presentation coach

The non-verbal factor...

How do you communicate with an infant?

In sentences?

No. You do it through behavior and physical signals.

A smile.

A frown.

Comforting sounds.

A caress.

All are calculated to stimulate a sense of care or trust or disapproval.

There is a part of our brain that continues to decode communication the same way it did when we were infants: non-verbally, intuitively, instinctively, viscerally. These are what form the critical impressions about what we just heard.

It is this part of the brain you must focus on as a speaker, for it is this part of the brain that is the gateway to successfully communicating.

Audiences want more than facts. They seek from you warmth, humor, feelings and intuition. They crave feeling; some sign that you are invested in your material in some real, human way. That you care about what you’re talking about.

People yearn for emotional contact, not competent detachment.

Does this mean you should cry when presenting the quarterly financials? Of course not. But neither should you be an automaton. Audiences can read the data for themselves. Your job is to give the data context and depth, and you do that more through how you speak — your confidence, your authority, your sincerity — than by what you say.

An infant knows instinctively whether to feel comfortable or uncomfortable with someone, whether to giggle or cry. So do grownups. Give an audience reason to feel comfortable with you. Don’t be afraid to be human. It will make your message more memorable.

It’s personal…

Audiences really want to like you as a speaker. It makes them feel better about being there in the first place and more forgiving of any stumbles you may make.

Help them like you by not talking at an audience. Have a conversation with them instead.

Your message comes across more effectively when you use words, rhythms and anecdotes that come authentically (or, at least, appear to come authentically) from you and your own experiences, not those of someone else.

Your tone of voice, your mannerisms, the very words you use can convey a sense that your audience is important to you and that you appreciate their time and effort to hear what you have to say.

For instance, avoid big words (especially the technical kind) you normally wouldn’t use in casual discussions.

Forget the lofty quotes if they would seem out of character.

Stay in character.

If you use your hands when explaining something to a colleague in person, why not use your hands when explaining a topic to an audience?

If you smile when you talk with your friends, why not smile when you speak to your audience?

It will help your delivery feel more natural to you, and thus to them.

You are not a robot. You are a person talking with other people. Always remember that. Because your audience never forgets it.

Don't eat the microphone...

It tastes terrible and the audience doesn’t deserve the result.

Sound systems are designed to amplify. They always are more capable than people imagine.

Here are some tips on making the microphone work for you rather than against you:

Speak in a steady, normal tone of voice.

Keep your lips about six inches from the mike.

If you are behind a lectern, try to keep the microphone in front of your face when you turn your head while speaking. Turning your mouth away from the mike will make your voice instantly fade.

Your audience hears you better than you think they do. If you do doubt that you’re being heard, however, simply and gently ask them, “Can you hear me well enough?” Don’t demand to know “Is this thing working?” and don’t say “testing, testing, one, two, three…” And please don’t make a big deal out of it. You don’t want any microphone problem to be the most memorable part of your presentation. Make adjustments and move on.

Of course, if you arrived at your speaking engagement early, you would have had the chance to test the sound system and be confident that it was working properly. But that’s a topic for another post…