CONTENT AND ORGANISATION:

Before we look at how to give an effective talk, presentation or make written communication, we need to look at the content.  The principles of effective communication apply just as much to written communication as to giving a talk.

If you are not comfortable with your content it will make you nervous.  Ask yourself what you should say in your talk.  If you have nothing to say then it is better not to say anything.  There is an old saying: "Make sure your words are better than your silence would have been!"  If you do not feel strongly about what you are saying, you will not come across with conviction and enthusiasm.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE:
You need to examine why you want to say it.  For example is your motivation just to boost your own ego!  This is the case with many public speakers.

Your general objective should be one (or two) of the following:
To inform.
To persuade.
To motivate.
To entertain.
You could of course, persuade and entertain at the same time.

If your general objective is to impress then you will not come over as good as you think.   Be very careful.  Maybe the only excuse for this would be in a job interview.  The point I am trying to make here is that I have listened to speakers whose aim seems to be to impress their audience.  They're motivated by pride and that's boring for an audience!

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE:
To persuade my audience that if they have truly been "born again" they cannot lose their salvation.  Another example:  To motivate these Christians to go out and knock on doors to spread the gospel.

TWO COMMON MISTAKES:
1. Don't be one of those speakers who gets to his feet and announces he hasn't had time to prepare his talk!  It's an insult to your audience and in any case they can see right through it!  YOU'RE TELLING YOUR AUDIENCE THEY'RE NOT WORTH YOUR PREPARATION TIME.

Doing this is communicating that you have little confidence in yourself.   What you are really saying is;  "If my talk isn't very good it's NOT because I'm a poor public speaker but because I'm oh so busy."  All you are doing is communicating you are a disorganised person!   What is behind it is PRIDE and that is a big turn off to an audience.

2. The second common mistake is conveying to your audience that you cannot fit your talk into the time allotted to you.  This is not a sign of a good public speaker.  As a general rule if a speaker in church cannot fit what he wants to say in half an hour he needs to look again at his communication skills.  If your talk is a work presentation your talk may be for considerably longer and you will need a whole lot more skill.

I know a speaker who, after 25 minutes of a half hour talk, looks at the clock with a knowing smile and announces without fail that he has hardly started his talk!  It is that great turn off, PRIDE again.  He is assuming his audience shares his devastation at his time running out and would sit and listen to him all day.  Yet he always finishes on time so he does himself a great injustice.  He probably does not realise what he is communicating.

TO WHOM ARE YOU SPEAKING?
You need to know this in advance if possible.  This will help you formulate the content of your talk.  You need to know at what level and where to pitch your talk:

You will already have realised that I have a problem as to where to pitch this study because I have no way of knowing to whom I am writing.  I don't know who you are!  You may be an experienced preacher of the gospel or a young person wanting tips on how to give an effective business presentation to improve your career prospects.  This is a difficulty to be avoided if possible, although in my case I have to try pitch it everywhere at the same time!

Correct pitching is so important:

I used to give resettlement lectures to the British Army many years ago.  I was employed to inform them of the career opportunities that existed in civilian life and demonstrate how their skills might be marketable in an area with which few of them were familiar.  All ranks used to attend the same lectures at first from Colonel to Private.  You can see that the career opportunities for a senior rank were unlikely to be the same as for a Private (although I have to say there were some delightful surprises!).  Therefore where to pitch the talk proved very difficult.  After this we formed the different ranks into groups and the problem was solved.  My lectures were more relevant to their needs and became very popular.

If you are making a business presentation and you are wanting a decision then find out who are the decision makers and target them.  What attitude will your audience have towards you and your subject.  Is there anyone who knows more about the subject than you!

So; find out as much about your audience as possible in advance.
 

FOUR KINDS OF PRESENTERS:

1. Those who have neither bothered about the content of their talk nor how they are going to put it over.

2. Those who make an excellent delivery but convey very little.

3. Those who have a great deal to say but present it badly.

4. Those who have excellent content and deliver it well.

Obviously we must strive for number 4.
 

THREE BASIC APPROACHES TO GIVING A TALK OR PRESENTATION:

1. IMPROMPTU.

2. PACKAGED.

3. BALANCED AND PROFESSIONAL.

There are no prizes for guessing which one is the most effective but let us look at all three and see what we can learn.
 

THE IMPROMPTU APPROACH.

This is the conversational approach.  There are no visual aids used and no notes.  Speakers can sometimes be seen pulling up a chair and even joining their audience.  They could be half seated on a table.  The conversation would be allowed to wander.

ADVANTAGES to this approach are that the speaker has great freedom to adapt to his audience.  He can appear spontaneous and can be seen to respond to the needs of his audience.  This makes his audience feel special.  It is an ideal stance for leading a discussion if you are experienced at controlling audiences.  It is good for house groups but often not for business.

DISADVANTAGES included are that important points can be missed.  Your message could be very confusing for your audience.  When asked afterwards what you said, the reply may shock you - they could remember very little of what you said.  If you do not use visual aids you will not be communicating effectively - even though you think you are.
 

THE PACKAGED APPROACH.

This is completely packaged.  Often an auto-cue is used and a presentation is read word for word.

ADVANTAGES are that your argument, logical structure, detailed points can all be worked out in advance and providing the presenter can read, the talk will go like clockwork.  No important points will be missed and timing will be perfect.

DISADVANTAGES will, however, outweigh the advantages.  Audiences are turned off by this approach.  It is seen as a package not always related to them.  It is not flexible and it is impossible to respond to your audience since it is all worked out in advance.

The glazed look from the speaker as they look at you through the auto-cue detaches them from their audience.  They fail to establish eye contact; that essential link with their audience.  The speakers voice is often expressionless as he reads the script.  Another variation of this packaged approach is the hand held notes from which the speaker reads - equally trying.

However, I have to acknowledge that there are exceptions.  Some years ago we employed the TV personality, Michael Aspel, to do a presentation to our customers.  There was a dress rehearsal in the afternoon followed by the dinner in the evening with our customers and this twenty minute talk by him.  At rehearsal he had not seen the talk before and read it through perfectly on auto-cue with amazing expression in his voice.  I marvelled at how he could do this.  The evening talk was no better because his first attempt could not be improved.  These are the professionals; the TV newscasters and one only realises just how good they are when one tries to do it one's self!

Sometimes it is difficult to have visual aids such as a flip chart or slides at an after dinner speech or a traditional church.  Then it will be necessary to have prompt notes or cards with key statements to remind you what to say.  This is quite acceptable because you, the speaker, are not reading your talk word for word.  We will talk about notes later.
 

THE BALANCED AND PROFESSIONAL APPROACH:

The most experienced speakers would agree that this "middle road" is the most effective way to give a presentation or talk.  It combines the freedom of the impromptu approach with the discipline of the packaged approach.

The speaker uses visual aids to keep on track when possible.  There are other reasons for using visual aids talked about later.  The slides are the notes.  You do not need notes when using slides with headings on.  There will be ample opportunity to respond to questions.  You will then be able to pick up easily where you left off.

There is nothing to stop the speaker reading odd quotations.  This adds to the variety of the talk.  However the great advantage of this method is freedom of speech disciplined by step by step argument from slides or other visual aids.

I acknowledge that a talk in a traditional church will often make using visual aids more difficult but your talk will be less effective without them.
 

STRUCTURE YOUR TALK:

It is most important to structure your talk.  It should have an OPENING, MIDDLE and SUMMARY.

First I tell them what I'm going to tell them,
Then I tell them,
Then I tell them what I've told them.

It is a good rule to remember that normally people need to be told important points three times in a talk for them to remember.  There is a great deal to be said for repetition.  The main points should be stated in the opening, the middle and the summary.

Think of the news on television.

OPENING:
They have the headlines:  "The Prime Minister admits he's wrong."  and "The Leader of the Opposition pledges to support the Government."  (Unlikely I know but...)

MIDDLE:
"Today in the House of Commons the Prime Minister admitted he had been wrong in the handling of the economy..."  You would get the full story.

"Today at Prime Ministers question time in the Commons the Leader of the Opposition pledged unconditional support for the Government..."  Again you would get the full story with interviews etc.

SUMMARY:
At the end the newscaster pulls it all together.  "The Prime Minister admitted mistakes today..."
"The Leader of the Opposition..."

Does this sound familiar?  Of course it does.  This is the effective way of communicating.  Sometimes news bulletins can vary as they try out new techniques but they come back to the basic principles.
 

WHAT DOES YOUR AUDIENCE WANT FROM YOU?

Ask yourself what they want.

They want you to show that you respect them.  That you value them coming to listen to you.  They want to feel they are important to you.  Can you see how you would offend your audience by telling them you haven't had time to prepare for them?  You're saying they aren't important enough to you to allot part of your valuable time to prepare for them.  They want to feel you are aware of their needs.

They want to know if what you have to tell them is going to help in any way.  Is it worth their while staying to listen to you?  They want the facts about your message.  They want honesty about possible problems.

They want to know what action they should be taking.  This is the first rule of leadership; "First you've got to tell them what's required of them!"  They need direction and motivation.  "What shall I do?"
 

FEATURES AND BENEFITS:

It is so important to understand the difference between features and benefits when communicating with others.  People are really only interested in the benefit the feature provides.  THEY WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THEM.

FEATURES:
Features are characteristics of a message and remain the same regardless of whether your audience act on your message or not.

BENEFITS:
A benefit is the value the feature provides.  A feature in your talk may offer a different benefit to different people with different needs.

FEATURES DO NOT VARY BUT BENEFITS DO.

For example if you were selling your house with a one acre paddock, the feature is the paddock.  The benefit would be to the buyer who has a pony that he can keep it in the paddock.  A benefit to a self-sufficiency gardener would be that he could start a large vegetable garden.  Benefits vary according to the needs of your audience.  In your talk you can dramatise the benefit to bring it alive:  "You know what it's like when your really keen on golf and want a quick game but but haven't the time to go to the club?  Well, with this house you can have your own putting green in the paddock and play any time you want!"

EXAMPLES: (If you can say, "so what" after the statement it's a feature.)
Made of pure new wool is a feature - softness and warmth are the benefits.
Lasts 10% longer is a benefit.
Gives 20% more miles to the gallon is a benefit.
Available in blue is a feature - highly fashionable is the benefit.

If you're giving a talk make sure you tell of the benefits to your audience.  For example:  "If you set aside some time each day to spend with the Lord in prayer and study you'll grow as a Christian more quickly and learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Consequently, you will begin to understand the Gospel more and your life will take on more meaning."
 

STRUCTURE:

OPEN:

The first rule of communication is:  "First you've got to get their attention!"  If you don't they may not be listening and your words will be wasted.

The first requirement is to be enthusiastic about being there and about your message.  Enthusiasm is contagious and if you cannot rustle up enthusiasm for your own talk - how can you expect it of your audience?

Get their attention by telling a relevant joke, stating a startling fact or relating a personal experience.  Memorise your opening so that you can look at your audience and establish that all important eye contact right from the start.  Use a visual aid for your opening.  Your audience should know in the first minute where you are taking them.

EXAMPLE:
In a recent survey three quarters of top executives believe their success is due to good communication skills.  This talk is about how you can improve your communication skills.
 

MIDDLE:

Take your audience through the main points of your presentation and then expand on them one by one.  Explain how they benefit your audience.  This is most important.  Don't just make a statement of fact, but convert that fact into benefits.  It will bring your talk alive.

Use examples and paint word pictures.  Use visual aids (more about this shortly).  Prepare to answer objections and questions.  Show the problem and the solution - the cause and the effect.

Make sure you place the most important points first and last.  People remember less of what is contained in the middle than at the start or finish.

If you have material you want to leave with your audience then hand it out at the end - not in the middle of your talk.  It will only be a distraction which is the very thing you don't want.

Write flexibility into your presentation or talk so that you can adjust the rudder as you go along.  Many years ago I used to lecture at a university on certain aspects of marketing.  My first time I had no idea where to pitch my lecture and received little help from the course tutor.  To add to my uncertainty I was lecturing in the main auditorium to a mixed body of students and I can remember having prepared three levels of presentation complete with charts.  I was able to ask questions of the students and determine for myself their level of knowledge and I was soon able to choose which level to pitch my lectures (which was the lowest level in case you're wondering!).

Use plain English and avoid big words and above all JARGON.  Jargon is the curse of modern society in my view and computer jargon is the worst of all!

Two thirds of your talk or presentation should be examples or stories.  Make the point then illustrate it.

Remember, always use visual support if at all possible; charts, pictures, videos, props etc.  You are more akin to an entertainer than a presenter in front of an audience.
 

SUMMARY AND CLOSE:

Pull the talk together.  Go over the main points again to remind them of what you have said.  This will prepare your audience for the action you want them to take.  Then return to your original statement or opening theme and close your talk by requesting your audience to take the action you desire them to take.  You can use a single closing visual aid.

Remember, your audience must know what you would like them to do so ask them to do it!  They must then approve of what you have asked.  Only then will they move.
 

REHEARSE:

When you have prepared your talk go back over it and rehearse.  Don't be afraid of editing it, every talk will need this.
 
 

DELIVERING YOUR TALK:

In this section we will look at some of the main problems we encounter when we stand on our feet in front of an audience; nerves, confidence, visual aids, body language etc. but first:

NERVES:

We are all nervous.  It is perfectly natural; but if we show our nervousness it will in turn make us more nervous.  We can then start the downward spiral to disaster!  Learn not to show your nerves.

Don't think of things that are out of your control such as whether the boss is going to come in and sit at the back shaking his head!  Don't think the roof will fall in or the fire bell will sound (although you may pray for this to happen if you're nervous!).

Don't wonder how your audience will react to what you're going to tell them.

Don't think about yourself and whether you're neat and tidy.  You should be so but if you aren't it's too late now!  If you have prepared well you will know everything is where you want it to be.  Therefore be positive.  Be enthusiastic and you will find your nerves will be channelled into your enthusiasm,

Remember, if you are trying to persuade your audience to do something you need to offer them LEADERSHIP.  (The first rule of leadership is; let them know what is required of them).

You can't show LEADERSHIP unless you show AUTHORITY.

You can't show AUTHORITY unless you are CONFIDENT.

You won't be CONFIDENT unless you have the KNOWLEDGE in the first place.

KNOWLEDGE above your audience's level in your chosen subject will greatly reduce your nervousness.
 

BODY LANGUAGE:

Human kinesics or "body language" as it is commonly known, has been described as; "The art of seeing what others are thinking".  How true this is.  Non-verbal communication comes straight from the soul.  It is all part of our emotions and a dead give-away!  A staggering three quarters of all non written communication exchanges are non-verbal.  Every speaker should have a basic knowledge of non-verbal communication.  You can detect boredom, hostility, dejection, consciousness of time, defensiveness, apprehension, critical evaluation, anxiety and much more in your audience.

Using the wrong body language can make you appear nervous.  Try not to hide behind barriers such as tables.   I realise sometimes this cannot be avoided such as an after dinner speech.  In this case it does not matter as much as everyone else is behind a table!  Don't hide behind an open case, projector, folders, plants and flip chart holders.  Don't laugh, I've seen them all!

Don't clasp your hands in front of your lower stomach.  This is known as the "non person state".  You're trying to shrink yourself as small as possible as you would rather not be standing there at all.  That is exactly what you will communicate to your audience.

Don't fold your arms.  This is a barrier.  Open your arms in a welcoming stance.

Don't hold notes in your hand if you are nervous and trembling.  The minor tremble in your hand will have transformed into a major tremble by the time it reaches the end of the paper.  As this will be well within your own sight you will see the tremble and it will make you more nervous, then you'll tremble more which will make you shake more.....  Soon your knees will.....   Well you see my point.  You need to reverse the downward spiral.

SOME SIMPLE CLUES:
This is not the medium to explain body language.  It has to be taught in a group and face to face.  However, I'll try to give some pointers for the public speaker.

We give out SIGNALS both verbal and non verbal.

VERBAL communication is mainly conscious and carefully thought out before speaking.

NON VERBAL communication comes from the subconscious and therefore far more difficult to control.  This in turn means body language will be far more accurate in determining what a person really means or is thinking.

A PERSON MAY BE SAYING, "NO" BUT GESTURING, "MAYBE"!

BASIC RULES:
Our words are accompanied by complementary body movements.  Our words and gestures should only be considered TOGETHER.  Only then can the progress of any interaction be determined.

Body language is a language.  Be careful not to make an interpretation from a single unrelated gesture because in so doing you will be mislead.  This would be like trying to understand what a person is meaning from one word in the spoken language.  It would be meaningless.

For example if one said:  "Mud", it would be meaningless in itself but if one said:  "There is mud on the road outside", this makes sense.  It is the same with body language:  I am asked, "What does it mean when a person folds their arms?"  The answer is that by itself it means little (although it is a barrier).  It depends on how they're folding their arms and in what circumstances.  As a public speaker he's saying:  "I'd rather not be here."  You have to take into account other related gestures.  Is his head up or down?  Are their eyes up or down?  Is he looking straight at you?  Are his feet crossed or uncrossed?  Is he stretched out or pulled back?  With whom are they conversing or are they an observer?  You see these are called; "Gesture Clusters".

Remember; just as we speak verbally in SENTENCES, so we speak non verbally in GESTURE CLUSTERS.

If a person in your audience is leaning towards you and on the edge of his seat he is feeling positive towards you.
If he is leaning back, arms folded well up under his arms, ankles crossed, stretched out and head down; he is rejecting what you are saying.  The basic rule is up and open is good and down and closed is bad.

If you're leading a discussion watch the participants feet which indicate tension if they're twitching.  This tells you to be gentle with them and "not put them on the spot".  However, in other circumstances this can mean a person is not being truthful - so be careful!

Try observing yourself as you speak.  What gestures are you making?  What is your total body language saying?  Where are your hands - feet - head - trunk?  Are you leaning forwards or backwards?

Watch TV interview programmes with the sound off!

A complete study of body language is recommended but this is beyond the scope of this study.  Maybe some day I'll formulate a study for this web site.
 

CONFIDENCE:

Remember, you can have too much confidence as well as too little.

CONFIDENCE LEVEL:
On a scale of 1 to 10 and 10 being the highest level of confidence, we can construct a confidence scale.

SELF:  1 to 3 is low confidence and it means we are concentrating on ourselves too much.  Is my tie straight?  Is my hair sticking up?  Do I look the part?

MESSAGE:  4 to 7 is the mid level where we tend to concentrate on our message.

AUDIENCE:  8 to 10 is the high level of confidence when we concentrate on our audience.

CORRECT LEVEL OF CONFIDENCE:
To ensure a correct level of confidence we should not concentrate on ourselves but on our message and our audience.  When we find we are concentrating on ourselves it is a sign we have not prepared well enough.  We need to split our attention between our message and our audience.  a level of 7 or 8.
 

VISUAL AIDS:

In my opinion the use of visual aids is the single most important part of giving a presentation or talk other than speech itself.

Correct use of visual aids reduces stress and nervousness by taking pressure off the speaker who can place the slide on the overhead projector or turn over the flip chart and stand back whilst his audience looks at it.  However, this isn't the reason we use visual aids:

FIVE SENSES:

We acquire knowledge through our five senses at the rate of:

Sight 85%
Hearing 10%
Taste 1%
Touch 3%
Smell 1%

You can see that anyone who does not use visual aids is working much harder at getting their point over.  They may also think they're getting their message across but they certainly are not as effective as they think.  People simply do not remember.  If you doubt me cast your mind back to your earliest memory as a child and think what it is you actually remember.  Apart from exceptional circumstances you will remember a picture, not the words.

To take it a step further, if you can involve your audience in some way they will understand more.  There is a saying which really is true:

We hear - we forget,
We see - we remember,
We do - we understand.

Types of visual aids vary but include over head projector slide, 35 mm slides, flip charts, blackboard and white board.  Be careful not to put too much copy on your slides; just headlines.

Other visual aids include various props and samples.  I once used a gold fish swimming around in a gold fish bowl but that's another story!

When you've finished with your visual aid or prompt, remove it as it becomes and distraction.
 

NOTES:

If you cannot use visual aids for some reason and you have to use notes then consider this method:  Use of headings only is best but if you want the added security of some detail then fold your note paper in two down the middle.  Use the left hand column for your main heading and the right for detail pertaining to each left hand heading.  This means you can stick to the headings to remind you and go to the detail if you forget.  It works very well.  You can operate the same system with cards.

For a 20 or 30 minute talk you will find one heading for the opening, three or four for the middle and one for the summary and close.
 

QUESTIONS:

When asked a question always try to make the person feel great about asking it.  Firstly, thank them and then you might say;  "I'm glad you asked that..." or "That's an interesting question..."  Secondly, answer the question by being straight forward and if you don't know the answer say so but offer to find out if practical.  Thirdly, check that you have answered their question; "Does that answer your question."
 

AUDIENCE SIZE:

Very small audiences of about 6 to 15 or 20 should be approached by using a lecture lead discussion.  Small audiences, say less than 50, need to be able to participate unless it is a formal occasion.  Larger audiences, over 50 it is impractical to involve them although I have seen it done.

Whether you speak to 50 or 500 people, at this size it will make little difference.  The largest audience I have spoken to was 2 or 3 short of 1000 when a head count was done.  Frankly, it could have been 50, they were just a sea of faces so don't panic if you're faced with this!
 

VENUE:

If you are a guest speaker you may have little control over the venue.

Theatre style is when the seats are arranged in rows in front of you.  Boardroom style is when a smaller group is sat around a meeting table.  My favourite is the 'U', ideal for a lecture lead discussion with a smaller group.

Try to get comfortable seating (try the seats yourself!),  Make sure there are no windows behind you (or even on that wall) otherwise your audience will see only your silhouette and they'll have a headache at the end of your talk.

Make sure water is available, especially for the speaker.  Even the most experienced speakers get a dry mouth when speaking.

Avoid interruptions if it is a small group by putting a note outside the door.

Try all equipment first to make sure it works.  The times I see speakers trying to find the 'on' switch on the projector!
 

SUMMARY:

Communication skills are most important.

Take time to prepare properly.

Make sure you've got something worth while to say.

Set your objectives and plan a flexible talk or presentation.

Structure your presentation:  Open, Middle, Summary.

Tell your audience your main points three times.

Control your nerves by thinking positively and channel your nerves into enthusiasm.  Concentrate on your message and your audience, not yourself.

Use visual aids and get the audience involved if possible.

Make your audience comfortable about asking questions.

Make sure your audience is comfortable and there is no light behind you.
 

FINALLY:

If you're a Christian - then pray.  I promise it will help you.

If your not a Christian - then cross your fingers.  Although I promise it won't help at all!
 

A PLEA:

When you become an accomplished speaker don't be selfish!  Give less  experienced speakers a chance.  Don't hog the lime light all the time.  Others may have something to say too.  How can others become accomplished speakers if they are not given a chance to gain experience.

Remember, a good leader will develop those he is leading - a bad leader will keep others down to make himself appear better than he is!  I've seen this so many times and it's so selfish.

Almost every Christian fellowship or church I know is dominated by one or perhaps two speakers who expound their doctrine meeting after meeting, rarely if ever giving others a chance.  This is carnal Christianity.

Be generous and give others a chance like you were given!

Bryce Kaye.