The WOW Factor: How to Stand Out As A Speaker

You’ve been in that terrible position.  That dull, mind-numbing state of being that we call the boring presentation.

Lemme guess.  It’s in a dark room.  There’s a projector showing a handful of abysmal graphs and an endless list of bullet points.  These things are bad, but the worst part is that your speaker is droning in a monotone fashion.  It’s a show we’ve all seen many times before, and yet nothing changes.  We continue to experience these run-of-the-mill catastrophes because speakers are focusing too much on the information and aren’t thinking enough about their delivery.  Without at least a clean and clear delivery, your audience won’t care enough to listen to the content.

Remember: Content is King, but Delivery is his Queen.  The king makes the decisions, but the queen gets the people’s attention.  He is powerful, but she is beautiful.  You need both to rule the kingdom.

So, what to do about this problem?  How do we transform a boring speaker into a master of style and confidence?

Well, great speakers possess certain attributes that give them the spark that audiences crave.  At Big Fish Presentations, we have come up with three qualities that we believe will make you a memorable and exciting presenter.  These three things combine to give you the “WOW” factor.

The WOW Factor means you’ve got to be:

Well-versed

In order to appear confident, you’ve got to actually be confident.  The best way to be confident is by being a know-it-all when it comes to your topic.  Practice, practice, practice.  Then, practice some more.  You want to be able to relax and breathe properly while you speak, which you can’t do if you’re visibly struggling to remember certain points.  Audiences are smart.  They can easily tell if you know what you’re talking about or not.  Become extremely comfortable with your material beforehand, and you will have no problem presenting to crowds of any size.  Pretty soon you’ll be a well-oiled machine, ready to rock any venue like a true boss.

Original

The problem with many inexperienced presenters is that they lack originality.  They get by in their presentations by repeating the same jokes, using the exact same words and speaking like they always have.  It seems as if they just go through the motions, not diverging from habit.  Whether it’s because they are scared to leave their comfort zone or because they are too busy or lazy to change the routine, the fact remains that their audiences suffer.  Once again, audiences are smart, and they can tell if you’re just going through a process.  Now, this attribute might seem contradictory to the first point: being well-versed.  However, being comfortable with your material and simply repeating the exact same words over and over are two very different things.  Being well-versed means that you have done your research and are able to answer any question that comes your way.  Being unoriginal involves the memorization of lines, sounding forced as you speak and not truly delving into the subject matter, but skimming the surface with your old routine.  The point is that you should be fresh and innovative in your approach to presentations.  Give your audience a new, exciting show every time you present.  If it is new to you, it will be even newer to your audience, which excites and entertains them.

Weird

I know what you’re thinking.  “Why would I want to be weird? That’s weird.” Here’s the way I look at it. Wouldn’t you rather be different than be normal?  The average presenter is someone who goes under an audience’s radar.  If you want to be a great speaker, you’ve got to break away from the norm.  You’ve got to be unique enough that people can’t help but be captivated by your energy and your passion.  Keep your audience guessing by livening up your delivery and putting a fun spin on your content to make it more easily digestible.  Don’t let any type of information remain typical and boring.  You can’t afford to get too comfortable with your delivery.  Your audience deserves better than that!

Having the WOW Factor isn’t difficult to acquire.  You’ve just got to do some thinking about your material, your delivery and most importantly your audience.  You are like a host at your very own party.  You don’t want your party to be drab or boring.  You want to have the best parties with the best activities and the best personalities.  Your parties are awesome because you give your attendees something of value, something of true worth to them that makes them want to come to the next one.  So, make your presentations the best that you can by “wow-ing” them at every point in the presentation.

Was this helpful?  Do you want to know more about having the WOW Factor?  Please don’t hesitate to contact us, whether through the comments below, on our Facebook or Twitter pages or via e-mail at hq@bigfishpresentations.com!  Check out our YouTube channel to see the latest Big Fish news and projects.  We’d love for you to stop by!

Our First Guest Post on Forbes: 5 All-Star Techniques You Can Use In Your Next Speaking Gig

Our First Guest Post on Forbes: 5 All-Star Techniques You Can Use In Your Next Speaking Gig

Big day for us…our writers at Hook-Line-Sinker are now guest posting exclusive presentation articles on Forbes. Please check out our first and not definitely last blog post on Forbes called “5 All-Star Techniques You Can Use in Your Next Speaking Gig.”

This articles shares with common audiences how star presenters like Steve Jobs, Chris Rock, Martin Luther King Jr. Tony Hsieh, and Bill Clinton work their magic in enchanting audiences.

Feel free to leave comments here, and if you’re new, please subscribe to our blog for the latest presentation updates and all things Big Fish Presentations.

Preparing Presentations: 5 Ways to Practice ’til Perfect

“Practice makes perfect.”

We’ve all heard it.  Many, many times, in fact.

Although it has been repeated many times over your lifetime, it still rings truth.  In any skill that you choose to pursue, if you practice it enough, you will be nearly perfect at it.  There’s no way to get around it.  Unless you are naturally talented at something or get extremely lucky, odds are the only way to “sharpen your sword,” so to speak , is through repetition.  Now, we’re not going to lie to you.  It takes a lot time and dedication to be a disciplined practitioner of anything.  However, if you can sit down, focus and try your best, you will see clear results.

This mindset also applies to presentations.  For most people, presentations make them nervous, which is natural.  However, you can significantly decrease your nervousness by taking certain steps, carefully preparing yourself for the event to come.  At Big Fish Presentations, we encourage our clients to practice a variety of methods that ease nerves, which makes them more successful and confident in their presentations.  So, we’ve gathered five of these tactics to share with you today.

Here are five ways in which you can practice your presentation skills.

1. Rehearse in front of a crowd

Standing in front of a group of people, giving your speech and seeing their reactions is a great way to boost your confidence in your material and delivery.  Whether it’s a small group of your friends, co-workers, family or even a random group of strangers, the action of giving your presentation allows you to see reactions and get natural human feedback.  This will calm your nerves and make you more comfortable with the entire experience.  Many times, you’ll find that your worst mistakes will surface on this first go-around, leaving you with plenty of time and feedback to correct mistakes and re-organize your thoughts.

2. Take notes

As you practice, it’s very useful to stop immediately whenever you notice a mistake or an uncomfortable moment and jot down a few notes.  In any practicing situation, don’t hesitate to analyze and re-analyze your presentation as you go.  After all, this is why you’re practicing in the first place.  You can write down things like cutting down on time on certain parts, making sure you enunciate tricky words or refining the structure of your talk.  You’d be surprised by how many issues you can find when you take the time to look at yourself closely.

3. Experiment

Don’t keep repeating the same lines over and over again if you think it sounds boring or awkward.  Let loose and find ways to make your presentation exciting for your audience.  Experiment with variations of words, include a funny story, make a joke or two.  Relax!  Remember, the two most important things in your presentation are being clear and being relevant.  Use the stage or props to your advantage.  Ask a particular audience member a question.  Keep your audience guessing.  You can have a lot of fun if you free yourself from the boring presentation structure and have a little fun out there.

4. Time yourself

Timing is crucial in presentations.  It takes practice to nail down a solid time, but the general rule of thumb is to keep it short, simple and to the point.  Since your goal is to decrease time while maintaining quality, practice trimming your message to include the most important and relevant information without the fluff.  Set up a goal of the amount of time that you think is appropriate for your audience, then refine or beef up your talk accordingly.  The more comfortable you are with your time, the more flexible you can be as you give your presentation.

5. Record yourself

By hearing and seeing yourself, you can judge the inflection, speed and enunciation of your voice.  You always want to put yourself in your audience’s position, seeing and hearing yourself as they would see you.  It’s not so much about perfecting your orating skills, although that is important, as it is about showing your personality through your words.  In order to come across original and confident, you want to show your true character and that you’re comfortable in your speech.

All in all, it comes down to carefully observing yourself and constructively criticizing the elements of your speech.  You’ve got to take the time to truly grade yourself before you can expect to deliver a solid presentation.  The true masters of presentations, such as TED speakers, train themselves and prepare extensively in advance for their talks.  If you want to truly engage your audience, be yourself, but most importantly be comfortable with yourself. It’s all about blending your personality with your message and finding the happy medium between your goals and the outcome.

What do you think?  Was this helpful?  Do you have any additional tips or guidelines about preparing for a presentation? Let us know what you think in the comments below, on our Facebook page or tweet us!  Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel for more awesome content from the Big Fish team!

Presentation Breakdown: Rich Mulholland “Escaping Educational Legacide”

This week’s presentation breakdown features Missing Link CEO and former rock star roadie Rich Mulholland.  After operating lights for bands like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, Mulholland started South Africa’s first presentation company, Missing Link.  He is also an outstanding speaker and education activist.

In this TED talk, Mulholland speaks about his proposition of reinventing the educational system.  He believes that people should never stop learning.  The traditional model of education, one in which we attend school until our early 20s, then rely on this education to fuel our careers and minds for the remainder of our lives, is a flawed system.  Let’s take a look at the structure of this fun, engaging presentation!

0:08-0:20

Mulholland opens up the presentation by greeting the audience, but then he jumps right into a declaration of his personality.  He says that he always wanted to join the circus, but that he never wanted to actually follow them on stage.  This gives us a brief glimpse into his personality, which we will come to recognize as being light and humorous, but with a sincere glow.

0:20-0:50

Now, Mulholland jumps right into a new idea. Notice how directly he addresses the audience and how lively they become when he speaks to them.  He is very unorthodox in his approach at humor, especially for a TED talk.  Within the first minute of his talk, he has made the audience laugh, while truly engaging them in a scenario that he begins to play out.

0:50-2:30

As we dive deeper into this scenario, which is an interesting one I might add, Mulholland is amping us up with suspense about the “catch” of this “gift.”  He is clearly going somewhere with this, but until he finally reveals the punchline, we are clueless, but enjoying the ride.  He delivers the “catch,” and gets the reaction for which he was hoping.  The audience plays right into the joke.  However, it isn’t simply a joke.  We have been taught something through the joke, and we will spend the rest of the TED talk delving deeper into this idea.  He shifts into the topic of how things change.  Now, we will get to the meat of the piece.  He addresses this shift with the mention of education.

2:30-3:04

Once we have made the shift into the “real” topic of the piece, Mulholland is keen to run with it while he has our attention.  He doesn’t drag it out, waiting for us to wonder too much.  We’ve had a little of that already.  People want to get information when they want it, not when someone decides to give it to them.  By using the clothing scenario, Mulholland has opened our minds to this possibility, and now he has given us a token of wisdom concerning innovation.  He says, “Innovation isn’t about doing something new.  Innovation is almost always about stopping doing something old.”

3:04-4:06

Mulholland turns to giving us some visuals that we can use to compare and follow the points he is talking about.  He shows two graphs that differ drastically.  We see his points clearly and he conveys his message in a humorous way.  Then, he gives us some insights into his personal life as well as his father’s.  He backs up what he is saying by addressing his past.  We believe in this idea, we are on the same page because we see a an analysis of his life running parallel to his points.  He is living and working the way he says that most people are living and working.  After he has convinced us of this, and we see his point clearly, he moves on to another point by addressing the idea of Experience vs. Expertise.

4:06-5:23

Now, we’re getting into the heart of the presentation.  Mulholland digs deeper into the current problem of age and salary. While the former system meant that the older you are the more money you make because of the experience you have, the newer model suggests that expertise, not experience, is the more valuable asset for a company to have.  People are retiring earlier because they have been replaced by younger, more specifically talented and trained new employees.  After showing two more graphs that illustrate his point, Mulholland explains the bigger idea in terms of a real, current problem.  He directly tells the audience that they should be afraid of what’s to come.  By doing this, he is preparing a call-to-action and  instilling a tiny initiative into the audience in order to promote action.  We will see the development of this idea later on in the presentation.  As he makes the declaration, “I think every 30-year-old in the room should be crapping themselves,” the audience begins to laugh loudly, to which Mulholland responds with more humor.

5:23-6:07

Mulholland goes on to explain that everyone is plateauing earlier, including himself.  People in their 20s are so excited to learn and update their skill sets.  They eventually become less valuable to their companies due to more and more specialization by other, newer employees.  At this point in the presentation, Mulholland is once again bringing his personal struggle with this issue into play.  We are invested in the idea because we see that our speaker is also personally invested in the subject matter.

6:07-8:50

We are on the backward slope of the issue at this point.  We have come across the main topic, discussed and setup the climax and then revealed the true problem.  Now, Mulholland is explaining the effects of the problem, and how we can begin to come to terms with the issue.  He puts into perspective the central message: all of the rules have changed.  We can’t keep looking at our careers in the same, traditional way.  He is setting the audience up for a solution.  He uses passion and exciting body language to keep us interested in the subject matter, which will be crucial for him to do as he in the next few minutes.

8:50-9:57

Mulholland has reached a solution.  He has clearly stated the answer to this problem.  We have experienced the build-up of the issue, and now we are about to take action in order to solve it.  Mulholland displays a clear slide with the sentence, “We need to shorten the distance between education and execution.”  The structure thus far has been consistent.  Mulholland has given us examples of how each portion of the problem affects our lives, and now we come to see a possible resolution to the issue.  He proposes that we stop schooling earlier, begin working and then integrate education into the remainder of our lives.  We never need to stop learning.

9:57-12:34

As we wrap up the presentation, we are given a thorough, clear understanding of the necessary steps to change the system.  He gives us an original set of instructions that can be used to change the “business model” of educational institutions.  There are three main points: 1)Sell-by Date for degrees 2)Subscription model for learning 3)Relevance is Key for maintaining functional, efficient employees.  Now, we have a few concrete rules that we could follow in order to fully integrate education into our working adult lives.  Then, Mulholland seals his proposition with a quote.  This is a very good technique for concluding talks because it not only gives the audience a tangible piece of information, but a relevant quotation encompasses the essence of the overall idea.  It reminds and reinforces the goals that the speaker has laid out.  Mulholland closes the presentation in a quick, simple manner, which makes his last words easily digestible for the audience.

So, there you have it!

This piece is rather short, but informative, and most importantly, fun.  Mulholland is a lively, passionate presenter who goes in a clear direction, not stopping or lulling the audience to sleep.  He keeps the energy flowing and the thoughts brewing for his audience, and we are enchanted by his fresh approach to an engaging topic.  Overall, this presentation gives us a chance to experience and learn in a thrilling environment, and we walk away feeling refreshed and informed with a sense of joy at having been a part of it.

Now, the real question is: how do you feel about this presentation?  Are there any key points that we have missed or that you would like to discuss?  As always, subscribe to our YouTube channel, leave us some feedback below or on our Facebook page, or tweet us at @BigFishPresCo!

Download our latest white-paper – Seven Ways to Rock Your Next Presentation

Kenny here. Today, I’d like to give our loyal blog followers, a nice little present from the Big Fish Presentations team.

You can now download our newest white-paper Seven Ways to Rock Your Next Presentation by clicking on the picture above or clicking the link here. It’s our first white-paper, and I personally am rather proud of it. But that doesn’t mean you should hold back on your thoughts. Feel free to leave us any comments, thoughts and opinions, as we’ll be looking to update this whitepaper within the next couple of months.

If you’re new to our blog, feel free to subscribe in the right hand side and get dibs on the latest presentation news and offerings from our team at Big Fish.

Happy presenting!

– Kenny Nguyen, Big Fish Presentations

The Power of the Pause

“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” – Mark Twain

“Um, you know, like…”

You’ve heard it many, many times in your daily life.  Whether it’s your friend telling a story, your teacher giving a lesson, or even at a professional business pitch or speech.  I bet you say it all of the time and don’t even realize it!

This little phrase and others like it are what we call “filler words.”  You use them when you don’t know what to say.  There is a momentary gap in your thoughts, and you have fallen into the habit of filling that space with small, useless phrases in order to compensate.  We can’t help but to maintain the rhythm of our speech, so we subconsciously resort to sputtering out what we think covers our lack of direction.

However, it does just the opposite. Instead of sounding smooth, we sound as if we have no idea what we’re talking about. We seem unorganized and unconfident.

Why is it so hard to be silent in between our thoughts?  Why does there have to be a constant stream of sound when we speak?

The root of the problem lies in our lack of patience.  Most of us can’t stand to wait in between our sentences because we feel too slow and deliberate.  It isn’t in our nature to pause in our speech because we don’t pause in our thoughts.  However, learning to pause in our thoughts increases our odds of finding the right word, phrase or point.  This is beneficial to your audience, who are listening to you because they want good, clear ideas presented to them.

Although we don’t realize it, the people who listen to us actually crave silence.  Silence gives them a chance to digest the information being presented to us.  It gives them a chance to breathe.  We all have that friend that just can’t or won’t slow down to talk.  They speak a million miles a minute.  You just want to calm them down and get the information out in a reasonable fashion.  It’s the same with presentations or speeches.

Robert Byrd, a U.S. Senator and notable orator once said, “There can be an art in the use of a pause. I find nothing wrong with a pause. It does not have to be filled with a you know. This phrase, like so many others,” Byrd added, “betrays a mind whose thoughts are often so disorganized as to be unutterable—a mind in neutral gear coupled to a tongue stuck in overdrive.”

Slow down.  Breathe.  Think.  Your audience will appreciate it, I promise.

When you are speaking in front of a crowd, your heart rate accelerates (no matter how calm  you may think you are).  Because of this acceleration, every second seems like a minute.  People often get on stage and can’t remember everything they said because they were so focused on getting the information out quickly and walking off stage away from all of the eyes and ears in the room.

If you can train yourself (and yes, it takes training to do this effectively) to pause a second or two longer than you think you can bear it, you will benefit as a speaker.

How, you ask? Well, for several reasons, actually.

Firstly, by pausing in between sentences you are helping your audience listen.  Your audience isn’t worried about trying to grab information or ideas as it comes whizzing by.  Instead, they can absorb information at a reasonable speed, and therefore be more engaged as an audience.

In addition, the pause improves your demeanor as a speaker.  You appear more confident when you get your message across in a direct manner, rather than diluting the meaning of your words.  Ideas are stronger and more valuable when they aren’t littered with irrelevant, essentially meaningless babble.

Finally, the silence allows you to breathe.  Taking a breath before you speak helps tremendously because it allows more oxygen to go to your brain, which allows you to focus on choosing the right words.  An extra breath also gives your voice more gusto, which subsequently makes your words more attractive for your listeners.

In order to master the art of the pause, it takes practice and patience.  An effective exercise involves slowly reading a good, tight piece of writing aloud.  Pick up a newspaper, research a good written speech or just read a children’s book.  Take your time and pause in between phrases that go together.  Do this for a few paragraphs each day and you will begin to notice your heart rate decelerating and your words becoming clearer.

So remember, take your time in your speeches or presentations.  Use your words wisely, and pause to focus on finding a solid, patient rhythm.  Your audience will appreciate your ideas, and you will get your message across more clearly.

After all, silence is golden.

Be sure to leave us your thoughts on the power of the pause!  What do you struggle with the most in your presentations?  We’d love to help!

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Presentation Styles: Old School vs. New School

It’s an age-old argument.  Whether it’s music, fashion or lifestyle, people are constantly debating the pros and cons of old vs. new.  Do fundamentals outweigh breakthroughs?  Is a fresh approach more effective than maintaining tradition?

These questions are often very difficult to answer.  However, they are worth exploring.

At Big Fish, we frequently ponder this issue when it comes to giving and designing presentations.  There are many different approaches to presenting, all of which can be very effective when executed properly.

For example, when presenting to a small audience it can be very beneficial to the speaker to go more old school.  Talk to your audience as if they are actually people.  A tech-show to 5-10 people feels impersonal and can seem like overkill.  Forget the fancy motion graphics and charts if you are covering internal information.  Flashy doesn’t impress everyone, especially if they are your co-workers.

On the other hand, if you’re presenting to a larger crowd, technology can play to your strengths.  Since you can’t fully engage everyone in such a massive group, using a digital setup is great for keeping your audience on their toes and entertained.

What about design?

A simplistic design (old school) is nice in almost every single situation.  Our job is to simplify content and break it down so that it is easily digestible for your audience.  A blur of color, sound and information loses retention with your audience.  Make sure to include all of the information, whether on the slide or in your own words, but don’t overload them.

A new school approach to design is to be loud and attention-grabbing.  This approach is effective if the tone of the content is in sync with your design.  For example, if you are presenting about next quarter’s projections, you probably shouldn’t use funky fonts and grainy textures.  You should keep it elegant and clean, just like the information.  However, if you are giving a presentation about a rock band, the flavor of the design should be that of the style – spunky, fun and entertaining.

There are always exceptions to these insights.  Don’t be afraid to try something new or out of the ordinary.  The only thing you have to remember is your target audience.  What would they respond to the best?  What are they looking for? Craft your presentation to their perspectives and then WOW them with your mad presentation skills!

Which style do you think is most effective at which times?  What is your favorite style?

Let us know by commenting below or on our Facebook page or by tweeting us! Also, check out our YouTube page and subscribe for our latest and greatest videos and projects!

5 Killer Ways to Open Up Your Next Presentation

Did you know modern statistics state that you have 60 seconds or less to capture your audience’s attention?

You’ve might have heard it before, but maybe not in terms of presentations.  It’s crucial to understand the importance of grasping an audience’s attention in the first moments of a talk.  Your opening lines set the tone for your overall performance, so a great opener will prepare and intrigue the audience and ensure that your message is effectively received.

So, how do you enchant an audience right off the bat?

Here are 5 methods that we have found work the best for beginning a presentation.  

1. Stories

Stories are always memorable.  We crave stories because we all have them.  Proposing this shared experience with your audience allows them to identify with you on a personal level.  Now that you’ve established a connection with your listeners and viewers, you can merge your message with their thoughts while keeping them engaged and entertained.  Just remember to keep the story relevant to the requested topic/event you were asked to speak about in order to maximize effectiveness.

[For example, our CEO Kenny Nguyen recently spoke at a conference where the talked-about theme was the subject of serendipity. Watch how he opens his presentation here with his own story of serendipity and how his story created a playful and engaging bond with the audience, setting the tone for the rest of the presentation.]

2. Questions

A question is an excellent tool for jump-starting audience engagement.  A simple “How’s everyone doing?” opens up a forum of sorts for the audience, empowering them and making them more receptive to your message.  A question also makes the audience think for themselves about a topic that you control.  This is a great way to set and reinforce the agenda of your choice while giving the audience a sense of power.

3. Quotes

Referencing the words and thoughts of an expert in relation to your message is useful for establishing an overarching theme or general idea aout the topic.  You are imparting wisdom on your audience while creating a segway into your own topic.  Since you have primed the audience with a nugget of value, your information now appears to be equally as valuable. Just make sure you follow up the quote with an explanation of how it empowers your topic and how it is relevant.

[For example, don’t use a powerful quote such as Nelson Mandela’s “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” then go on a completely different subject that doesn’t tie in education. It’ll just seem like a sad attempt to make you seem smarter than you really are.]

4. Statistics

Normally, numbers or any type of data can seem boring in a presentation.  However, when used correctly, statistics can be very effective in illuminating your topic.  The key is to use very clear, accurate and relevant information in order to truly engage your audience.  A solid statistic places your incoming message in a concrete, irrefutable and trusted frame of reference.  Data not only provides your presentation with a trusted source, but also lends credibility to everything you say thereafter.

[For example, during Steve Jobs’ first keynote introducing the first generation Ipod music player, he stated that his new device had 5 gigabytes of data. He then made it relevant to his target market of the common consumer by explaining that 5 gigabytes of data gets you up to 5000 songs. This explanation made a normally boring description of data storage sound simple to understand, exciting (that’s a lot of songs), and most importantly relevant to his target audience. See here for video.]

5. Jokes

Humor is extremely powerful and is often used effectively.  A good joke can loosen up your audience and make them more receptive to you as a person as well as to your message.  Be warned, though, that humor is highly volatile.  A bad joke can be worse than no joke at all.  Make sure you have a scope for your target audience before you dive into a dud of a joke.

[A great resource you can reference is a book called, “Comedy Writing Secrets: The Best-Selling Book on How to Think Funny, Write Funny, Act Funny, and Get Paid for It.”]

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Well, there you have it.  Use these techniques in your next presentation to prepare, engage, control and entertain your audience.  Like all things, these methods are only suggestions and their effectiveness depends heavily on delivery.  Make them your own, and you will appear more natural and fluid in your performance.

What do you think?  Are these useful? Leave us a comment below or on Facebook and/or tweet us your thoughts!  We are huge fans of feedback!

If you haven’t already, subscribe to our blog and our YouTube channel on the righthand side for more intern videos and behind-the-scenes looks of the Big Fish team!

7 Ways to Prepare and Rock your Next Presentation

“There are only two types of speakers in the world. 1. The nervous and 2. Liars.”  – Mark Twain, American author and humorist

Kenny here. It’s been a very busy month at Big Fish Presentations and while I haven’t been able to post regularly, I’d like to make the effort today to discuss a topic that’s very important for all presenters. Many audience members that attend my presentations frequently ask me, how do I appear so confident and calm on stage (despite AV equipment crashing when I’m delivering a presentation on presentations: see here). As much as I’d like to say that it’s because I’m just that awesome, I’d be a liar. I’ll admit that I’m actually pretty nervous.

And that’s a good thing, because if I wasn’t nervous I’d probably wouldn’t care too much on the subject that I’m presenting about.

I’ll be the first to admit that the confident and cool persona I show is due to many rigorous hours of practice and preparation. And today I’d like to share with you my steps of preparation and practice for all of my presentations. These steps below are steps that I can personally guarantee that world-famous presenters like Steve Jobs, Bill Clinton, and Martin Luther King have practiced at one point in their career. Practice makes perfect after all.

So without further adieu, here are 7 tips to help you prepare and rock your next presentation:

1) Find out what you’re passionate about.

“Grasp the subject, the words will follow.” ~ Cato The Elder, Roman statesman

If you don’t care about what you have to say, why should the audience care? Find a way to discover what makes you passionate in the subjects you speak about. This passion is essential in portraying positive and good body language. Once you find that passion, research and learn intricately about what your subject is.  Use that information to piece together a simplistic and engaging presentation that will inspire audiences to listen to you. Just make sure to…

2) Find out who your audience is.

“Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel. “~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, American philosopher, lecturer, essayist, and poet

Find out who your audience is. It’s important because you don’t want to try a joke on pop culture at a senior citizen conference. Chances are, cricket noises can be heard. Research before your presentation: who your audience is, what their interests are, when are they attending your presentation (audiences in the later day tend to get tired and less attentive), where are they coming to see you, and why are they attending your presentation. Be respectful to your audience and their time.

3) Outline your Presentation

“Public speaking is the art of diluting a two-minute idea with a two-hour vocabulary.” – Evan Esar, American Humorist

Outlining is a very important step to find out what major points you should focus on in your presentation. This process builds the canvas for the actual script and the thought roadmap for your audience on where the presentation is going. For example, in my “3 Ways to Deliver a Kick-Ass Presentation” presentation, I knew I was going to speak about 3 things: storytelling, simplistic design, and passion. This set an outline for my presentation as shown below:

• Story Opener:
• Explanation of opener and relevance to presentation:
• Introduction of Topics:
  • Storytelling
  • Simplistic Design
  • Passion
• Thesis Statement:
• Main Idea One: Storytelling
  • Creating Stories
  • Activity
  • What makes great TED speakers
• Main Idea Two: Simplistic Design
  • KISS Principle
  • Use More Imagery
  • Use less text and animations
• Main Idea Three: Passion
  • Have fun while you’re presenting
  • Keep in mind the 38-55-7% Rule!
  • Questions to ask yourself when you present:
• Conclusion
  • How to implement these practices
  • How audiences remember presenters more than presentation
  • How to combine these three ideas into your next presentation

After developing this outline, I then was able to fill in the supporting content below the bullet points. This resulted in me being able to maintain structure, flow, and control before writing my script.

4) Script your presentation.

“A speech is like a woman’s skirt: it needs to be long enough to cover the subject matter but short enough to hold the audience’s attention.” – Author Unknown

Using your outline, begin to write the verbiage and supporting content you’d like to use when actually speaking.  But remember to keep it simple, short, and to the point! Always ask yourself after making a statement, “So what?” Why should the audience care? Is what you’re saying relevant to progressing the flow of the presentation? If not, remove it! Read the script regularly and hear if it sounds conversational rather than just informational.

Build the supporting content where it’s still easy to remember the key takeaways from the outline. Keep your content simple easy to digest. I’ll be honest that I personally feel like it’s more difficult to be simple sometimes, but at the end of the day I know my audience will appreciate it. After all, this presentation is more for them rather than myself.

NOTE: Also remember if using slides to not overload slides with content. You should be the one telling the audience why you’re excited, not the slides.

5) Tie in body, tone, and speech.

“The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.” – Mark Twain, American author and humorist

Now that you’re done with the script, it’s time to tie it in with the actual delivery of the presentation.

While it’s important to have great content, I believe it’s equally important, if not more, to be able to deliver it. A frequent rule I speak about is the 38-7-55% rule by psychologist Albert Meherbrian. This rule states that audiences tend to judge presentations 38% on vocal tone, 7% on verbal arrangement (actual content), and 55% of the body language (with facial expression being the most important). This is amazing considering that most people would think they are done by the time they finish the script right? Not so fast. Audiences remember the presenter more than the presentation, so presenters have got to be on their a-game during delivery.

Common questions to ask yourself when preparing your body language for a presentation: What hand gestures are you planning to use at certain points? What certain words do you want to emphasize in your statements? Would you like to include pauses after certain statements? Are the emotions you’re portraying on stage properly matching your content?

6) Conquer Stage Fright; visit the stage.

“Best way to conquer stage fright is to know what you’re talking about.”
– Michael H Mescon, Founder/Chairman of The Mescon Group

Now if you’re hundreds of miles away before your event and you’re unable to test out the presentation at the venue before the event, make a huge effort to test the equipment out at least 24 hours ahead of time. You never know what can go wrong. Whether it’s the clicker dying, the presentation being incompatible with the venue’s computer system, the A/V system crashing, or even the resolution of the monitors being terrible for your slides, something always can go wrong. Come prepared with an action backup plan.

After all, if something goes wrong there’s the saying that “the show must go on”. It’s your fault for not being prepared and not the venue’s.

7) Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!

“It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” -Mark Twain, American author and humorist

Practice makes perfect. Say the presentation to yourself and ask yourself constantly, “Would you want to sit through this presentation?” If not, back to the drawing board. Rehearse your presentation multiple times before you begin. I usually prepare piece by piece, then do 1-3 run-throughs of the actual presentation. A very helpful strategy I perform before big presentations is to record myself delivering the actual presentation. That way I can catch the verbal disfluencies, body language mishaps, and confusing statements that need to be revised.

When I’m not embarrassed to watch myself presenting, then I know I’m ready.

It also doesn’t hurt to present in front of trusted colleagues and hear their comments. You never know what last minute revisions you may be able to make that could improve your presentation.

All in all, rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse.

_____________________________________________________________

If this blog post helped you on your next presentation please let us know at hq@bigfishpresentations.com. We love to hear feedback from our readers and would love to answer any questions you may have on presentations.

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Thank you for your time visiting our blog today and happy presenting!

– Kenny Nguyen, CEO/Founder of Big Fish Presentations

Rory Sutherland: Perspective is Everything

This week’s presentation breakdown features brand specialist Rory Sutherland.  “Rory Sutherland stands at the center of an advertising revolution in brand identities, designing cutting-edge, interactive campaigns that blur the line between ad and entertainment.” (TED.com) We take a look at his newest TED talk as he delves into the realm of perspective, applying psychological solutions to economical and technological problems.  Take a gander, and let us know what you think in the comments below or via Twitter or Facebook as well!  Enjoy!

Rory Sutherland

Perspective is Everything

 

0:00-1:25 – Begins presentation with a personal insight about smoking

• Sutherland’s insights on smoking bans in bars give the audience an immediate sense of where he stands as well as the tone of his perspective.  By giving the audience a solid tone, which includes humor, we are more readily primed for receiving his insights to come.

1:25-1:49 – Transitions from the joke into a broad message

• He has the audience laughing, which is a great way to get them listening.  Once he has them listening, he introduces his first real concept: “The power of re-framing things cannot be overstated.” Now, after having heard a humorous example of the concept and then a brief summary of the concept, we are ready to dive into the subject at hand.

1:49-2:56 – Delves further into the concept by giving an example

• Moving on, Sutherland continues to address the concept, but instead of speaking in generalities, he gives an example, in this case it is about the framing of unemployment in England.  As we all know, using an example is a useful tool in explaining a concept, but it is also an effective Segway from summary to breakdown.

2:56-3:12 –Breaks down his previously mentioned concept with a basic informational slide

• Here is the breakdown we were expecting.  The unique thing about this breakdown is that Sutherland keeps it very brief and  doesn’t overburden his audience with an in-depth look just yet.  We can take a guess and assume that he will refer back to this slide once he sprinkles in a few more examples.

3:12-3:54 – Gives another example of his concept by explaining an experiment

• We are returning to an example.  This time, Sutherland explains a brief, clear experiment that proves his point.  We are given a scenario that reinforces an ideal.  This further solidifies our understanding of Sutherland’s concept, which keeps us interested and curious for more.

 

3:54-5:05 – Addresses another principle, then follows-up with an insight that relates to the principle

• “The circumstances of our lives may actually matter less to our happiness than the sense of control we feel over our lives.” This is a new principle, but it does relate to the previous one in a sense.  Humans perceive happiness based on the amount control they have over their circumstances.  We’re back to the idea of perspective.  After giving a brief, real-world application, we can begin to see how Sutherland is blending multiple angles in order to shed light on a bigger issue.  A great presenter slowly and carefully builds up his case with examples and smaller concepts in order to fully enrich and entertain an audience.

5:05-6:23 – Enters a deeper discussion concerning psychology as it relates to economics and technology

• As Sutherland continues to unfold his ideas, he makes the shift into a deeper discussion about perspective in the realm of psychology.  As an audience, we begin to gain a greater understanding of the big picture, so to speak. 

6:23-7:20 – Gives yet another example of the previously stated concept (psychological solutions to technical and economical problems)

• Sutherland continues to create an easily understandable path for the audience by weaving examples and numerical values with his broader concepts.  Sutherland’s idea of merging Psychology with traditional practical solutions is showcased through the Eurostar example in an engaging, slightly humorous way that informs and entertains the audience.

7:20-8:02 – Segways from the example into yet another concept

• Sutherland has given us a grasp of what psychology can do for practical solutions. Now, he is shifting into what this idea means in terms of the psychological and creative practitioner’s role in the traditional forms of problem solving.  He proposes the notion that creative people have been labeled inferior to the logic-based ideas of technologically-minded and economically-minded people.  There is asymmetry.  This shift of concept is key in terms of explaining Sutherland’s overarching idea.

8:02-9:22 – Reinforces the previously stated concept with two examples

• Sutherland is the king of examples.  As he explains the concept of psychological solutions, he addresses case studies that support his claim, explaining why they work and how they relate to perspective/psychology. 

9:22-10:53 – Refers to a diagram that explains the “Sweet Spot” between Psychology, Technology and Economics, then provides two examples

• Sutherland uses a visual to enhance the audience’s understanding of the concept of the “Sweet Spot.”  It’s important to remember the power of visuals in your presentation.  If Sutherland had merely stated his concept, it would become muddled with the rest of his words.  However, by using visuals he has given his audience a reference point and a distinct symbol that will make more of an impression in their memories.  Also, Sutherland’s concept of the “Sweet Spot” becomes further developed, and therefore understood more clearly, by his use of examples (Google and television sets).   

10:53-11:19 – Proposes a psychological solution to a medical problem

• Even though Sutherland has given examples of possible solutions to an array of problems, in this solution, Sutherland has addressed another realm of problems: the medical field.  By giving a diverse range of problems and solutions, Sutherland has built credibility for his proposed idea.  Throughout the presentation, we have seen Sutherland’s knack for introducing, explaining and reinforcing concepts.  Keep in mind that a consistent and thorough discussion of any topic establishes and reinforces your credibility as a speaker and a source of information.

11:19-13:12 – Discusses the psychological forces behind economic choices

• Sutherland explains that money isn’t just money.  People’s payments are influenced by where the money goes.  Sutherland is slightly shifting the direction of his presentation by speaking increasingly of real-world changes.  This is the first step to calling the audience to action, which is a crucial factor in a great presentation.  He proposes that this mode of thinking could radically alter the current approaches of economics, medicine, technology, etc.

13:12-18:25 – Concludes the presentation by funneling the broad concept of perspective into an analogy, then explains the analogy in terms of the “big picture”

• Sutherland has touched on many, many things throughout the course of this presentation.  Now, in the last five minutes, he is condensing his previous mass of concepts, theories, explanations, examples, studies and exercises into a single analogy made by Dr. Ludwig von Mises.  The analogy is very effective, especially at this point in the presentation because it makes use of everything Sutherland has addressed thus far.  We have seen how psychological solutions to a variety of everyday problems can impact certain situations.  We have seen how perception is vital to the condition of society.  Now, we are seeing all of these elements come together in this specific analogy.  Sutherland is using his previously established credibility to launch us into further thought.  He ends this talk by opening our eyes to the larger concept at work, here.  We can actively participate in this analogy because he has given us the tools to do so.  Having learned and participated, we can now take action, whether literally or mentally, and that was Sutherland’s main objective.

Society has established rules and ideologies based on pure logic and straightforward strategies.  If we applied the principles of Psychology to Economics and Technology, we could radically alter the way we perceive situations and ultimately solve problems more effectively.  Perception can be applied to a variety of social, economical and technological issues in order to increase their efficiency, accuracy and structure.

Rory Sutherland uses a plethora of smaller concepts, explanations and examples to establish a foundation for his overarching discussion of perception.  By building upon easily digestable blocks of information, the audience is able to gather and understand more readily the concepts presented.

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