Tame the butterflies in our stomach when we have to deliver a presentation.
Because, in the end, presentation is all about the audience
Have you experienced rushing to finalize your PowerPoint slides before a deadline? Or you felt that your presentation is not visually pleasing, never perfect in time, and all the unsupportive reasons to make your stomach feels like entertaining many butterflies by the time you are about to present?
I did. And after doing many presentations for more than two decades, I still do. So here I share some tips that I collected from good references and experience. If you like to read good books about this topic, Nancy Duarte’s HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations is one of my favorite. Of course, it won’t remove all the butterflies, but it does help me big time.
1. Understand our audience.
Presentation is never about the presenter. It is the audience that matters.
So if we as presenter got applauded at the end of the session, it is less because we are a good presenter. It is more because our message and delivery resonate well with the audience’s expectations.
Shifting that mindset helps me to relieve the burden before the presentation. Our task is not to be a good presenter but to help the audience add value to their precious time listening to our presentation.
2. Understand our message and our objective.
Having a clear message and objective is point number two but no less essential, and it strongly correlates with point one on understanding the audience above. What is the message that we want to convey to which audience?
For example, when we share in a student class, they expect additional knowledge and experience sharing. So we can use a good one or two hours; we can spend some more extra time if the session is engaging.
But when we are presenting to the bosses, they expect us to provide all relevant information and assessment to help them make decisions. Sometimes we are lucky even to have a chance to click our second slide before they ask difficult questions. Often, all we need for this kind of session with the bosses is just that one damn good executive summary.
3. Check whether we have a clear storyline.
I believe a good storyline is an essential part of helping the audience understand the context. It also helps us as the presenter frame our background and problem statement toward the idea and objective we want to achieve.
As an audience, it took me some time to agree to the presenter’s ideas and conclusion. I may agree or disagree with the presenter’s opinion. Still, the good story will stick with me even after the presentation session, and it triggers my curiosity to explore and learn further on the topic.
4. PowerPoint may not be the best media to present.
Although it seems automatic that presentation is equal to setting a meeting with PowerPoint slides, it is worth pausing a while. Ask ourselves how many key stakeholders that we need to engage. If it is only one or two, sometimes a brief call can do it better.
Or ask ourselves if we really need to have all the necessary interaction to make everybody spend their precious 30 minutes or one hour of their time. Sometimes one email or WhatsApp away is enough.
5. Prepare the delivery.
Rehearse before the presentation. It won’t hurt and waste our time.
Get to know the place if it is an offline meeting. For example, knowing the screen’s position and the event layout will help you adjust the delivery. Or, if it is an online meeting, make sure you install and get acquainted with the online meeting platform; technical glitches are annoying.
6. Be authentic.
If you are lucky to be born as a talented communicator, be grateful. But if you’re not, it is ok to use extra cue cards to help.
If you like to use relevant humor, it is a big plus. On the other hand, if you are not comfortable with your jokes, it is also ok. There are many alternatives to get the attention of the audience.
Nothing is right or wrong, really, and the best solution is to be our genuine selves.
7. Sharing is the most effective way of learning.
Last but most important, my teacher told me that beyond our typical learning type of visionary, audial, or kinesthetic, sharing our knowledge with others is the most effective way of learning.
Bear in mind that the presenter is not necessarily the most knowledgeable person in the room. But for sure, they are the most prepared to learn from the event. Because all the process of conveying the message and presenting requires all the learning mindset and actions: research, re-read, structure the thinking, concluding and answering questions. It makes sure the presenter learns, relearn and sometimes even unlearn.
The chance to present is a precious and humbling learning experience for any presenter.
