To begin the New Year, I invited Bette Price, a fellow professional speaker and co-author with me on the forthcoming book "GenBlending," to offer her tips for some of the questions on presentation techniques.
Dear Mark: How do you eliminate verbal graffiti ("uh," "and," "ah," etc.) from your presentation when it has become habit? -DB
Mark: No. 1. Create, and have at your mental disposal, some alternative phrases that can transition to your next point or naturally extend information from the original point. For example, "On the other hand," "Now, why is this important in our situation?," "For just a moment let's look at," and "Another way to view this is to." Such phrases will accentuate instead of reduce your effectiveness as a presenter. No. 2. Mentally rehearse your presentation before giving it, using your transition and extension phrases. No. 3. Practice. This can be a very difficult habit to break so absolutely nothing will be more important than practice.
Bette: Like breaking any negative habit, you have to acknowledge that you're doing it. Have a trusted friend or colleague keep track at your next presentation. Or tape your next presentation and count the use of these crutches. When you have a tendency to say "uh" or "um," pause briefly instead. The pause will smooth out your delivery, call more attention to the words you next deliver and cause your listeners to be more attentive.
Dear Mark: How do you stay on task when you are presenting to a group of superiors, and the questions or "side bars" derail the presentation? -RM
Mark: No. 1. Create an agenda with time allocations to major issues. This gives participants an idea of how much time will generally be allotted to specific discussion items. No. 2. Send the agenda out for review several days in advance and ask for them to notify you of items to add or that need more time allotted. No. 3. When the group veers off the agenda or takes too much time on a discussion issue, you can say something like, "Looking back to our agenda, which I know you have a copy of, we have two minutes left on this issue. We can either take more time to discuss it now and take time away from another agenda item, or table discussions until our next meeting." Another option is to assert more control and say, "In keeping with our agenda, we need to move on now in order to achieve our objectives." At all costs, avoid looking like you're hesitant to act in one way or another.
Bette: Politely address the specific purpose of the presentation up front: "Our primary purpose of discussion this morning is to bring you up-to-date on the process of the Jones project." Then advise, "Although there may be other issues that come to mind during this presentation, please make notes of those issues and I'll be happy to address them later. This will enable us to cover all the aspects of the primary issue at hand and make productive use of everyone's time." Should an individual breech that request, you can say, "That's a good point, George, but for now, let's put that in this 'Parking Lot' to address later." The "Parking Lot" allows you to acknowledge any comments or questions that are unrelated, halt it from taking you off track, let people know that it will be addressed, and maintain control of the purpose and time of the presentation.
Dear Mark: Is there a length of time a monthly meeting should last? -DP
Dear DP: Yes: as short as possible! Many monthly meetings drone on and on with too much time wasted on getting started, wrapping up or getting sidetracked instead of staying on task. Most meetings could be cut by 25 percent to 50 percent and be more productive if they were only proficiently led. No. 1. Create clear reasons for meeting. No. 2. Allocate less than an hour and make it a point to finish on time or early. No. 3. If you wrap up early, don't let it drag out to the official end-time. Simply adjourn. No. 4. Allocate the amount of time that allows you to accomplish the tasks, no more. An amazing amount of work can be accomplished in under 30 minutes if the people involved will come prepared and stay focused.
Springfield-based consultant Mark Holmes speaks nationally on increasing employee and customer retention and improving employee performance. He is the author of "Wooing Customers Back" and "The People Keeper," and his ideas have been featured in the Wall Street Journal and on Fox Business Network. He can be reached at mholmes@thepeoplekeeper.com.[[In-content Ad]]
