The list of such changes is long and both exciting and frightening, depending on how you view it. Such changes will challenge our thinking in almost every area, especially when you reflect on a phrase of Einstein's : “One cannot solve a problem with the same sort of thinking that created it.”
Yet whatever the changes and challenges we face, the need to communicate clearly, openly and effectively has never been greater. The ability to present your offering to a potential client clearly, honestly and skillfully; to give clear and congruent direction and inspiration to your team, staff or company...and the ability to do all of this brilliantly and at short notice...is no longer an option. It is vital. And of course it is the most portable of skills.
Those who choose to master the vital art of presenting will be far more likely to survive and prosper in the coming maelstrom. Those who do not will find the going tough.
It would probably be fair to say that presenting is very rarely top of people’s favourite things to do. And many of us go to extraordinary lengths to avoid having to give one. Why is this so?
For some of you reading this, what I’m about to say will make no sense at all. The remainder will recognise it in varying degrees. The reason is fear. What sort of fear? Fear of failure. Is that all? Fear of failure through ridicule - being made to look stupid, bumbling, unprofessional. Fear that our nerves will show, that our voice will crack, the sweat will pour and that we’ll be judged in a critical and negative manner.
You would expect me to be biased and I am! Research continually shows that being able to present coherently and naturally and to ENGAGE with any audience is a skill worth mastering. Failing to do so damages promotion prospects in most organisations, loses both existing and potential clients, gives woolly confusing messages, de-motivates staff and in many cases does your self-esteem no favours.
Getting most of it “right” can go a very long way to winning business, getting your ideas accepted, building other people’s trust and faith in you and improving their perceptions of you - both personally and professionally.
Is there one way of doing it - a foolproof magic pill or method?
Frankly, no. We are each of us unique, with our own personalities and style. And I would ALWAYS encourage you to let your natural style - the real you - come out to play. But it will normally only feel safe to come out and play if you feel you have the tools and the techniques to do justice both to yourself and the subject you are talking about.
That’s what this book is about. It is a distillation of the most useful techniques and attitudes that I have been teaching and also learning from my clients for over 20 years. They all work. They work time and time again and in almost every context. Try them for yourself, and experience the difference that even just a few of them can make. It can be the difference that makes the difference.
“If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.”
— Thomas Edison
Why me?
Have you ever sat back and wondered “How the hell did I get to be here today, doing what I'm doing?!”
Churchill once said “ The secret of being great is knowing what you want and going for it”. Well, I definitely failed on that one!
For years, I hadn't a real clue of what I wanted to do. Yet nearly everything I’ve done has contributed to make me one of the most effective presentation coaches around. And I say this with no sense of ego - more with delight and constant surprise! Delight and a genuine sense of fulfilment at what my clients are able to achieve after working with me...and surprise that this has become my path and vocation after being petrified for so long by the very things I now teach.
At school I was scared stiff at standing up and speaking in public. Although I loved theatre from an early age I never volunteered to take part in school plays.The very thought of looking out at all those people made me sick with nerves. My parents put strong pressure on me to develop my debating skills, but I studiously avoided ANY chance to do so. Ridiculous though it may sound, for many years I wouldn’t get married because of the thought of walking down the aisle looking at all those faces. Hardly an auspicious start!
Yet I must have had something of the performer hidden in me. I was a very good pianist in my late teens, and got enthusiastic applause on the rare occasions I performed on stage.
My confidence grew more once I joined the Army. After completing an instructors course, I did well enough to be recommended to become one of the instructors at the school itself.
After 5 years wearing khaki, I found myself in a small merchant bank for 2 years where I made some good friends but learned very little!
After the Army, my next most formative and powerful influence was the 6 years I spent with Procter & Gamble. I had no idea of the calibre of the organisation I’d joined, and I certainly had no more than a fleeting interest in soap or the retail trade. But I had been told by many wiser than me that it would be excellent training and stand me in good stead for almost any business I chose to join afterwards. And they were right. I have worked with over 50 different organisations since leaving P&G, and I’ve yet to find one who manages, coaches, trains and motivates their people better.There was no HR dept to speak of - I think 3 people. And no training department as such. As managers we were all trained to train and coach and manage our people, and at least at junior level we were measured and promoted on 2 principal things.....our ability to produce the business and our ability to produce the people. Luckily I seemed to do both well, and found myself in Head Office.
Yet in my final few months there, I received a sharp warning about my lack of presentational ability. I had been promoted from the field to a small and elite team in Head Office - part of the job being to launch and relaunch brands. One particular launch was huge. It involved going into a whole new market strongly dominated by a major competitor.
The launch was very innovative and by P&G standards - spectacular.
I very nearly got thrown off the presenting team for being by far the weakest link in the chain. I sounded wooden and lacklustre and just couldn’t get it right in rehearsal. Yet on the day I managed to pull the rabbit out of the hat and do justice to the product, the event, and my team.
I share this hopefully brief vignette with you for one principal reason. So that you can feel confident that I have made nearly every single presenting mistake its possible to make! And that I have endured the torments of Hades at the very thought of standing up in front of others. I’ve “been there”, which gives me a valuable and empathetic insight when helping others excel in this crucial business, managerial and leadership ability.
“Many of the things you can count, don’t count. Many of the things you can’t count, really count.”
— Albert Einstein
Some fundamentals
Let us start this journey together with exploding a modern myth. When you say “presentations” to people, around 90% will immediately think of PowerPoint. How many slides they can produce and how much should go on them. They then spend an age composing those slides, with hardly a thought of how they will talk about them.
To them, the slides are the presentation and they are merely the voice accompaniment. This is completely wrong and more importantly, will almost always FAIL TO ENGAGE your audience. Did you ever see Barack Obama, Churchill, Nelson Mandela or Tony Blair ever use slides? So leave any thoughts of PowerPoint behind for now.
If you will, think of a few examples of some really good public speakers and presenters - people who have impressed and engaged you. What do they DO? What do they DEMONSTRATE or seem to POSSESS? Do this exercise below now before reading any further.
What do impressive speakers DO?