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Some fundamentals
Let us start this journey together with exploding a modern myth. When you say “presentations” to people, around 90% will immediately think of PowerPoint. How many slides they can produce and how much should go on them. They then spend an age composing those slides, with hardly a thought of how they will talk about them.
To them, the slides are the presentation and they are merely the voice accompaniment. This is completely wrong and more importantly, will almost always FAIL TO ENGAGE your audience. Did you ever see Barack Obama, Churchill, Nelson Mandela or Tony Blair ever use slides? So leave any thoughts of PowerPoint behind for now.
If you will, think of a few examples of some really good public speakers and presenters - people who have impressed and engaged you. What do they DO? What do they DEMONSTRATE or seem to POSSESS? Do this exercise below now before reading any further.
What do impressive speakers DO?
What do they DEMONSTRATE?
What do they POSSESS?
Everything to do with spoken communication essentially falls into two baskets - “what” you say, and “how” you say it. Now, if you review the list of qualities from the exercise you’ve just done - in which basket do most of those comments belong? Most belong in the “how you say it” basket, do they not?
It is often quoted that less than 10% of the meaning of your communication is carried by your words. Over 90% of the meaning you wish to convey is carried by your voice and how you use it, and by your physiology - how you stand, move and look at people.
With this in mind let’s compare 2 famous orators from antiquity - Cicero and Demosthenes. Both are said to have had their audiences in awe at their eloquence, brilliance passion and skill.
Cicero first - he was once asked what it took to be a great orator. His reply: “You need the mind of a philosopher; a lawyer’s memory, the voice of a tragedian and the consummate bearing of an actor” Such talents are probably beyond the reach of most us modern mortals.
Yet when Demosthenes spoke, his audience not only marvelled at his brilliant and engaging oratory, they also said on at least one occasion “Let’s march!” So he could arguably have been the more effective of the two. And when asked for his advice on how to make a speech, his reply was short and to the point: “There are only three things you need to remember. Delivery, delivery and delivery.” The delivery is the “How.”
This is not to imply for one moment that your content is unimportant. It is vital. What it DOES mean is that you can have the best content in the world but if you can’t deliver it in an engaging fashion then it has very little chance of being remembered or acted upon. So you need good content as well as the ability to deliver well.
“Pockets are the most sensitive parts of a human being. So we must touch hearts and minds first.”
— President Lula da Silva of Brazil
When we consider what good or great speakers did or demonstrated or seemed to possess we discover that their qualities fall essentially into 2 parts - “What” they say and “How” they say it.
Every time that I’ve asked my clients the same question, the “How” qualities outnumber the “What” by about 10:1
The “How” really breaks down further into two - VOICE and PHYSIOLOGY. So let’s tackle the former first. It is worth sharing a small “health warning” at this stage. There is no magic pill or one way of doing this. We are each of us unique, with our own peculiar strengths, qualities and areas for improvement. So take all of what you are about to read about Voice and Physiology as guidelines, not rules.
But first, what are the 3 ‘duties’ or obligation that a speaker has towards his audience?
The 3 duties of a speaker
Any speaker or presenter has three “duties” or obligations to their audience:
1. TO BE INTERESTING
The first duty is to be interesting. How? By using your voice and physiology to good effect and being engaging. It also helps if you are interested in your subject. But sometimes you won’t be. There are times in all of our lives when we have to deliver material that bores or fails to engage us - that’s life. In which case be brief. Your lack of interest then has less chance to “leak.”
2. GET THE MESSAGE ACROSS
The second duty is to get your message across. How? Certainly by being interesting and engaging, and also by structuring it well. Nearly every talk needs a “shape” or a narrative. You also need a message, something that most talks simply don’t have. Too many are just dumps of information. Structure will be covered in more detail later.
3. BE AUTHENTIC
The last of these three duties is to let your personality come across - to be you, to be authentic. There is something instinctively engaging about a presenter when they are being themselves. This is most easily achieved when you know your subject, have a clear message and have minimal but powerful and visual notes that support you.
People are attracted to charismatic, and authentic speakers and messages
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