Over the next two weeks I'd like to highlight the two most common errors I see people make when presenting - be it to their clients, suppliers, staff, industry peers, whomever - these errors seem to be omnipresent. I'll illustrate their seriousness by drawing a comparison with learning how to drive.

The two errors are:

• Lack of structure
• Inappropriate breathing technique

Comparison with driving

When someone says that they are "learning to drive" they are really addressing two issues with the one phrase. They are in fact:

Learning and practicing techniques that allow them to control the vehicle, for example, use of brakes and accelerator, clutch control, gear selection, when and how to use rear view mirrors, all that kind of stuff.

Learning the commonly agreed standards by which vehicles (in their part of the world) are used on the highway, i.e. the "rules of the road".

These are two very different things - learning the rules of the road is very theoretical, while actually learning how to control the car is essentially a very practical exercise - you get shown how to do it and then practicing doing it until it becomes second nature.

So to with pubic speaking (presenting). The theoretical bit is learning how to structure your information for maximum impact and the practical aspect is actually standing on stage and doing it.

For the point of view of the latter element - the physical presenting of material - inappropriate breathing technique is what most commonly lets people down. We'll revisit this next week in part two of this broadcast - right now, I'd like to focus on getting the structure right.

Structure

There is in fact one, simple structure that business people can use for the vast majority of their presentations - here it is:

Awaken interest

Guide understanding

Create impact

(Questions)

Call-to-action

Awaken interest: Your first job is to get the audience interested in what you can do for them. This should be done with your first 200 words (approximately) and should be delivered from memory. 200 words really isn't that many - fewer than containing in the Gettysburg address and fewer than the Shakespeare you had to memorise at school. Forget all the salutations (good morning, good afternoon, etc) and forget saying your name - all this can be "back-announced", just get on with the job of clearly stating why the audience ought to be listening to you.

Guide understanding & create impact: Having got the audience's attention, you can then introduce them to the material you want to cover. From time to time you'll want to create a point of impact to drive a message home. Telling stories is a great way to do this.

Questions: The key point I want to make here, is never end on questions. You loose control and instead on going out with a bang, you could end on a whimper. The last voice the audience hears must be yours - not another member of the audience. There isn't always a Q&A slot, but if there is don't put it right at the end of your presentation, preserve time for a 30-40s close, (see next).

Call-to-action: This is your "killer close" when you ask the audience to take a specific, measurable action. Make sure you have one - give them something meaningful to take away and do.

The issue here is a reasonably simple one. If you don't have a clear structure that's easy to follow and engages your audience early on, then no matter how good a speaker you are - as regards your pure stage abilities - the simple fact is that people won't remember your messages and won't take action.

What a waste. It would be like having a great driver who simply had no idea as to the rules of the road. He or she may be able to control their car well, but it would be dangerous to let them loose on the highway.

That's it folks for this week - as usual, your comments welcomed and appreciated, particularly with reference as to what you'd like to hear about. I do get quite a few e-mails by the way, and I read them all, so please don't feel shy about getting in contact.

Best wishes for the coming week.

Chris Davidson
Editor, Professional Speakers Journal
editor@professionalspeakersjournal.com