Communication

6. They Just Don't Buy It

7. Credits: Difficult Presentations Made Easy

TRANSCRIPT

8. All right, we're going to talk about presentations and how to make it easy, because a lot of people fear it more than death, which is surprising.

9. Well, maybe not. But there are certainly all sorts of presentations that people have to make. But I think what's very difficult are the various sorts of situations that can happen that often people have no idea how to handle. And that's something that what we want to talk about today.

10. Yeah, and it's interesting because people are making more presentations all the time. They're going into sales situations, or they have to present a training session, or even a project report.

11. Absolutely. And I think one of the hardest ones is where you maybe have to present to an audience that is quite scary or challenging, for example, senior management.

12. Very much so. Let's start with the first big issue, which is anxiety and fear. A lot of people are just so fearful going into a presentation. They even fear they're going to freeze or go blank.

13. I think to some extent, people have to realize that nerves are useful, because a certain degree of anxiety actually improves your performance. It's when that anxiety gets over a certain level that your performance can actually drop down.

14. Certainly preparation, having adequate preparation is actually vital. And being there at the presentation a little early to check that everything is OK just gives you a nice feeling of confidence. So preparation is terribly important.

15. I think a certain amount of deep breathing, a sort of deep breathing exercises. And by that, I mean things like counting in to the count of three. So breathing in at the count of three, holding the breath, and then breathing out, once again, at the count of three. Doing that about five or six times just kind of generally slows you down a little bit. And that can also be a good way of bringing down the anxiety.

16. And also something like positive visualization. Which is just before you're about to start actually imagining in your mind's eye that you're starting the presentation, everybody's really thrilled, they're really enjoying it. At the end they're clapping. So if you actually create this positive image in your mind, that can really help as well.

17. I think that one of the best ways to overcome fear is to have a really good activity or beginning really firmly fixed in your mind. Because a lot of people say that once they get over the first minute or so, they are all right.

18. Yes, and I think one of the most important things is to involve your audience. Now whether your audience is 5 people, or 500 people, throw some questions to your audience. Ask them whether they are familiar with a particular topic, what experience they have. Are there any particular concerns that they have?

19. Now, by involving your audience, not only do you get very useful information as a trainer or a presenter, but also you are, in a sense, putting some responsibility onto them. And you're taking the responsibility away from yourself. And that can also happen.

20. I guess, probably one of the worst things about freezing is if you do freeze-- and it does happen, all a sudden you're there and just, what the hell is going on? What do you do?

21. And my advice is, don't panic. It's OK. It's happened to me some time, and you know what I've done? I've just said to the audience, listen, where am I?

22. And they don't pull out their bows and arrows, they don't pull out their machine guns, they don't kid you. They'll say, oh you were talking about blah, blah, blah. And you say, oh, that's right, and then you just keep going.

23. So once again, if you view your audience not as the enemy, but as collaborators with you in the presentation. So that if you do freeze, you involve them, you ask them, it can really help.

24. I did an experiment with a group where I got them to put their hand up the moment they felt uncomfortable with the silence, because I wanted to demonstrate that if you are up front, you can lose your place and be silent. But so long as you look methodical and you organize your notes, or move things around, or go to the white board or get something, 30 seconds they were completely comfortable. And when they saw that, they realized, you don't have to fill every moment.

25. Yes, absolutely. I remember going, I was once in America, and I went to wonderful presentation by a guy called Nathaniel Branden-- I think that's his name. And he's one of the experts on self-esteem.

26. And he was making this presentation, and every five or six minutes, he would actually pause, look down at his notes. And I won't demonstrate it, but he would pause for about 20 seconds. And there'd be this silence.

27. And I tell you, it was riveting. It was absolutely extraordinary, because he was obviously just thinking about where he wanted to go from there. So you're absolutely right, if you do freeze, you can just stop if you want to. Just pause for 5, 10 seconds, regather your thoughts, and then proceed. No one will even know.

28. It's wonderful no one can read thoughts.

29. Yes, exactly.

30. All right, let's go onto the boredom factor. A lot of people have to do presentations which are rather technical, or they're worried that they're going to be bored. How do we deal with that?

31. Look, I think one of the most important things is the principle of less is more. People try and pack far too much into presentations, and I have seen presentations with 50, 60, PowerPoint slides, and each one is like a novel of it's own.

32. And the presenter is just getting up there just kind of reading through all this stuff. And everybody's just sitting there. And I mean-- don't fall for the trap that just because your audience is sitting there looking at you that anything is actually going on in here. And if there is something going on, it's probably their Christmas card list.

33. So less is more. And I always say to people, cut your presentation by 50%, 60%, 70%. You've got to realize that presentations are not good ways of getting across a lot of highly technical information. Use an article, or a handout, or a memo for that kind of thing.

34. Presentations are better for getting the big picture, for creating a sense of what is happening. For energizing, for tapping into the emotional aspects of whatever the subject matter is. So less is more is an absolutely crucial thing. And that goes right back to the preparation.

35. I guess some of the other ways in which you can overcome the boredom factor is to built-in variation. If you just keep on going in the same way, after a while people get bored. You need to build in constant variation.

36. And by variation, I mean variation of device. Now, by device I mean, lecture for a while, then maybe tell a story, give an anecdote, throw a question to your audience. Involve them in some activity. Go back to a little bit of lecturing, go back to a story, tell a joke. In other words, use a lot of different devices and vary the device after a maximum of five minutes.

37. Other sorts of things that you need to do to vary are tone of voice. So if you're talking about some technical information, maybe you use a particular tone of voice. But if you're going to start telling a story, try using a different tone of voice. A tone that conveys curiosity or excitement.

38. Also vary where you're actually standing. Don't necessarily stand behind a lectern, or at the front of the table. Feel free to move around the space, because that builds in variation as well. So building variation, I think that's terribly important.

39. I have two techniques that I use when I notice that people are getting tired. The first is that I stop the presentation, and I say, look, I've seen something in the audience that I need to stop right now. I've seen one person's eyelids get very heavy. And I'm telling you the adrenalin that happens at that point--

40. You wouldn't actually mention who it is, would you? Of course not.

41. Never. And I never even have eye contact with that person. And I suggest we get up and stretch, or we have water.

42. The other thing that is so easy to do, and this is great at any time, is to throw it to an exercise where you turn to the person next to you and discuss the last thing we've been discussing, or thoughts on the next thing. It's such an easy activity, and it's always there for you.

43. I guess one of the other things about the boredom factor is you may be making your presentation, and you might be thinking that people are bored. You can actually ask them. You can say, look, let me just stop, I just want to check, is this relevant? Is this interesting? Are you finding this useful?

44. Because I remember my early presenting days, I'd sometimes do that because I'd think, oh, they're not really with me. And they'd say, no, no this is terrific. We're just thinking.

45. So just because they maybe look bored doesn't necessarily mean that they are bored. Just as just because they look interested doesn't mean they are. So ask your audience for some feedback, and they'll tell you.

46. All right, let's go onto this factor of unexpected disasters. And, really, you have to expect that the unexpected can happen in any presentation, as it often does. How do you deal with something that's unexpected?

47. Yeah, and look, you can have prepared as best as you can, and then you put the video in the machine, it doesn't work. Or something goes wrong. And that can be very, very difficult. Particularly for people who are not professional presenters.

48. It's easy to say, remain calm. And that is a piece of advice, but the reality is it's very hard to do. I guess the thing is, if you can have some sort of backup plan, if you can have thought beforehand, what if this happens, what am I going to do?

49. Now to some extent, that can answer the problem. But once again, the unexpected, by definition, means you haven't thought about it beforehand. I think there are a couple of points.

50. First of all, let's say something goes wrong with the equipment, or what have you. You try to fix it, or you try to deal with the situation, or the disaster. Often your audience can get quite tense then.

51. Because all of a sudden, they're watching the situation. And they're watching you, they realize there's a problem, and it can be useful to actually say something to the audience to actually calm them down. A joke might be quite appropriate. And I've found that I get my best laughs from my worst jokes in that moment, because the reality is they want to laugh.

52. So crack some sort of joke, make some sort of comment. And I guess in a sense, you have to take the lead to show the audience that you're feeling OK about it. That it's not the end of the world, that you're calm and relaxed. Hey, there's a problem, let's fix it.

53. I guess the other thing is that if you can't fix the problem quickly, I think it's appropriate to apologize to the audience, even if it's not your fault, so to speak. But you, at that moment, are the person who's responsible for that presentation. So I think it's appropriate to apologize.

54. Sometimes I've found that it can be useful to actually involve the audience in solving the problem. And once again, if you share with your audience this idea that they're working with you, they are collaborators with you, ask, does anyone know how to fix this? Or, does anyone know how to use this particular piece of equipment? Or, anyone got some ideas about what I should do now?

55. So throw to your audience, they may very well make some suggestions and that may very well be able to help. But ultimately, these bits are about being able to think on your feet quickly, and to be able to improvise.

56. And I think, importantly as well, it's to buy time. And that's where throwing to an activity while you resolve the problem can be one of the easiest ways to go.

57. Yeah, I mean a very simple activity might be, look, I'm going to need a couple of minutes to fix this, why don't you just turn to each other, and what I'd like you to do is come up with the three hardest questions that you can think about this particular topic, whatever it is that you're presenting on. Come up with the three hardest questions that you possibly can that you can ask me later on. Take three minutes, and while you're doing that, I'll quickly fix this problem. So once again, buying for time.

58. Well, that makes a good intro to the next section, which is challenging people. What do you do about people who are really difficult. They're challenging, they ask hard questions, sometimes you feel they're trying to trip you up.

59. I think one of the worst things that you can do there, is to get into a conflict spiral with them. And I've seen this again-- I've done it as well, I have to admit. Because what you're trying to do is you're trying to sell the person. You're trying to convince them. You're trying to get them to see your point of view.

60. And all of a sudden, you're getting into this long spiel with them, and everybody else is feeling very bored or uninvolved. So I think with somebody like that, if it's a one individual, certainly you can try to talk them into your point of view.

61. But if you can't, just say something like, look, I think maybe we'll have to agree to disagree. Or, can we talk about this at the end of the presentation? Or, why don't I talk to you in the next couple days and give you this article, or whatever. So get out of the conflict, and defer the discussion to a little bit later on.

62. A quick way to do that is to actually say, look, let's get some balance here. Who feels differently to that? To actually quickly turn it around. Because what can happen with a very negative person is they start to rally supporters, and then it can turn very nasty.

63. Yeah, I guess the other thing is to listen, and to possibly acknowledge that they do have a good point. But I think the avoiding of the conflict spiral was the most important thing.

64. All right, let's go onto the issue of they don't buy what you're trying to sell, what you're trying to deliver. Perhaps it's making a change, and they just don't buy it.

65. Well, I think first of all you need to pick up the cues. You need to actually read the signals that they're giving off. And I've seen many presenters just ignore them, often because they don't know what to do. So they just keep on going with their pre-prepared presentation. And I think that is death.

66. So you want to pick up the cues, and you want to be able to deal with it. And I think it's about asking questions, listening in a non-defensive way, being prepared to hear what they've got to say. And then trying to, if possible, think of some lateral persuasion techniques, I call it.

67. Like what?

68. Well it might be, for example, drawing on some testimonials from other people. Or it might be some evidence that you've got. Or it might be able to tell some stories, or some scenarios, or give some examples. So try to be a little bit creative.

69. But ultimately, once again, I think involving your audience. Not setting yourself up to be in conflict with them. But if they're not buying what you're saying, say, OK, well, let's talk about that. Because maybe in fact, working together you can find a new way of looking at the particular issue that isn't what you were originally saying, isn't what they were actually saying, but is a creative third way. And that's terrific.

70. But once again, you've got to get out of this mindset that as the presenter, you are the one giving all the content, and they are there just as passive receptacles. In a sense, you've got to work together. It's got to be collaboration.

71. Peter, have you ever been challenged where people are angry or they don't buy it, or--?

72. I have had every possible thing in my 20 years of doing this sort of business. And if there's one thing that I have learned, it's that point that I just made. Don't see yourself as the expert and they know nothing.

73. You've got to recognize and respect their expertise. Let them know that upfront, and say, look I've certainly got some things to offer, but so do you as well. Let's make this a joint activity, and work together.

74. Thank you.