Ragan Communication is a communication training and communication resource firm that offers a great deal of information on all matter of communication challenges. In their feed this morning there was a post about four crucial mistakes for corporate speech presentations by Angela Definis of Definis Communications. I think you will want to go to the link for the full discussion but her four major areas were:
1 -- Not appearing prepared to speak
2 -- Not keeping listeners' needs in mind (my favorite)
3 -- Not keeping with conventional etiquette
4 -- Not using a "speaker" tone (my least favorite)
Despite how I might feel about any of those blunders, she has extensive experience in coaching presentations and her summary is well written. It would be worth the read.
In all my Coker College communication courses I am afraid I preach Know Your Audience, which is why Number 2 is my favorite. Knowing your audience does not mean saying only what they want to hear -- it means knowing how to put your message into a frame they will understand. Often speakers use their personal perspective and ignore the audience perspective. When that happens it makes the entire presentation not worth the effort, expense and energy.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
One difference between acting and presenting
Recently I was reminded about one MAJOR difference between acting and presenting. When you are acting, you are portraying a character who is not you. When you are presenting it is YOU in front of the audience.
During a recent speech by a local politician on our Coker College campus, some of the theater folks were wondering what he was doing out shaking hands with the audience in a a jovial meet & greet posture. They were not sure that was a good strategy. They were certain it was not something they would do prior to going on stage in a role.
Important Distiction
That is an important distinction between a person making a public speech and a person taking on a role. The speech maker is standing before the audience and in that stance is saying, "This is me." When I am talking with people about ways to minimize some of the anxiety, fear or discomfort they feel about giving a speech I often suggest getting to know some of the audience members. When I am fortunate enough to be giving a presentation to a group I try hard to be at the location early enough so that I can say hello, meet some of the people and carry on some short, pleasant conversation. For one thing it helps me get to know who is in the audience and for another thing, it helps the audience get to know a 'me' as me and not as the "speaker."
Actors have the job of creating a character for their audience. Speakers have the job of conveying themselves to the audience. Meeting prior to the presentation is often a good strategy for paving the way for presentation success.
During a recent speech by a local politician on our Coker College campus, some of the theater folks were wondering what he was doing out shaking hands with the audience in a a jovial meet & greet posture. They were not sure that was a good strategy. They were certain it was not something they would do prior to going on stage in a role.
Important Distiction
That is an important distinction between a person making a public speech and a person taking on a role. The speech maker is standing before the audience and in that stance is saying, "This is me." When I am talking with people about ways to minimize some of the anxiety, fear or discomfort they feel about giving a speech I often suggest getting to know some of the audience members. When I am fortunate enough to be giving a presentation to a group I try hard to be at the location early enough so that I can say hello, meet some of the people and carry on some short, pleasant conversation. For one thing it helps me get to know who is in the audience and for another thing, it helps the audience get to know a 'me' as me and not as the "speaker."
Actors have the job of creating a character for their audience. Speakers have the job of conveying themselves to the audience. Meeting prior to the presentation is often a good strategy for paving the way for presentation success.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Naked Presenter about you being about the audience
It is a good bet that if you talk to any student who has taken any of my Coker College communication classes from introductory speech to crisis communication you will find them ready to expand on one important principle -- knowing your audience is the most important principle of communication.
When you read Garr Reynolds book, THE NAKED PRESENTER,(New Riders - 2011) you will get a really good answer to the often asked question, Why? Why do I need to the know the audience is a question I get a lot. "Look, my questioner will say, I have an important message to give and I am not going to sacrifice my message just because the audience might not have a long enough attention span. Or just because the audience might not be in the frame of mind to listen to what I have to say. Or, just because the audience is not really smart enough to understand what I have to say. It is my message and it is important." And, I just had a semblance of that conversation at a coffee shop yesterday as someone was asking me about the Reynold's book.
The whole reason people make presentations is to get their message into the minds of others so that things can happen. A presentation, even an informative speech, is about making change happen. To make this change happen your message needs to get noticed and then needs to get processed. If you ignore the wide variety of things that will get your audience to ignore YOUR message you will find that no matter how much material is covered YOU have not been successful. Reynolds, using is broad background in presentations, has created a relatively short, dynamic, powerful tool of insight that presenters can use to improve their chances of making change happen.
At the end of the book, Reynolds points out the major premise, "the theme of this book is that naturalness in delivery -- bringing more of your own unique personality to your presentations -- will amplify your messages in a what that will them noticed, understood and remembered." (p 193) Notice those process words in this theme -- Noticed, Understood, Remembered. Those three processes are all up to the audience. It is the speaker who crafts the presentation to make those happen.
Garr Reynolds has been living in Japan for much of his life and this book comes from that background of personal experience. And, that background is what gives strength to what is a book on presentations. His take very much involves his personal experience, which gives us a new lens through which to view presentations. To reinforce that last thought I want to borrow a quote he uses from the modern dance guru -- Martha Graham (p 160): "There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique."
THE NAKED PRESENTER is a unique look at presenting and public speaking that is accessible, enjoyable and knowledgeable and it helped this reader expand presentation boundaries.
When you read Garr Reynolds book, THE NAKED PRESENTER,(New Riders - 2011) you will get a really good answer to the often asked question, Why? Why do I need to the know the audience is a question I get a lot. "Look, my questioner will say, I have an important message to give and I am not going to sacrifice my message just because the audience might not have a long enough attention span. Or just because the audience might not be in the frame of mind to listen to what I have to say. Or, just because the audience is not really smart enough to understand what I have to say. It is my message and it is important." And, I just had a semblance of that conversation at a coffee shop yesterday as someone was asking me about the Reynold's book.
The whole reason people make presentations is to get their message into the minds of others so that things can happen. A presentation, even an informative speech, is about making change happen. To make this change happen your message needs to get noticed and then needs to get processed. If you ignore the wide variety of things that will get your audience to ignore YOUR message you will find that no matter how much material is covered YOU have not been successful. Reynolds, using is broad background in presentations, has created a relatively short, dynamic, powerful tool of insight that presenters can use to improve their chances of making change happen.
At the end of the book, Reynolds points out the major premise, "the theme of this book is that naturalness in delivery -- bringing more of your own unique personality to your presentations -- will amplify your messages in a what that will them noticed, understood and remembered." (p 193) Notice those process words in this theme -- Noticed, Understood, Remembered. Those three processes are all up to the audience. It is the speaker who crafts the presentation to make those happen.
Garr Reynolds has been living in Japan for much of his life and this book comes from that background of personal experience. And, that background is what gives strength to what is a book on presentations. His take very much involves his personal experience, which gives us a new lens through which to view presentations. To reinforce that last thought I want to borrow a quote he uses from the modern dance guru -- Martha Graham (p 160): "There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique."
THE NAKED PRESENTER is a unique look at presenting and public speaking that is accessible, enjoyable and knowledgeable and it helped this reader expand presentation boundaries.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Naked Presenter replete with experts
Garr Reynolds is author of THE NAKED PRESENTER and one of the little things he does as he brings public speaking challenges to life is include comments by many experts -- most of the comments from relatively recent publications or talks. I like Reynolds' work because it dovetails with a lot of my personal ideas on public speaking. In a very real sense my reading of Reynolds is an example of Selective Exposure and Selective Perception. By the way, those are interesting concepts that speakers should at least recognize even if you don't have a complete understanding. We talk about those concepts in several of the Coker College communication classes that I teach.
I am not yet through with the Reynolds book but I have been impressed with the experts and the sources he has been noting in his chapters. I thought it might be useful to discuss where some of this information is coming from.
First, I was surprised to be introduced to the name of Christopher Craft who has a business called PalmettoLearning LLC. Craft is a resource for effective teaching based in Columbia, SC. It is interesting to me that an author living in Japan provided my first exposure to Craft. in the Naked Presenter Craft is given the opportunity to share some information about avoiding cognitive overload. (p 37)
Another two-page feature presentation was staged by Les Posen, who was in the book to discuss dealing with the fear of public speaking from a neuroscience perspective.
This post would drag far too long if I put in all the sources mentioned by Reynolds but there are some additional books that are really gems. One is Brain Rules by Dr. John Medena - Pear Press 2009. Excellent on many levels.
A third book is not even out at Amazon though it is in the pre-order stages and this is Guy Kawasaki's newest book -- ENCHANTMENT - THE ART OF CHANGING HEARTS, MINDS AND ACTIONS.
David Rock, a psychologist, is a master thinker in the field of human performance and his book THE BRAIN AT WORK gets some regular notice in THE NAKED PRESENTER.
I am not yet through with the Reynolds book but I have been impressed with the experts and the sources he has been noting in his chapters. I thought it might be useful to discuss where some of this information is coming from.
First, I was surprised to be introduced to the name of Christopher Craft who has a business called PalmettoLearning LLC. Craft is a resource for effective teaching based in Columbia, SC. It is interesting to me that an author living in Japan provided my first exposure to Craft. in the Naked Presenter Craft is given the opportunity to share some information about avoiding cognitive overload. (p 37)
Another two-page feature presentation was staged by Les Posen, who was in the book to discuss dealing with the fear of public speaking from a neuroscience perspective.
This post would drag far too long if I put in all the sources mentioned by Reynolds but there are some additional books that are really gems. One is Brain Rules by Dr. John Medena - Pear Press 2009. Excellent on many levels.
A third book is not even out at Amazon though it is in the pre-order stages and this is Guy Kawasaki's newest book -- ENCHANTMENT - THE ART OF CHANGING HEARTS, MINDS AND ACTIONS.
David Rock, a psychologist, is a master thinker in the field of human performance and his book THE BRAIN AT WORK gets some regular notice in THE NAKED PRESENTER.
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