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Stop wasting your time. Start rehearsing effectively

Rehearse Like an Actor: What Executive Presenters Can Learn from the world of theater

 Stages to move through to be well-prepared for every high stakes presentations.

 1. Script read through

2. Run – throughs

3. Tops and Tails

4. Cue-to-Cue

5. Dress rehearsal

 

One of the most common excuses that executives use before they deliver presentations is that they didn’t have enough time to prepare. Picture this scene. The board of directors are filling up the meeting room before the annual strategy review session. The financial director walks up to the front of the room, plays with some pieces of paper, coughs, looks down and then says he doesn’t think he is prepared for the presentation.

No doubt you have seen variations of this presentation opening. What impact does this have on his credibility? It immediately sows seeds of doubt in the minds of senior managers. Perhaps, after all, this director is not capable of higher positions.

Business presenters often spend hours preparing PowerPoint slides only to deliver a low-energy dull presentation in front of the people who will be deciding their promotion prospects later in the day. While you don’t have to become an actor to be a good presenter, you can certainly learn from the stages that each actor goes through to be totally ready.

 

 

Stage 1: Script read through

At the start of rehearsals, actors read through their scripts, first alone, and then with the other actors. Script mastery is just the first step in their performance preparation. Most business presenters struggle to complete even this stage, often unable to express coherently what their talk is all about. Every presentation must have a clear overall message with content clearly separated into distinctly different ideas. An opening that sets the context and engages the audiences by addressing their most pressing concerns. A body that divides the content into separate sections or to use a theater word “scenes”. A closing that brings all the content together into a clear outcome, reinforces the overall message and moves the audience into the next part of the meeting, often the question and answer session. An important tip to remember is that at this stage the outline does not need to be perfect. There is still opportunity to modify during the next steps. This stage is ideally done with pen and paper. It should take you no longer than 30 minutes to outline your talk.

Stage 2: Run – throughs

With an outline in hand it’s time to have a run through. This should be rehearsed until the content is memorized. Find blocks of rehearsal time. Instead of going to a restaurant at lunch, grab a sandwich and take a walk in the park. While walking around, talk through the presentation without looking at notes. Speak it out while driving into work, or book a meeting room to practice the delivery. The key here is that it should be spoken aloud as new ideas will arise while the delivery becomes smoother. Don’t use a computer or any slides at this point. The aim is to be 100% comfortable with the flow and content. Modify your outline as ideas come up. Add supporting points, rearrange sections. You should be able to stand up and deliver a speech without looking at any notes or without any supporting visuals. This stage might take a day for familiar material or up to a week for a high stakes meeting. This is the stage where you build up your confidence.

Stage 3: Tops and Tails

The two most important parts of a presentation are the opening and closing. Both parts attract the greatest audience attention and are the best opportunities to deliver a takeaway message. They are often delivered with a higher level of authority and punch. Take the opening two minutes and rehearse it as a stand-alone section. Record it and while listening to the recording, look for ways to make the delivery more impactful. Use crisper and sharper words. Make a closer connection to the audience with words they relate with. Likewise, repeat this approach with the closing. This is the final chance to convey the message and leave the audience with a positive impression. The opening and closing sections can be scripted word-for-word for very important talks, however, never read from notes. It lessens your impact. This stage should only take around 30 minutes because by this stage you are very familiar with your content and message.

Stage 4: Cue-to-Cue

The biggest stress is often caused by projectors so always plan a technology check for all your presentations. For smaller conference room presentations, go at least a couple of hours before to connect your computer to the projector, test the sound and video and ensure the mouse clicker works. For larger settings, arrive the day before and work with technicians in the venue. Spend time on the stage and walk around planning where to start, how to move on the stage and where to finish. Rehearse a couple of sections of the presentation with a microphone to hear what volume is needed to fill the room. Once you are set-up do your best not to move anything.

Stage 5: Dress rehearsal

This covers your on the day preparation. Regardless of what time the presentation is due to start, schedule a time for a dress rehearsal. Rehearse in the same room if possible using all the technology planned and microphones needed. You will speak the entire presenation aloud word-for word. This final run through boosts confidence for the live version. The second delivery of the day will be smoother and you will appear more natural.

 

CONCLUSION

90% of the executives I work with don’t know how to rehearse adequately. They waste time on inconsequential parts of the presentation while ignoring their personal impact. By going through these five stage of preparation you will feel more confident and be more relaxed to deliver a powerful presentation that influences your audience.

 

Do you or your team need help?  We work with executives on the “how tos” of more natural and influential business presenting. Feel free to contact us at any time to learn about the step-by-step approach we have taught thousands of executives around Asia. 

Lessons when communicating to senior managers: Find common ground

Overcoming objections and challenges is essential to gaining acceptance for your proposal. While many presenters know their audiences well, they miss out on possibilities to connect their message with their manager’s interests. We call this “Create your Connection”, step 4 in the 8 step journey of  The One Minute Presenter.

Finding common ground is the landing pad for your presentation’s message. Making it clear to the audience will improve your chances in gaining agreement.

Find common ground. This is your preparation and research part. First think about the outcome for your presentation. How receptive will your manager be to your conclusion? Find areas that they will buy-into most easily. Connect your presentation flow and message to the things that you know your manager is motivated by

Example:

Your manager firmly believes in capturing market share through exceptional high-touch client engagement. Your proposal includes a section that proposes training all client-facing staff to resolve problems within 24-hours.

Your manager always wants to see the detailed numbers behind any major decision. Although you do not want to go into the spreadsheets in your short presentation, you print our and include the financial modelling as a handout.

Be explicit in showing the audience  your common ground. Be clear and lead the audience through the presentation. Show your manager that you know what he likes to hear. This is all part of connecting with your manager. When you see the nods, you know you have made that connection. A good presenter keeps making small connections through-out their presentation.

Samples:

“A major risk in fast expansion is lowering customer service consistency. We don’t want that to happen. In fact, we can’t let it happen. So here is our solution to deliver consistently high customer touches while we are aggressively growing into new markets”

“I know that you are interested in the financial modelling behind these projections. Although, in the short time we have available in this meeting, I don’t have time to get into the details, I have included a handout with our spreadsheet calculations and would be happy to share a soft copy with you after the meeting.”

Use common ground to overcome objections. Being challenged by a senior manager is a fact of life. Be ready for these challenges by starting your answer in a position that you can both agree on. This helps you get agreement in the starting position and then state your case in a logical fashion from there. Although this will not guarantee that your manager will always agree with your point-of-view, it does improve the chance of buy-in as it eliminates all confusion in the rationale behind your proposal.

Example:

Manager: “Why are you predicting a 12% increase when we have calculations of a 15% gain over the same time period.

Your answer: “As we confirmed earlier, customer retention is our most important priority. Our premium clients require a very hands-on service so rather than risk burning them as we expand too rapidly into new areas, we are recommending a slightly more conservative projection that will allow us time to re-train client facing staff while gaining exposure to attractive opportunities in second tier cities.”

Finding, sharing and returning to common ground is a great way to stay connected and aligned to the motivations, values and concerns of your senior manager.


How Business Speakers Can Engage Their Audience

The British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai wrote a brief summary of my recent talk with their members. See the synopsis here.

Lessons when communicating to senior managers: Get to the Point

A key skill to master when delivering your message is getting to the point. This is especially important when your audience are senior managers who are short on time and need to make decisions effectively before moving onto the next issue on their agendas. This is part of “Produce your Message”, step 3 in the 8 step journey of  The One Minute Presenter.

It’s a challenging skill to acquire as it often requires a different approach.

Start with the outcome. Most busy executives need to know the range of possible outcomes before they can make a decision. Don’t hold back on the possible consequences of your proposal or a plan. If you wait until the end of your presentation, you are likely to get interrupted with abrupt questions.

Samples:

“In today’s presentation I will outline the new project X which has the potential to increase our market share between 3% and 25% I will explain why that range is so wide and ask for your decision on getting stage one moving at the end of the presentation.”

“The main reason we are having issues in our quality control is due to our change in supplier. I will outline the implications and make some recommendations on how we can reduce defects immediately.”

Know what your message is. Spend time to think about the key point or message of your presentation. In workshops we help managers acquire this skill by taking a longer explanation and gradually boiling it down to it’s most salient point. This will give you clarity on what the core point you wish to convey is and importantly will help you deliver it concisely to your audience.

Samples:

“In a nutshell, the main message from today’s presentation has been the urgent need to align project controllers with the current priorities of the project managers. After lunch we will discuss how we will implement this in the next quarter.”

“In today’s presentation, I will explain our plans for 2011-12. The takeaway message is ‘maintain premium clients, expand into business parks’. Let’s start with our existing client base…”

Don’t be afraid to emphasis your message. Just because you said your message once, doesn’t mean the audience understood or remembered  it. Think about different ways of conveying the same point.

Samples:

“Executive presence is the key to building up an effective leadership team.”

“Our senior managers need to become more influential. Executive presence should be part of their development plan.”


Be brief and then be gone is the best advice you can have when delivering to senior managers. Spend time to craft yoru message and then refine it so that you can say it in the fewest possible words.


Lessons when communicating to senior managers: Don’t assume

One of the most important steps in preparing for any type of communication is understanding the motivations and burning issues for your audience. We call this “Treasure your Audience” and it’s step 2 in the 8 step journey of  The One Minute Presenter.

Two words that should be burned into your memory when it comes to communication is “don’t assume”.

Don’t assume that the audience has the same motivations this week as last week. Regular meetings can get into a rut – most people don’t bother to prepare in advance for them –  and if you don’t check what is top-of-mind for your senior manager this week, you may be missing opportunities to align your message with his interests. Or you may annoy or irritate him by focusing on the wrong topics. Ask checking questions before your presentation.

Samples:

“I am planning to cover A, B and C. Which area would you like me to cover in most depth?”

“Has anything changed from the last time we spoke? Would you like me to focus on any particular area first?”

Don’t assume that you know the motivation behind a question. Have the confidence to check-back and narrow the focus of a question.This will prevent you from answering the wrong question (from your manager’s perspective) and help you to only answer the question with the appropriate level of detail.  Don’t attempt to download everything you know on the topic of the question. Give shorter answers and allow your manager to make a follow up question.

Samples:

“Thank you for your question. Could I just clarify whether you would like me to go into A or B in more depth?”

“That could be covered from different perspectives. Which perspective would you like me to address first? X or Y”

Don’t assume that every audience can be handled in the same way. In many regards, every time you speak is an unique occasion. Even if you are speaking to the same audience at regular periodic meetings, they are in a different state of mind. They have different things on their mind, different current pressures and different immediate motivations.

Samples:

“We covered this issue in great detail last time, what extra insight would we like to cover this time?”

“What is your most burnign question at this moment in time.”


Always keep these two words close at hand when you are presenting and communicating. Assumptions are the root of most misunderstandings. The most confident communicators can push-back and check what exactly their manager or audience would like to get from the presentation.


Lessons when communicating to senior managers: A checklist

I recently held a talk with professionals in Shanghai around how to communicate up in an organisation. Here are some of the learning points.

  • Don’t assume

  • Get to the point

  • Find common ground

  • Meeting before the meeting

  • Push-back with questions

  • Make the understanding explicit [let them know you understand what they want]

  • Use connecting questions

  • Break up presentations with intelligent interruptions (every 5 mins)

  • Journalist pyramid

  • Stay on track; be positive, bridge back [always have an agenda and an independent meeting facilitator]

  • Speak to outcomes [not process]

  • Hold accountability; who does what by when

  • Give your opinion; P-S-A

  • Problem- Solutions- Action / Recommendation

What else would you add?