6 Keys to Delivering a Knockout Presentation (Pt. 3)

There's plenty of blame to go around for the dull, lifeless presentations that plague the world's conference sessions.

Why do so many conference presentations stink? As covered earlier in this series, the problem begins with poor speaker selection — presenters are too often chosen for reasons having nothing to do with their actual speaking skills.

Next, audience members share responsibility. If we want better content, presented in a more compelling way, we must demand it. We need to make our voices heard with conference planners.

But in the end, it all comes down to the speakers themselves.

You Have a Responsibility to Your Audience

It's an honor to be chosen to speak at a conference. It's often an indication of your professional reputation or industry expertise.

Or perhaps it just means you're really good at writing an application!

Either way, with this honor comes great responsibility — first and foremost to your audience. You have an obligation to not waste their time. How to do that? Here are a few tips.

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us

The number one thing to remember is that these days it’s not enough to simply inform an audience — you need to entertain them. Some may find that notion objectionable, but it’s the truth.

There’s a reason we watch and share all those TED Talks. They’ve set the standard for what a speech should be — focused, compelling, visual — and they’ve raised the bar for every speaker.

It's true that we may not all reach TED Talk heights. And that's especially true if you're presenting on, say, wastewater treatment solutions or supply chain management strategy.

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't strive to do better. You can apply those same principles to improve any presentation.

6 Steps to a Better Presentation

I wrote a book called 11 Deadly Presentation Sins, and I'm often asked if I can narrow it down to three or four things speakers should focus on. My answer changes every time because, honestly, it's not that simple.

But here are six things you can do to create and deliver a more powerful presentation:

1. Figure out what your audience wants. This speech is not about you — it's about them. Find out as much as you can about the people you’re talking to. Get an understanding of their interests, needs, fears and doubts. And make sure you answer their Number One question: “What’s in it for me?” 
2. Have ONE goal for your speech. Just one. Ask yourself what you want your audience to do, and use that as a filter. Narrow your content to just a few key points that support that goal, and cut anything that doesn't. Be merciless about it.
3. Tell stories. Study after study confirms that stories are an unmatched tool for persuasion. Stories trump data, they trump facts, they trump logic. Learn to find, shape and tell great stories. Start with a story, end with a story, include stories in the middle. Seriously. Story, story, story. (I hope that's clear.)
4. Invest your arguments with emotion, passion and energy. Honestly, if you’re not excited about your topic, how do you expect us to be? Cool professional detachment is not a good strategy in a speaking situation. Everything must be heightened: your focus, your intensity, your volume and your gestures. Play to the back of the room. And remember, emotion sells.
5. Make your visuals truly visual. Your audience didn’t come to read a screen, they came to see you present. So ditch the tired old PowerPoint deck. Get rid of all those bullet points. Use big headlines with a strong point of view. Find evocative images that reinforce your message instead of distracting from it. And whatever you do, ignore the stupid formulas like the 6/6 rule (6 lines of text per slide, 6 words per line) and strive for three-to-five words per slide, max. 
6. Practice, practice, practice. Do not make the mistake of thinking that too much rehearsal will suck the life and spontaneity out of your talk. There is no such thing as over-rehearsal. Practice it again and again, out loud and on your feet. That's the only way to internalize the content. (It's also the only way to know how long your talk is, and going over your allotted time may be the worst sin of all!)

Your Audience Will Thank You

Those are the basics. There's certainly more you can do. You should manage the all-important first and last impressions by opening and closing strong. You should create an interactive experience so it's not all lecture. And you should understand and manage body language — yours and your audience's.

But if you take care of these six things, you will automatically stand out from the crowd of dull, ordinary presenters and build your reputation as a trusted expert — one that people actually want to hear from.

And you'll earn the undying gratitude of throngs of conference attendees like me who are fed up with the status quo.

Image courtesy Mark Smallcorn

Check out the rest of this series. Why Do So Many Conference Presentations Stink: Part 1: Speaker Selection and Part 2: Audience Apathy.

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Rob Biesenbach is a veteran executive speechwriter and a professional public speaker. He prides himself on winning over those skeptical people in the back of the room who have been burned one too many times by disappointing presentations.