Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
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Whoever best communicates their thoughts is the person who gets heard! But it isn’t enough to be competent; you have to show that competence in the way you express yourself.
When we think of presenting, we usually think of getting in front of a room of people to talk about something. But that's not the full story. Presenting is about communicating who we are and “selling” others our objectives or ideas. Whether you're trying to motivate a single employee, ask the boss for a raise, tell your spouse something important or pitch a multimillion dollar sales deal, there are six keys to confident presenting. These crucial keys will make your presentation concise and powerful.
1. Know why: Have a reason beforehand
Presentations have to be appropriate for the material being presented and the timing has to be right. Unfortunately that's not always the case. The problem usually arises in cases when there's a disconnect between you and your audience – for example this can happen when a third party arranges the presentation for you and you're uncertain of the goal. You're being asked to present to someone but you aren’t sure why you're presenting or what the desired outcome should be. Or in cases where your company or boss might feel some information needs to be presented, but you are not sure what the point of the material really is!
Fortunately this problem is easily solved with a little foresight. Before any presentation, identify the “Why?” and the desired outcome. Any of the following could be desired outcomes: inform. sell. persuade. motivate. get commitment. There are many possible outcomes – figure out what your desired outcome is for this particular presentation with this particular audience before you finalize your presentation. Then ask about the timing – why is this presentation happening now – why not six months ago, or three weeks from now? What's significant about this timing? Knowing these two factors will help you hone your presentation in the desired direction.
2. Know who: Connect with your audience
It’s common to find presenters who work very hard on their message and know their presentation inside and out, but then neglect to tailor it to the right audience. Before presenting, it's important to figure out what you know about the person or people you will present to, what you want them to get out of your presentation, and what their level of topic knowledge is. It’s called the "know your audience" (KYA) approach to delivering information. While you might have the same general information to present to your boss, or your staff, or your customer, knowing your audience will dictate exactly what pieces of information are important and how you want to share them. Once you know your audience, you'll be able to decide which area(s) to focus on in order to address what the audience cares about. Consider collecting data in advance through interviews or an assessment of their needs.
In one-to-one presentations, don’t make the common mistake of just throwing all of your information at someone and hoping that some of it will stick. Let the person know that you understand their time is valuable so before you begin you’d like to ask them some questions to focus your presentation. Most people appreciate it when you ask, “What would you most like to get out of this interaction? What’s most important to you?”
If you are presenting to a larger group, asking them quantitative questions about their overall knowledge level is helpful – for example, “How many people feel they are better than a 7 on a scale of 1-10 in knowledge of this subject?” At the very least you'll get a sense of your audience and what they might be expecting. If it's a board presentation, or any situation in which there are multi-decision makers, ask to speak to some of the key people before the meeting. What do they hope to gain? What would make it time well spent in their eyes?
Then, before you even begin to present, re-establish what you learned: “These are the key things I’ve been asked to focus on in this presentation. Has anything changed? Should I add anything else?” And remember, it’s 'all about me' for most of us, so if you can supply a value to your audience you will gain listeners and probably followers, too.
3. Create flow
Your subject may be a complicated one for those outside your specific industry or field of expertise. There may be a great deal of jargon, lots of confusing ideas, new products, and new ideas cropping up all of the time. Many presenters try to pack a lot of information and data into one continuous stream. The result is that the listener isn’t exactly sure what fits where and how to assimilate the information. Before you present, review all of the information you hope to present and then “chunk it” into manageable pieces. As you look at all of your material, what chunks emerge? Organize the information in categories of related ideas. It’s best to keep within the bounds of seven sections (or less) of information if possible, so if you can break it into something like, “Three subject areas” or “Four key take-aways,” your audience will focus on listening for these specific areas.
As you organize your presentation, you'll want to answer the following questions (a) what’s your overall topic or subject – what are you hoping to accomplish and convey? (b) What segments or chunks do you have within the topic? What are the groupings of information you can make? © What’s the information within each segment? What specific points do you want to make around this information?
Create an introduction – whether your presentation is to one person or a large group – and use it to outline what you're going to tell them. List the areas you'll cover and refer back to that list each time. For example: “In this first area of the four key take-aways, we’ll talk about...” Open and close each section with clarity– “In the second topic area we'll discuss…” Once you've finished the information for this second topic area, wrap it up: “The two key points from this section that may be especially important to you are (a) and (b). Now let’s move on to topic area number three.” This way the listener knows what information they are being asked to pay attention to in each segment and it doesn’t all roll together as an endless stream of information.
4. Provide context
Too many presenters assume that if they are delivering information to someone, the audience should automatically know what's important. In real life though, with the information overload most people live with everyday, most of us can’t possibly wade through everything in the presentation and emerge with a clear idea of why it matters and what we need to do about it.
As an extension of the chunking process, don’t assume that the listener will understand why this information should matter to them. The audience may be thinking, “So what that widget A has more teeth on the flywheel than widget B? What does that matter to me, the listener?” Remember how important it was to know "Who" you're talking to? Well, it’s just as important to help your “Who” know "Why" they should care about this information! Keep asking yourself the “Why?” question. Why does this concern your audience, why does it help them, why do they need to know it?
Adult learning principles teach us that adults need to be able to relate information and new material to something they already know. Show them clearly how this information relates to them, why it is useful and what they can do with it.
To be most effective in presenting, you must make the linkage. “This is important because…” Give your audience the chance to get an “Ah-hah! I get it!” moment.
If you can’t clarify the meaning of what you are presenting, consider whether you need the information there in the first place!
5. Match behavioral style
Most presenters, whether one-to-one or on a stage, are so focused on “How do I look and sound?” that they lose the focus on the listener. Particularly in one-to-one meetings but also in small groups, a presenter needs to listen and watch for the other person’s preferred style. What’s style? It’s our tone of voice, our pace, the words we use and our body language. If I am by nature a slow talking and thoughtful person but I'm dealing with someone who is fast-talking and quick to learn, they will tend to get aggravated by my style. If I am a “results-oriented” person working with someone who needs time to think, time to process, and time to consider what I’ve said, that person may be turned off by what feels to them like a brusque approach. According to research on this topic, when we don’t adapt our style to that of our audience, we lose a degree of effectiveness because the listeners simply can’t hear us as well – they are too focused on the differences in communication style. In order to communicate with impact and be heard the way we want to be heard, stay aware of our own style and watch that of others.
Excellent presenters will naturally and unconsciously modify their approach in reaction to their audience, but unfortunately most of the rest of us have to work at it. Watching someone else’s style and then modifying your communication approach is a great way to connect with them.
Sales training will often teach the “mapping” or "mirroring" approach. In this approach, I watch the prospect and if they lean forward, I lean forward. If they look up when they are thinking, I look up when I am thinking. Of course if this looks too obvious it becomes annoying, but people who practice and get good at it do it very subtly. They may choose different words, change their tone, or change their pace based upon what they see their listener doing.
Mapping is a practiced skill because it requires you to truly focus on the other person and pay attention to what they do. Watch carefully what’s happening with the person, or people across from you. In a large group, if you see a lot of fidgeting and people looking around the room, call time for a break or ask people to put their hands up for a question. Let your audience guide you and put the focus on what your listener is doing rather than what you are doing.
6. Bring closure
The last key actually brings us right back to where we started. Once you get to the end, go back to the beginning. Restate what you started with and confirm with your listener what will happen next. Why did you have this exchange or make this presentation? What were you hoping your listener or audience would do as a result of the material you delivered? This key asks you to both recap what you’ve told the audience – “I started out by saying we’d review four segments of information, let’s review the four segments,” and remind them of any specific data they need to have as a result of what you’ve discussed. Or, if you wanted something from the person such as a decision, “I started out by saying I would show you why I’m ready to move to the next position in our company, what other information would you need from me to make this decision?” The closure can range from simply a nice round of applause (if you're a motivational speaker) to having someone show you his or her ability to adeptly execute a new process (if you are a trainer).
This is where you want to recap any “Next Steps” or “Take-aways” you want the audience to remember. If you need something from the audience, be clear what it is you need, when you need it, and how you want it delivered. Another example could be as specific as: “Please send an email to this address, by the 4th of May, with your three requests for the training in August.”
If you're doing the presentation with a sales objective, and depending on where you are in the process, it may be appropriate to go for the close or just to close them on a next step in the sales process. Don’t leave uncertainty. Confirm: “When we started the process, we talked about 5 key steps you needed to take to make a decision. We’ve just finished the third step and I will send you further information. Are we still on target for the next two steps? Is the process going as you expected? What else do you need?” You always want to be closing on what happens next so there are no surprises. Don’t make the mistake that many presenters make where you wrap up a great presentation and then walk away wondering, “What’s next?”
If you need a decision from your listener, ask them when they feel they can make a decision and what else they need from you in order to make it. Be clear at the outset what you are doing with the presentation ("I will need you to decide between two ideas," or "I will be presenting a lot of information and you will need to take what matters to you and discard the rest," or "I need a confirmed date once we finish for when we can roll this out to the larger group").
Conclusion
Presenting with confidence applies whether you are making a sales pitch, asking the boss for a raise or promotion, telling a new employee why you are excited they’ve joined your firm, or speaking to a large room filled with people. The six keys can be modified to meet your specific presenting needs and applied to many different venues.
Write down your thoughts for each section before you begin.
Know Why.
Know Who.
Create flow.
Provide context.
Match style.
Bring closure.
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995. In 2008, she co-founded Advisors Trusted Advisor to offer dedicated practice management resources to advisors, planners and wealth managers. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate students Leadership & Social Responsibility. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
Read more articles by Beverly Flaxington