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Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press Austin, TX www.greenleafbookgroup.com Copyright ©2009 by T. J. Walker All rights reserved under all copyright conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. For ordering information or special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Greenleaf Book Group LLC at PO Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709, (512) 891-6100. Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group LLC Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group LLC Cover photo by David Beyda, David Beyda Studio, NYC, www.davidbeyda.com Publisher’s Cataloging-In-Publication Data (Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.) Walker, T. J. (Timothy John), 1962– TJ Walker’s secret to foolproof presentations : your questions answered by a renowned speaking expert! / TJ Walker with Jess Todtfeld. -- 1st ed. p. : ill. ; cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-929774-88-3 ISBN-10: 1-929774-88-5 1. Business presentations. 2. Public speaking. 3. Interpersonal communication. I. Todtfeld, Jess. II. Title. III. Title: Secret to foolproof presentations HF5718.22 W25 2009 658. 4/52 2008941990 Part of the Tree Neutral™ program that offsets the number of trees consumed in printing this book by taking proactive steps such as planting trees in direct proportion to the number of trees used. www.treeneutral.com Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 09 10 11 12 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition
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Contents Introduction vii PreParing for Your Presentation • How can I get over stage fright or nervousness? 1 • How can I avoid making a bad impression? 5 • Should I rehearse, and for how long? 9 • How can I find out whether my presentation is effective? 17 • What are the realistic big picture goals I should shoot for in every presentation? 25 Creating Your Presentation • What is the best way for me to start my presentation? 31 • How long should my presentation be, and how can I be more concise? 37 • How many points should I cover in my presentation? 43 • Should I tell ’em what I’m gonna tell ’em, tell ’em, and then tell ’em what I told ’em? 49 • How do I know what messages and topics will be most interesting to my audience? 53
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• How should I use humor? 57 • Do I have to use stories in my presentation? 63 • How can I be a better storyteller? 69 • Should I make this a formal or an informal presentation? 75 using PowerPoint and Visuals • Should I use PowerPoint or other technology to enhance my presentation? 81 • What do I really need to know about PowerPoint in order to use it effectively? 87 • Is it okay to use whiteboards, flip charts, and other non-high-tech tools for presentations? 93 deliVering Your Presentation • How should I ask to be introduced? 99 • How do I connect with my audience? 103 • Should I read my speech so that I don’t make any mistakes? 107 • How do I remember what to say in a presentation? 111 • Should I take questions during my presentation or ask people to hold them until the end? 115 • What should I do with my hands? 121 • Who or what should I look at when presenting? 127 • Should I move around the room or stand behind a lectern? 133 troubleshooting and adaPting • Should I give my audience fair warning if I know that I have to cover some boring content? 141
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• What do I do if I make a mistake or forget what I am about to say? 145 • If my allotted time is cut, what should I eliminate from my presentation? 149 • What if I can’t answer a question during or after my presentation? 155 • How do I get rid of my “ums” and “uhs”? 159 • Don’t I need to speak in a deeper or more authoritative voice to sound serious and credible? 165 deVeloPing a lifetime Presentation imProVement Plan • What is the single biggest difference between great speakers and average speakers? 171 • What role does attitude play in my presentation? 175 • Who are the best presenters in the world I should emulate? 179 • Isn’t being a truly great presenter a talent you have to be born with? 185 Acknowledgments 188 About the Authors 191
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Introduction During the last quarter of a century I have coachedtens of thousands of people—sales executives, CEOs, civic leaders, prime ministers, members of the U.S. Congress and British Parliament, athletes, enter- tainers, pageant winners, and ordinary business-people— on how to be better presenters. And through all of those sessions and speeches, I have found that there really is one big secret to giving a foolproof presentation. Would you like to know what it is? The Secret Develop an audience- focused perspective rather than a speaker-focused perspective.
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viii IntroductIon You might think that you don’t deliver presentations to audiences because you talk to only a couple of people at a time. But anytime you speak to convey information or persuade people toward a course of action, you are presenting to an “audience.” Simply put, an audience is anyone you present to, whether that is one single person listening to your sales pitch for a new phone service, twenty people listening to your department update at a weekly staff meeting, or two thousand people listening to your keynote address at an annual trade convention. So, regardless of setting, I absolutely believe—because I’ve seen it time and again—that the reason most present- ers fall flat is because they are focused on what they want to say and how they want to say it. Presenters rarely stop to consider what the audience wants to hear or how the audience wants the message delivered. Other business authors and leaders talk about the “wisdom of the crowd” when trying to make important market decisions: that is, a mass of consumers will always have a better idea of what will be well received in the market than a handful of elite executives. For me, this idea logically filters down to the presenter and her audi- ence. The audience you speak to is never wrong, in the same way that if you launch a new product and it fails in the marketplace, consumers were not wrong for refusing to buy it. The presenter should place faith in the wisdom of the audience—the audience will be a much better judge
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Introduction ix of what will be well received in a presentation. They are the ones who have to receive it, right? As an example, let’s look at some common concerns most presenters have: What does my audience want to hear? Have you asked your audience? What stories work best? Have you asked your audience? Do my slides work? Have you asked your audience? Am I overwhelming my audience? Have you asked your audience? All of these questions, and almost any others you can come up with, can be easily answered—for free—just by asking your audience. Now, I’m not trying to convince you to put this book down. I’m trying to explain how valuable it is. Instead of spending a lot of time and effort polling hundreds or thousands of audience members and trying to get hon- est feedback, you can read this short book (in which I will also tell you how to effectively poll your audience members and get honest feedback). In a succinct and compact read, I am offering you the answers your audi- ence will almost certainly give you. But why do you need to read it? Why are presenting skills so important?
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x IntroductIon Because nothing big in life ever happens just by send- ing a memo or an e-mail. The biggest moments in your life are about presentations. A job interview, a new busi- ness pitch, a marriage proposal, a request for funding, an interview on live network TV news, and a request for a promotion—these are all presentations of one kind or another. When a topic is important, human beings want to hear from you—directly. Presenting is not the best way to transfer a large body of facts to people, but it is the best way to make people sit up and take notice, to make them understand that you think something is extremely important, and to convince them that they should think it is important too. Presenting is a way of putting a spot- light on an idea that no other medium can ever match— not e-mail, not memos, not even TV or radio. Presentation skills are the only universal factor among wildly successful people in every field, yet they are rarely taught in business schools and other institutions of higher learning. Every big corporation in the world is packed with mid-level managers, many of whom may have done better in school and have higher IQs than their bosses. But these mid-level managers often develop reputations for being behind-the-scenes players. Why? Because they either avoided or failed at opportunities to speak out. They didn’t raise their hand in meetings. They turned down the opportunity to fill in for the boss on a critical client presentation. They developed a reputation for hard
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Introduction xi work, but also as “not the sort of person we can put out front, who can effectively represent our company to the industry and to the rest of the world.” This is a tragedy of human potential, but it is one that can be fixed at any age, by anyone. I believe that any human being who has ever had even one interesting conversation with one other per- son already has all of the skills needed to be a great presenter—all you need to do is figure out how you met the needs of your audience (the other person in the conversa- tion) and transfer those strengths into your presentation. This book will take this one guiding principle and show you how it applies to the most common questions you likely ask yourself before giving any speech. By focusing on the needs of your audience—of one or one thousand— and following the advice in this book, you will deliver foolproof presentations—every time.
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How can I get over stage fright or nervousness? I’d like to be able to tell you something comforting—“It’s going to be fine!” or “You’ll do great if you just believe in yourself!” I wish I could tell you to just chat positive affirmations or picture your audience naked or visualize a standing ovation. The problem is that none of those things will prevent you from giving a lousy presen- tation, so they shouldn’t help ease your anxiety either. The reality is that you have good reason to be ner- vous. You are probably nervous because at some point in your life, you’ve given a lousy presentation. And I’m sure you’ve attended a lot of lousy presentations. So, you know that chances are you’re going to bomb. Okay, okay, that may have been a little harsh. But I didn’t say it to be mean-spirited or to ruin your confidence. The fact is that most speakers bore their audiences. Most presenters
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2 PreParIng for Your PresentatIon Visualizing your audience without any clothing on might actually make you more nerVous. give unmemorable data dumps. Most speakers commu- nicate absolutely nothing (and by communicate, I mean give the audience something to remember). So, at the risk of freaking you out, I really think that you and most pre- senters should be MORE nervous, not less nervous, when you speak. But I also recognize that being excessively nervous can really ruin your shot at giving a great presentation. I’m going to help you deal with it on a deeper level and in
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How can I get over stage fright? 3 an audience-oriented way. In fact, that’s what this book is designed to do. What, then, is the secret to getting over your fear of public speaking? The Secret Preparation, preparation, preparation—always with your audience in mind. • First, create an interesting presentation designed to give your audience what they want and need. • Second, understand what your audience is seeing by recording yourself giving the presentation, watch- ing the recording, adjusting your delivery or con- tent, and then recording the presentation again. • Third, get feedback from real people by giving the presentation to a few willing colleagues and ask- ing them specific questions about your content and delivery. • Fourth, prepare for your specific audience by ask- ing them questions before you start. • Fifth, prepare for your next presentation by asking your audience how you did. I’ll explain how to do all of these things throughout the rest of this book. If you follow my advice, you’ll have a lot more confidence in what you are saying and doing,
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4 PreParIng for Your PresentatIon and your presentations will improve dramatically. It’s not that hard, yet very few people ever take the time to pre- pare fully and properly. While I do want you to take every speaking oppor- tunity very seriously—and prepare accordingly—I don’t want you to feel fear. I want you to look at every presenta- tion as a chance to learn and have fun, and the surest way to make that happen is to feel secure in your readiness. TJ TV: Want more advice about overcoming your nerves? Go to www.tjwalker.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and then enter the words OVERCOMING NERVES in the TJ TV form.
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How can I avoid making a bad impression? In every presentation, there are three possible outcomesfor the presenter: A good impression was made. A bad impression was made. No impression was made. The biggest blunder most presenters make is not that they humiliate themselves or freeze up on stage. The huge mistake most presenters make is that they show up, give their presentations, and come across as professional, pol- ished speakers. They give their presentations exactly as planned. No snags. Then they sit down. So, what’s the problem? Ask the audience members what any one of these speakers said and they say, “Great presentation! Very professional.” The audience doesn’t
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6 PreParIng for Your PresentatIon remember anything the presenter actually tried to com- municate! The presenter had an opportunity to communi- cate a message, but he blew it by being guilty of sameness. In an effort to avoid making a bad impression, the pre- senter ended up making no impression at all. Think of how many presentations you hear at the office, civic clubs, sales meetings, trade conventions, church, or school. And yet, how many do you remember six months later, six days later, or even six hours later? Foolproof speakers realize this problem, so they don’t waste their time trying to avoid bombing. The Secret Don’t focus on not making a bad impression. Spend your time figuring out how to leave a lasting positive impression. The solution is to give real thought to becoming more memorable, not to convey more facts and data. This doesn’t necessarily mean more time, expense, or fancy props; it just means being a little more creative and set- ting yourself apart from the crowd of average present- ers. When Steve Jobs wants to demonstrate how thin his new laptop is, he doesn’t just flash up a slide that says “Laptop thickness: 0.25 inches.” That would be boring.
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