The Engaging Presenter Part II

This guide is the result of hundreds of intensive training workshops, for thousands of people from many nations. The methods are universal, and suitable for meetings, presentations and formal speeches.

It includes: How to enter 'flow' - that state of mind and body when you are fluent, time flies and speaking is a pleasure. How to overcome nervousness by engaging your audience. How to make your audience listen to every word you utter. How to use visual aids so that audience eyes never glaze over. How to be significantly more persuasive. How to significantly boost your personal authority.

Preface

It’s about you and your audience

I once co-presented with a dynamic visiting speaker from California. I warmed up in the wings by standing in silence, eyes closed. He warmed up right beside me by jogging on the spot, throwing punches at the air.

I went on first, made my speech, and finished to satisfying applause. Then my co-presenter came on.

He strode to the centre of the stage, projecting his voice magnificently all the way. Many people sat up straight, wide-eyed. They liked it. What a performance. What a showman. High energy, fluent, and utterly confident. They looked at each other and you could almost see them thinking, Wow, this is going to be great.

That approval lasted less than a minute. Then the audience started, once again, to look sideways at each other, but this time the thinking was clearly, What’s this guy on? But he charged ahead, oblivious to the rising negative signals – disconcerted looks, frowns, shaking heads.

Why did the audience change their minds?

Because it was so obviously all about him. Look what a wonderful presenter I am. They knew it and they didn’t like it. He was about as connected with them as with an audience of concrete posts.

Yes, this guide does show you how to be competent and confident. But it also offers you the other half of the story: how to speak with the audience, not at them. How to speak so that they warm to you and your message. The principles are universal. The methods apply to almost any kind of speaking context: meetings, presentations and formal speeches.

Discover the pleasures of engaging with your audience. Be a person who connects with people.

This guide is the result of hundreds of training workshops with thousands of people. It works.

Have fun.

Content

Heads up!

Foreword

1. How do I turn this guide into real skills?
   1. Fear, flying, and what really persuades your audience
   2. Gain personal authority by giving ‘fundamental’ respect
   3. The fast track to promotion
   4. Which part of your speech carries the greatest impact?
   5. Making fear work for you
   6. Two life choices
   7. How to programme your subconscious in advance
2. How do I discover my personal performance key?
3. How do I speak when I’m using visual aids?
   1. The bad news
   2. The good news
   3. Turning the screen off
   4. You first, then the screen
   5. The core visual-aids principle
   6. How to stand and move when you use a large screen
   7. Don’t engage with your own computer screen
   8. Do jump directly to any slide, forward or back
   9. Avoid ‘this is a cow’
   10. Electronic smartboards
   11. Other sophisticated presentation software
4. How do I become more persuasive and convincing?
   1. Build rapport right at the beginning
   2. Give them variety
   3. Improve your persuasiveness by blirting
   4. How to handle embarrassing mistakes
   5. Keep your body language open
   6. Be open, but not an open book
   7. When your personal views conflict with your message
   8. Look at people with your whole body
   9. The power of deliberate silence
   10. Bigger audiences want you to be bigger
   11. Your notes and the lectern
   12. Tell stories to make your message memorable
   13. Make humour work for you
   14. How to apologize or admit a mistake
   15. Speak in a conversational language and tone
   16. Signals to journalists
5. How do I handle formal or special occasions?
   1. Formal salutations
   2. Introducing a speaker
   3. Thanking a speaker
   4. Farewelling a staff member or colleague
   5. Presenting and receiving awards
   6. Opening functions
   7. Funerals
   8. Other speeches to family and friends
6. Bibliography
7. Endnotes