Jim Harvey, my co-founder of Presentation Guru, and I have been developing a comprehensive questionnaire to help people assess their level of skill when it comes to presentation skills and public speaking. We could not find any questionnaire or tool that enabled people to do so in a simple, but meaningful way.
Jim and I have developed a competency framework that focuses on the critical aspects of presenting, from developing a Message to structuring a presentation to delivering that presentation. The questionnaire is based on our competency framework. You can start the questionnaire by clicking on the button below, or first read about the competency framework.
Fit, Focus, Finesse: A Competency Framework
The competency framework has been developed around three things that all great speakers do.
- They make sure that the message fits the audience. The message is relevant to, and of value for, the audience on the particular occasion.
- They focus on the most important things related to the message and the audience. The message is structured, logical and to the point.
- They deliver that message with finesse. They make the speech or presentation interesting, engaging and memorable.
Each of the three competencies is broken down into smaller elements related to skill, knowledge, attitude and practice. We believe that each of these elements is an important molecule of excellent public speaking DNA. We then set out positive and negative indicators with regard to each element. (These are not meant to be read as pairs of positive and negative indicators; they are lists of separate positive and negative behaviours.)
The complete Competency Framework is set out below. Of course, it rare to come across anyone who possesses all of the skills at the highest level; most of us will have specific strengths and specific areas for improvement. But having a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive set of competencies gives each of us the chance to build on our strengths and improve our weaknesses.
FIT
| COMPETENCY | POSITIVE INDICATORS | NEGATIVE INDICATORS |
| Builds Empathy for the Audience | ||
| Contacts the audience prior to the event to understand their wants and needs | Uses the same presentation for multiple audiences with few, if any, changes | |
| Conducts independent research about the audience to understand their challenges and goals | Approaches preparation for the presentation solely from the angle of what message they (the speaker) would like to convey | |
| Researches the cultural and linguistic norms and expectations of the audience | Spends the majority of the preparation time researching their own topic area and very little on their audience | |
| Reaches out to colleagues who have presented to this audience or culture previously, to better understand them | Often surprised on the day of the presentation with new information about the audience that they should have known beforehand | |
| Understands himself / herself | ||
| Knows their strengths and weaknesses as a speaker | Does not routinely seek feedback after presenting | |
| Understands how the audience perceives their competence, trustworthiness, authority, expertise and works with that information to build a positive relationship | Cannot remember the last piece of actionable feedback they received | |
| Can describe and explain their own biases on the subject | Makes assumptions about how the audience views their credibility, trust, authority, expertise | |
| Unaware of potential bias in their own argument or point of view | ||
| Understands the subject | ||
| Recognises gaps in their knowledge and acts to address them | Evidence used in presentation is out-dated or invalid | |
| Is honest about the extent of their knowledge/experience | Misrepresents their experience or expertise | |
| Understands the relevance of the subject for the audience | ||
| Understands the audience’s level of knowledge about the subject | Does not consult the audience (the group or individuals) prior to the presentation | |
| Understands how the audience feels about the subject (favourable, opposed, afraid, confused) and why | Makes assumptions about what the audience knows about the subject | |
| Understands how open the audience is to change (persuasive techniques?) | ||
| Develops a clear message about the subject that is relevant to the audience | ||
| Defines the presentation objective | ||
| Concentrates on the desired results | Outlines specifically what the audience needs to know, understand, and do at the end of the presentation | Does not have a clear objective before starting to prepare content |
| Summarizes and tests the message | Can summarise the message in a single sentence before starting to prepare | Does not have a clear idea of the message to the audience before starting to prepare |
| Tests the message (with colleagues, audience members) to make sure it is clear | Covers too many ideas, which makes the message confusing for the audience | |
| Outlines the story | Identifies the logical path (the “red thread”) that holds everything in the presentation together | Has multiple “red threads” in their presentation that confuse the audience |
| Has received feedback from audience members that they did not understand the message |
FOCUS
| COMPETENCY | POSITIVE INDICATORS | NEGATIVE INDICATORS |
| Identifies the key points of the message | ||
| Understands that a presentation is, often, a message for or against an issue | Tries to cover every point related to the issue without editing for conciseness or relevance | |
| From a list of everything they could talk about, picks the most important points for this audience in this context | Is unclear about the relative importance of different parts of the presentation to the audience | |
| Understands how each key point supports the message | Presents information without a sense of making a message for or against an issue | |
| Is aware of the weaknesses in the message | Fails to show an understanding of the opposite point(s) of view | |
| Understands and addresses opposing points of view to build a stronger case | ||
| Organises Content | ||
| Uses story structure to shape the presentation | Understands the fundamentals of story structure: beginning, middle and end | Struggles to organise content into a coherent structure |
| Prepares an opening that engages the audience and tells them the purpose of the presentation | Presents the content without context and leaves the audience confused | |
| Organises the key points of the presentation into a logical sequence | Fails to link key points to each other | |
| Concludes by summarising the message and focusing on appropriate actions to be taken as next steps | Does not ask the audience to do anything at the end of the presentation – misses out that ‘call to action’. | |
| Sharpens the message and adds supporting evidence | ||
| Removes unnecessary detail | Focuses on one type of support (e.g., numbers) for each key point | |
| Supports key points with a mix of evidence (facts, numbers, expertise, stories, humour, etc.) | ||
| Tests the draft presentation | ||
| Tests the tone, logic and argument with colleagues, and is open to making changes based on the feedback | Assumes that the presentation draft will work for the audience | |
| Tests the tone, logic and argument with audience members/key stakeholders to check relevance and tone, and is open to making changes based on the feedback | ||
| Creates support materials | ||
| Creates simple, effective visuals (where required) for illustration and emphasis during the presentation | Creates visuals to serve as comprehensive notes for the audience | |
| Creates simple handouts (where required) for the audience to use after the event | Reuses old visuals without assessing their appropriateness | |
| Adds appropriate props, activities and demonstrations to help the audience understand | Creates visuals that detract from the message/speaker |
FINESSE
| COMPETENCY | POSITIVE INDICATORS | NEGATIVE INDICATORS |
| Understands and uses rhetorical tools | ||
| Uses interesting and powerful language | Uses rhetorical tools to add power to the message | Uses metaphors, jargon and acronyms without explaining what they mean |
| Adds relevant quotes, data, and facts to make it memorable | Speaks in vague generalities without concrete examples | |
| Uses relevant stories and examples to illustrate and emphasise key points and messages | Does not consider how to involve the audience in the presentation | |
| Engages the audience | ||
| Encourages audience participation | Plans for audience involvement and participation, where appropriate and based on the audience’s needs | |
| Where appropriate, invites the audience at the outset to participate actively either through comments or by using interactive technology | ||
| Answers audience questions effectively | Encourages the audience to ask questions | Doesn’t make time for questions or runs out of time before questions |
| Encourages the audience to ask questions at the right time | Bluffs if doesn’t know the answer to a question | |
| Anticipates and prepares for likely questions | Allows people to monopolise the Question & Answer session | |
| Recognises when a question isn’t a question (or isn’t relevant) and responds appropriately | ||
| Acknowledges when they don’t know the answer to a question or are not at liberty to say | ||
| Offers to follow up if doesn’t know the answer to a question | ||
| Rehearses effectively | ||
| Rehearses to build confidence and fluency | Rehearses for fluency and timing | Often goes overtime or significantly under time |
| Uses simple notes, if notes are required | Cannot move away from the prepared script | |
| Speaks with skill | ||
| Uses one’s voice skilfully | Articulates clearly | Does not pause between key ideas |
| Uses pauses effectively | Speaks too quickly or too slowly | |
| Can change the pace of delivery at appropriate moments for the audience and the speech | Speaks too softly or too loudly | |
| Speaks at the right volume for the room, the audience and the microphone, when used | Reads from a prepared script | |
| Emphasises keywords to increase understanding | Speaks in a monotone | |
| Does not adjust (simplify/modify) one’s language when speaking to non-native speakers | ||
| Uses one’s body with purpose | Stands in the right place for the audience | Fidgets and moves without purpose |
| Moves with purpose when speaking | Maintains a closed body position (hands together; hands in pocket) | |
| Uses appropriate gestures for emphasis | Does not make eye contact with the audience | |
| Makes effective eye contact with the audience throughout the presentation | Only looks to one section of the room, or to a limited number of individuals | |
| Uses facial and physical expressions that support the words and the message | ||
| Is aware of, and uses, one’s own emotions | ||
| Controls one’s psychological and emotional state | Takes steps to manage nerves before and during the presentation | Allows their nerves to negatively affect their performance |
| Focuses on the audience instead of themselves | Is distracted by audience behaviour and doesn’t respond to it | |
| Notices audience body language, facial expressions and engagement and responds appropriately | Doesn’t notice the audience’s non-verbal behaviour | |
| Notices audience body language, facial expressions and engagement and responds appropriately | Doesn’t notice the audience’s non-verbal behaviour | |
| Uses and expresses their emotions consciously to add impact to their message | ||
| Gets feedback to improve as a speaker | Checks in with audience during the presentation | Makes no effort to gather feedback after the presentation |
| Gets feedback after the presentation | ||
| Identifies improvement after the presentation |
THE QUESTIONNAIRE
The questionnaire is based on the competencies above. The answers to the questionnaire will allow an assessment of a person’s skills and knowledge against these competencies. Both strengths and specific areas for improvement will be identified. Upon completion of the questionnaire, you will receive a tailored report that details your strengths and areas for development. You will also receive learning resources and ideas for how you can improve, whatever your level of speaking.
We are now in the testing phase. We need people to complete the questionnaire to help us improve it and validate it. For the remainder of 2021, you can complete the questionnaire and get your tailored report for free. To do so, click the button below.
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