presentation skills for the unprofessional by bill wilson

8/13/2019 Presentation Skills for the Unprofessional by Bill Wilson

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can significantly enhance your career development, whether that career is in sales or climbing the corporate

ladder.

Unfortunately, of the estimated 8 BILLION presentations given annually in the U.S. alone, most are

"tornado" presentations. Just what are "tornado" presentations? Simple...like real tornadoes, they're a

concentrated gust of wind that sucks! And, like real tornadoes, most aren't planned...they just happen.

Making an effective presentation involves four key components:

The Situation-determining the purpose, occasion, and environment in which your presentation willbe made.

The Audience-identifying (and creating where necessary) the needs and expectations of youraudience, then exceeding those expectations (usually to their surprise).

The Speaker-understanding, controlling and conquering your fears and developing a uniquepresentation style.

The Presentation-planning, preparing and delivering a dynamite presentation.Let's tackle each of these components, one at a time, starting with The Situation

This is the thirdin a seven-part series of articles on presentation skills designed for persons who don't

make or supplement their living from professional speaking.

Part 3 of 7: The Situation

Part 1|Part 2|Part 3|Part 4|Part 5|Part 6|Part 7

When asked to make a presentation, the first thing that often runs through the panic-stricken mind of the

"unprofessional" speaker is, "What am I going to say?" A more purposeful response is: "Why have I been

asked to give this presentation?" Therefore, the first step in the presentation process, before a word has

been put to paper, is to determine the purpose of the presentation-it's goals and objectives.

Obviously, the structure, content and style of the presentation will vary according to the nature of the event.

For example, wouldn't you agree that, if you were asked to make a speech about an individual that was

being honored, the tone of the presentation would be dramatically different depending on whether you were

speaking at a retirement "roast" or a funeral?

Most presentations take one of three forms, as illustrated by Aristotle's "Appeals":

Ethos- the purpose is to inform or instruct, as one would as an instructional course leader, and isbased on thought processes.

Logos- the purpose is to persuade or motivate to action, as would a politician, clergyman orsalesman, and is based on behavior modification.

Pathos - the purpose is to inspire, entertain or otherwise elicit feelings and emotions, as would amotivational speaker or stand-up comic, and is based on changing attitudes.

Keep in mind that many, if not most, presentations incorporate more than one facet of each of these

"appeals." For example, Winston Churchill used both pathos and logos, Zig Ziglar focuses on pathos and

ethos, Brian Tracy on logos and ethos, and so forth. Also, you can be effective using whichever "appeal"

best fits the situation or your personal style.
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Personally, I loved to hear both Carl Sagan (who most often used an "ethos" appeal) and Zig Ziglar speak,

though their styles were completely different. So, be aware that there is no one best form of

presentation...each can be effective, in its own way, depending on the situation and the speaker's personal

style of communication.

One other observation regarding the situation in which you are speaking, and one of the most common

mistakes made by "unprofessional" speakers...remember to ALWAYS finish on time. This is particularly true

when you are speaking at a meal function such as a luncheon or dinner. Never ask "How long have I got?"

but rather, "When does your meeting usually end?" These types of events are notorious for dragging on

forever. If you have a 30-minute presentation scheduled for 12:30 p.m., but you aren't able to begin until

12:45 p.m. (and the group usually adjourns at 1:00 p.m.), cut your program to 15 minutes. If you follow

the advice in this short course, you'll be prepared to do this and, believe me, the participants will love you

for it!

This is the forthin a seven-part series of articles on presentation skills designed for persons who don't


Part 4 of 7: The Audience


The first step in this phase of the process is to analyze the needs and determine the expectations of the

audience. Imagine that new neighbors move in next door and you invite them over for dinner. When

everyone's seated, you bring out the biggest, juiciest steaks they've ever seen. Then they break the news

that they're vegetarians.

Embarrassing? To say the least. The same holds true when you're speaking to a group...you have to learn

something about their "appetites" and "dining" preferences. What are their needs? Why did they invite YOU

and what do they expect from you? What are their knowledge, skill and experience levels? What are theirattitudes and feelings toward you and the subject matter? What are the demographics of the group?

For example, if you were asked to make a presentation on how insurance rates are made, would the

structure, content and delivery of your presentation differ if the group consisted of building contractors as

opposed to actuaries? I actually saw such a presentation made to a homebuilders association where the

presenter used slides explaining linear regression analysis in the trending of loss costs. It would have taken

buckets to catch all the drool that spilled from the lips of the glassy-eyed crowd.

Likewise, the tone of your presentation would depend on whether the audience was, in general, uninformed,

apathetic, hostile, favorable, or mixed. As we'll discuss later, my experience has been that, unless you are

delivering a funeral eulogy, humor (if used judiciously) is your most valuable ally. This analysis stage is

critical...if not done properly, you will too often find yourself in a situation for which you are totally

unprepared.

Once you've established what you believe to be the expectations of the audience, you'll need to arouse their

curiosity both before and during your presentation. Therefore, I recommend that you select an attention-

getting title for your presentation. For example, I used to do a seminar on insurance policy interpretation for

independent insurance agents that I could have called "How to Interpret an Insurance Policy." Instead, I

called it "How to Battle an Adjuster...and Win Every Time!" Agents loved the title! Needless to say, claims


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reps and adjusters didn't (but that's another story). Therefore, I subsequently changed the title to a more

politically correct "How to Win Friends...and Influence Adjusters." This title still aroused curiosity, but was a

little more politically correct and a lot less offensive to the claims reps that I dearly love (to battle).

With regard to generating curiosity during the presentation itself, you'll want to start out with a dynamite

opener to get the audience's attention and make them eager to hear the rest of what you have to say.

During the program, you'll want to liven things up by being creative. For example, when I discuss the

pollution exclusion in a liability insurance seminar, the overhead I use has a bullet that says, "Martinis,

potato chips, Heather Locklear, and peanut butter sandwiches." When I get to the discussion of personal

injury and advertising injury, one of my overhead bullets says, "Marijuana, Mickey Mouse and Music City

U.S.A." What do these terms mean? Don't they arouse your curiosity (even if you know nothing about

insurance!)? That's the idea.

Before leaving this topic, I'd like to leave you with three maxims of public speaking from the perspective of

your audience...

MAXIM #1: "Speaking is show business!"

First, never, ever forget the following truism: Speaking is show business!Again, unless you're delivering

a funeral eulogy, announcing a corporate "downsizing" to a group of the downsized, or speaking at a similar

somber event, people want to be entertained as well as informed. Even if you're making an ethos-based

presentation, remember the words of Marshall McLuhan: "Education has to be fun, and fun has to be

education."In my seminar, "Presentation Skills for the 'Unprofessional' Speaker," I examine this premise

within the context of what I call "The Jolson Principle"which is: (1) give 'em what THEY want, (2) give

'em some more, (3) leave 'em wanting more.

MAXIM #2: "Be mediocre!"

Second, this doesn't mean that you have to be another Woody Allen or Sammy Davis, Jr., nor do you have

to be a clone of Zig Ziglar or Tony Robbins. Keep in mind, within our context of "unprofessional" speakingengagements (meaning you're not making a living at this stuff), the following: Your audience will most

likely be thrilled if you're just not boring!Honest!

That's an amazing statement, but absolutely 100% accurate...your audience will be satisfied if you aren't

boring. If you're speaking at a Kiwanis Club meeting, a technical symposium or some other function in which

the presenters are essentially "unprofessional" speakers, the audience does not normally have very high

expectations. In fact, in most cases, they expect to be bored to death. Therefore, you can significantly

exceed their expectations simply by not being boring. If, in fact, you're actually entertaining, they'll love

you! Believe it or not, before long you will have attendees that will be willing to PAY you to speak!

MAXIM #3: "Your audience doesn't care..."

The third and final observation on this topic is the following (and this may hurt a little, but it's true): Your

audience doesn't care about YOU...they care about themselves!As David Burpee of the Burpee Seed

Company said, "I always try to remember that people really aren't interested in my seeds. They're

interested in their gardens, their tomatoes, and their lawns."

Remember to give 'em what THEY want.


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fifth in a seven-part series of articles on presentation skills designed for persons who don't make

or supplement their living from professional speaking.

Part 5 of 7: The Speaker


In this article, we'll talk about just one topic of great concern to almost all "unprofessional" speakers:

Overcoming the fear of public speaking. As we'll see, we could easily refer to this as "overcoming the fear of

failure," since that is often where the fear of public speaking is founded.

First, keep two things in mind. Even "professional" speakers get nervous. In fact, one very well known

speaker that I've corresponded with confides that he comes close to being physically sick prior to almost

every presentation he makes; this despite the fact that he is an outstanding, even legendary, speaker. Also,

remember that your audience probably is not expecting a lot, certainly much less than you expect from

yourself. So, read on to learn about putting your presentation into perspective.

In addition to the fear of failure, I believe that there are FOUR reasons why most speakers get nervous

before a presentation. These reasons are directly related to the four key components of a presentation that

this series of articles discusses:

The Situation- not being sure of the reason for your presentation or being in an unfamiliar orawkward setting or situation.

The Audience- not being sure of the expectations of the audience or being with a group of"strangers" or even a hostile crowd.

The Speaker- not being sure of yourself as a public speaker or having unrealistic expectationsrelative to your experience level as a speaker.

The Presentation - not being sure of your material or not properly planning, preparing and/orrehearsing your presentation.

When I speak on a familiar topic to a group with which I'm acquainted, I'm almost always at ease. However,

if I'm doing a new program and don't feel confident in my mastery of the subject matter, I feel anxious.

Likewise, when I speak to an unfamiliar group, I'm often nervous. Don't believe anyone who tells you they

never get nervous. As Mark Twain said, "There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous and those

that are liars."However, once you've identified and understood the source(s) of your anxiety, you can set

out to control and ultimately conquer your fears. In accomplishing that mission, here are SIX things to keep

in mind:

1. Anxiety is better than apathy. Fear means you care.2. Keep things in perspective. Don't take yourself too seriously and don't overestimate the importance

or consequences of your presentation. Remember that most audiences will be thrilled if you're just

not awful! Ask yourself, "What's the worst thing that could happen?" Don't worry about what peoplewill think, even if things don't go perfectly. Follow the advice of speaker Steve Eggleston: "I stopped

worrying about what people would think about me when I realized how seldom people think about

anyone but themselves."

3. Believe in your message. Show your conviction and deliver the presentation you would want tohear.

4. Practice the 3 P's...Preparation, Preparation, and Preparation. Study the final phase of the processinvolving planning, preparing and delivering a presentation. Despite what you may have been told,

it's virtually impossible to over prepare for a speech. And, take every opportunity you can to speak

before a group. The more you do it, the better you'll get.


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5. Never apologize. Don't make a production out of the fact that you're nervous...believe me, you'remuch more aware of your anxiety than the audience. In most instances, the audience won't even

suspect you're nervous unless you tell them.

6. Never forget that the audience is almost always on your side. Have you ever gone to a presentationhoping that the speaker would be terrible? Of course not. Your audience isn't there to see you fail

either. About 10% of the audience will like you no matter what happens...we'll forget, for the

moment, the 10% that will not like you no matter how good you are. Identify the former in your

audience (hint: they're the ones awake and smiling) and focus on them as your confidence and

comfort level builds.

This is thesixthin a seven-part series of articles on presentation skills designed for persons who don't


Part 6 of 7: The Presentation


The presentation itself has three components:

The Planning Phase. After assessing the situation and audience, you're ready to plan yourpresentation. First, you'll want to research and develop the main points of your program. Then,

using this raw material, you will identify your central theme, develop each point to support that

premise, organize the content around these main points, and prepare an outline.

The Preparation Phase. In this phase, you'll take the substance of your presentation and bring it tolife by structuring it in accordance with several fundamental public speaking principles such as "The

Universal Speaker's Law" and the "Magical Rule of 3." Then, you'll further enliven it by illustrating

your points with humor, quotations, analogies, anecdotes, and other tools.

The Delivery Phase. This phase involves issues such as personal style, use of audio/visuals (if any),incorporation of "games and gimmicks," use of participative exercises, and many other techniques

beyond the scope and space constraints of this course.

In my (hopefully) forthcoming book, "Presentation Skills for the 'Unprofessional' Speaker," we use an

analogy to demonstrate the three phases of a presentation: Creating Frankenstein's Monster.

The Planning Phaseis presented as Scene One: The Graveyard...digging up the body parts. The Preparation

Phaseis presented as Scene Two: The Laboratory...stitching all those parts together. The Delivery Phaseis

presented as Scene Three: The Public Square...where Frankenstein's monster is brought to life and must

confront the public. Here we'll stick to the essentials...

The Planning Phase

This phase involves an extensive amount of research using authoritative reference materials and,

increasingly, the Internet. You want to amass as much information on your topic as you can reasonably find

in the time available for research. For the most part, you can't find too much information...you can always

pare it down later to fit your time frame. After establishing your central theme, you can organize the content

using several techniques such as mind mapping, storyboarding, affinity diagrams, wheel charts, and, mypersonal favorite, manila folders! I've found that, for ethos-type educational programs that are linear in

structure, a simple system such as manila file folders works quite nicely. However, I've often had to resort

to the "stacks of paper on the ping pong table in the garage" technique, though that one is much too

complex to present in an introductory course such as this. : - )

The Preparation Phase


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The next step is to restructure your outline into a "presentable" format. Two techniques known to all

professional speakers can be used in this step. The first is "The Universal Speaker's Law"which says: (1)

Tell them what you're going to tell them, (2) tell them, and (3) tell them what you told them. In other

words, every presentation should have: (1) an introduction, (2) a body, and (3) a conclusion. The

introduction should include a dynamite, attention-getting opener and a brief summary of what you're going

to tell them. The conclusion should include a dynamite, thought-provoking closer following a brief summary

of what you told them.

That leaves the body itself and another speaker's "law" to consider here is what is known as the "Magical

Rule of 3." Simply stated, if you limit your presentation to three main points, you'll never go wrong. This is

not an absolute maxim, but it is one that always works for a very simple reason...most people can't

remember more than three things you tell them. If you want your presentation to be memorable, then limit

your "message" to three points.

These concepts are discussed at length in my seminar and (hopefully) forthcoming book. Finally, although

the substance and form is now there, to make your points clear, understandable and memorable, you have

to provide illustrations. If you observe most professional speakers, they make their points real and

memorable using anecdotes, humor, quotations, and so forth. Numerous examples and resources are cited

in the (hopefully) forthcoming book (do you sense a message here?).

The Delivery Phase

The Delivery Phase involves concepts such as personal style, enunciation, and use of repetition, body

language, and use of audio-visuals. Each of these is discussed in the seminar and companion manual. In this

section of the abridged, online version, we'll focus on two areas...things you should NOT do, and techniques

you can use to bring Frankenstein's monster to life. First, here are three "DON'Ts":

1. Don't recite.For most of the public speaking that you're likely to be doing, don't try to memorize aspeech. One of the most boring presentations I ever saw was a guy who had memorized a 20-

minute speech. Similarly, I used to attend a church where the pastor was noted for his ability to cite

lengthy Biblical verses from memory...at least that's what I was told by the three people who

remained awake. A presentation that comes across as "canned" is perceived to be insincere and

trite.

2. Don't read.Think for a minute...when was the last time somebody read to you? If you're like me, itwas probably your mother who read to you at bedtime. And, what was the purpose of her reading

to you? I rest my case.

3. Don't start with a jokeor at least be REAL careful.The true mark of a real 'unprofessional'speaker is a person who feels compelled to start their presentation with a joke. Nine times out of

ten, that joke is either not funny or, if it is, you've heard it a dozen times during the past month...if

a popular joke is going around, most of your audience will have heard it. Also, ninety nine times out

of a hundred, the joke has nothing to do with the presentation, such as, "Before I get started, I

heard a funny joke the other day..." Humor is a principal tool of my speaking style, but it has to be

used properly and in the right context to be effective.

Finally, here are THIRTEEN techniques you can use to liven up and illustrate the points of your presentation:

Quotations.Quotations can be a great tool for not only supporting a premise or point, but also as a

brainstorming tool to develop presentations. For more information on this, take a look at my article

elsewhere on this site: "Quotations: They're Not Just for Drunks Anymore."


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Analogies.I do a seminar called "The Five Habits of Highly Effective Leaders." In distinguishing between

management and leadership, I use a quotation as an analogy: "Efficient management without effective

leadership is like straightening deck chairs on the Titanic."An analogy makes a point more memorable.

Definitions.If you're making a presentation on politics, you'll want to define a Politician: Someone who will

borrow $20, repay you $10, then say you're even because you both lost 10 bucks! Or, how about an

Auditor: Someone who goes in after the war is lost and bayonets the wounded. Or, an Attorney: Someone

who goes in after the auditors are through and pick the pockets of the dead. Caution: be wary of how you

use these definitions...believe me, if you're speaking to attorneys, they won't appreciate attorney

jokes...besides, they've heard them all before.

Anecdotes.If you listen to the well-known professional speakers, most of them build their presentations

around humorous or inspiring anecdotal stories. In the unabridged (hopefully) forthcoming book version of

this program, we give you a number of anecdotes you can use and show how you can use your own

experiences in your presentations.

Rhetorical Questions.One caveat: if you use a rhetorical question, be prepared for someone to actually

respond. I once sat on the front row to hear an absolutely gorgeous speaker start her presentation with the

question, "Did you ever have a sexual fantasy?" Without missing a beat, I responded, "Does right now

count?"

Direct Statements.These are usually statements you make about yourself or an action you took. They

work best when you poke fun at yourself, although Don Rickles has made a career of insulting his audience.

Just be careful how you do it.

Startling Statistics.Statistics are too often used improperly in a presentation but, if used effectively, they

can make the subject matter more interesting, understandable, and memorable. For example, I've often

cited a university study that alleges that, at any given time, 20% of the audience listening to a speaker is

thinking about sex. You can have fun with that statistic! A point to keep in mind is that the audience doesn't

care about "data"...just what the data means, why it's important to them, and what they should do about it.In other words, present statistics as information, not facts.

Historical Events.There are a number of books and Internet sites along the lines of "On this day." I once

did a September 28 presentation on quality management and mentioned that on that date in 1930, Lou

Gehrig committed his first error in 885 games...almost six years without an error. On the date you are to

make a presentation, check on of these references and see if there were any historical events on that date

that you could tie into your material.

Personal Secrets.Remember the "coming out" episode of the TV sitcom "Ellen"?

Cartoons.I have a large file of cartoons for all occasions. In one presentation I do, an element of the

program involves interpersonal effectiveness. I use an overhead with a cartoon of a man on a couch with his

psychiatrist. The caption has the man saying, "If you weren't so stupid, you could tell me why people

automatically dislike me." An important caveat with cartoons is that, if they are copyrighted (and they

almost always are), you must get permission to use them. In many cases, you will have to pay a fee ranging

from $15 to $150.

Games & Gimmicks.I have several "tricks" that I've used for years. For example, when I do this

presentation, to illustrate the "Magical Rule of 3," I put up an overhead with six playing cards and ask the


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audience to think of any one of the cards. Then I replace the overhead with another one that has five cards

and I ask them if their card is missing. No matter which card they chose, it is always missing! How does this

work and how does it tie into the "Magical Rule of 3"? My seminar and (hopefully) forthcoming book explain

(rats!).

Participative Exercises.You have to do something about every six minutes during your presentation that

require some sort of audience participation or response. There are lots of exercises you can do and plenty of

sources of information on this subject. A good one is "Games Presenters Play" by Lilly Walters & Jeff Dewar.

Props.I'm not Gallagher or CarrotTop, but I have a few props I use in my seminars and presentations. A

great one is used by Stephen Covey in his "7 Habits" workshop and involves a jar, sand, gravel, and rocks.

Dealing with priorities and "putting first things first," by filling the jar with sand and then gravel, you'll find

that there's not enough room left for all of the big things in life (in this case, the rocks). However, if you put

the rocks in first, and then pour the gravel, then the sand into the cracks, you'll find that everything will fit if

you "put first things first."

By following these simple tools of the trade, you can indeed dramatically improve your public speaking.

This is the lastin a seven-part series of articles on presentation skills designed for persons who don't make

or supplement their living from professional speaking.

Part 7 of 7: Summary & conclusion


Here's what we covered in this short version of our program:

The Situation. We discussed Aristotle's "Appeals," the environment and some special situations. The Audience. We introduced The Jolson Principleand the importance of analyzing the needs and

expectations of your audience, plus how to arouse their curiosity with your presentation title and

content.

The Speaker. We examined the source of speaker anxiety and what you could do about it. The Presentation. We looked at the three phases of planning, preparation, and delivery, along with

the Universal Speaker's Law and the Magical Rule of 3, plus some specific techniques to breathe life

into a dead presentation.

At this point, your presentation should be ready to go. All that's left is the study, reinforcement, practice,

and rehearsal necessary to polish your performance. By now, you will have discovered that for every 1-5

minutes of your presentation, you will have spent an hour in preparation! Speaking isn't easy, but it sure is

an awful lot of fun.

Good luck in your speaking. Follow the advice in this series of articles, take every opportunity you can to

speak before a group, and you'll be on your way to becoming an outstanding "unprofessional" speaker.

Finally, as you begin to gain experience and self-confidence, remember the words of Ralph Waldo

Emerson: "All the great speakers were bad speakers at first."

presentation skills for the unprofessional by bill wilson

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