How to effectively present in English in the 21st Century

With the United Kingdom about to start it’s General Election campaign, and with the historic Party Leader debates expected to begin next week, I thought it would be a good time to introduce some lessons for all presenters that we can learn from the US Presidential debates.

On the BBC Today programme today, American political consultant, Frank Lunz, gave some tips on how to perform in a debate, and here are a few things we can learn from:

1. Have a soundbite. Soundbites are little phrases or words that stick in your audience’s mind after the event. In a presidential debate, these are the phrases that the radio shows and TV stations repeat over and over again. Remember George Bush Snr’s “Read my lips: no new taxes”? that’s the soundbite. When we present, we should always try and create a soundbite that our audience will always remember. Something that they will talk about long after our presentation has finished.
2. Look at ease. Essentially, this means look relaxed. Frank Lunz says in a debate “if you look nervous, you lose” and while it is not quite so dramatic in our presentations, it is still important to look relaxed. When we are relaxed, our audience relaxes with us. When we look nervous, our audience is nervous with us.
3. Finally, break the rules. Personally, I think this is the best advice. The rules of presenting, if such rules really exist, force you to present in a standard way. The standard way of presenting is boring. Break away from the rules, don’t give your name and position at the beginning, start with a dramatic statement, don’t use slides with your company logo on them or if you have 60 minutes to speak, stop after 30 minutes. When it comes to presenting, rules are made to be broken. So break them.

Learning from the experts is always a great way to improve our skills, and a presentation is not just about PowerPoint or Keynote. We also need to perform. So remember, have a soundbite or two, relax and break some rules.

Below is a great little video of Venture Capitalist, Guy Kawasaki, breaking the rules. Sit back and enjoy Guy at his brilliant best.

I have been coming under increasing pressure from my wife to just tell all my readers what I think are the top five things to know when you present in English. So in interest of family harmony, and of course to give the best tips I know to all you guys, here is my top five list.

1. Never read your presentation. I know I have mentioned this many times, but it is so important, that I will continue to mention it for the rest of time. The simple reason for not reading your presentation is because you focus more on your reading than you do on your audience, and then you end up boring your audience to death. Reading your presentation also means the tone, passion and enthusiasm in your voice is lost. You sound robotic and ultimately boring.
2. Use images not text in your slides. Whenever you put text on your slides, your audience will read it. One thing that scientists have proved is that the human brain cannot read and listen at the same time. So, when your have a lot of text on your slide, your audience stops listening to you and reads your slides. When this happens there is really no point in you being there. However, when you use an image that is related to what you are talking about, your audience uses their imagination to fit the picture with your words and they experience true understanding. So even if your pronunciation is not great, your audience can understand your words by the use of the image.
3. Step away from the lectern. One of the biggest problems for people who come from a more conservative, ‘polite’ cultural background is that they stay behind the lectern or table when they give their presentation. When you are presenting to a largely English speaking audience this makes you look very nervous and unsure of yourself. European and American audiences expect you to move around, use hand and arm gestures and express your passion physically. Standing still with your arms firmly by your side, looks wooden, boring and shows a lack of confidence. Next time you are presenting, move the lectern to one side and stand ‘up front and centre’
4. Speak slowly. Quite often when you are presenting to an international audience, many of listeners are non-native English speakers. If you speak too fast they will not understand you at all. Equally, as a non-native English speaker yourself, your pronunciation may not be perfect all the time, and your native English speaking audience members may not catch the word or phrase you use. To help your audience, speak slowly and carefully and use your slides to help you with difficult words.
5. Use simple language. Quite possibly the biggest mistake any presenter makes is to assume that their audience has the same level of knowledge they have. Understand something. Your audience does not have the same level of knowledge. Quite often you will use words and phrases that many in your audience will simply not understand at all. Here is a great example. In Korea, medical doctors learn the Korean word for a condition as well as the medical name in English. However, when you are presenting at a medical conference, there will be people in your audience who are not doctors, but for example, pharmaceutical sales representatives. They may not know that “carcinoma of the lung” means “lung cancer” or my favourite “myocardial infarction” simply means “heart attack”. Use the simple, easily understood word so that your presentation can be understood by all your audience members.

I know many of these tips have been mentioned before, but they are so important I felt that they needed to be emphasised. I do hope that you will find them useful.