Discussion
I avoid them. I'm talking (or writing?) about the formal type where you'd be running through a power point type jobby in front +10 people, usually requested in subject outside of comfort zone, but not always, by a friendly manager.
I avoid them because of nerves, perhaps an irrational fear of ridicule and a worry of not being able to get my words out. I don't enjoy being centre of attention.
However I am happy to present a departmental finance performance pack (I'm an accountant) as I would in a 1-2-1 or less formal sit around the table with 5-10 senior and subordinate colleagues. I've even steered a few meetings on a complex financial model with the FD and 1 or 2 other Directors on my own with no problem.
How damaging is this to my career surely I can't avoid the big formal ones forever? Should I be seeking formal training (where - Toastmasters?). I terms of career I don't care for senior management positions, I'd prefer to be a specialist.
When I was younger (well I'm not that old - 31) I was concerned that I wasn't "good" at everything and tried to find ways around it and just jumped in and got on with it. As I have got older I am now picking and choosing what I want to do, obviously still doing my job 110% but steering the way I do things i.e. rather than presenting I might choose a workshop approach where everyone can collaborate. I see it as a different method.
What do you guys do, avoid or push yourself into it. I know some people love it, plenty of those at my place and I'm to let them relish in it.
I avoid them because of nerves, perhaps an irrational fear of ridicule and a worry of not being able to get my words out. I don't enjoy being centre of attention.
However I am happy to present a departmental finance performance pack (I'm an accountant) as I would in a 1-2-1 or less formal sit around the table with 5-10 senior and subordinate colleagues. I've even steered a few meetings on a complex financial model with the FD and 1 or 2 other Directors on my own with no problem.
How damaging is this to my career surely I can't avoid the big formal ones forever? Should I be seeking formal training (where - Toastmasters?). I terms of career I don't care for senior management positions, I'd prefer to be a specialist.
When I was younger (well I'm not that old - 31) I was concerned that I wasn't "good" at everything and tried to find ways around it and just jumped in and got on with it. As I have got older I am now picking and choosing what I want to do, obviously still doing my job 110% but steering the way I do things i.e. rather than presenting I might choose a workshop approach where everyone can collaborate. I see it as a different method.
What do you guys do, avoid or push yourself into it. I know some people love it, plenty of those at my place and I'm to let them relish in it.
I'm an introverted person, so am not a natural public speaker. It is, however, a significant part of my job (academic).
I find that thorough preparation helps a lot. I also remember that of all the people in the room, no-one knows more about the topic than I do (it is, after all, mostly my research!).
I also put pictures and diagrams into the slides, which jazz it up a bit. If the slides are dull, then the audience will focus more on you. Whereas exciting and interesting slides and content will split their attention (getting this right is an art).
I find that thorough preparation helps a lot. I also remember that of all the people in the room, no-one knows more about the topic than I do (it is, after all, mostly my research!).
I also put pictures and diagrams into the slides, which jazz it up a bit. If the slides are dull, then the audience will focus more on you. Whereas exciting and interesting slides and content will split their attention (getting this right is an art).
Reduce the quantity of sh*t you put on the slides. The less is on the slide, the more you have to think and talk so that everyone understands, the closer it is to your comfortable/informal/discussion type thing.
Pictures and graphs are good, for any bullet point aim to get it to four words (bloody difficult but makes you think more about what your actual message is).
Pictures and graphs are good, for any bullet point aim to get it to four words (bloody difficult but makes you think more about what your actual message is).
Rather than present facts, tell a story. It's more fun to do and is far more engaging for your audience.
A large part of my work is presenting somewhat scientific business learnings to audiences who are far more academically inclined than I am. Adding to my challenge is that these people get 'presented at' constantly and are often jaded as a result. Consequently, I NEVER use PowerPoint anymore, because it is so linear, over-familiar and predictable.
I find that story-telling is more captivating and involving.
A large part of my work is presenting somewhat scientific business learnings to audiences who are far more academically inclined than I am. Adding to my challenge is that these people get 'presented at' constantly and are often jaded as a result. Consequently, I NEVER use PowerPoint anymore, because it is so linear, over-familiar and predictable.
I find that story-telling is more captivating and involving.
I used to be terrified of public speaking.
Now I do it a lot and am pretty good at it.
One tactic I sometimes use is to fire a question at someone in the audience, or ask them a group question. If they think you are going to pick on them it changes the dynamic as they are normally terrified of speaking in public too.
Now I do it a lot and am pretty good at it.
One tactic I sometimes use is to fire a question at someone in the audience, or ask them a group question. If they think you are going to pick on them it changes the dynamic as they are normally terrified of speaking in public too.
decadent said:
Cheers guys, I reckon I could get it on my appraisal. I am pretty self evaluating during them and they would probably secure a training day.
One thing I find hardest is getting started, i.e. introducing the topic. Perhaps that is why I prefer the less formal approach.
Apart from your topic and how long you have to present, the first thing to know is who your audience is; customers? Colleagues? People more or less knowledgable than you?One thing I find hardest is getting started, i.e. introducing the topic. Perhaps that is why I prefer the less formal approach.
Once you know who your audience is, figure out what you think they want? This will be different for, say, a pitch than for a know-how briefing to colleagues or a financial briefing to a sales team etc.
If a pitch, know who the decision maker is and focus on what their needs might be.
Once you all this you can then structure the presentation.
There are probably loads of different structures:
Traditional - introduce yourself, then tell them what you are going to present to them in 3 - 5 bullet points. Also set out your question policy (questions as they arise for a small audience or at the end for really big groups).
Then work through those 3-5 points.
Then summarise with and end with the key message of the presentation.
Don't end with. 'Thank you' or 'that's it' or anything else. Always end with your one, key message.
Less traditional structures might (for a pitch, say) focus on challenges, risks and benefits.
A course really is useful.
Cheers John, that's really helpful, especially the bit about structuring.
Audience can be senior - i.e Head of Finance, Financial Controller, Business Partners who are more knowledgeable. That's probably the most daunting. On their own or a collaborative discussion is easy but coming up with some new idea and selling it to them as a group via a presentation is tough.
Less knowledgeable people, perhaps a training session or something is OK for me.
Ha - Perhaps it an authority problem (or maturity..)
Audience can be senior - i.e Head of Finance, Financial Controller, Business Partners who are more knowledgeable. That's probably the most daunting. On their own or a collaborative discussion is easy but coming up with some new idea and selling it to them as a group via a presentation is tough.
Less knowledgeable people, perhaps a training session or something is OK for me.
Ha - Perhaps it an authority problem (or maturity..)
What sort of presentations are you doing to the senior/more knowledgable?
Is it updating on market/financial state of the company/sector etc?
Or is it 'pitching' to them to get buy in for something, like a new project or system?
If small groups, you may find it easier to encourage a more active questioning policy, so they asks questions throughout. Some people find it easier to 'answer questions' than to 'present' - though they are fundamentally similar things.
Some people visibly relax when answering questions and if this is the case for you, you could structure a presentation as a series of questions (to yourself) to which you provide answers.
The key thing, always, is to (correctly) figure out what you audience want and deliver it.
Is it updating on market/financial state of the company/sector etc?
Or is it 'pitching' to them to get buy in for something, like a new project or system?
If small groups, you may find it easier to encourage a more active questioning policy, so they asks questions throughout. Some people find it easier to 'answer questions' than to 'present' - though they are fundamentally similar things.
Some people visibly relax when answering questions and if this is the case for you, you could structure a presentation as a series of questions (to yourself) to which you provide answers.
The key thing, always, is to (correctly) figure out what you audience want and deliver it.
I was the same as you and now I´m told that it is one of my core strengths. What I do is:
Prepare well
- Think about the audience, the message and what I want the outcome to be
- Develop some slides which give a message after I´ve done the above
- Ask for help from a trusted colleague who can be your sounding board
- Once you have all this, practice..... yes, I really do mean say it out loud in your front room about 5 times as this way the topic will be in your head.
On the day
- Book the 30 minutes before the meeting as a final practice
- smile
- Don´t read from the slides, talk around them
- Agree the outcome up front
- ask for feedback at the end
- Enjoy
Adapt the above as necessary, but the key one is practice!
Prepare well
- Think about the audience, the message and what I want the outcome to be
- Develop some slides which give a message after I´ve done the above
- Ask for help from a trusted colleague who can be your sounding board
- Once you have all this, practice..... yes, I really do mean say it out loud in your front room about 5 times as this way the topic will be in your head.
On the day
- Book the 30 minutes before the meeting as a final practice
- smile
- Don´t read from the slides, talk around them
- Agree the outcome up front
- ask for feedback at the end
- Enjoy
Adapt the above as necessary, but the key one is practice!
Cheers guys for the prep and delivery tips. Practice at home and before hand sounds like a good way to get the right mindset.
In terms of presenting to senior collegaes it would be both company financials (this is generally OK as I'm confident in my technical abilities and it's a tried and tested format I use) and also getting them to buy into new ideas.
At the moment I work on a project involving a lot of change, I took the role to work outside my comfort zone and learn from new experiences. It involves a lot of change management and I am in the firing line (or just challenged alot) during presentations where I am suggesting new ways of doing things with the new system and other systems that integrate into it. I personally prefer a collaborative approach but perhaps it is the culture of my organisation, colleagues prefer not to "help" but like to pick things apart instead (regardless of any prep work I have done with them before hand!). I am not trained in change management so kind of making it up as I go along.
In terms of presenting to senior collegaes it would be both company financials (this is generally OK as I'm confident in my technical abilities and it's a tried and tested format I use) and also getting them to buy into new ideas.
At the moment I work on a project involving a lot of change, I took the role to work outside my comfort zone and learn from new experiences. It involves a lot of change management and I am in the firing line (or just challenged alot) during presentations where I am suggesting new ways of doing things with the new system and other systems that integrate into it. I personally prefer a collaborative approach but perhaps it is the culture of my organisation, colleagues prefer not to "help" but like to pick things apart instead (regardless of any prep work I have done with them before hand!). I am not trained in change management so kind of making it up as I go along.
decadent said:
One thing I find hardest is getting started, i.e. introducing the topic. Perhaps that is why I prefer the less formal approach.
That's where the point made above about telling a story comes in. Most of my presentations tend to be on research projects/studies so I find it useful to start with the original question and then go through the steps that were followed.A lot of people tend to confuse a presentation and a report and try and get all the information on the slides, the slides should be the key points and data with you filling in the information as you talk. Use Powerpoints notes page to jot down all the things to want to talk about rather than having it all on the slide.
Matt Harper said:
Rather than present facts, tell a story. It's more fun to do and is far more engaging for your audience.
A large part of my work is presenting somewhat scientific business learnings to audiences who are far more academically inclined than I am. Adding to my challenge is that these people get 'presented at' constantly and are often jaded as a result. Consequently, I NEVER use PowerPoint anymore, because it is so linear, over-familiar and predictable.
I find that story-telling is more captivating and involving.
Absolutely agree. I use slides once in a while but try and avoid them, the best presentations don't use them and it's so much better if you don't overplan and, as Matt says get up and tell a storyA large part of my work is presenting somewhat scientific business learnings to audiences who are far more academically inclined than I am. Adding to my challenge is that these people get 'presented at' constantly and are often jaded as a result. Consequently, I NEVER use PowerPoint anymore, because it is so linear, over-familiar and predictable.
I find that story-telling is more captivating and involving.
I used to be in the same boat as the OP. Used to hate presenting then ended up having to present to new investors to basically secure my job. 10 or so in the management team presenting on that day and I was probably the weakest presenter but the strongest performer in the company. I just thought sod it - I'm just going to go for it. Since that day, I've not had an issue. One trick or tip I try and always use now is make sure my first slide is very well rehearsed and makes an impact. I found it gives me a confidence boost, getting off to a good start, and the rest just seem to roll. Good luck.
Get 3 or 4 of your colleagues together and I'll come and run a course for you! (Probably for about the same cost as as one person attending an external course!)
There is so much to a really good presentation - I've run presentation techniques courses lasting 5 days before.
The key is practice, on your own if you have to but in front of people is much better.
Am I allowed to put a link to my website here..??
Edit: Actually I think there is a link in my profile. Drop me a line!
There is so much to a really good presentation - I've run presentation techniques courses lasting 5 days before.
The key is practice, on your own if you have to but in front of people is much better.
Am I allowed to put a link to my website here..??
Edit: Actually I think there is a link in my profile. Drop me a line!
Edited by swindorski on Wednesday 15th January 20:31
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