Helping listeners receive your message
There are two distinct parts in the majority of presentations; the part you can prepare for in advance, and the part that involves responding to challenges, questions and objections. In this article, Clive Lewis, Director of Illumine Training, looks at some of the pitfalls in both parts and suggests some ways of avoiding the common traps – and help listeners receive your message.
I used to be a Manager in a major Management Consultancy practice. I had teams of often brilliant consultants working with me. We expected them all to be able to deliver good presentations and to be highly credible when they were asked questions or expected to give advice without time to prepare. Most (but not all) were good ‘presenters’, but more than half of them were weak when they didn’t have time to prepare in advance; they waffled and pontificated and their credibility – and that of the firm – suffered.
All too often, both formal presentations and answers to ad hoc questions, were put together – either in advance or in the moment – from the perspective of the speaker instead of the perspective of the listener.
The most common mistakes that I saw time after time were;
For pre-prepared presentations:
1. Deciding the structure of their presentation too quickly
It was common for Consultants to rush to structure their presentations – happy when they had their structure sorted out, so that they could focus on putting together their powerpoint slides or the words they were going to use. The structure was arrived at before the necessary thinking had been completed…
2. Not enough thinking
Linked to the first point, not enough time was spent clarifying the purpose of the presentation, the perspectives of the audience, what content to include, different ways of presenting the information, linkages to other presenters or other information, how to provide information in different ways for different types of learners, how to maintain interest, what objections might arise, etc. etc.
3. No visual overview
A set of information rich slides was usually prepared, but no over-arching ‘big picture’ that would have helped the audience to see where they are and where they are going.
Answering questions (either during/after presentations or in ad hoc situations):
4. Going off the subject – without realising it!
It’s easy to think in your own mind that you are going directly from A to B, but the audience experiences a convoluted route through a series of poorly connected sub-points.
5. Talking too fast
You talk quickly and furiously at your audience – hoping to hide the fact that you have nothing meaningful to say!
6. Nesting information
You put fact inside of fact, until your listeners don’t have any idea where you are trying to take them.
What to do to improve prepared presentations and ‘off-the-cuff’ discussions
1. Separate exploration of the subject from the structuring process
Suspend the structuring of the presentation until you’ve thought extensively about the possible content.
2. Use Mind Maps to capture your own thoughts about the presentation
Using an associative thinking technique such as Mind Maps®, is a great way to explore your objectives, the audience’s purpose in attending, ideas for content, ways to bring the subject to life, illustrations, anecdotes, supporting data, examples, the logistics of the event etc – all on one page – so that you can easily see relationships, patterns and associations, that you can make use of. Download a Mind Map that will help you to think through all the things that you need to think about when you are putting your next presentation together.
3. Use a Mind Map to present an overview of the subject
The plethora of Mind Mapping software packages that are now available, allow you to produce professional looking Mind Maps that are great for providing your audience with a visual overview of the whole subject.
4. Use simple structures – and share them
Particularly when we need to go ‘off-piste’ – responding in the moment to questions and challenges – it is important to create quickly a structure that you can share with your audience. On the Think On Your Feet® course, we teach a series of three-part plans that enable you to create structures very quickly in your own head. We then show you how to share those structures with your audience in a consistently effective way. This shared, high-level structure allows you both to stay on the same path at the same time. The plans are based, among other things, on time, location and level of detail – and are supplemented by sub-plans that help you to add colour and interest to what you are saying – helping you to communicate with your audience in such a way that they really hear your message.
Summary
We all process information in different ways. Whether we are able to prepare in advance or not, the onus is on us as the speaker to think hard about what the listener needs in order to fully understand what we are saying. Creating structures and, where possible, ‘big picture’ maps of where the presentation is going, makes it much easier for the listener – and builds the speaker’s credibility as well!
Useful resources:
» Take a look at our top nine ways to improve your verbal communication skills
» Find out more in our Think (and speak) On Your Feet guide.
» Find out more about our verbal communications course – Think On Your Feet®.
Mind Map® and Mind Maps® are registered trademarks of the Buzan Organisation
Tags: Business Communication, Mind Mapping, Oct 2009 - Thinking (and speaking) On Your Feet, Presentation techniques, Think On Your Feet® (Training), Verbal Communication
