I love this presentation. Chip Kidd is a different kind of presenter. Not boring, not pretending to be someone who he is not and most of all understanding that the most important people in the room are the audience.

Sit back, enjoy and see a master doing his work.

Over the last few months I have been training groups of employees at a large Korean company. All the students are non-native English speakers, and all the employees have differing levels of English.

In each 4 week course ( we do four hours per week) the students do two presentations. One at the beginning and one at the end.

These students are continuing their everyday work, and have to prepare their presentations in their own time, and, if they can find the time, during their working hours.

A number of interesting observations have come up that I would like to share with you.

1. at the beginning of the course, almost all students believe they cannot present in English. By the end of the course all students have the realisation that actually they can present in English. This has nothing to do with the course, or my teaching method – sadly. This has everything to do with confidence. At the beginning of the course, most of the students simply have no confidence in their English ability. Once they have completed two, short presentations in font of their peers they begin the believe in themselves.

This problem in endemic in Korea. Most business people are tested on their English ability before entering a company, then they spend the next ten or twenty years only speaking in Korean, with the occasional English greeting and a “thank you”. If you do not use English regularly, then you are not going to be confident using English in your professional life.

If you want to feel better at using English, then find every opportunity you can to use English.

2. Many students over prepare their short presentation and end up either memorising their words, or reading a script. These students are always the worst presenters. They lose their place during their presentation, they hardly ever look at their audience and they spend too long looking down at their notes / script that the words they are speaking sound muffled and unclear.

Doing a short presentation in class is not the same as doing a keynote presentation in front of a hundred English speaking journalists at the launch of a new product, but all the same, if the presentation is important, the way you communicate with your audience is vital. Reading a script will prevent you from connecting with your audience in a personal way and you will fail. Not only will you fail, but your whole presentation will fail.

You need to know what you are talking about. If you do not know your subject well enough, then you should not be presenting. Reading a script is unforgivable, and simply tells your audience that they are not important enough for you to prepare properly.

Preparing for a presentation is about knowing your topic, knowing your stories and knowing what it is you want to tell your audience. It is not difficult. Any presenter, who is presenting in a foreign language should have the necessary language skills already. If they don’t, they should not be presenting.

3. It is hard to let go of practices learnt in the past. Yet, letting go of 1990s style presentations is something we must all do if we are going to be great communicators in the twenty-first century.

Maintaining a love affair with complex charts, text and bullet points is damaging your ability to communicate effectively. A twenty-first century presentation is about presenting your ideas in a clear and concise way. It is not about presenting slide after slide of technical data. That simply does not work today. If your grandmother would not understand your presentation, then it is not simple and concise enough.

If your presentation is all about technical data, then consider preparing a handout with the details. Then in your presentation itself focus on the key points that you have pulled out from the data. Explain to your audience that the detailed data is contained in a handout.

On a side note here – I am shocked and amazed when students turn round and tell me that preparing a handout means more work! Unbelievable! If your presentation is important enough for you to be presenting it to an audience, then a handout should never be considered “more work”. It should be considered an essential part of your presentation for your audience’s complete understanding.

These are just three things I have picked up over the last few months. There are more and I will write about these over the coming weeks.

There are No Magic Phrases In Presenting

Recently, a company I have been working with, asked me for a list of words and phrases for doing a presentation. This shocked me. It made me realise that so many people simply do not get it. People still think that to do a presentation you need some unique forms of language.

This is not true.

A presentation has no set formula or groups of words, sentences or expressions. A presentation is simply a conversation with a group of people. If you start creating set phrases, words or sentences for a presentation, you are going to create a presentation that either nobody understands or make it so boring your audience is going to be asleep before you get to the five minute mark.

A presentation is a conversation with your audience. The only English you need for an English presentation is the English you use for every day conversations.

So, if you want to improve your English presentation ability, improve your English conversation ability. Stop complicating a form of communication that should be wonderfully simple.

Seth Godin writes about why reading your speech or presentation does not work. According to Seth, it is extremely difficult to read a speech and sound like you mean what you are saying.

“It’s extremely difficult to read a speech and sound as if you mean it.

For most of us, when reading, posture changes, the throat tightens and people can tell. Reading is different from speaking, and a different sort of attention is paid.”

When I am doing my presentation seminar, attendees have to do two presentations. The first is a brief self-introduction and the second is a final presentation on anything they like. What I find is that students, when given no time to write out a speech, actually sound a hundred times better, than students who are given time to write out a speech. They sound genuine, they sound like they really believe in what they are saying and above all they sound convincing.

I know, for most people presenting in a foreign language, having a pre-written speech is like a comfort blanket. But it really does not help you to deliver you message in the most convincing way.

Having a few “errm”s and “arrh”s in your speech is fine. It shows that you are genuine and it shows that what you are saying comes from the heart and not the head.

So next time you are preparing a presentation, do not write out a script. Make few notes by all means, but keep it natural aand allow the natural flow of your conversation to take over. If you cannot do that, then accept Seth Godin’s advice:

“… don’t bother giving a speech. Just send everyone a memo and save time and stress for all concerned.”

Here’s a little presentation I did recently for CBC News here in Korea about my cultural journey – coming from the United Kingdom to Korea, and some of the things I have noticed that are different.

It is a light hearted look, but I hope it can show you how to keep a presentation natural, and how to use good quality slides to help your audience to fully understand what you are saying.

With the passing of Steve Jobs, there has been a lot of comment about his life and his presentation philosophy.

In the recent biography by Walter Isaacson, there are numerous references to Steve Jobs’s thinking on presenting and one in particular stood out for me. The quotation:

“I hate the way people use slide presentations instead of thinking,” Jobs later recalled. “People would confront a problem by creating a presentation. I wanted them to engage, to hash things out at the table, rather than show a bunch of slides. People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint.”

This has always been a bug bear to me too. I simply cannot understand why anyone would want to use PowerPoint in a meeting. PowerPoint kills conversation, it puts slides at the centre of attention and it creates an atmosphere of staleness and boredom. The very things that prevent any kind of solution or idea being found.

The best meetings I have attended were where there was a proposal, typed on paper and given to all meeting participants before the meeting, and then everyone had an open and frank discussion about the subject. Often, new ideas were found or new angles were discovered about the original proposal, but one thing that happened was that people actually talked and discussed the idea.

The opposite meetings were where the organiser spent the first ten minutes trying to get his or her computer working, then completely dominated the meeting with slide after slide of boring text and poor quality clip art and pictures. There was no discussion and quite often a lot of confusion. The meeting ended and nobody knew what they were supposed to do.

PowerPoint and Keynote have their place, a product launch to a few hundred journalist, a training seminar where the slides are used to inform and teach. But a meeting to discuss a proposal or to come up with a solution to a problem is not the place.

Take a look at the video below. Here you see Steve Jobs talking to employees from Apple about the problems Apple was facing in 1997, and the solution. Note there are no slides, just Steve up front and centre talking to his staff, and then a video at the end. Had he used PowerPoint,it would have killed the effectiveness of what he had to say.

프레젠터들 사이에서는, 프레젠테이션에서 “음~”, “어~” “kind of” “I mean”과 같은 말을 사용하는 것이 좋은지 아닌지에 대해 현재 의견이 분분합니다. 일부에서는 단어와 단어 사이를 이어주는 이런 간투사(間投詞)를 사용하는 것이, 발표자로 하여금 준비가 부족해 보이고 전문가답지 않은 아마추어처럼 들린다고 이야기 합니다. 또 어떤 이들은 이런 단어들을 사용하는 것이 프레젠테이션을 훨씬 인간미 있게 해주고 자연스럽게 들릴 수 있도록 도와준다고 이야기 합니다.

개인적으로는 청중에게 일방적으로 이야기 하거나 지식을 전달하는 강연 같은 느낌 보다는 청중으로 하여금 자신과 발표자가 서로 대화하고 있다고 느낄 수 있도록 이들과 교감하는 것이 발표자로서 중요하다고 생각합니다. 즉, 친구들과 모이는 자리처럼 좀 더 편안한 분위기 속에서 다른 이와 영어로 대화를 나눌 때 자연스럽게 나오는 단어들을 프레젠테이션에 사용하는 것이 더 좋다고 생각합니다.

TellingPeople 의 블로거인 Simon Raybould 박사가 확실히 맞는 이야기를 했다는 생각이 듭니다. 최근에 게시한 포스트 글 2개를 보면 (첫 번째 포스트, 두 번째 포스트), Raybould 박사는 이런 간투사들이 실제로는 그리 큰 문제가 되지 않는다는 것을, 그리고 가끔 이런 단어들이 발표자의 프레젠테이션을 사람 냄새 나게끔 도와줄 수 있다고 썼습니다. 두 번째 포스트 글에서는 (자신이 진짜 원한다면) 이 문제를 어떻게 해결할 수 있는지에 관해서도 이야기 합니다. 하지만 이렇게 노력한다는 것은 결국 “형식적이고 대본을 읽는 것처럼” 되어버릴 수 있다고도 함께 이야기 합니다.

그렇기 때문에, 저는 이런 간투사들을 사용하라고 이야기 하고 싶습니다. 여러분의 프레젠테이션을 훨씬 더 인간미 있게 만들고, 스크립트를 읽는 것처럼 들리지 않도록 청중과 진짜 대화를 나누듯 느낄 수 있게 말입니다. 프레젠테이션 연습을 충분히 하시다 보면 이런 간투사들은 자연스럽게 튀어나올 것입니다. 하지만 너무 연습을 많이 하다 보면 딱딱하고 지루하게 들릴 수 있으니 이것도 주의 하시기 바랍니다.)

(유익한 포스트를 올려주신 Simon Raybould 박사에게 감사의 인사를 전합니다.)

There is a debate going on in the world of presenting about whether the use of “umm”, “errm” “kind of” and “I mean” etc in a presentation is good or bad. Some say that the use of these ‘filler’ sounds or words demonstrates a lack of preparation and sounds unprofessional, while others say that the use of these words help to make the presentation more ‘human’ and natural sounding.

Personally, I feel that as a presenter it is important to connect with your audience, to make your audience feel that you are having a conversation with them rather than lecturing them or talking at them. This means that I am in favour of you using words that you would naturally use when you are having a conversation in English with another person in a more social setting.

Dr Simon Raybould of the TellingPeople blog I feel has hit the nail on the head. In two recent posts. (part one here and part 2 here) Dr Raybould writes about this not really being that important and that in some cases it can help to humanise your presentation. In part two he talks about how you can overcome this problem (if you really want to) but that in trying to overcome this problem you can end up “becoming formalistic and scripted”.

So I say use the filler words, make your presentation more human and less scripted and have a real conversation with your audience. If you practice enough then these will come out naturally, but be careful of over practicing and sounding wooden and boring.

(HT to Dr Simon Raybould for his excellent posts)

비욘세는 오늘날 최고의 라이브 가수 중 하나이며, 그녀의 퍼포먼스는 전 세계에 콘서트를 찾는 수많은 관객들에게 기쁨을 선사해 주고 있습니다.

지난 7월, 비욘세는 Glastonbury에서 열리는 유명한 영국 뮤직 페스티벌에 참여해 공연을 했습니다. 이 공연은 실제 콘서트에 참석했던 178,000 명의 관중뿐 아니라 미디어 상의 많은 이들로부터 좋은 평을 많이 받았습니다.

이 공연이 특별히 눈에 띌 수 있었던 이유는, 바로 비욘세가 관중들과 호흡하는 방식 때문이었습니다. 그녀가 Irreplaceable를 부르는 동안, 비욘세는 관중에게 함께 노래하기를 권합니다. 관중에게 함께 노래 부르기를 권하는 것은 오늘날 대부분의 음악 콘서트에서 흔히 있는 일이며, 가수와 밴드가 관중에게 자신들은 립싱크가 아닌 실제 노래를 부르고 있다는 것을 보여줄 수 있는 방법이기도 합니다. 그러나, 비욘세의 프로페셔널함과 관중의 마음을 읽는 능력은 이 콘서트에서 여실히 드러났으며, 그녀는 관중이 정확히 원하는 것을 들어주는데 이 재능을 이용했습니다.

 콘서트 도중 이 시점에서 관중에게 노래를 권하도록 이미 기획 되었겠지만, 계획했던 것 보다 청중이 더 많이 부르길 원했기에 비욘세는 원래 계획을 변경하는 용기와 유연한 대처 능력을 보여주었습니다.

발표자로서, 우리는 청중이 정확히 원하는 것을 들어줄 수 있도록 융통성 있게 대체할 필요가 있습니다.

그래서, 이 공연을 바탕으로 여기서 우리가 배울 수 있는 점 4가지를 아래와 같이 뽑아 보았습니다:

발표자로서, 그녀의 공연으로부터 우리가 배울 수 있는 점

 1. 항상 청중이 우선이 되어야 합니다. 예를 들면, 20명 이하의 소규모 청중을 대상으로 프레젠테이션 하고 있는 도중 청중이 여러분에게 질문 하길 원한다면, 충분한 용기와 자신감으로 융통성 있게 질문을 허락하십시오.

 2. 계획을 가지고 있는 것은 좋지만, 자신의 계획이 바뀔 수도 있다는 것을 유의하셔야 합니다. 여러분 컴퓨터나 사운드 시스템의 기술적 문제로도 계획이 바뀔 수 있는 것입니다. 이런 상황을 예상하고 계획을 변경하는 것에 준비되어 있어야 합니다.

3. 청중이 몇 가지 규칙을 정하도록 허락하는 것은 좋지만 이 모든 것을 주관하고 담당하는 사람은 여러분이라는 것을 항상 기억하시기 바랍니다. 언제나 프레젠테이션의 주도권을 지니고 있어야 하는 발표자, 즉 여러분이라는 것을 말입니다. 비욘세의 동영상을 보시면, 노래에 대한 주도권을 그녀가 다시 되가져 오는 것을 알 수 있습니다. 이는 그녀가 항상 자신의 노래를 주도하고 통제해 왔기 때문인 것입니다.  

4. 비욘세의 콘서트는 그녀의 음악과 퍼포먼스가 전부가 아닙니다. 모든 것을 체험하고 경험하는 것입니다. 콘서트장의 분위기, 관중들의 감정과 더불어 물론 라이브로 생생하게 들리는 음악을 체험하는 것입니다. 여러분의 청중이 갖게 될 경험을 기반으로 프레젠테이션을 제작한다면, 여러분은 청중으로 하여금 좀 더 기억에 남을 수 있는 프레젠테이션을 전달하는 것에 훨씬 더 가까워져 있을 것입니다.

Beyonce is one of the best live entertainers around today. And her performances have given pleasure to thousands of concert goers around the world.

Last July Beyonce performed at the famous British music festival in Glastonbury and the performance received a lot of great reviews from many people in the media as well as from many of the 178,000 people who actually attended the concert.

What made this performance stand out particularly was the way that Beyonce reacted to the crowd. During her performance of Irreplaceable Beyonce gave the crowd an opportunity to join in the singing. Now, this is not unusual in most music concerts, it is actually a way that singers and bands can show the audience that they are not lip-syncing (not actually singing). However, at this concert Beyonce’s professionalism and ability to ‘read’ a crowd showed and she used that ability to give the audience exactly what they wanted.

It will always have been the plan to give the audience an opportunity to sing at this point in the concert, but what Beyonce did was to have the flexibility and courage to change that plan half way through because the audience wanted to sing much more than what had been planned for.

As presenters we need to have that built in flexibility to enable us to give our audiences exactly what they want.

So with this performance in mind – here are four things we can learn from Beyonce’s performance:

What We Can Learn From This As Presenters

1. The audience must always come first. For example, if you are delivering a presentation to a small group of people – less than 20 people – and they want to ask questions during your presentation, then be brave enough and flexible enough to allow them to ask questions.

2. Having a plan is good, but make sure that your plan has the ability to change. There could be technical difficulties with your computer or the sound system etc. Be prepared to change your plan and anticipate these events.

3. While it is good to allow the audience to set some rules, always remember you are in charge, and it is you, the presenter, who must maintain control at all times. In the video of Beyonce, you will notice that she took back control of the singing – she did that because she was always in control.

4. Beyonce’s concert was not just about her music and her performance, it was about the whole experience. The atmosphere, the emotion of the audience and of course the live sound. If you build your presentation around the experience your audience will receive, then your will much more likely perform a more memorable presentation.