Here’s my gift to you: a free extract of my book for you to read. It’s in 2 parts. Enjoy!
The whole book tells the story of how doing an 11-minute TED talk changed my perspective of myself and other people, almost got me slammed up in jail, and could have cost me my job.
Public Speaking Lesson 1: Why you?
If you’re asked to speak in public, whether it’s making a wedding toast or making a presentation at a team meeting at work, always ask yourself, before even accepting, why you should do it. It sounds simple, but we don’t always ask ourselves that question. If you speak, what will be the benefit? Speaking is a high- risk situation, so why put yourself in that position if you’re not going to gain anything? You might be one of those strange people like me and enjoy the kick of speaking in public. Some people prefer skiing to risk their necks. But every skier asks themselves the question at the top of the ski run: “is the thrill of this going to be worth the risk of breaking a leg?”
Remember that a great presentation can make a career. A really bad one can tarnish your reputation until you retire. Early.
Here are some simple questions to ask before you even accept a speaking invitation:
Why am I being asked to speak?
What are the positive aspects for me?
Can I strengthen my brand or image by speaking?
What can I give the audience?
Am I the right person for this situation and this audience?
Is this the right time?
What am I able to change as a result of speaking?
What are the risks of speaking?
What are the risks of not speaking?
I often work with teams who have not bothered to ask themselves these questions. They simply choose the most senior person to speak, or the person who led the project they are presenting. Or they choose the person who is best at delivering presentations. Sometimes it’s obvious, but sometimes it pays not to go down the obvious route. A fellow trainer told me about a situation he had when he was working with a team that needed to get approval on an important project. They knew that their team leader was extremely well qualified, very charismatic, and a great presenter. But he was also known for not holding back his strong opinions, so on this occasion he might act as a lightning rod for people on the decision board that might object. Rather than choose him, the team took the bold decision to instead put a calm, normally introverted scientist into the limelight. She led the bulk of the presentation, taking the decision-makers calmly through the facts, with the team leader contributing only to the question and answer session. The project was approved.
Public speaking lesson 2: It’s not about you
Get over yourself! Face it: people are primarily concerned about themselves. The audience first cares about what you can do for them. So figure out what that is. Entertaining them, making them laugh, educating them about something, making them money, saving them time, making them feel important.
You only have to watch any celebrity reality show to see that as soon as someone stops giving an audience what they need, they are dropped for someone who does. Harsh but true. Human empathy can only go so far.
Of course it’s not always that extreme. Even for stand-up comedians, audiences will usually start off by giving you the benefit of the doubt. They will begin by mirroring your emotions. If you feel comfortable in front of your audience, they will feel comfortable. If you feel nervous, they will feel nervous for you. But if you become self-indulgent, their empathy will waiver.
Think of the presentations you hear every day at work. What do you do when someone starts to introduce themselves at the beginning of their presentation and then takes you through their CV for ten minutes? You start doing your emails. You like a photo of a kitten. You peek at what’s on the lunch menu. You may even nod off if you’ve had a big night the evening before.
Even if you’ve made this same presentation a thousand times, before you reach for the PowerPoint (or Google) slides, always take time to consider the following:
Who will be in the audience?
How well do you know them?
What do they care about and what might be on their minds right now?
What couldn’t they care less about?
What do they need from you?
How can you give them what they need, or at least go some way to addressing their needs?
What do you want to give them?
Do you want to inform, educate, inspire, or entertain them?
For those very important situations – the ones that can make or break a career – it’s well worth spending ample time on these questions. If there are powerful decision- makers in the audience, you might consider doing extensive research and a full assessment for each one. But be careful not to focus on one audience member at the expense of the others in the room. This will have the effect of isolating the very person you’re trying to reach.
If your presentation is to help your audience reach a decision, you might want to talk to some of the influential people in the room beforehand to uncover any potential objections and to get them on your side from the start.
A couple of years ago, the head of a branding agency was invited to make a keynote speech in front of 350 communications people from a company that was just in the process of refreshing its brand. A prime opportunity to get business, you would’ve thought. But with his jam-packed slides and totally irrelevant information, he managed to lose his audience within three minutes. Sitting at the back of the auditorium, I witnessed the shimmer of all the iPhones being taken out. I’d estimate that, by the five-minute mark, 70% of the audience were checking their phones, while the other 30% had left for the loo. He had paid no regard to what his audience was interested in.
Public Speaking Lesson 3: Be yourself
You’ve established why you’re speaking and who you’re speaking to. This is the nice bit: now you need to figure out what’s so good about you and use it to your advantage. Never, ever try to be someone you’re not. Never make someone else’s presentation even if they pay you. If you’re not the expert on a topic, don’t present on it. If you know you’re not good at jokes, don’t tell any. Humour is fine, but make it match what you want your own personal brand to be.
What are your own strengths? Write them down. If you’re nerdy about a particular subject, how can you use that to make yourself shine? Think about what gives you confidence and what depletes your confidence. How can you use these points to make sure you show your best?
Audiences are not stupid. They can see when you’re being true to yourself. Equally, they can see when you’re not. I’m sure we’ve all seen presentations made by managers delivering messages they don’t believe in. They’ve just been sent some slides that they need to “cascade”. It’s astounding that this still happens in many companies. It demonstrates a total lack of respect for employees, yet it still happens. The best leaders are the ones who put the slides aside and have a frank conversation with their team members, sharing their real opinions.
Over the years, I’ve worked with hundreds of scientists who need to present their work but are cautious about making it into “too much of a show”. “The science will speak for itself”, they tell me. My response is always that sometimes they need to give it a helping hand. That doesn’t mean dressing it up to be something it’s not or distorting the facts. It does mean bringing it alive with genuine enthusiasm that the audience can share.
Public Speaking Lesson 4: Always be prepared
There’s always something more important to do than prepare for a presentation or speech. Let’s not kid ourselves, nobody enjoys doing it. Wouldn’t it be great if we could just show up and shine? The truth is that even the most professional speakers who make it look effortless put a lot of effort into making it look that way.
If you put the time into crafting your message so it’s right for your audience, this will be time well spent. What do you really want to say? Can you boil it down to one memorable and understandable sentence? Have you bothered to test it with other people to make sure it’s meaningful? You might think that you’re right, that you’re the one who knows the most about your subject, but we all have blind spots, things we haven’t considered.
Once you have boiled down your message, speak it out loud. Does it sound as good coming from your mouth as it looks on paper?
If you’re making an important presentation at work, there’s no excuse for not being ready for the tough questions. Imagine you’re a journalist pulling apart the presentation. What are the five questions you, as the presenter, would least like to be asked and how will you answer them? Often it’s best to address any obvious sticking points up front in your main presentation. It shows you have confidence in what you’re talking about and that you’ve thought about what any objections might be.
Rehearse. I can’t stress this enough. In too many cases, i see people delivering presentations for the first time in front of their real audience! In fact, what their audience is witnessing is their rehearsal. Too often, some people’s idea of rehearsing is to “send the slides round for review”. Rehearse: with your loved ones or your close colleagues, the ones you know will give you frank feedback.
Public Speaking Lesson 5: Don’t be a PowerPoint slave
I shudder every time I think about how much expensive management time is spent doing PowerPoint slides. I know one senior manager who only got where he is today because he “does great slides”. While that’s one strategy for success, I know that’s not what I’d like as my epitaph.
Many times, I hear from people things like: “but we need to submit the slides in advance” or “they gave us a slide template we need to use”. No! If you need to send slides in advance, what’s the point in presenting them? People can just read the slides and not waste your or their time being there. One way round this is to only show the important slides about the things they care about and leave out the rest. They already have them anyway and you can pull up a specific slide if they ask a question about it. “pre-reads”, or materials sent ahead of a meeting, are infuriating enough for the attendees of a meeting, so just think how annoyed your audience will be if you insist on reading out the same stuff they’ve already received. Keep dull details to the pre-reads and the really interesting material for your presentation.
Once you’ve figured out what you want to say and what they want to know, then you can work out whether any slides are necessary. In many cases they’re not. Slides should reinforce what you say, make it stronger or more visual. Use bold images that will stick in people’s minds. If necessary, make two sets of slides: one set for “submitting in advance” and one set for presenting. Too often, PowerPoint is used as a way to list information rather than as a visual aid for presenters. Put the information into the notes pages and keep the slides solely for visuals. If there’s a part of your presentation where you don’t need a slide, blank the screen. Or insert a blank slide. That way the focus of the audience will be on you and not a slide on something they’ve just heard.
Some people have said to me: “but if i don’t come with slides, people will think I’m not prepared.” No they won’t! They will be relieved! Use as few slides as possible and make them visual. As long as you’ve prepared well and thought about what you’re going to say, they will see it. Audiences are not stupid.
Over the several years, I worked with a CEO on his annual speech to a meeting of the top 200 people in his organisation. This is an important rallying call to his troops, so the first time, i managed to persuade him to use no slides and begin by telling a powerful story. For someone who had previously presented to a backdrop of PowerPoint slides packed with figures and charts, this was quite a leap. But he had the courage to try it and he saw the difference it made. His people were yearning to see the real him, and he certainly delivered. When I sat down with him the last time to begin planning his speech, he greeted me with “peter, no slides, right?” This year was his best performance yet and the feedback he received was tremendous. His speech created a real buzz that lasted beyond the meeting itself.
