At SecondNature International we pride ourselves on running highly personalised group workshops and 1-to-1 coaching programmes which help transform people’s presenting skills in a way that reflects each person’s natural communication style and unique personality.
To help us tailor each workshop and programme that we run, we ask participants to complete a short questionnaire. This questionnaire asks them to identify, amongst other things, what development outcomes they would most like to achieve.
Everyone’s objectives are different, and because of our personality-centric coaching approach, how we support people to achieve their goals is also different; we never take a cookie-cutter approach! However, there are some common themes that we see again and again, and almost everybody can apply some simple top-line techniques to these.
One of the topics that is often raised is that of managing and overcoming nerves. It’s a subject that deserves more than just a few top-line tips; so, if you’d like to explore the subject in more detail, we recommend reading that blog.
In this blog, we will look at some of the other common themes and share our top tips for achieving these goals.
1. How can I come across as more confident?
If we consider the qualities of a confident presenter, we think about someone who can deliver their messages clearly, persuasively and with authority. They know their subject and content inside out and project a sense of belief and value in what they are saying. They are composed, use positive body language, easily connect with the audience and handle questions effectively. Simple huh? More like daunting if you are fairly new to presenting. So, let’s break it down.
Have something interesting to say: First and foremost, it’s easier to present with confidence if you have something genuinely interesting to say, and this starts with how you create the deck. Forget about creating a slide deck consisting of one slide, after another, after another.
Chunk your narrative: Break down your presentation into 3 – 5 distinct chapters. Then identify ONE KEY message from each chapter that you want the audience to take away. This will give you and your presentation clarity and focus.
Use Siren Words: Siren Words can be used to introduce each chapter of your presentation and to create a story flow. E.g.:
- Let’s kick off by looking at …
- That leads me on to discuss …
- Having looked at A and then B, let’s move on to chat about …
- Now for an area that I know is of particular interest to most of you …
- I’d like to finish with a subject I’m personally very passionate about …
- The final point I’d like to share with you is …
Siren Words are also great for emphasising and amplifying your key messages E.g:
- Ultimately what this means is that …
- The bottom line is that …
- What this clearly demonstrates is …
- The main point here is that …
- What all this boils down to is …
Remember, you don’t need to necessarily memorise your Siren Words when you’re delivering a presentation. Instead, we recommend practising using Siren Words intentionally in your everyday conversations. This will help you to naturally build up a store of Siren Words which you can then instantly and easily draw upon when you’re presenting.
Practise: Rehearse delivering (not reading!) from your slides, making sure you are clear about the one core message you need each slide to communicate to your audience.
Destination sentence: Don’t finish your presentation with a limp “Thank you”, or “Any questions”. Instead finish with a confident Destination sentence, one that clearly states what you want your audience to think, feel or do as a result of your presentation.
Hone your delivery: There are plenty of speaking techniques you can employ to help you to appear more confident than you may actually be feeling. So let’s look at some simple ways you can come across as relaxed and at ease.
Smile: Especially at the start. It will make you look confident on the outside, and help you feel more confident on the inside. That’s because smiling releases endorphins – the feel-good neurotransmitter. It’s also contagious and is a great way to communicate warmth and empathy.
Eye connection: Make sure you maintain intentional eye contact with the audience, particularly with key stakeholders, and also when you’re landing your key messages at the end of each chapter.
Conversational language: Avoid sounding like a robot by using everyday informal language. This will make you sound down-to-earth and accessible.
Slower pace: Don’t talk too quickly as it will come across as a sure sign of nerves. Speaking more slowly will help you to appear more relaxed and at ease. It also gives you time to think about what you are saying next.
Pausing:Pausing is a powerful communication tool and is a great way to add impact, before and after, landing key messages. It creates anticipation, adds emphasis and forces the audience to pay attention. Pausing is a very effective way to boost your confidence and enhance your communication style.
Body language: Remember to use open and positive body language. Think about how you sit or stand, keep it informal and change position now and then. Keep your arms open as opposed to crossed. Make sure your palms are facing up if you are using gestures to reinforce a point. And don’t inadvertently raise an eyebrow or roll an eye. Practise your poker face!
Invite questions: Encouraging people to ask questions throughout the presentation will make you appear open, and comfortable with the topic and the audience.
Laugh: All presenters at some point have minor slip-ups or hiccups when they’re presenting. Learn to have the confidence to laugh through these hiccups and you’ll release the tension and appear calm.
2. How can I be more assertive and engaging?
The best way to get noticed, in a positive way, is to be your authentic self. By understanding your own presenting style and playing to your strengths you will be able to develop a more assertive presence. Never try to be someone you’re not. As Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” In addition to the delivery techniques mentioned above you could also try the following to appear more assertive and appealing:
Handshakes: Start right at the beginning and offer a firm and confident handshake. Since Covid we’re all handshaking a lot less – but it’s still a great form of greeting in more formal settings. Remember to make eye contact and smile.
Physical proximity: Make your presence felt by using positive and assertive body language. If you’re sitting at a table, lean forward with your forearms on the table at shoulder width to dial up your physical presence. Likewise, if you’re standing, place yourself as close to the audience as is comfortable.
Clear purpose: Think about what you want to get out of your presentation. Start your meetings and presentations with a clear purpose and state your Ask, or the outcome you want to achieve at the beginning.
Personal disclosure: Increase your authenticity by showing your vulnerability and sharing your own stories, your personal opinions, and how you feel about certain topics.
Use storytelling: Storytelling is a great way to bring your presentation to life and will make even the most dry, boring content engaging.
Vary vocal tone: The vocal toolbox is one of the most powerful assets for any presenter. Practise varying your vocal tone, pitch and pace in order to communicate different emotions: light and dark, high and low energy, empathy and anticipation etc. And as we highlighted in the previous section, saying nothing, i.e. pausing, is also a great tool to generate impact.
Movement: When it’s done with purpose, movement increases the audience’s engagement because they will focus on you. Consider where you are standing if you are using slideware or media. Do you want the focus to be on you or on the screen? Think about moving in between chapters of your presentation to add punctuation. We are hard-wired to notice change and things moving in our environment so make your movement count.
Gestures: Use deliberate gestures to add emphasis to your narrative. We don’t mean wave your arms around, but used confidently and sparingly, gestures such as raised and open palms or counting on your hand can add a great deal of impact. When you are not gesturing keep your arms in the neutral position, i.e. open at waist level rather than by your side. This keeps the energy positive.
Avoid filler words: Filler words such as ‘Umm’, ‘Ahh’, ‘Err’ make you sound nervous or unsure of what you’re talking about. Replace these fillers with pauses instead.
Remove hedging language: Saying things like ‘Hopefully’, ‘Basically’, ‘Kind of’, and Sort of’ drastically reduces the assertiveness of one’s speaking style. Replace ‘Hopefully’ with ‘I’m confident that’, and ‘Basically’ with ‘Essentially’. And remove all the ‘Kind of’s and Sort of’s.
Involve the audience: Making the audience feel a part of the presentation will increase their engagement. You can do this by including a variety of Passive, Participative and Pointed Audience Involvement techniques.
Include humour: This doesn’t mean telling jokes. Instead, add some light, bright touches at appropriate points during the presentation to bring the meeting to life.
3. How Can I answer questions more effectively?
Answering questions can be one of the most stressful parts of the presentation process and even the most engaging and impactful delivery can easily turn into a negative experience for the audience if we inadvertently come across as curt, dismissive or even rude when answering questions. It goes without saying that you should anticipate questions in advance as part of your pre-presentation preparation, but let’s look at some simple things we can all do to ensure we respond confidently and respectfully.
Pause: Pausing is rule #1 and does three important things. Firstly, it makes sure the other person has enough time to finish asking the question they want to ask. If you interrupt too early, they may not have finished their point. Secondly, it shows you’re properly considering the question, and this shows respect. And lastly, it gives you time to think of the best answer, and therefore answer the question with confidence rather than stuttering through an ill-thought-through response.
Clarify: If you’re unsure of what they’re asking, make sure you clarify the question/point they’re making. You can do this by repeating or paraphrasing the point back to your questioner or by asking them to expand/fine-tune the point. Remember, if you’re not sure about the question you are more likely to give the wrong answer.
Acknowledge the worth the worth of the question: This needs to be done genuinely; but we believe almost every question/point is valid in some way, so acknowledge this with the questioner. Here are some examples of how to express an acknowledgement:
- “That’s a question I asked myself”
- “That’s a question a lot of people have asked us recently”
- “I’m not surprised you’re asking that given …”
- “I think the point you’re making is a good one”
- “That’s a really interesting point and not one we had considered”
These are just a few suggestions but there are many others. We recommend you practise this every day so the technique of acknowledging the worth of people’s questions becomes second nature.
Chunk up longer questions: If the question is a long one, chunk up your answer into sections so your answer stays clear and concise. For example, if someone asks you when a project is going to be completed, you might say: “That’s actually a critical question as timings on this project are particularly tight (acknowledging worth). Based on our last status update stage 1 will be completed by xxx, stage 2 by xxx and stage 3 by xxx.”
Check-in: This simply means checking with the questioner that you’ve answered the question to their satisfaction. You can do this verbally e.g.“Does that answer your question?” “Can I provide you with any more detail?”“Does that make sense?” “Do you need any more information?” Or you can check in non-verbally i.e. with a look and a smile. If you get a smile back, you can assume you’ve answered the question to their satisfaction. If you get a puzzled look or a frown, we recommend you follow up with a verbal check-in.
Important things to avoid:
- When managing questions, never get angry or defensive. Doing so will make you come across as immature and unprofessional. Instead, if you feel yourself getting emotional, ask if you can get back to them at a later time.
- Don’t make the other person feel like an idiot. No matter how silly you may think their question is always treat others with respect. After all, that is what you would expect from them!
- Don’t make up answers. Chances are you’ll get caught out – and then you’ll lose every shred of credibility. Instead, tell them what you do know or admit you don’t have the answer and that you’ll get back to them as soon as you can.
Our last top tip is to seize every opportunity you get to present, and if necessary, put yourself forward. The more you present the more confident you will become. Practise at home or in a comfortable space and record yourself so that you can see what’s working well and where you need to improve.
Continue to practise these tried and tested communication techniques to help you become a more confident, persuasive and engaging presenter. You’ll be amazed at how small things can make a big difference, and don’t forget to check out our library of blogs.
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