Do Your Presentations Make Your Heart Pump But Your Audience Fall Asleep?
25/01/2008

What do you do when your boss asks you to present the business plan in front of the management team in Houston, at a new client's office out in Singapore, or even worse, speak at the breakfast meeting for executives in London next week? The word presentation makes your mind go blank. You know you have to do it - and you want to - but you are already sure that it is bound to go horribly wrong. You are facing the greatest enemy of all - yourself!

These days, most managers and bosses - all the way up to boardroom level - are expected to enthusiastically deliver dazzling presentations - presentations that will land the new big contract, or boost the profile of the organisation as a leader in its field. Since the arrival of PowerPoint, and organisations' increasing need to profile their expertise and products, there is no escape for the nervous presenter. Some people love to talk - and indeed thrive in front of an audience - but the truth is that most of us dread speaking to a bigger group of people more than anything else we can think of.

The Fear Factor
Ivor Smith, partner of Aberdeen-based presenters and magicians Fifth Dimension, says, "There is no doubt that there are a lot of people out there in the workplace who absolutely fear the moment when they need to stand up in front of an audience and present something. Many people are so nervous that they end up failing to do a good job when they are presenting because they are clearly insecure and stressed about their own performance. They might be very well prepared, and know what they are talking about, they just don't communicate the information well."

"We also see, surprisingly, a great number of people delivering long and tedious PowerPoint presentations, dragging their audience through a load of information whereas they should really be using their own personality and body language to bring their presentation to life."

Unfortunately, most of us don't want to express our fear and poor presentation skills. It has become 'part of the job' and you are expected to do it - and to do it well. "This is a serious matter in today's competitive world where we all rely on good reputations," believes Ivor "Effectively, it means that organisations risk losing important opportunities if they rely on presentations, speeches and pitches that are, if not poor, then little more than average. A presentation that lacks enthusiasm and drive, or is poorly delivered, can have dire consequences for the organisation's overall business goals and its relationship with its external stakeholders.

Constructive
"Some people, for example academics or engineers, are used to delivering information with a great emphasis on detail in their daily work. It is often very hard for them to boil all their information down to clear, concise messages. Sadly, in most cases they are not even aware of their 'bad habits' and often their line managers can find it awkward to address these kind of issues. We are fortunate because we come in to the organisation as the specialist, and are able to educate people in a constructive way. This is where we have found that humour can take you very far - it gives our participants the motivation required to change their attitudes.

We All Have Potental
"I don't think that just anyone can become a great, charismatic speaker but we all have potential to learn useful skills and how best to put your message across in a credible way - and with a punch. Presentation is about good communication - it's about selling your message to your audience. Like anything else you need to have the tools to do it and after that, it's all about practice, really."

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