Confidence is important for presenters and speakers. Or is it?

Do you really have to be thinking ‘ I can do this’ or ‘this glass is half full’? What if you just got on with speaking or presenting without this internalising.

It’s going to be hard to do both so why not drop the idea of getting yourself feeling confident or positive and just focus on what is happening in the present moment.

Chesley Sullenberg, the pilot who landed his commercial jet in the Hudson River is quoted as saying that he believes in short term realism and long term optimism. It seems that he mostly works in the present. What do I do now? Rather than ‘we might all drown’?

As an alternative to optimism or confidence, do the preparation and remain in the present. If thoughts about a negative future intrude, let them leave the same way they go in. Calling them thoughts will steal all their power. Thoughts can’t hurt anyone.

Is style more important than content when speaking?

Do you think that a professional actor could deliver poor content and get rave reviews? Could a topic expert get poor reviews because of poor style?

Sure this is only one example but this actually happened to a professional actor. See the speech for yourself. Google The Fox Lecture. A professional actor was asked to deliver a meaningless speech at a psychiatrist / physician conference. He had one day to prepare and the speech was devoid of meaning. He got rave reviews and the audience went as far as saying what they had from the speech. Nothing was given but they took meaning from a speech designed to say nothing.

Once the audience were told that they had been duped they were wary. The next speaker was a legitimate speaker and a physician. The audience reacted negatively thinking they were being tricked again even though the content was relevant and potentially valuable.

The moral of this story is to learn to present like a polished actor. Use emphasis, gesture, pausation, passion and humour. If your content is relevant and well prepared, your chance of success is excellent. If your content relevant and well researched, poor delivery can render it useless. Finally, never, never follower a hoaxer.

Paddy Spruce

We have a fast brain and a slow brain. When we need to Influence or Negotiate, we will have a case to present.

Facts and Logic. A convincing argument. This is your slow brain.

The fast brain will decide very soon after you start speaking whether you are worth listening to or whether you are credible.

Imagine that you are doing a sales presentation or tendering for an important contract. You content will persuade them, providing they listen or believe you. They will decide to believe you based on their emotions and subtle cues from you. If they decide in a few seconds that you are credible or trustworthy then they will classify your content positively. You may even get away with mistakes.

The reverse is also true. If they decide they don’t trust you, there is no in point completing your presentation. Be honest and curious. Know it alls and tricksters won’t get past first base for the majority.

When I present workshops on Public Speaking and Presentation Skills, I ask people to tell the group something interesting about themselves. Later in the day, I test what people remember.

Many are dismayed to hear how little others remember about them. Somehow their information is not ‘sticky’.

If we want our messages to stick and be used by our audience, we need to make them memorable. Unusual sticks as does funny, unexpected and concrete. Repetition also makes your message sticky but there is risk of becoming boring which will be counter productive.

Think about what you want your audience to take away and apply ‘sticky’ very liberally. Surprise, entertain, shock, amuse or say the opposite of what they expect.

As a professional speaker and training consultant, I am always looking for new ideas or wanting to confirm old ones. I have always known that I can easily remember seven numbers but struggle after that without chunking or writing them down. It seems there is something to the number seven.

In ‘Hardwired Humans’, a book on using human instincts as a leader, Andrew O’keefe presents a compelling case for making sure your first seven words are carefully chosen. This can be in person or on the telephone. People can tune out quickly if your first words don’t interest or benefit them. This also applies to your first seven seconds when speaking although people may tune out after only two or three seconds.

If you want to improve your presentation skills or your influencing skills significantly, remember that first impressions are critical and that you only have seven words or seven seconds. Choose what you say very, very carefully.