I recently heard a speaker comment on his earlier attempts at public speaking. He said “My presentation was so bad, if I wasn’t giving it, I would have walked out myself.” Now, most audiences don’t walk out, they just tune out. They mentally check out.

So, what can you do to produce a better outcome? Two areas that most professionals need work on are:

1. Planning. Don’t skip this vital stage. Don’t copy/paste from an old presentation and fool yourself that you are planning. You’re just being lazy. Discipline yourself to use the Clean Sheet Thinking method of pre-planning your presentations. It takes just thirty minutes to get a high level game plan together. Thirty minutes will make you much more laser focused.
2. Practice. I mean live rehearsals, not flipping through your slides nodding your head that you recognize the content. Diligent practice will turn you from a reluctant or average presenter into a strong, confident, powerful presenter. Ask a group of peers or trusted advisors to sit in on your practice session and give you focused feedback. Alternatively, hire an executive presentation coach to critique and coach your presentation delivery. This will help you mitigate risks with high stakes presentations.

Read about other common presentation pitfalls. Don’t be lazy or unaware. Get motivated about your next presentation!

United Way delivers a winning presentation and announces its Fall 2009 Campaign result

I had the privilege of working with the United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut this past summer, training their “loaned executives” and agency speakers on how to give high engagement presentations that move audiences to action. These motivated individuals would go on to make countless presentations to the many organizations, companies, labor unions, government groups, hospitals, etc., that were participating in the United Way 2009 “Live United” fall campaign here in Connecticut.

Today was their campaign celebration luncheon, where they announced how much they had raised through the generous support of thousands of people working at companies across the region. The celebration took place at the Pratt & Whitney Hanger – a very inspiring spot of history, innovation and high ceilings. For all intensive purposes, this was a “thank you” event, where the United Way wanted to recognize the many people who had made it all possible.

These types of awards and recognition banquets can be hard on the audience – tons of clapping for people you don’t know, sitting in uncomfortable chairs for long stretches at a time, eating high fat foods. You know what I’m talking about.

The United Way team WOW’d their audience with an unexpected skit that definitely proved to be “high engagement.”

Rather than announcing their fall campaign total $$$ results with a drum roll or some other common reveal method, they put on their own version of the DEAL-NO DEAL game show.

Rather than the short-skirted babes on the TV show, The United Way took the  high road and involved their twelve loaned executives, each holding a silver brief cases (very official looking!).  They had two contestants, the unseen “bank manager” and a very charismatic master of ceremonies. The sound effects were fantastic: the telephone rang, the music was exciting, the props were engaging and their PowerPoint graphics were clean and supportive.

The audience was fully engaged and having a great deal of fun with the blue/white plastic “clapper hands” and raucous shot outs. In the end, we all learned that the United Way fall campaign resulted in a pledge amount of $ 25,784,118. This is an amazing result given the economic conditions facing our community and nation. It’s a testament to the enduring spirit of people to help others and the fact that no matter how difficult things are for us , everybody has something to give.

Congratulations to the United Way, its staff, volunteers, community leaders and fans who believe in the value of making our community and world a better place for all!

Michelle Singeltary blew the socks off her audience of 350+ women who attended this year’s Money Conference for Women, hosted by the YWCA of the Hartford Region in Connecticut as part of their financial literacy for women initiative.

She lived up to her impressive speaker introduction, which amongst all of the awards and accomplishments, described her as “the sassy and no nonsense woman.” Michelle Singeltary is a columnist for the Washington Post (her column the Color of Money) and is the author of Spend Well, Live Rich: how to get what you want with the money you have.

I listened to Michelle from two vantage points:

1. From the perspective of a woman who wants to and needs to get smarter about money. To read more about what I learned from Michelle about money – keeping it and making it work harder for you – click through to my summary.
2. From the perspective of an executive presentation coach who works with professionals to present themselves and their ideas to others more powerfully.

What can we learn from Michelle as a speaker / presenter?

What did she model for us that can help you to become a more powerful, confident and effective communicator in front of large groups?

Here’s what I took away:

• She spoke from the heart and brought all of her to the stage. We enjoyed Michelle as a personal finance guru; Michelle as a mother of 3; Michelle as a wife;  Michelle as a frugal, “cheap skate” who hangs on to money because “every penny has a purpose”‘ ; Michelle the faithful, church-devoted and tithing member; Michelle the woman.
• She expertly choreographed the energy build in the room, starting with a casual friendly beginning and leaving us with high energy determination.
• Her message was simple and her information was well organized. Specifically she introduced the Five S.T.E.P.S. to financial freedom and lasting wealth. Click through to read a summary of her talk.
• She was controversial and challenged our thinking with phrases like “credit is evil,” “stop swiping your life away,” and “you never save money when you spend it,” and “the sense of entitlement leads to financial ruin.” She warned our young people that they are “texting and talking way your wealth.” She motivated us with the idea that “priorities lead to prosperity” and that we must learn to discern between “needs and wants.”
• She shared personal stories throughout her presentation, including difficult stories from her family upbringing, to inspiring stories of her grandmother, to humorous moments with her children. This made us feel like she was one of us, not above the challenge and strife of life. Excellent rapport and connection with her audience.
• She included family photos in her presentation, including her wedding photo, her baby picture and teen daughter’s photo. This generated the “oooh” response from the audience and increased her likability.
• She was bold, not hesitate, to “sell” her books from the podium, including her newest one “21 day financial fast” and challenged us to take it. She did this right up front in the presentation.
• She gained our permission upfront to step on our toes and to talk straight and tough with us.
• She entertained us with streaming video, including short clips of video parodies, ridiculous but real advertising commercials to make her point.
• She allowed time for Q&A and handled it brilliantly. At one point, she had a young college graduate up in the front of the room and demonstrated how she could pay off her $60,000 in college loan debt in 2-3 years. Accountability was high in the room!

How could Michelle improve her speaking/presenting effectiveness?

I loved listening to and watching the powerful and sassy financial guru, Michelle Singletary. I have only two pieces of critique and constructive feedback for Michelle Singletary on her presentation skills:

1. Reduce the number of PowerPoint slides by 75% and clean them up. No slide, no matter how fancy or informative, can stand up to your magnificence. (you don’t even need them, really!)
2. Move away from the podium. Walk the stage. Let us enjoy your commanding presence more. It would be a real present!

With her powerful content and masterful delivery style, Michelle Singletary doesn’t need podiums or PowerPoint. She is powerful enough!

For more tips on how you can improve your presentation skill and confidence, check out our free presentation resources.