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An accomplished physician and researcher from Puerto Rico was presenting at a conference of her peers in the United States. “First,” the doctor began, “I want to apologize for my English.” Sitting in the audience, I felt the energy drain out of the room. Audience members collectively caught their breath, preparing to sit through a problematic presentation.

I wanted to rewind the tape and skip the apology. Apologizing in a speech, especially in the introduction, automatically decreases your effectiveness.

A primary goal of an introduction is to establish the speaker’s credibility. To begin with an apology is to begin by undermining your own credibility and set a negative tone for the presentation. Not only did the doctor’s apology expose a lack of confidence, it diverted attention from her expertise. The apology was entirely unnecessary-the doctor’s skills as a clinician and a researcher had earned her the right to present.

It is appropriate to acknowledge an obvious difference that might distract audience members from your content, something like a heavy accent or the presence of a wheelchair. The doctor might have begun, “I’ve come from Puerto Rico to report significant findings from my research. These findings may impact your clinical practice in substantial ways. As we work together today, you might notice that English is not my first language. Sometimes my brain goes faster in Spanish than my tongue can translate.

The same is true if you should encounter a problem with the room, with the equipment, or with another speaker failing to arrive on time. If the audience knows about the problem, acknowledge it. Then confidently report how you are going to handle the situation and get on with it. If you appear to take the situation in stride, the audience will as well.

Acknowledge differences and problems that arise, but skip the apology. Your credibility-and often the success of your presentation-depend on it.

Listening to a speaker can be very tiring because our minds are distracted quickly due to a low concentration span, attending a presentation is a format we know and this familiarity keeps us less alert and taking in new information can drain our energy. Therefore to know how to grasp and hold the audience’s attention is vital to get your message across. How can you as a speaker make it easier for your audience and yourself?

One tool is by creating a dynamic set-up and a clear structure. This will: help you to stay focused on the message, give your audience a framework to follow your story with ease, support your personal and your audience’s objectives.

Using the ‘MY IDEAS’ model offers an easy to apply tool to develop clear, dynamic and focused presentations. This model covers the following steps:

1. M- Mind the audience;

2. Y- Your goal;

3. I- Inform;

4. D- Demonstrate;

5. E- Exchange;

6. A- Attention;

7. S- Summarise

1. M = Mind the audience. Start with the audience in mind: what are their expectations? Ask yourself:
“What will the audience have learned/observed/experienced after my presentation?” e.g. the use of 5 new tools to find new clients; “Who will benefit from my information?” e.g. international sales people;
“Why is the session important?” e.g. to identify more clients in less time; “Will this be new to them?” e.g. the tools not but the applications are.

Write your speech with the answers to these questions in mind.

2. Y = Your goal. Decide where you want to go, the goal of your presentation, start to ask yourself what you would like to achieve with your presentation: “What is it that I would like my audience to take away from my session?” e.g. knowing that I am an expert in international sales & marketing; “What is my number one central idea or outcome?” e.g My tools save time and money; “What will they have experienced, learned, heard?” e.g. How to use existing tools with my unique application methods; “When do I know that my goal has been achieved?” e.g. on my feedback form the satisfaction can be measured and when I will be referred to other clients or when they will buy my book after the presentation.

3. I = Inform. Throughout the presentation you will inform the audience and you will share details on yourself, your company, products, strategy, research cases etc. Instead of giving a long informative introductions on the sections in your presentation, try to alternate with the following elements.

4. D = Demonstrate. Demonstrating what you described in your informational parts is powerful. It will turn the abstract into something tangible. Show the audience what you speak about by demonstrating the product in the session, by showing the internet sources live on the screen, by hands-on computer study cases if possible, by showing pictures etc.

Demonstration is powerful, engaging the audience is a much stronger tool.

5. E = Exchange. When you speak to an audience, the room is full of knowledgeable people, acknowledge that expertise. Ask the audience questions: “how many of you use tool X?”, “how many of you have been working in sales more than 5 years?”, “Who found an alternative solution to this problem?”. Sometimes you can get this information beforehand, if not, use it to connect with the audience. Ask them to share with one neighbor e.g. what tools they use themselves and to share one problem with that tool. These little ‘exchange moments’ will give you a break as well to drink some water, check your notes, write down some thoughts.

Then you need to draw the audience’s attention back to your presentation.

6. A = Attention. Invite the audience to focus on the next part in your presentation and to share what they learned e.g. “I would like to ask two persons to share your experience what happened during the conversation, what did you learn from each other?”. Giving attention is important to give the audience the feeling they contribute. Thank the persons for sharing, say that these conversations can be continued during the break (networking) and continue by getting the audience to focus on you again by e.g. “Now that I covered my list of tools, let’s talk about my new application method”. You will have them waiting in anticipation with renewed energy.

7. S = Summarise tips. Implement short summaries of your tips and findings throughout your presentation. This will re-enforce your suggestions and ideas and reminds the audience where you are in your presentation. Also include the ideas you received from your audience. At the end mention your number one idea again e.g. “It was my wish to give you sales tools and new application methods. I hope these 5 alternative ideas will save you time finding new clients in the future”.

Alternating between these parts will create a lively presentation. There is no need to strictly follow the MY IDEAS order. Be creative: you can start your presentation by asking a question “Discuss with your neighbor the main bottleneck in your field” (Exchange). And then you continue with “Let’s talk about my tips to resolve these problems” (Inform).

Using the above described ‘MY IDEAS model’ will give you structure and a dynamic set-up for your next presentation. Let me know how you are getting on and if you need any help.

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