Powerful Presentation Skills, Part 1
Your Voice and Your Body
Whether you are giving a speech to a large group, facilitating a meeting, or simply talking to the CEO of your company, you are giving a presentation! How you present yourself and your thoughts will determine what your audience (of one or 100) thinks of you.
There are certain conditions that are necessary for excellent presentations both in professional or personal situations. These conditions are important for any business success. They include many aspects, from a compassionate and understanding attitude to speaking assertively in order to get your point across clearly.
Equally important is the manner in which you speak. This includes the basic physical aspects of communications such as voice tone and inflection, pace, gestures, and pauses between sentences as well as organization of content and the attitude you have about your audience.
What Your Voice is Really Saying
The first area, voice, makes a great difference in what gets communicated to the other person. Imagine saying, “It doesn’t matter.” Try saying it flat—without emotion, inflection, movement, or power in your voice. Now say it as if you were angry with someone. Say it again, this time as if you really didn’t care what the outcome was and you were talking to a loved one. What was different in your tone with each of these three manners? You can make the changes either obvious like in the last example, or very subtle, but the listener will consciously or unconsciously know the difference.
If you want your message heard—with no judgment or defensiveness—then you need to make sure that your tone of voice reflects calmness, compassion, and certainty.
You can overdo the calmness, however. Imagine listening to a mono-tonal speech. How long would you keep actively listening? Would your mind wander to more important things? Most people will not, perhaps cannot, listen long when there is no interest in a presenter’s voice.
If you find that you do not use inflection much when you are talking, it is vital to practice before any type of important presentation or you may lose your audience. If you lose their attention, you also lose the possibility of having your ideas, thoughts, and solutions heard. The best way to practice is to exaggerate everything. Yell sometimes, whisper sometimes. Try pretending you are speaking to one person at the end of a hall. This will help alleviate a mono-tonal voice.
The Power of Non-Verbal Communication
What you say and how you say it are very important. But so is what you don’t say—what you do with your body and the silences that come between thoughts. How confident do you act? Do you look directly into the person’s eyes with whom you are speaking? Do you have a firm handshake? Do you pause securely after each complete thought—or do you constantly rush your words together, or stammer, always unsure how to finish your sentences? All these non-verbal cues give away what you really believe about yourself.
(The one caveat here is that eye contact means different things to different cultures, so before you look into someone’s eyes—or expect them to look into yours, make sure that you are aware of cultural differences. Some Native American and South-East Asian cultures feel that direct eye contact is inappropriate).
What do your gestures tell about you? Do you scowl when answering a question or keep your arms crossed over your chest? Do you smile too much (or give a little giggle after every sentence)? Frowning or arms constantly crossed usually imply a closed or negative response to the listener. Unconsciously adding a little laugh to each sentence or smiling too much often shows a lack of confidence.
What do you do with your hands as you present? Are they stuck by your side, behind your back, or holding onto something, such as your notes, for dear life? Use your hands to demonstrate your points. For example, if something is large, use your hands to show it. If you are talking about a step-by-step process, make your hands indicate “step by step,” rather than simply keeping them at your side. Your movement keeps your audience interested!
The best way to overcome these tendencies is, again, to practice—this time in front of a mirror. You can also “fake it ‘til you make it.” Fake your confidence, but never the information you are giving. Act as if you really are relaxed, composed, and certain.
When you say your words, calmly, but using inflection; when you use your hands and arms appropriately, whether you’re speaking to one person or a thousand, you will have begun to practice powerful presentation skills.
