My #1 tip: presenting

Presenting is a powerful tool to convey information with character, personality, and context. It’s not a great use of time to simply read stats or bullet points from a slide, this is the opportunity to use emotion to relate to your audience.

If your audience can get the data by reading,
send them a document they can read later.

If you want them to hear an emotional message from you,
present.

There are thousands of techniques to improve your overall presenting skills and hundreds of books on the subject. (My personal favorite: Talk Like Ted)

Sorting through all this helpful information is a slog, so I’ll let you in on the single most important tip for effective presenting:

Leave space.

Let it breathe. Let yourself breathe.

How do you do this?

1. Speak slowly

           This one seems counterintuitive, so bear with me.

Humans really ‘hear’ about 400 words per minute, but most people speak conversationally about 150 words per minute. The catch here is nerves. Even seasoned presenters sometimes suffer from a bit of nervous energy when speaking, and this can cause your speech to speed up - leading to trips, slips, and forgotten points. Check your own pace when presenting, in case you need to slow down a tad. This allows your audience time to really hear and absorb what you’re saying, plus gives you the calm mind you need to convey your message effectively. 

2. Pause Occasionally

           During your presentation, don’t be afraid of silence. Pauses can be powerful tools to draw attention to key points, letting information sink in and be processed in the listener’s framework. They also slow down the overall pace and give you time to compose your thoughts, as noted above.

Let that sink in. (See? A pause…)

3. Check in with your audience for questions

           If you’ve completed a key point that’s full of information, stop and ask your audience if they have questions about what you’ve just covered. This is especially important if your goal is to teach specific skills in your presentation. Relevant examples and hands-on exercises are also powerful tools when teaching; more on that in another post.

4. Don’t overload the content for your time

           If you have one hour, do not plan an hour’s worth of content. Plan 30 minutes of content. Leave space for questions both during the content as well as at the end of the presentation.

            Consider the most important take-aways you want to convey. What exactly does your audience need to hear from you? If you’re presenting a lot of information or data, what are the 2-3 key points that you want them to remember. The flip side of this is “What information can they read later?”

So as you approach your next presentation opportunity, remember to take a deep breath, and give your content the space it deserves!

Presenting can be a big part of your role in Customer Success. If you’d like mentoring for your career, contact me!