Inspiration Corner

A business meeting around a table is no different in principle from a large conference. In both cases, certain speakers have to gain the attention of an audience, hold that attention, and drive home an argument with force and conviction.

And the initial impact is everything.

Remember that less than ten percent of your audience’s attention will be fixed on the actual subject of your presentation. Ninety percent of it will be assessing your face, your voice, your hair, your clothes… and searching for a mass of other hidden clues about who you are and where you’re coming from. The managing of that initial impact is a formal study, cultivated by professional speakers.

When you get up to make that presentation or conference speech, you are entering the world of public speaking, which is a branch of show business - performing for money. Except that in your case, it’s performing for career-points, which is notionally the same thing.

So it makes sense to observe some of the standard wisdom of actors and presenters in developing and polishing-up their act.

Making your entrance: asserting command

Whatever you’ve heard about the importance of first impressions on an individual, they’re ten times more crucial when you’re addressing an audience.

As the young female newscasters always complain, clothes and makeover seem to attract more attention than wars and revolutions.

But clothes and makeover are a big part of the image you present to the world, whether consciously or not. And there are a mass of other signals that register on an audience before you’ve had a chance to utter a word.

These ‘non-verbal interventions’, as they are classified, should be aimed at exuding confidence and making each member of the audience feel that you are addressing them exclusively. So you start by looking around with a welcoming smile, and then repeat this gesture periodically, with equal attention to all zones of the room. This makes a regular suggestion that we’re all enjoying ourselves. Hands should be open and involving (never in the pockets), drawing the audience in.

And don’t let Powerpoint get you into bad habits like turning your back or too-obviously reading the bullet-points. They are simply your aide-memoire, not for reading out.

Fear of audiences - killing a speech stone dead

If you’re nervous about getting up and speaking in public, you’re not alone. It’s actually the commonest phobia of them all (stage fright), and good actors make a point of working round it.

First, you must realise that it’s an irrational reflex, like fear of having an injection - dreading something that doesn’t really hurt at all, imagining the worst. It is rooted in a web of insecurities about the impact of your face, voice and manner on an audience - almost certainly exaggerated, usually not confirmed when it comes to the event.

There is also the somewhat more logical fear that an executive audience may be full of people who know more than you do - so who are you to lecture them? The answer is that you are not lecturing them. You are offering them a little snapshot of their subject taken from a fresh angle, and delivered with originality and engaging wit. On another level, you are also offering them a few minutes of yourself as a character and a personality. It is not strictly a lecture at all.

It’s actually a sort of combat. That audience is a stallion that needs breaking, and you must go at it with a fierce conviction. If this is bordering on arrogance, it’s better than diffidence. Ruthlessly train yourself out of hesitancy - any of those ‘er-um-y’know’ intervals which suggest under-confidence or ultimately fear. If you show fear, you’re finished. So get into a fighting mode, and nobody in that audience will ever guess you were afraid of public speaking.

If they’ve heard you before…

If you find you’re regularly addressing much the same audience, exploit this repeated opportunity to build presence. It’s like being a popular character-actor with his catch-phrases or a fresh orchid in the buttonhole. They’ll love you for it, and will feel cheated if you don’t play up to it.

This is actually brand-building. It sets off associations which strengthen a little more each time, and can heighten your credibility and authority. Especially if you’re trying to sell one particular agenda.Let’s say you’re talking about post-traumatic stress and the need to make plans for psychological de-briefings and first-aid. They’ll probably file that away under ‘worthy but boring’, like checking the fire-extinguishers. But the second time round, they’ll start to take a bit more notice, as long as you are not repeating the identical message. Present fresh angles on the same theme. Spice it with new anecdotes. And before long, they’ll move the post-trauma issue a bit higher up their list of priorities: your brand-building programme will have helped to sell the product.

And next time you get up to speak, they’ll have all those associations front-of-mind.

Good Chairmanship

Instead of being a speaker, you may find yourself in the role of Chairman, either at a business meeting or at a conference.

This requires just as much stage presence, but not so as to eclipse the speakers themselves. It is meant to complement their speaking skills.

As the anchor between speaker and audience, you must build a good relationship with both. This takes a particular mix of firmness and friendliness. On one hand, you must be able to control the event, rationing interruptions from the floor, as well as tactfully pointing out if a speaker is over-running his allocated time. On the other, you should encourage a relaxed atmosphere, introducing each speaker with a short profile, well-researched in advance, preferably including an anecdote the audience won’t have heard before.

In this way, your stage presence has a profound influence on the success of the event.

Six points of presentation technique, as practised by Carole Spiers

1. Focus your thoughts
Rehearse that opening statement exactly; the rest will follow

2. Control your nerves
Breathe deeply and regularly, to avoid gasping or gulping

3. Free up your body-language
Let your movements and gestures flow gracefully and naturally

4. Develop your presentation style
Your idiosynchrasies will help to make you more memorable

5. Relevant Anecdotes
A necessary break from formal sequences of subject-matter

6. Make eye-contact
Try to meet everyone’s eye; establish more intimacy of dialogue

Another Insight Into Self-Marketing Culture By Motivational Speaker And BBC Broadcaster Carole Spiers. Meet her in person at her Self-Marketing Bootcamp ‘Turn Your Passion Into Profit’ in Central London, Thursday June 28th 2007.

And discover the fastest way to grow your new business, gain clients, boost profit – all on a zero budget! Click here www.turnyourpassionintoprofit.co.uk to book your earlybird space before all tickets are sold out.

Carole Spiers – International Motivational Speaker occupies a special niche as an expert in Personal Development. Carole’s keynote presentations have educated and inspired audiences all over the world. She is also a high profile BBC broadcaster, journalist and President of the London Chapter of the Professional Speakers Association. Carole is Author of Tolley’s ‘Managing Stress in the Workplace’ and ‘Turn Your Passion Into Profit’

Our publications and sales CDs have been sold globally. To sign up for our FREE success quotations http://tinyurl.co.uk/yhgv, or for more information email info@carolespiersgroup.co.uk to telephone +44 (0) 29 8954 1593 www.carolespiers.com

# posted by Carole Spiers @ 11:12 AM