Almost every type of presentation is about persuasion.   You want your audience to do something as a result of your presentation.  So to do this you need to consider the same sort of things you do when planning a sales call.

1. What is your outcome
2. Who is your customer(audience)
3. What are their needs and wants?
4. What is there initial attitude to your message (product)
5. What features of your product or message can you turn into relevant benefits for the audience
6. What are the potential pitfalls of staying with their existing behaviour or supplier and how can you use these to “disturb” the status quo?

The answers to these questions will allow you to develop an effective and tailored sales proposition for your audience which you can then bring to life with great presentation skills.

Remember most of the skills needed to be a great presenter or speaker work whether you are speaking to 1 person or 1000!

1. Establish rapport through mirroring non-verbal signals, tonality, volume and vocabulary
2. Engage with confident eye contact
3. Vary your vocal delivery to maintain interest and build enthusiasm
4. Ensure that your body language and gestures are congruent with your message
5. Use silence effectively to allow your audience time to process your proposals

So if you are just a good salesman, polish your presentation skills and you will become great!

And if you are just a confident presenter, learn how to use the techniques of selling and influencing to supercharge your presentations.

Step 1: If you don’t already have a speech topic, then spend 1 minute brainstorming (or mind mapping!) potential topics and capture the results on a  piece of paper.

Step 2: Review all the ideas and pick the one that you feel is most relevant to your audience and then spend a minute brainstorming  a list of possible sub-themes related to this topic.

Step3: Pick the three ideas that you feel comfortable talking about and then outline your speech using the following simple structure.

• Speech title
• Strong opening – Don’t start with the traditional “hello my name is…and I am here to talk about….  You need to grab their attention right from the start with either some startling facts,or figures, a challenge, a question, a quote or a short personal story.
• Body – Use your three themes from the brainstorm and develop each one a little.  NB: don’t forget to include some I statements that explain why this topic matters to you.
• Conclusion – Don’t let your presentation tail off at the end. Finish it with a strong call to action where you spell out exactly what you want your audience to do as a result of listening to this speech.

To be honest I tend to take them for granted because I use them without thinking but today their importance was drawn to my attention. It was the final presentations and feedback session from a class of managers who have been facilitating through a monthly series of leadership training modules.

 During the feedback I suddenly realised that stories were a key part of my USP and what makes my training so effective.  Not only do they help to make the topic relevant in the seminar, they also serve as memory hooks which help the participants retain their learning and then apply it in the real world  long after the course is over.

So, are you a story collector?    Do you capture and file away, either mentally or on paper, iconic stories that illustrate key principles.    Do you then weave those stories into your presentation, speaches, conversations and seminars?

If you don’t you are missing a trick!

Here in the final part of this article I will explain how, having “walked up” the  levels from Environment through Behaviour, Capability  and Beliefs to Identity, you can now integrate all those insights by turning round and walking back down through each of the levels.

NB: I would always advise that you complete parts 2 of the process before you do this final step. I will therefore assume that you have  done this and are currently standing on the piece of paper labelled Identity with all the other levels laid out behind you.

Now turn around so that you are facing back down the levels.

Stage 1:

Take a moment to reconnect with the feelings relating to your identity as a presenter and speaker. feel how good it feels to know that becoming a presenter with real presence is part of who you are and an expression our your own true identity:

Stage 2:

Once you have a real felt sense  presenting and and public speaking is a natural expression of who you are as a unique and special human being  step forward taking your new sense of identity with you into the level of  Beliefs and Values  and answer the following questions;

• How are your beliefs and values strengthened when you bring your sense of identity into them? 
• What existing beliefs do you hold which are in alignment with this new sense of self?
• What new supporting beliefs about yourself and your audience start to emerge ?
• How much do you value your developing abilities to connect and present with presence?
• What else would you like to believe in order to feel even more aligned with your identity as a presenter and speaker?
• What old beleifs that were holding you back do you need to start to question and let go of  ?

Stage 3:

Now, take this  this strengthened sense of identity and these even more supportive beliefs and values with you as you  step forward into the level of Capabilityand how your skills and expertise are enhanced as they become aligned with your identity and beliefs.  As you spend time quietly in this space, answer the following questions;

• What is my current  level of skill as a presenter and how is it supported by this new sense of identity and belief?
• What elements of presenting am I currently good at and that I can utilise even more now i feel this way?
• What skills could I further develop in order to become even more fully aligned with my sense of identity and belief  ?

Stage 4:

Now when it feels right, step forward into the level of Behaviours,consciously bringing with you the learnings and insights from your time spent in the levels of Identity, Beliefs and Capabilities.   Spend a moment enjoying these feelings of alignment and congruence and answer the following questions;

• How will I behave in the future  as a presenter and speaker? 
• See, hear and feel yourself in future situations standing confidently, smiling, connecting with your audience, feeling confident,  values relate to being an excellent presenter? 
• How have my behaviours and mannerisms already started to change for the better as I fully accept this new sense of alignment ?

Stage 5:

Now finally step forward into the level if Environment bringing with you all the gifts from your time in the previous levels, and answer the following questions;

• When where and with whom will I be able to present with an increased sense of presence now I am aware of this new inner alignment?
• How does it feel to present to these audiences knowing that being a presenter with presence is fully in  alignment with your innermost sense of who you are and why you are here on the planet?
• How do your audience respond to you when your beliefs about yourself and them are fully supportive of that sense of identity?
• How much more effective are you as a presenter and comunicator when you are able to utilise your existing skills and develop new ones in order to express your true sense of identity as a presenter and speaker?
• Who else could you present to now that you have this sense of inner alignment?

Now step off the line and come back fully into your body.

By now I hope you are feeling pretty good about yourself to say the least.   You have allowed yourself the time to go on a precious journey.  In part 2 you explored and took stock.  In part 3 you gathered powerful resources and integrated them together, step by step into an aligned and cohesive whole.

Now remember how you felt at the end of the process and take that feeling with you into all your presentations and speeches.   You can always get that feeling back by just remembering !

P.s. You may want to repeat this process every so often to continue to develop your sense of wholeness and alignment with your chosen path.  If you have any feedback or questions please post a comment below.

So here is how you do it.    Start by getting five pieces of paper and labelling each piece with a different logical level, i.e. Environment, Behaviour, Capability, Beliefs & Values, Identity.

Now lay out these levels in front of you on the floor starting with Behaviour closest to you and finishing up with identity.    What you will be doing shortly is walking forward slowly, spending time at each of these levels and answering the questions I will pose below.   You may find it helpful to close your eyes as you do this as the questions are designed to allow you to “go inside” and see what answers bubble up from inside you.   This isn’t so much an intellectual”head” exercise as it is a heart and spirit based exercise.

Stage 1:

So step forward now on to the first piece of paper and imagine that you are stepping into the level of Environment and ask yourself these questions:

• Where am I when I am presenting  at my best?   (Visualise the different contexts where you want to be able to present with real presence);
• What images and words come to mind?
• Who are you presenting with presence to?  Who are your audience(s)
• How does it feel to be presenting with presence to these types of audience?

Stage 2:

Once you have a real felt sense of the environment where you want to have “presence” step forward into the level of  Behaviour and answer the following questions;

• What behaviours are you exhibiting when you are presenting in those environments? 
• How are you standing?
• How are you moving?
• What sort of eye contact are you making?
• How are you speaking?
• What sort of gestures are you using?
• Are there any behaviours that currently feel uncomfortable or unnatural?

Stage 3:

Now step forward into the level of Capabilityand notice the level of expertise and capability with which you demonstrate those same behaviours you identified in stage 2 and answer the following questions;

• What is mycurrent  level of skill as a presenter?
• What elements of presenting am I currently good at?
• What elements of presenting behaviour am I currently poor at?
• What skills, if any, am I currently lacking?

Stage 4:

Now when it feels right, step forward into the level of Beliefs and Values and answer the following questions;

• Ho do my current values relate to being an excellent presenter?  Do my values support or undermine my ability to present congruently with presence?
• What would I need to value more in order to be a better, more congruent presenter?
• How do my current beliefs relate to my ability to present with presence? 
• What beliefs do I currently hold about myself which help and support me as a presenter?
• What beleifs do I currently hold about my audience and my colleagues that help me as a presenter?
• What beliefs do I currently  hold that hinder or hold me back as a presenter with presence?

Stage 5:

Now finally step forward into the level if identity, the level where you hold your deepest sense of who and what you really are, and answer the following questions;

• How does being a presenter with presence sit with my sense of who I really am?
• Is there any sense of conflict or misalignment?
• How does your sense of self support and enhance your ability to present with presence?
• How could you merge your sense of self with that sense of presence?

So that is the end of the next part of the exercise.You have walked “up” the logical levels exploring how each relates to you in your desired role as a congruent and powerful presenter.

In the final article in this series I will describe the final (and possibly most powerful) part of the exercise where we integrate all the insights and lessons from this part of the exercise in order to create a more aligned and congruent you!

My answer is that the best preseners are alligned and congruent i.e. how they are on the outide is a reflection of their degree of “inner alignment”     Another word for this is congruence.

One of the best exercises I know for helping develop this quality comes the world of NLP and was devleped by Robert Dilts.  It is called the logical levels model.   Dilts suggests that their is a hierarchy of qualities which, when aligned produce personal congruence.     

Level 1 is the level of environment and relates to when, where and with who do we want to have “presence”

Level 2 is the level of behaviour and relates to how others see us behave when we present.  

Level 3 is the level of capability and relates to the level of expertise with which we demonstrate those behaviours. 

Level 4 is the level of beleifsand relates to our internal thoughts and beliefs and how they drive us to use those capabilities .

Finally level 5 is the level if identity and it relates to our self image in relation to being a presenter,

In future posts I will explain how you can use this model to help create internal alignment yourself and thus increase your stage presence and congruence.

Yawn! How many times have you heard a presentation start this way? Is it any wonder that our audience starts to drift off before we get to the important parts of our talk?

Imagine if a film, TV programme or play started off with the credits. What are the chances that you would keep watching unless you absolutely had to?

So what should you do instead? Take a leaf out of the film director’s book. Start with something attention grabbing and interesting! Here are some ideas to get you going.

• A startling statistic
• A powerful quotation
• A challenge to your audience
• A dramatic short story – “Imagine….”

Set the scene and hook their attention BEFORE you tell them who you are and what you are going to be talking about. The purpose of your first few words should be to arouse curiosity and gain attention. So next time you are preparing a speech or presentation test out your opening remarks. Are they dramatic? Are they different? Will they raise questions in the heads of your audience for which they want answers?

Go on, dare to be different

I find the same think with aspiring presenters.   They want to go on a 1 day course or even just read a book and then start earning big money as a presenter or speaker.  It’s time for a reality check – nobody gets to be a great speaker without lots and lots and lots of practice!

So, if you are not prepared to put in the hours, set more realistic expectations. 

But if you are prepared to practice then the sky’s the limit.   Jack Nicklaus, one of the worlds greatest golfers said “The more I practice, the luckier I get.”     I agree.    I have been speaking in public since I was around 14years old and I still actively seek opportunities to practice.

Now you might not think of yourself as a sales person but when you are presenting your ideas you are effectingly selling. The fact that you are tired, hung over or just plain jaded is no excuse. If your outcome is to get your audience to agree with and take action as a result of your speech then you need to look and sound enthusiastic!

I was recently working at a series of regional conferences and at each one the leader of the
organisation opened the meeting with a keynote address. At the first one they were upbeat. excited, energised and they puller their audience along with them. By the fourth event they
were starting to look and sound a little flat. By the seventh, they were starting to sound
like a recording and there was a lot less energy and enthuisiasm.

Now I understand that it is difficult to say the same messages repeatedly and keep up your energy level but, it is vital that you do. You may have heard the words several times but your audience has not. Don’t they deserve to hear you speak as if it was for the first time?

So what can you do to keep your talk fresh?

1) Remind yourself of your objectives for the speech and think about the importance of your delivery and in helping you achieve that outcome.

2) Remind yourself that this audience haven’t heard it before.

3) Try to vary parts of the speech to maintain your own interest as well as that of your audience whilst keeping your key messages constant. E.g. a topical introduction.

4) Maintain your awareness of your energy level and do whatever you can to energise yourself before you take the stage e.g. exercise, deep breathing, visualise an appropriately energetic delivery.

You owe it to your audience to look and sound enthisiastic!