How to be an Effective Public Speaker

"Most of us fear public speaking more than death. If we are at a funeral, that means we would prefer to be in the casket rather than delivering the eulogy.” — Jerry Seinfeld  

As someone who gets the opportunity to speak in public fairly frequently, I am often asked for pointers regarding public speaking and why some people seem to be able to pull it off with ease while others fail. (I call this the good, the bad and the ugly syndrome). Although there are some tricks of the trade that seem to help, I believe the most important actions to take are getting the presentation prepared and practicing it many times over.

You have all, no doubt, experienced a wide variety of speakers yourself and been bored by some, entertained or educated by others, and probably have some advice to offer as well. While reading a recent Harvard Business Review I saw a short article titled, “Five Presentation Mistakes Everyone Makes” by Nancy Duarte, and thought about its applicability to the EMS conferences where I have had the opportunity to attend or actually speak, as well as for those who aspire to speak. Some of the relevant points from the article are outlined below.

Failing to Engage Emotionally

How many times have you been sitting in a presentation at an EMS conference and thought, “What am I doing here?” or “This is nothing like what the brochure said this presentation was going to be.” Chances are the speaker didn’t engage you emotionally; the speaker lost his crowd’s attention by simply “stating the facts” or reading from the PowerPoint. Instead, what EMS speakers need to do is infuse their own personal experiences into the words that are written on the board behind them. This brings the material to life and gets the audience involved. This can include examples from when things have gone well or even when they have not gone so well, and should offer the speaker’s perspective and experience for the audience to learn from.   

Asking Too Much of Your Slides

PowerPoint can be a great tool and has some good flexibility as a presentation adjunct, but it can also be a crutch, and a good presenter needs to identify what they’re trying to accomplish with it. Do only that, nothing more. Don’t overload the slides with every word you want to say and every point you want to cover. (The presentation world calls these "slideuments.”) Be ready to expound meaningfully on the content of the slides while, at the same time, knowing where you are in your presentation and what the audience is seeing on the screen.

Also, watch the colors (this applies to both background and font color), as well as various animations (if you cut and paste, they may not work) and keep your fonts and graphics appropriate for the size of the audience/venue.

Trotting Out Tired Visuals

Nothing gets eyes a-glazing like a visual cliché and by now we have all seen them time and time again. Want your presentation to stand out (in a good way) from the others your audience has seen? Brainstorm lots of visual concepts—and throw away the first ones that came to mind. They're the ones that occur to everyone else, too. That's why you've seen them a million times in other people's presentations. Generate several ideas for each concept you want to illustrate, and you'll work your way toward originality.  

Speaking in Jargon

If I could, I would rename this point “Understanding your audience.” For us EMS folks, this can include, but isn’t limited to, BLS level personnel, ALS level personnel, educators, supervisory personnel, managers, etc. Each one of these groups comes to a particular presentation with specific things they expect to get from it, and for the most part, these things aren’t the same. Therefore, knowing who you are talking to and how to craft the messages is of utmost importance. I find this time and again in my management presentations, where more experienced managers will be looking for something different than what new managers are looking for, which is still different than what those aspiring to supervisory or managerial positions are looking for.     

One of the caveats that goes hand-in-hand with the aforementioned point is humor—know your audience and what they will tolerate regarding humor. If, for even a moment, you have to wonder if you will offend an audience with a particular joke, anecdote or slide, take it out. To this point, you may want to send your PowerPoint presentation to a few trusted friends to review with a critical eye; if they laugh at the jokes and appreciate the content; chances are an audience will as well.

Going Over or Under Your Allotted Time

This is a big no-no. Understand that both conference organizers, as well as the audience itself, have an expectation of you as a presenter. If you are asked to speak for an hour, then you should attempt to get as close to that hour as possible; the same holds true for any time period you have been allotted. The secret to this is practice, practice, practice. Practice your presentation, your timing and even what you plan to insert as amusing anecdotes. You can choose to practice by yourself, in front of a trusted friend, or even record yourself and then play it back—but you must practice. Of course, you will also want to plan some time for questions. 

Also—as a wise man once said at the beginning of a presentation I attended—the mind will only absorb what the butt will endure.

Conclusion

Speaking in public can be a nerve-wracking experience filled with lots of work developing your presentation, practicing it and perfecting it. Following the steps outlined above is integral if you are to turn an otherwise average presentation into one that will be filled with educational nuggets for the audience. Part of the advice I give prospective speakers who are looking to get more confident and gain experience is to practice at smaller events like community awareness/education events first, prior to moving to regional, state or national venues. Additionally, many community colleges have short classes on public speaking that are very reasonably priced and can assist potential speakers.

Gifted speakers who develop timely presentations will ultimately have audiences walking away feeling they have learned something from the presentation as well as thirsting to learn more; can you live up to that challenge?

References

Duarte N. Five Presentation Mistakes Everyone Makes. HBR Blog Network, blogs.hbr.org.