By Sharon Smith-Swan
It is a colossal waste of time to speak in front of others if you are not prepared, passionate and relatively knowledgeable about your subject.
I'm willing to bet you can think of a few presenters who you wish had gotten this memo. But what happens when you are asked to make a presentation? Can you deliver a message that makes people glad they spared their time?
In my workshop during CUES' Execu/Summit last week, I coached CU executives and directors on polishing their presentation skills. The context of the learning was wrapped around personality preferences, because if we don't consider that people hear and relate differently, then we are only presenting to the portion of the audience who thinks in the same way we do.
There are many ways to break down personalities, but they are generally based on four types, arranged around specific personality preferences that inform our thoughts and actions; no type is better than any other. The program I am accredited for is colour based, with the following monikers:
Be specific. Be brief. Be gone. Entertain me. Inspire me. Include me. Show me you care. Value me. Show me your concern. Give me details. Give me time to consider.
It's important to consider and include everyone in your audience when you are preparing and delivering presentations. Focus on the strengths and accept the differences. If you don't consider the differences, you are missing 75 percent of the audience who is not like you. How do you prepare a talk to include all these groups? The answer lies in both the content of the material and the authenticity, attitude and intention of the speaker.
As we moved through the two sections of the seminar that were spontaneous and prepared speaking, the attendees questioned, commented and challenged the material. It was stimulating and exciting as a presenter to have the insightful and intelligent questions and comments because it added to the substance and relevance of the material.
Over and over again I repeated the goal of connected communication—to have a conversation. The more authentic you are, perhaps relating a personal experience to make your point, the more your audience will listen because they know you are connected to your passion and have interest in your subject.
If you keep these points in mind, at the end of your next presentation, your audience will be itching for more, not worrying that you are "burning daylight."
If you are not familiar with this term, it has to do with the approximate number of hours we each have left on this planet. I promised attendees I would provide an example here. Based on someone who is 55 years old with the average projected life span of 75 for men 80 for women, you have respectively 20 to 25 years left. This further translates to 7,300 to 9,125 days or, for those of you who I have just alarmed, 175,200 hours for men and 219,000 for females.
The point is, please be respectful of your time and your audience's time!
Sharon Smith-Swan is a communications consultant and trainer with S3 Communications.
