Authentic Presentations

Your audience is more discerning than they were a year ago. So many things are calling for their attention they have to make judgment calls on the matters they can eliminate. At home they’re using their remote controls to click off DVDs, VCRs, receivers and cable boxes. It just takes them a split second.

What’s to say they won’t click you off, if only in their minds, the minute they lose interest in your meeting or trade-show presentation?

As presenters we must find a way to engage the audience and keep it tuned in. It can be a daunting task when people have so much on their minds. It’s been said that people do business with the people they know, like and trust. The same is true for getting people to listen and act on your presentation.

People have been bombarded with advertisements making them keenly aware of manipulation. Any kind of gimmick that used to draw people in now turns them off. A razzle-dazzle PowerPoint display isn’t enough to keep people engaged. The recent business scandals are fresh in everyone’s minds making meaningful, hype-free content more essential than ever. If your presentation has been referred to as a “dog and pony show,” it’s not a compliment. This phrase actually means a glitzy show lacking content. It’s best left for a small-time circus, not your time-pressured audience who’s grown weary of tricks.

Congruency is another factor of developing trust. I once saw a politician say to the crowd, “My goal is to bring us all together.” While he voiced it, his hands pushed away from his body. It wasn’t congruent, and my level of trust for him began to slip.

Words may indicate one thing, but if it isn’t what you truly believe your body will scream and declare your underlying thoughts. They are subtle messages, but your audience notices them. It could be as simple as an audience member asking the presenter if he has time for a question. The presenter impatiently looks down at his watch while saying a polite “Sure.”

You know what they really mean. Most of the time they don’t even see what time it is. It’s just a way for them to hint to you, “I really don’t have time, but I don’t know how to tell you.”

People believe body language. Make sure it’s congruent with your words. It may seem like a trivial concern in our fast-paced society, but any incongruence can be the seed of audience apprehension. You want to keep them focused on your content, not wondering about mixed messages.

Another way to build trust is through clarity. Are we crystal clear with our intentions? Do we tell them from the beginning why we’re there and what we hope to gain by making the presentation? Is our intention to persuade, inform or inspire? Once we have clarified our intention, the audience can relax into listening to the content.

Without taking the time to get perfectly clear on our intention, the lack of clarity will be reflected in the rest of the talk. If you can’t write your perfectly clear intention on the back of a business card, you’ve got a ways to go.

You’re speaking because you are the expert.