that? While we were discussing the request to speak, we should take the opportunity to enquire about their target audience. Are they hard-core professionals in this area, dilettantes, aspirants, fans or rent-a-crowd? What is the age and gender demographic? Once we know who we are going to be talking to, we can start to consider the subject we will choose.

Now we may have many and varied interests, but our subject guide should be what will be of the greatest interest to the largest number of punters in the audience. Obviously it has to cover an area which we can actually speak on, but our personal devotion shouldn’t be choice. That talk content will be fascinating for us and perhaps lost on the audience members. Having honed the choices down to one, we now consider what is the punch line of the talk.

This punch line is also known as the close of the talk. Ironically we don’t start with the title, flag the key things to be covered and then start to build the slide deck. We start with the finish and work our way backwards toward the title. As we roughly form up the content we start to get ideas about a possible title. The title can be straightforward and descriptive, like this piece or it can use other hooks. If we think about how the content will be found by search engine algorithms, it is best not to use something too illusive and arty. Speaking gigs are advertised somewhere and they do get added to your personal search results, so we should maximize that chance we are given.

The title can also be fascinating, such that people will want to hear all about it. Sounds good but this is not that easy to do and as mentioned, copywriters are trained to get the words right. We are amateurs in that regard. We can spend some time tossing around various title possibilities until we find one we like. The point is to toss around a number of them rather going for the first one to pop into our brain. Think of the title from a potential audience member’s point of view. What would grab their attention and hold their interest.

The supporting description is usually only a few paragraphs long so we have to again be working hard wordsmithing the content. This is not where we spell out the content we will cover, like an agenda in a book. This part needs to be crammed to gunwales with value from the audience viewpoint. We need to be telling them what they will get out of this talk, how it will help them. We don’t have so many words to do this in, so we have to hit the high notes hard.

There will also be a short bio about us to explain why we have the authority, capacity and expertise to talk on this subject. It is not a job CV. It again should be a powerful couple of sentences that reeks of “expert”.

Once we have done all of this we can start working on the detail of the talk and getting the slides together. If we take our time to plan this way, we will give a much better talk, have a far greater impact with the audience and be regarded as a quality expert in our field.

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 podcasts “THE Leadership Japan Series”, "THE Sales Japan series", THE Presentations 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.