When creating your next PowerPoint slides, pause and ask yourself: Is this slide truly necessary? Sometimes, less is more when it comes to impactful presentations. Watch this video to learn more...
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Present Like a Pro
As a presenter, eye contact is one of the most powerful ways to project confidence. Watch this video to learn more and let me know what you think!
Tip for your next presentation: Hit the main topic first! This approach is especially effective when dealing with a complex slide deck. Curious why it works so well? Watch this video to find out more.
In presentations, it’s easy to get carried away and forget to pause. Instead, focus on your key point—make it clear, concise, and impactful. Less is often more! Watch this video to learn more...
Next time you're giving a presentation, write your introduction for someone else to read—keep it short! And don't forget to include a fun fact about yourself at the end to make the audience smile. It’s a great way to set the tone and connect with your listeners right from the start! Watch this video to learn more...
"Turn to your neighbor" is an often-used technique presenters rely on for “audience involvement.” Personally, I think it has passed its prime. Instead, how about, “When I give you the signal, I want you to get up and find two other people you don’t know and form a group of three away from the tables. Ready? Go!”
Yes, this chaotic madness is noisy, disorganized for a few moments, and terribly fun. The next interaction can be “new groups of two” and then “take your group of two and join another group of two to become a group of four” and so on.
Get people together to meet, get them away from the tables (I never use any tables…they just get in the way)…and let them talk to one another. Yes, what you have to say is important, but just not that important.
Consider being a presenter/facilitator rather than the main presenter. Consider ‘lecturettes’ instead of a 90-minute talk. Speak for 8-12 minutes if you must, then get them talking to one another! They may have initially come to hear you, but they will remember the opportunity to talk and meet one another.
Yes, your expertise is valuable, and so is the experience they had that you allowed.
I recently had a very fun time teaching presentation skills to graduate students in healthcare. Imagine yourself giving a spontaneous three-minute presentation in front of 300 fellow comrades who were most happy it was you and not them! What would you do? Well, this time it was a bit different.
From three possibilities the ‘selected one’ was able to choose a topic and as they were ready to speak, we asked the audience what they wanted to hear about regarding the topic. Who else was involved? When did it happen? What effect did it have on you? Can you describe the scene so we can ‘see’ it? As the audience gave their suggestions, it was very fun to see the eyes of the presenter light up with what seemed like, “Oh yes, I can do that, that too, and that too!”
So often we forget to ask the audience, thinking only of what we want to present. Have a difficult audience or a ‘Dr. Evil’ in the group…ask them for sure! When they see that you want to involve them you will have life-long friends or at least friends for a long as you are speaking!
Even if you have only a few minutes, greet them as they enter and if you want ask a simple question, “What would you most like to learn today?” By golly you could even get them into groups of three immediately and ask the same question!
My hunch is that whatever you prepared is going to be presented anyway. With their comments lingering in your mind however, you’ll have a friendly audience, an involved audience, and you can even quote them throughout your talk! Always ask even when you ‘think’ you know the answer!
I recently had a valuable reminder to slow down and truly reflect on the message I'm trying to convey. It's easy to rush through communication, but taking the time to be intentional and thoughtful can make all the difference.
When reviewing evaluations, set your ego aside and focus on finding the truth. Use this feedback as a valuable tool to identify areas for improvement and enhance your skills. Growth comes from being open to constructive criticism and continuously striving to be better. Watch this video to learn more and let me know what you think!
I have to thank Lester Holt from NBC News for this facilitation tip! Whenever a reporter finishes their update, they always ends with “Lester?” He then has his cue and picks it up from there. You can do this with your Zoom presentations, asking the audience to do the same…simply choose another attendee’s name and add a question mark to keep the discussion rolling.
I watched a video recently of ten or so professionals having a discussion where rather than using hand offs, they used resounding periods. Almost every time someone finished speaking, there was an awkward moment of silence as they wondered who would speak next.
You can use this same tactic when you are presenting with a partner. I work twice yearly with professional speaker Conor Cunneen - IrishmanSpeaks in a back-and-forth format of lecturettes. Conor is known far and wide as a well-rehearsed presenter…except when he works with me! We both like to present ‘in the moment’, especially for this audience, so use the ‘Lester Holt technique’ and hear our names called out with a question mark at the end, keeping the flow going. It works every single time even when I have no idea what Conor was going to say…and maybe he didn’t either!
When presenting to an audience where some of the members are blind, use audio description techniques. In this situation it is useful to begin with a brief visual description of you… “I’m Kevin, your presenter today. I’m sitting with a green plant behind my right shoulder and behind my left shoulder is a picture of sailboats as well as the artwork of my 6-year-old grandson. I have grey hair that my stylist calls ‘platinum’…which is why I keep going back to him!” This sets the scene for them.
For each PowerPoint slide, I begin by describing that also, “This slide is divided into four squares, in the first square…”
One way to understand the impact is to find a movie with “audio description” where a narrator fills in the action with words in between the dialog. This will help you get ideas that you can then use.
For virtual presentations, most blind audience members are able to use the chat function easily with their adaptive software.
My NUMBER 1 TIP for your presentations: Involve the audience early and often. Watch this video to learn more!
A “Chat Box Waterfall” is a great way to get everyone contributing in a virtual meeting. Ask a simple question then say the following: “I’d like you to go to the chat box and I’ll give you 60 seconds to type your answer to this question but don’t hit enter until I tell you to…”
There is always one who hits enter straight away (of course!) but when at the 60 second mark you say “Hit enter!” you will see a ‘waterfall’ of contributions come in.
Then all you have to do is say, “Let’s take a moment and review these” and then as the host you find someone’s entry and ask “Bob, can you tell us about yours? When you are finished call on the next person” After a few of these you can say, “Jane tell us about yours and then send it back to me.”
This is a guaranteed involvement technique that will forever end the agonizing silence accompanying, “Anyone have any ideas?”
When people come up and thank you, consider saying: “I appreciate you saying that. What did you like/notice/appreciate the most?” That will quickly get to the essentials of what they are taking away, which commonly is less about what you said and more about what they got. This is terrific feedback for us!
Also, whenever you finish any presentation, however short, ask yourself: “What did I do well and what is one thing I might consider doing a bit differently next time?” We can only build on our strengths so don’t be the hardest judge of all.
In rugby the ball is tossed backwards as the player moves forward. Keep this in mind and get your audience interacting with each other not just with you.
Lester Holt uses a technique where his correspondents send the story back to him by using his name with a question mark after it. That is a rugby move.
Another might be you, as the presenter, saying: “Jack give us your thoughts then you can send it to Amy and she will send it to Sharita.” Before Sharita begins, you say: “After Sharita we’ll go to Sam, Agim, and finally to Lilibet.” This allows some preparation for a quieter, more reserved audience.
Pulling names out of hat works too!
What are your thoughts on this? I would love to hear!
Whether it's an in-person or virtual presentation, the hour or two beforehand is crucial. Watch this video to find out why!
Today's #PresentLikeAPro Tip: Always have someone else introduce you with the script you have written for them. On Zoom make it short and sweet…in person a little longer is OK. Audiences do not need to know the companies you have worked for, how much other audiences loved you, or how much this audience will love you. Yikes! Have the script say who you are, a bit about your qualifications, and then something personal that adds a bit of fun.
Mine says that “Kevin’s lifelong goal is to ride horses bareback though he has not yet found a horse with the same goal.” You ought to see the smiles and hear the questions I get on that one! We want a smiling audience when we begin, not a bored one.
To Present Like A Pro, KEEP IT SIMPLE! Especially when the material is exceedingly complex. Never ‘dumb things down’ but always go for ‘elegant simplicity.’ The goal here is to get to the heart of the matter and to create a memory of its essential elements. Often using complicated or unreadable spreadsheets and wiz-bang graphics can hide our essential message.
Making it look complicated does not make you look smart. Your one and only job is to help the audience leave with the essentials of the topic, not to be impressed by you. Work for clarity. If newspapers are written for the average person, so too can any of our technical or scientific presentations, especially if to a tech audience. Don’t mimic your professors, go beyond them. Think of the famous quotations you are reminded of from Dr. Mardy Grothe or Bartlett’s…they are wisdom packed into few words that the many can understand.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting the incredible Gladys Gadri at the sold-out ACHE Congress in Chicago. You can see the energy in her eyes…she's like that in person too!
Just this week, Gladys shared a photo of herself with a copy of Speak Up: A Woman’s Guide to Presenting Like a Pro—a book I had the honor of co-authoring with Cyndi Maxey, CSP. This guide is crafted to empower women with the skills they need to communicate effectively, exuding clarity, confidence, and conviction. It's also peppered with inspiring quotes from female executives, making it a vital resource for any woman looking to make her mark.
This brings me to today’s Thursday Thought—Think most about the audience and least about you. Overcome the tendency to worry about what you're wearing and whether you've memorized your note cards, and instead imagine yourself sitting in their seat. What would you want to hear? What is critical for you to understand?
You can buy your copy of Speak Up here.
1) “You probably want to know a little about ME!” (No, they don’t.)
2) “Before I begin you have to understand that…”(Just begin already!)
3) “How are you all doing?” (Thought to be an involver, often experienced as an embarrassment by both sides.)
4) “Can you hear me OK?” while tapping the microphone. (Audio checks should happen with the sound professional, not the audience.)
5) “Today we are going to….” followed by a list of objectives usually on PowerPoint that everyone can read faster than you can speak. (Next time just get right to #1 without identifying it as such and conclude with “We just finished our first objective for the day.”)
6) “I can’t hear you!” as a way to have the audience repeat the speaker’s key phrase. (Do you want everyone to feel like they are back in second grade!?)
7) “Shhhhhhhh…” attempting to get control back from an audience group exercise. (Try this next time: “If you can hear me, please raise your hand.” As they do others will notice. This usually only needs to be said twice and then a sincere thank you allows you to continue.)
Did you know that Cyndi Maxey and I have distilled over thirty years of professional speaking into a concise, easy to use guide that will help anyone Present Like a Pro! Get your copy from the link in the comments.