Paul du Toit on Presentation Skills

Lets avoid the cliche’s. Your slides are supposed to help you make a better presentation. For most of us it does the opposite. Here’s why:

Psychologically most of us create a slide show to help us stay on track. That’s the truth. Then we read it to our audience. The slides may be great, but there are often too many, they’re too texty and just too busy. I know this, I’ve been guilty of all the above. Because your eyes are glued to the screen or monitor, you sacrifice your greatest asset - eye contact. And then you’re boxed in - because if you’ve prepared 25 slides, well that’s what you have to deliver - 25 slides, even if you only have 18 slides of time available, whether it’s your fault or not! Tense stuff.

The real time waster comes when you realize you’ve overdone it - (hopefully well in advance of the big day!) and then have to clear out all the slides you don’t really need to make your point. That’s difficult, because we become attached to our slides. A bit like getting attached to one’s stocks & shares.

Before you create any slide, ask yourself “Is it necessary?” You don’t really need a slide showing all the words you’ve just said, or worse, the ones you’re about to read. But a symbol or picture may support a message nicely, with as little text as possible. This allows you the freedom to speak without worrying too much about timing.

The most favoured technique of the damned is blasting half a page of text on to the slide in one go and then proceeding to tediously read it. Please don’t ever do that. Rather let them stay home and email them your presentation. Then they can read it when they have a gap, if they ever have one.

Some of the best speeches I’ve ever seen were made without a single slide. The biggest upside is that no set up time required. You can speak anywhere, anytime. If they lose your bag or drown your laptop - doesn’t matter, you can still perform. If you’re afraid of losing your way, jot down some key words on numbered cue cards.

There are however, pitfalls. When you address a predominantly foreign audience, some key words on the screen may help them to follow you much better and increase the impact of your presentation.

So think carefully about what it is you hope to achieve. Consider the context of the presentation. Keep it simple, but make sure it’s clear and easily understandable.

Your objective is to deliver a key message with a few key points. Your audience wants value, and won’t mind being entertained. Why spoil it with an awful side show? Ever thought of including a few simple props instead?

Paul du Toit, Certified Speaking Professional, Author.

Presentations can be complex, especially if you’re using a slide show or other forms of technology in your mix. The more complex, the more things that can go wrong, and unless the entire event is totally under your control, there’s a good chance that more than one thing will not go as planned. Bearing in mind that presentations are generally unnatural situations, your aim is to make it seem as natural as possible, and this is where experience can be a great friend.

There is one over-riding rule when things do go wrong, and that is to remain composed. If you let your composure slip, you dramatically increase the chances of the problem snowballing. Snowballs rolling downhill tend to become avalanches.

A common problem is insufficient time to set up through no fault of your own. You’ve arrived early, but either had no access to the venue, or the speaker before you exceeded their time. Stay calm, never show that you’re aggravated in any way. It helps to keep focusing on how much you’re looking forward to the event. If necessary, make running adjustments to your presentation. When you are in a position to set up, do so calmly, even if you have one hundred pairs of eyes staring at you. And as you start, do so with a large grin and immediately focus on giving your audience massive value.

I’ve often seen presenters stumble over their words, stop, apologize and go back to beginning of the sentence. Don’t do either. By apologizing, you simple draw attention to the error. Your audience has heard the first part of the sentence already - all you need to do is complete it, without any fuss. Chances are, they won’t even recall your little stumble, unless of course you make an issue of it.

When you’re using a microphone, a sound check is vital. If the audio is too loud or soft, chances are good that the technician is not focusing on you when you’re trying to get his attention. A good idea is to introduce yourself to him at the beginning and get his name. Makes it much easier, and after all, you do have the microphone, so he’s likely to hear “George, could you turn the sound down just a tad, please?”

Computers don’t just go in to hibernation for no reason. It’s usually because you forgot to connect to live power. Check if it’s plugged in. If it is, is it switched on? In the event of a power cut you should be able to continue without your slides, unless you haven’t prepared properly. If the power is restored, give your audience a 3 minute leg stretch break, get your technology back on track and simply resume. It may not be ideal, but the calmer you are about any interruptions, the less likely the audience is to remember.

On the subject of interruptions, you may have noticed that when someone enters the room during a presentation, the eyes tend to turn towards the new arrival. That’s a good time to pause, wait for the person to take their seat, and then resume. The interruption will end quicker that way, and you will remain in control. The same applies if people start having a private conversation. Pause, then politely ask them to share it with the rest of the room. If it isn’t worthy of the room’s attention, they will usually back off, and you can resume. Most important, you will have regained control, and it becomes less likely that someone will try that again.

An awkward question often poses a problem for presenters, but only because we take on the burden of invincibility when we present. The truth is, no one is invincible and no one knows everything, neither can you. So if you don’t have the answer to a question, admit it and offer to find out soon. You are likely to earn far more respect by being straightforward than by answering incorrectly.

It is also ill advised to enter in to an argument with an audience member, as the audience may side with them not you, which could spell the death of your presentation. You can acknowledge their point of view, but you need not agree. Simply agree to differ and move on.

In reality we put ourselves under far too much unnecessary pressure when we speak to audiences. This need not be so. If you can cultivate the habit of being yourself and approaching audiences as groups of friends, presenting gradually becomes so much easier, more fun, and more profitable! Besides, most audiences are there for a positive experience rather than a confrontation.

Paul du Toit, Certified Speaking Professional, Presentation Skills Expert and Author of “Even YOU Can Present with Confidence.”

It is accepted by many presentation skills practitioners that the fear of making a fool of oneself is central to all other fears. The specific one I wish to address here is mentioned regularly during programmes or lectures that I’ve delivered - the fear of addressing high level business people or “superiors”.

I recall having similar fears when I started out in business. Specifically my fear was selling to older, more established people. A more experienced colleague pointed out to me that emotionally people are very similar regardless of their age, position or status. People have similar needs, and if you are able to fulfill those needs or solve their problems, regardless of your age or status, you are likely to receive a warm reception. To my surprise I found this advice to be accurate. How does this relate to delivering presentations, an activity that rates “nervewracking” for so many, regardless of status?

I was once told, and have subsequently found that audience members usually want you to do a good job. They’ve set aside the time and taken the trouble to hear you present. Presumably they have an interest in the topic you’re addressing which is why they’ve arrived to listen to you - so your task is straight forward: Deliver a presentation worthy of their time. In order to do that, you need to plan well in advance, create a structure flows logically, and rehearse a few times to ensure that you end within the stipulated time without having to rush, and that there is time for a few questions. If you’ve done your job professionally, the chances are good that your audience will appreciate it. Why then is this logic not apparent to so many of us?

Perhaps we imagine that people of higher status or position are aliens. Well they’re not. They are often simply grown up versions of where we are now. Here’s a way of looking at it: Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal didn’t always clobber a tennis ball as sweetly as he does now. When he was a baby his mother probably had to give him his bottle. Between then and now he picked up a set of skills that elevated him to the top of the tennis world. But he had to get there, just as you are busy getting somewhere now. Those higher status folk that we’re afraid of presenting to are much the same.

If we can set aside our fears we often find that these are simply genuine people looking for information. If they give you a rough ride, it says more about their insecurities than it does about your presentation. Because you’re presenting does not imply that you’re the world’s number one expert on your topic. So hold your position, do your best, answer the questions you can, and admit when you don’t have the answer. If you can release yourself from the burden of perfection and simply enjoy delivering your presentation, things will more than likely work out just fine!

Paul du Toit, Certified Speaking Professional, Presentation Skills Expert and Author of “Even YOU Can Present with Confidence”

The possibility of losing your voice before a speech or presentation rates right up there as one of the greatest fears facing presenters and facilitators. The voice is a powerful but fragile instrument capable of the finest and most subtle nuances. We should really be looking after it properly. Here are some simple but useful tips in caring for your voice:

Your tone of voice is a key instrument of persuasion, so speak with warmth and sincerity. It increases your connection with audience members and when properly modulated will help you to sound natural.

Now go out and do some serious persuading. Speaking to an audience should not be a chore, it should be fun!

Paul du Toit, Certified Speaking Professional, Presentation Skills Expert and Author of “Even You Can Present with Confidence”

In a word, yes, because your audience will see you before they hear you. Therefore their first impression will be about how you look. Once you speak, your words and tone of voice will rapidly temper their opinion. However, once you’ve finished, the lasting impression you leave will remain affected by the image they remember. Weeks down the line, the mental image could well remain whereas the specifics of what you said will have almost disappeared. They will remember if you were “good”, if the presentation impressed them and whether or not they took action on your recommendation. And there will be a picture in their minds of how you looked.

In a presentation context, how you look refers to your overall visual image rather than how attractive you may be, with perhaps a few exceptions. Audience members respond to a number of factors including connection, content, structure, projected visuals, energy and presenter appearance. So yes, it is an important factor.

An accepted rule of presentation is to dress similarly to your audience, or one step up. This becomes complicated the bigger and more diverse an audience is. In such a case, take your cue from the context of the presentation itself. If you’re an Advertising Account Manager pitching an innovative advertising campaign , a colourful, slightly quirky style of dress is expected as it exudes creativity. If you’re a male Banker or Accountant presenting company results and projections, the gray suit, white shirt and conservative tie is appropriate as it exemplifies trust and stability.

Dressing one step up creates an impression of the presenter being in control. There is a psychological disconnect when the presenter is under-dressed compared to her audience. In the event of there being hostility in your audience and you are dressed one step below them, your attempts at establishing control of the situation could be that much harder as your credibility could be at stake.

There is, however, a twist in the tail. If you have a specific brand image, particularly one that you portray on your marketing materials, then people will expect to see you portrayed similarly to your published image. It is possible to have versions of your branded image which blends the 2 positions. The main point is that your physical image should never be ignored when presenting. It is important to put some thought in to who your target audience is, and then dress appropriately.

Just as your content needs to be about context and be adequately researched, so should every element of your presentation. The image segment extends to attire, jewelery, hair and makeup too.

A final tip: Plan your outfit for your next presentation a few days in advance. You may be able to haul out a iron and quickly press a crumpled suit, but cleaning off the cream spilled on your sleeve a month ago could be more complicated. Dressing well shows your audience respect. It’s the first step toward creating a strong connection.

Paul du Toit, Certified Speaking Professional, Presentation Skills Expert and Author.

My first reaction to the now infamous Gordon Brown Gaffe was “Tch, tch, I wonder how bad the fall out will be?” The answer is becoming clear. Bad, very bad. It won’t be immediately evident in the polls, but it’s not going to go away. Here’s why.

As my good friend Graham Jones pointed out in his excellent blog earlier, the authenticity of the man is now in question. What is being portrayed is not the real deal, it’s a veneer to appease the voters. As my very good friend, The Media Coach, Alan Stevens was quick to point out - if there’s a microphone around, always assume its on.

I want to look at it from another angle.

When a politician is stepping out to meet the public, he should be prepared for a bit of flak, especially if he is the incumbent at 10 Downing Street, and his party’s been in the driving seat for 13 years. Knowing that not only microphones, but also camera’s will be trained on his every word and move, he should understand the basics of handling criticism. These basics are more easily remembered by using the acronym JADDARS.

Justification - when you justify, you’re disagreeing. When you disagree, people will push harder to try and get you to acknowledge that they do in fact have a point. Brown attempted to repeatedly invalidate Mrs Duffy’s viewpoint - albeit unsuccessfully.

Agree - well he didn’t do that, nor did he need to. But he could have acknowledged that she had a point or that he understood that she had a right to feel that way. If he did that at any point during the initial exchange, I’m afraid I didn’t see it.

Deny & Defend - plenty of that, I’m afraid. A red rag to a bull. By denying you seek to invalidate. By being defensive you appear weak and you sacrifice the higher ground. By the time Gordon Brown stepped in to the perceived sanctity of his Jaguar he was already in trouble. What happened in the next few seconds merely confirmed it, and tied the ribbon neatly around the package.

Argue - any trained presenter will tell you that you don’t argue with the questioner during question time. Perhaps he thought he was in Prime Ministers question time - (a different kettle of fish entirely!) You acknowledge their right to their point of view, you may even thank them for being candid, but by arguing you invite a contest. When “the presenter” (in this case Mr. Brown) involves himself in a contest, he’s already lost, no matter which way it goes. Even if he were to outsmart his opponent, the vanquished will have won the sympathy vote.

Run - well, the initial exchange seemed headed for an amicable close, but did it really? Mr. Brown never at any stage acknowledged the validity of what Mrs Duffy was saying. His ripostes implied he felt she’s misguided. Once in the car he confirmed in words what his body language and voice tone gave away during the exchange. She irritated him and he felt she was bigoted. The recorded “private conversation” merely confirmed what everyone knew he was thinking.

Say “But” or “yes but” - once again, he would have done his cause a power of good if he’d simply acknowledged that she had a point and that he could understand how she feels. Instead, he tried to change her mind. She was having none of it. If you had a once in a lifetime opportunity to take on the PM with the camera’s rolling, would you back down?

Gordon Brown should have known that. This was after all, a loyal life long Labour supporter. No longer, I’m afraid. The real damage was done long before he stepped back in to the car. Mr. Brown’s advisers did not err by putting him in front of “that bigoted woman”. They erred in not training their man in the basics of interviewing skills. Question is, would he have subjected himself to such training?

Yes, he was right to apologize, but it gets worse. He claimed he misunderstood her line of questioning. Well, to everyone else who heard the interview, she was extremely erudite. And then the fake smile. Finally, he claimed “that was yesterday” in the hope that it would go away. Well, the headline on Radio 702 this morning said it all:

“When Gordon Brown woke up this morning he was toast.” And no, Mr. Brown, it’s still today, and probably will be tomorrow too.

Paul du Toit, The Presentation Skills Expert, Certified Speaking Professional and Author.

These tips come from years of not only training and coaching presentation skills delegates, but assessing them too. These are easily the most basic errors that inexperienced presenters make on their visuals. These errors have a catastrophic impact on audience perception and apart from immediately labeling you amateurish, will detract from your message and your outcome. These tips apply to both users of Keynote and PowerPoint. If you can eliminate these 9 errors, your visuals will look crisp and interesting.

Error 1. Too much text.

Apart from a headline, the purpose of text on a visual is to highlight main points only. Avoid long sentences and multiple bullet points.

Error 2. Small text.

If your text is too small there is probably too much of it anyway. The main problem with the font being too small is simple really - some people simply can’t read it!

Error 3. No Picture (or an insignificant one).

The purpose of a visual is to create a link to what you, the presenter are saying. Clip art is yesterday. Take your own good quality pictures and use them in your visuals. It’s also important to use just one picture per slide. Even if there a several bullet points, each slide should have a central theme, message or point, and the picture should seek to illustrate this.

Error 4. Too Many Slides.

Good presenters create pictures in the mind using words skillfully, and use a few well positioned slides to enhance the vocal message. When a visual is up, you’re telling the audience to look at the visual. When you’re finished with it, take the visual away so that the audience will look at you. While the visual is up, use only occasional gestures so that you don’t appear static.

Error 5. No Slide Free Time.

You are in fact the message, not your visuals. Slides are there to enhance your message. The time to become more animated is when no slide is up. Use strong, big meaningful gestures, mostly to describe key points. If you want to move your feet, walk purposefully. It is best to make key points standing still and using large, deliberate gestures.

Error 6. Poor Use of Remote Mouse (RM).

When, using a RM to move slides on, keep your hand still and depress the mouse button with your finger. There’s no need to wave your arm about - it wont make the RM work any better, and it indicates inexperience in the presenter. If the RM is not as responsive as it should be, change the battery!

Error 7. No Text Animation

When using bullet points, bring up the text summarizing each point as you raise it, point by point. If you blast all your text up as you start the slide, the audience may read it all instead of listening to you and you will lose them. This is exacerbated if you have too much text.

Error 8. Being too clever.

Apart from text animation, special effects seldom enhance your presentation, they usually detract from your message. Keep the visuals simple, clear and uncomplicated. Your attention on the day should be focused on speaking clearly and connecting with your audience - not doing battle with your slide show!

Error 9. Transition confusion.

Using transitions between slides is a good idea, but fix on one standard transition for the majority of your slides. It may be necessary to use a special transition occasionally, but keep these to the minimum.

The layout of the venue and your audience profile will more than likely determine whether you should sit or stand when presenting. You may have to make a call on this when you arrive depending on access to plug points, the size and shape of tables and your layout area. A good idea is to arrive early. That way, you have plenty of time to set up and prepare yourself mentally to knock their socks off!

What is of course more important, is that you achieve your desired outcome. These tips will help you do just that!

Paul du Toit, Certified Speaking Professional and author of “Even You Can Present with Confidence” (Congruence Publishing 2008)

I have seen too many aimless presentations in my life not to be able to answer this question decisively. Lets ask the obvious question: Why are you making this particular presentation? I am often amazed at how folk tie themselves into proverbial knots trying to answer this question. So let me phrase it another way. What do you want your audience to do after you’ve spoken? Therein lies the answer to the question “where on earth do I start?”

If you’re selling, you want them to buy. If you’re philosophising, you want them to buy-in, and then do ….what? The point is that if you know where you’re going in a presentation, it’s really quite easy to plot your course because the arrival point is clear. A great too many presenters simply do not understand this principle. Granted they’ve heard it before, who hasn’t? But applied to presentations?

I start preparing my presentations by asking myself the question: “As soon as I’ve uttered my last word, exactly what do I want them to do?”  Presto - one set of goalposts frimly in the turf. Step 2 must be quite logical: “Then how should I  start?” Presto, 2nd set of goalposts in the turf and now we have a game. You will be amazed at how the content, which is the stuff you already know (since you are the subject expert), just falls in to place. But step 3 is equally important.

I so often watch presenters trying to impress by their topic mastery. As a result, the audience is overwhelmed with information that has no bearing on the decision they wish to make - it’s a kind of overdose of credibility, and it creates confusion. (Remember: “It’s OK, you had me at hello….?”)

Tell the audience what they need to know to make a decision. If appropriate, provide options. This shows your objectivity. Avoid preaching or forcing your point on your audience. But by all means persuade them to take action on your recommendations. Why else would you be bothering to present?

Presenting is, and should be fun. The reasons that it becomes nerve racking has got much more to do with past mental confusion than our ability to speak clearly and with feeling. Most of us speak extremely convincingly around a table on a night out with friends or family.  So what makes a formal audience that much different?

Paul du Toit, Certified Speaking Professional, presentation skills coach and Author of “Even YOU Can Present with Confidence” ISBN: 978-0-620-40964-3 (Congruence Publishing 2008)

During July I had the privilege of assessing the presentations of a number of young graduates newly employed in the corporate world. The delegates brought energy and commitment to their presentations, and it was great working with young people that were passionate to learn. It was clear that they’d all put a great deal of preparation into their presentations.

Once the presentations had been recorded, played back and feedback given, the majority of delegates had clearly done well enough to be assessed as competent. They had all prepared their subject matter diligently - but it was easy to tell who had rehearsed and who hadn’t. The telling factor was the ability to stay within the allotted time, and some of those who did not make the grade had fallen into the trap of failing to practice, despite this area being strongly highlighted in their initial training.

Allied to this, the ones who battled had simply stuffed too much content in to their allocated time. This resulted in delegates rushing to get through their content and losing their audience along the way, with insufficient pausing along the way.

The presentation that stood out was completed within the allocated time. The topic was briefly but clearly introduced. There was one central purpose which was enunciated well using excellent eye contact. The few slides that were presented had good visual images but only a smattering of text. The conclusion was brief, but powerful. Her peers gave a large sigh of appreciation as she ended and burst in to applause. Their response said it all.

The best way to start planning your presentation is to ask yourself what you’d like your audience to do afterwards. It’s called starting with the end in mind. Once you know how you’re going to end, work out how you’d like to start. You’ll be surprised how easily the body just falls into place. Resist the temptation to add everything you know into the “Body”. You’re the expert, so select what the audience needs to know, and include that only.

Then leave enough time to rehearse, at least 2 or 3 times - and time yourself on the 2nd run.

The premise is that if your structure is designed properly and tested in rehearsal, you have removed most of your delivery pressure in advance. There are many different variations of the correct structure, but for simplicity’s sake, an introduction, body and conclusion is usualy what you’ll need.

It’s dead simple, really. Trouble is, in our quest to do well, the tendency is to over complicate. And it need not be so.

Paul du Toit, Certified Speaking Professional, Author and Presentation Skills coach

Being a presentation skills coach, delegates often draw me aside at the beginning of a training class or coaching session to confide a unique truth to me: “You know, Paul, I get very nervous when I have to speak in front of people.” It is difficult not to be sympathetic to this seemingly unique fear, which “only they experience”. The reality is that nearly 100% of presenters experience anxiety before going live. The intensity varies from person to person, as does the duration of the anxiety, but it is tempered by experience and confidence. If you’ve had a bad presenting experience in the past, you may have a particularly intense fear of public speaking.

Look at it this way: You will agree that it takes quite a few lessons and considerably more practice to learn to drive a car safely. It also takes time to fashion a good speaker. The very best all started somewhere, usually at the same place they did when they learned to drive. The only difference is that so many believe they can pull it off without being trained. That’s rather like getting behind the wheel of a car and tackling a 100km trip with no driving lessons. If you did something like that with public speaking you’d have be either deaf (so as not to hear the loud snoring) or very thick-skinned indeed.

Ironically, the worst culprits are often our executives, who stand up and bumble on at length, boring their hapless captives with waffle, misplaced humour, appalling irritators and busy, text-laden slide shows. And few would dare to tell the clueless chap that he’s just made a complete Wally of himself.

Surprisingly, this even happens to the person who tells such funny jokes around the table at the office year-end party. As soon as he is asked to get up and present in front of an audience everything changes. Everything. Why? Because standing up in front of a captive audience is an unnatural act for anyone who has not been groomed to do it. That is why we need to learn the practical ins and outs of presentation. No matter how good we are at speaking, we need to understand the theory and then practically learn the skills of presenting. If you speak well in normal conversation you have a huge advantage. However, more presentations are fluffed due to lack of training followed by a lack of experience than for any other reason.

Any successful act you’ve seen, whether on television, or in a show or presentation, was successful because it was well prepared and thoroughly rehearsed. The performers will have been thoroughly trained, mentored and coached. It’ll take just a couple of days to get you pointed firmly in the right direction.

Nervousness before a presentation has nothing to do with ability whatsoever. It has everything to do with our perceived ability to deliver, our training - or lack of it, our preparation and whether or not we’ve practised enough. And when we’ve built up some positive evidence of repeated successes, we can rely on experience too.

This means presentation skills training must be experiential. You should be filmed presenting. It should be played back and evaluated. You will identify both strengths and opportunity areas. You will know where to focus first to obtain the quickest results. As you improve, your confidence grows.

Learning to present brings with it increased assertiveness, a personal belief in yourself and an awareness of what you do and tend to do when verbally communicating with others. And who knows when you will be asked to stand and deliver?

Paul du Toit, Certified Speaking Professional and Author of “Even YOU Can Present with Confidence” (Congruence Publishing)