We’ve all been exposed to a terrible presenter or instructor. The minutes drag by while the presenter seems oblivious to the reactions and needs of the audience. As an educator I know that there are several elements that are essential in creating a successful presentation. One of the most important is pacing. You should strive for a pace that moves quickly enough to maintain interest but allows enough processing time for the audience to comprehend the information. Processing time is the secret that will set your presentation apart from most of your competition.

Let’s use a 50 minute presentation as an example. Unless you’ve been hired as a keynote speaker you never want to spend the entire 50 minutes talking non-stop. Your presentation needs to be broken up into segments. This helps your listeners retain much more information than they would otherwise.

All parts of your presentation are not equal in terms of audience attention and retention. There is a natural ebb and flow to how we listen. We tend to remember best what we hear first, second best what we hear at the end and remember least what comes just past the middle. This is not news. We’ve known this for over 100 years, but like with many things, just because we know the right thing to do that doesn’t mean that we do it!

Talking to a group for 50 minutes or longer is common practice in school and business settings. We know better, yet we continue to do it. There is a better way and one that makes you an in-demand, effective presenter.

When you start preparing your presentation think in terms of dividing it into 3 segments. In a 50 minute presentation there will be two segments of optimal learning and a time when learning is lowest. These are referred to as Prime Time 1, Prime Time 2 and Down-Time.

The first segment is Prime Time 1 when retention is highest. Present new, important information here when your audience is fresh and most receptive. Don’t waste a lot of time talking about the weather, telling jokes or warming up the audience. You do need to create rapport but you can do this within the context of your material. Seminar presenter Fred Gleeck, says he always gives his most important piece of information in the first few minutes of a seminar. After about 12 minutes, retention starts diminishing. At 20 minutes it’s time for something else.

We now move into the second phase: Down-Time. The brain gets full of the new information and the mind starts to wander. Now is the time to have participants put their new knowledge to use. Set up a quick activity that allows participants to process the material in some way- talking to a partner or a small group or journaling. This gives the audience a break from new material, a chance to talk with others and hopefully move around a bit. It also lets your previous information “sink in” so it will be remembered. This activity will last roughly 8-10 minutes.

Now you are ready for Prime Time 2. This is the second best time for learning and retaining material. Use the last several minutes for review and closure.

If you follow this method your audiences will remain interested, retain more information and rave about your effective presentation skills. If you don’t give your audience time to process you will waste their time and your time.

When you negotiate, do you fear compromise? Do you know the best way to compromise in a negotiation?

Too many times, negotiators lose deals either because they don’t compromise, or they don’t know how to do so in the right way. Read this article and you’re sure to pick up some tips as to how to compromise in your negotiations.

Test Compromise Request:
Negotiation Tip: When you’re asked to make a compromise, first question the intent of the request; you really need to know why it’s being made. If you believe it stems from greed, physically display contemplation. Then ask why you’re being asked for the compromise. In so doing, you’ll gain insight into the mental thought process of the other negotiator, which will allow you to make assumptions about his future request (i.e. you can prepare for them). If you feel the compromise is unwarranted, deny it, give a reason if that’s appropriate, and move on. If you do grant it, find out what else might be associated with the request before doing so. You don’t want to make one compromise after another, not knowing when the requests will end.

Compromise Slowly:
When compromising, do so slowly. First, by doing so, you slow the pace of the negotiation. Second, you display non-verbally, that you’re ‘weighing’ the perspectives of your contemplation. In essence, you’re sending the signal that you’re not being flippant per the request and you’re giving it the thought process so do. By not compromising quickly you also send the signal that the other negotiator should be cautious about making too many requests.

Leave Room for Compromise:
When making compromises, consider alternatives to what’s being asked for and the impact that such will have on the negotiation. Just because the other negotiator ask for ‘x’ doesn’t mean he really wants it. He may be testing you to see what he can get from you. If that’s the case, in some situations you may want to make the concession (compromise) as a setup to a request you dearly wish him to grant you. In such situations, use compromises statically. Regardless, don’t be haphazard with them and always leave room for compromise.

Never Fear Asking:
When it comes to seeking more of what you want in a negotiation, don’t fear asking for it. Some negotiators feel, if they ask for too much, they might lose what they’ve already received. That can be true, but if you preference your request with humility, you can take the potential sting out of your request. The way to do so might be saying something like, ‘I appreciate getting to the point of where we are, might you be able to give ‘x’ to slightly improve the deal?’ If you make your request in this manner very few negotiators would assess you as being belligerent.

Fear not when it comes to compromising during a negotiation. There are a myriad of ways to position your request such that you gain more by doing so, while leaving the other negotiator in a positive frame of mind. Implement the thoughts above during your negotiations and more of your requests will be granted… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

Has this ever happened to you? Gord (his name changed to protect the innocent) thinks his presentation is going well. His content is accurate. His delivery is passionate.

He just has to end his Question and Answer session with a bang to leave his audience feeling motivated. So he asks, “Are there any questions?”

Gord methodically answered every question, until there were no more questions left. By that time, the audience’s energy level had plummeted. All the “big” questions had been answered. The final questions were of limited interest and should have been dealt with one-on-one after the session.

With his audience staring at the floor, Gord ends his Question and Answer session by saying, “Well, if there are no more questions, thanks for attending.” People in the audience give token applause and flee the room.

Gord’s terrible ending damages his career. He looks weak and indecisive. His presentation fails to generate any enthusiasm for his cause.

Do not let this happen to you! If you end your presentation with a typical Question and Answer session, the energy will leak out of the room like air out of a burst balloon. What can you do to prevent this?

Well, it is better to intersperse questions throughout your presentation. But, if you have to leave questions until the end, use the following technique to guarantee you’ll end on a high note.

Say, “I’ll take a few questions. Then, I’ve got one final important story to share with you!”

Take questions from the audience. When the questions become less frequent, tell the audience, “I’ll take one more question. Then I need to tell you that final important story I promised.”

Make your final point a great story that propels them to take action. Motivate them to do something. Since your closing story is the last thing they hear, it makes a big impact.

Do not make the mistake of ending your presentation with a standard, boring Question and Answer period. Instead, use this technique to end your Question and Answer session with a bang, not a whimper!

© 2008 Reflective Keynotes Inc., Toronto, Canada