Remote, live in-person or a hybrid; these things are critical to a successful presentation.
Yes, the presenting world has changed, and no, it doesn’t look like it’s going back to the “old” live and in-person format any time soon. More likely, we’ll next be navigating presenting in a hybrid format, with some of our audience in person and others attending remotely. No matter what, these five things remain critical to a successful presentation.
AUDIENCE FIRST: Nothing matters more than the audience. They know it, and in order for you to be a successful presenter, you must know it to. From the time you begin creating your presentation you must turn your focus 180°. Focus not on what you want to tell them, what you want them to know, all of your very-important-stuff (which, p.s., they could care less about), but instead, focus on what they care about, what they worry about, and what their knowledge level is in regards to your subject. NOTE: If they don’t think your subject is relevant/urgent/important to them, you must begin by illustrating this relevance/urgency/importance very clearly.
DO THE HEAVY LIFTING: It is not your audience’s job to untangle the spaghetti of your content. Neither is it your job to edit your content for relevance while you’re presenting. This is all stuff you need to do ahead of time. Determine what the main point of your presentation is and stick to it. Organize the content around it, and vigilantly edit for irrelevancy.
BESPEAKING THE AUDIENCE’S LANGUAGE: No, it won’t make you look like a super-smarty-pants subject matter expert to throw around 8 syllable words and insider acronyms. It will only make your audience feel stupid, which feels bad, which has a ricochet effect. Feeling bad needs someone to blame. Who made them feel bad? You did. Now they feel bad about you. Way to go. Nix the jargon words and acronyms and talk to them in language an eight-year-old or eighty-eight-year-old can understand.
MAKE YOUR VISUALS AIDS FOR YOUR AUDIENCE: Your slides should be a synergistic component. They plus you should be exponentially more effective in getting your message across than either of you could alone. No visual should ever be self-explanatory. If it is, then there is no need for you, the presenter. Think “Show and Tell”. Show the visual (chart, graph, icon) and explain to the audience what they are looking at.
PRACTICE OUT LOUD: This is non-negotiable. There is no way to be a truly effective presenter in any format without practicing out loud. In your head does not count. Trust, me, you’ll sound like a genius in your head. Once you actually start clicking and talking, however, it’s a different story. Create the pathways between your brain and your mouth. Practice more than once to get your long-term memory involved as well. Come presentation day you’ll feel confident and well-prepared, and it will show.
No matter how you find yourself presenting; remotely, live and in-person, or a hybrid of the two, follow these five rules and you’ll be NAILING it.
Now that all communication is remote, which one is best for what?
Now that most of us are hunkered down in our home offices, our business communications are all remote. Where we once could saunter over to a colleague’s workspace, we are now either emailing, texting, talking on the phone, or videoconferencing. While we are so lucky to have these options, how to know which one to use when? Here are some guidelines:
No offense, but… If your communication has any kind of emotionally component or could elicit an emotional response then video conference or phone are your best options. Written text is VERY easily misunderstood. (Think about how many times you emailed or texted a friend or family member and they took what you’d written completely the wrong way.) Humans get all kinds of signals visually as well as auditorily. For understanding both ways, video is best. If that’s not possible, pick up the phone.
Between you and me… If what you are communicating is private, then a phone call or video conference are your best options. Do NOT send anything confidential via email. Keep in mind, once you hit “Send” you’ve lost all control of the missive and its contents. In other words, no trash talking via email, or confessions of love for a coworker, or tales of a recent transgression – (yours or anyone else’s).
It’s complicated. If your communication is complicated; lots of data, hard to explain, involves many steps, you may want to use a multi-mode approach. Send an email in advance with explanatory info to help the receiver read, perhaps reread and better understand. Then you can video conference and use PowerPoint to emphasize the key points, elaborate, answer questions, etc.
A No Brainer. If, on the other hand, you’re sharing easy to digest information, send an email! If there’s not a lot of info, put it within the email itself. I recommend using bullet points or an outline format to clearly delineate where one idea or data point ends and another begins. DO NOT write in paragraphs. Paragraphs make it impossible for the reader to pull things apart and really see what’s what. Oh, and for God’s sake, EDIT! NO STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS EMAILS.
Get it together, will ya? Speaking of editing, no matter what mode of communication you’re using to get your message across, please take some time to organize your content. Brainstorm if you like, but then sift for relevancy. Weed out what doesn’t belong. Put your information in a logical order. The great thing about remote communication is that you can refer to notes! An added benefit: when you get your content well organized, you’ll have a concise, clear message. You’ll not be frustrating your receiver(s) by confusing them and/or wasting their time.
Let’s face it, pandemic or no, remote communication is here to stay. Learn to use it the right way and you’ll be heard – and seen – and succeed!
