3 tips to nail your next presentation
How to polish your next talk, pitch or presentation
Three of my coaching clients delivered short talks as part of Monday night’s “Eye-Opening Conversations” hosted by Stanford’s Byers Eye Institute. The final advice I gave to these talented ophthalmologists can benefit us all as we speak to others who are not as specialized in our area of expertise. Consider how these three strategies can help your next presentation.
1) Consider the sparkline within your talk. This is the term coined by Nancy Duarte in her book Resonate and later in her TEDx presentation, “The Secret Structure of Great Talks.” If you watch from 2:00 to 8:00, you will get her explanation of it. The more you contrast how things are today with how they could be in the future, the more persuasive you will be. In fact, as we navigate (watch her video to get that reference) between the top and bottom lines, we can effectively overcome the audience’s resistance to our ideas.
2) Know your audience’s current level of understanding. If you have a group that loves your topic already, they probably like to be “in the know.” Even if they are not trained in your field, they may have a general understanding of terminology and approaches. You want to make your content accessible to them, not dumb it down. Give them an easy way to grasp and understand your concepts. Use analogies or compare what they already know to what's new to them. One speaker used the familiar eye charts and glaucoma tests to contrast with the innovations that Stanford is developing. Another presenter, addressing ways we can actively prevent the likelihood of dementia, noted that attending that very lecture was an example of life-long learning efforts that can be valuable for cognitive health.
3) Familiarize, don't memorize. It's important to know where you want to begin and end and what is roughly the halfway mark of your presentation, but give yourself some freedom that it doesn't have to be delivered the same way every time. Wear your talk like a loose gauze shirt you'd wear to the beach, not a turtleneck (or worse yet a straitjacket!). It's more engaging if it's not fully scripted and delivered verbatim. When we try to memorize an entire talk, we add to our stress and decrease our connection with the audience.
Regardless of your specific area of expertise, you can use these three simple tactics to bring polish to your next presentation, talk or pitch. Try them out and let me know what works for you and what more I can provide to help you in your pursuit of communication mastery.
JD’s Recommendations: what I’m reading, hearing and seeing:
Reading: delighted that Nick DeWilde published another Jungle Gym newsletter, covering negotiations in the current tech job market.
Hearing: check out my Anthem playlist of songs I’ve curated to use as you enter the arena for a big speech or just to calm nerves before a small talk.
Seeing: just for fun, take six minutes to view Will Stephen’s TEDx New York presentation, “How to Sound Smart in Your TEDx Talk.”
Not since I wrote a regular column in the NYU student paper have I had this much fun composing and sharing my thoughts with others. If you’re enjoying this, too, please share with others and invite them to subscribe. Sorry, no toaster to offer you—just my appreciation for helping me expand my reach in this forever-free newsletter.
As always, jds
P.S. Give us a day, and we’ll change how you look at talks forever. It’s a bold promise but one I know my husband Ken and I can fulfill. We still have space available in our three Realize the Result one-day workshops. We’re offering this in April in KC, May in NYC and June in SF.
Three great tips JD. Always love you knowledge shares.
Love that playlist. One song that must be added, as it tops my playlist: Good to be alive right about now. That songs gets me going like no other.