Public Speaking - How to Structure your Presentation

Send your comments on this PRESENTATION STRUCTURE diagram to: sofia@speak2us.com.au

Whether you know it or not, any talk or presentation you give to an audience will consist of these components:

- You will have an Opening, even if it is just you walking on to the stage and beginning to speak.
- As a courtesy, especially for a longer talk, you will give the audience an overview Signpost of  what you will be covering in your talk.  The signpost is also the place where you may have to give  the audience some "housekeeping" details, e.g. the timing of your talk, the point at which you will have Question time. (Don't leave Question Time until the very end because then it can be a very untidy end to your presentation with, sometimes, people leaving the room before you have a chance to give a summary and close.
- The Body of your Talk.  Your talk will be on more than one element of your topic.  The Rule of Three  works well here.  This is where you start writing your talk. Don't waste time thinking of the title - it will reveal itself in the body of your talk.  Very probably, so will the Close of your talk.
- If there's Question Time, place it after the body of your talk.  (Email me if you want to know the reasons for this)
- Summary:  this is where you can acknowledge questions raised in Question Time.  You can even introduce some material you may have forgotten to mention.
- Call to action: What do you want your audience to do, after you have finished speaking? If it is "nothing"  Why are you there?  Why are they listening?  It can be as little as "Now you are better informed on this topic" through to "Now you have seen what benefits body organ donation can result in, and you can sign up right here and now."

- Close: Here you may repeat what I call your absolute statement.  

If you had only 30 seconds to give this presentation - what would be your statement? In one sentence?   Make sure that everything in your talk is congruent with this one absolute statement.

Public Speaking for Business Professionals

  

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Speaking for Business Professionals

Fear of public speaking is one of the most common forms of anxiety. Yet most business professionals will be required to make a presentation in front of a live audience at some point in their careers. And as your role within an organisation becomes more important and strategic, your presentations will become more frequent and will need to be more persuasive, not just informative.
Whether you are speaking to clients, employees, investors or the media, effective presentation skills are essential to your professional success.

Unfortunately, public speaking is an art form that requires constant practice to master. While there are many books and courses on this topic, here are a few basic tips to improve your business presentations.

Know your key messages

The best public speakers are great story tellers. They introduce a human dimension to their presentations and take their audiences on a journey. They speak in sound bites and never give the answers up front. They lead their audience along, sparking their interest, and give them just enough information to leave them wanting more.

To ensure that their audiences retain the desired key messages, they divide their presentations into small, digestible chunks of complete information.

And above all, the best public speakers know precisely what lasting impressions they want to convey to their audiences. They craft three to five key messages that are believable, understandable, succinct, and relevant to the audience. And then they carefully build their entire presentation around them.


Rule of three

One of the oldest and most common techniques in public speaking is the rule of three. As it turns out, people are much more likely to remember something if you package it in a list of three. This technique has been used successfully throughout the ages, including Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg address: “… a government of the people, by the people, for the people.” The rule of three is also inherently persuasive, so always give your audience three reasons to believe any assertion you make.

10-20-30 Rule

Microsoft PowerPoint is still almost the de facto visual presentation tool in most business settings. Ironic, since only 20 percent of the population learns better visually. In fact, 78 percent of audiences say that PowerPoint slides put them to sleep, so use it sparingly. When used correctly, however, PowerPoint can be a very effective tool, especially when showing figures or complex operations to a large audience.

Your PowerPoint slides are not the structure of your talk.  They are only the aid to memory. You need to prepare your talk as if you will not be able to show your slides, for whatever reason. 

When developing a PowerPoint presentation, especially for clients, investors or the media, who all have a notoriously short attention span, follow the 10-20-30 rule: 10 slides, 20 minutes, and at least 30-point font. And keep in mind that images are always more powerful — and memorable — than words.

This piece of advice on Public Speaking for Business Professionals is adapted from:

Sam Goodner is CEO of Catapult Systems Inc., an information technology consulting company. He was a 2008 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner for Central Texas.  

Speaking in Public: two errors that lead to fear

First Error:      You believe that you are being actively judged by your audience.

Second Error:  You believe that the subject of your talk is you!

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Well, actually, you are being judged by some people in the audience.  They might be thinking - "why did she wear that skirt? - it's too short, it's too long - why is he wearing brown shoes with a grey suit?
Would you look at that tie?  But, at that moment, that form of critique is None of Your Business.  Full Stop.

It will soon stop as soon as you engage them with your opening lines.  Which you should always fully memorise - and deliver with power and with vocal variety.

When you stand up to speak, the temptation is to believe that the audience is primarily interested in you.  They're not!  They're thinking - what has this person got that will be useful to me?  So believe that the the emphasis is not on you.  It's on them.  You need to negate this form of fear with the understanding that you are coming from a position of service. That you have got something valuable to share with them - your story, your experience, specific tips on the subject  you are sharing.

The audience is primarily interested in themselves.  They listen to your talk to learn something new that they can use in their own lives.

When you draft your talk - look to see where you can replace the word "I" with words like you, your, we, and us.  This reinforces the idea that the talk is not about You.  But about your audience.  Think about it as the idea that you are giving them something of value.

Quite different to the old style of speaking at your audience you are now sharing with them

When you realise this and focus on the giving to the audience, you lose your fear because your focus shifts from you to them!  And, as your audience responds to you in your position of service, your fear will diminish. You will enjoy connecting with your audience!




These public speaking are tips adapted from Seth Godin, December 2013