Presenting With Impact continued

The power of the pauses

Pausing is another vital ingredient. You must always allow your audience time to catch up with what is being said. If you rush or gabble then you will leave them behind and lose them. Winston Churchill's significant pauses in his great Second World War speeches stirred a nation to keep on fighting. And Martin Luther King's famous speech, with its use of the dramatic pause between each of his 'I have a dream' statements, still excites and thrills us today.

The secret is that after each point you should pause, breathe and look for the audience's reaction before moving on. Even if the reaction is silent, you are giving them a chance to acknowledge and digest what is being said.

Consider the audience

What about the audience? Who are they and why do they need to hear what you have to tell them? Use appropriate language – don't use jargon or buzz words, which often sound insincere. Always spell out abbreviations to avoid diverting the listener's attention.

You need to be well prepared and rehearse aloud what you are going to say. You need to headline each of the sections like a chapter heading in a book, in order to keep the audience alert.

Remember, if an audience is given 30 points they will only take away the three they most want to hear. So it is important to make sure that the three most important things you want to convey are 'highlighted' within the presentation.

Mastering visual aids

If you are using a visual aid, such as PowerPoint, make sure that it is there to support or confirm what you are saying rather than the other way round.

Always introduce each image before showing it. For example: 'Now I want to talk about chaos theory,' and only then click the mouse to bring the slide up. Keep text slides to a minimum and use pictures whenever you can. Think carefully of the benefit of each image.

Never use a visual aid as a memory jogger; it looks as though you are uncertain of your subject.

Best of all, think of yourself as a visual aid and do not become a talking brochure. Then you will move from presentation to communication.

The three Ps

Finally, think preparation and posture and then personality may start to appear. Your voice can persuade, your charisma can charm and your knowledge can entertain.

For more about Greg and his work, visit www.gdepassociates.com


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