STEP SIX

Stop—Review Basic Communication Techniques

With solid research finished, a well-crafted presentation in hand, and all of the room logistics scheduled, some presentations can still fail. Why? The presenter may not possess a strong, relaxed delivery style. Without exceptional presentation skills and communication techniques, audiences quickly lose interest and may even head for the nearest exit.

Experienced presenters communicate effectively with their audiences using both verbal and nonverbal techniques. This step provides the basics of each technique to enable you to communicate your message through a variety of methods.

Verbal Communication Skills

Verbal communication can immediately engage or turn off your audience. For example, do you sound like John Wayne or Minnie Mouse? Do presentation jitters cause you to speak as fast as an auctioneer? Here are some tips to improve and hone your basic verbal communication skills.

The Four Ps—Projection, Pitch, Pronunciation, and Pace

Voice inflection can be one of your best assets in capturing the audience’s attention and holding their interest. In any presentation, how you say something is just as important as what you are saying. To improve your verbal communication, consider sharpening these skills:

• Projection—your audience has to be able to hear you in every part of the room when you present. Here’s a simple way to ensure that you are projecting accurately: Before your presentation have someone stand in the farthest reaches of the room, begin your presentation, and ask if he or she can hear you. Then adjust your projection as necessary. Keep in mind that it is easier for the person in the back of the room to hear during a practice session than when the room is full of people, shifting their weight on creaky chairs and rustling papers. Be prepared to ratchet up your voice projection and avoid inadvertently dropping the volume after the first few sentences of your presentation.
• Pitch—the dreaded monotone voice has lulled many a participant to sleep. When presenting, avoid droning on and be sure to modulate the pitch of your voice up or down. Having a monotone delivery is usually the result of paying more attention to saying the exact words listed on your notes rather than listening to how you are saying the words. Let the audience hear from your pitch when you are excited about something in the presentation. Modulate the pitch of your voice to accentuate more serious information. Your audience will take its cues not only from what you say, but how you say it.
• Pronunciation—if your audience can’t understand what you are saying, it’s as if you didn’t say it at all. Successful presenters demonstrate exceptional diction—that is, the art of speaking precisely so that each word is clearly heard and understood to its fullest. Be sure to enunciate each word clearly when presenting. In certain parts of the country, slight dialects may be difficult to understand until your ears get attuned to the sound and how specific words are pronounced. Keep this in mind if you have an accent or when presenting in certain areas in the country or abroad.
• Pace—good presenters adjust their rate of speaking to accentuate a feeling or mood. Although the average rate of speech is about 140 words per minute, to show enthusiasm or energy for a particular point, try increasing the amount of words accordingly. To make an important point perfectly clear or to emphasize something, try slowing down the rate to 100 words per minute. This isn’t science, so you don’t have to get out a stopwatch and count. Rather, understand that you can create a mood and atmosphere for your presentation just by how you use your voice.

Pauses and Fillers

Pauses can add more emphasis in just the right parts of any presentation. For example, a carefully placed pause can help to focus attention before you present a new key or supporting point. Pauses after you present a new idea also provide time for the audience to think about what you’re saying. Pauses are also effective after you have posed a question to the audience. By pausing and remaining silent, you encourage the audience to share their thoughts or provide feedback.

Fillers—those words that creep into your presentation and fill the silence while you are thinking or transitioning to a new thought include uhs, ums, ers, ahs, okay, right, and you know. Filler words are one of the fastest ways to annoy your audience and even turn their focus to jotting down tick marks every time you use a filler word. Don’t be afraid to pause and leave silence between your sentences and thoughts. Skilled, confident presenters are comfortable with the occasional silence and use it effectively to their advantage. Do not feel compelled to fill every silent moment with a filler word.

So how can you break your “filler word” habit? Write the filler word(s) to avoid on one side of a name tent or an index card. Prop the card in front of you—so that only you can see what is written on the card. Practice your speech with the card in front of you. If needed, find a friendly critic to listen to the presentation while you rehearse and “count” how often you are using these filler words.

Nonverbal Communication Skills

Body language—meaning how you look and move—can enhance or undermine your presentation. Based on different studies, it is usually accepted that between 7 and 10 percent of the effectiveness of a presentation comes from the words the presenter uses. Since the remaining 90 percent of presentation effectiveness is attributed to nonverbal communication, presenters need to be cognizant of their body language and use gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions to enhance their message. The next section provides tips and techniques to help you master and hone your nonverbal communication skills.

Body Language and Gestures

Many new presenters struggle with exactly what they should be doing with their hands and bodies when they present. For example, should they lean on or grip the lectern for security? Rock or sway? Stand poker straight with hands at their sides? Cross their arms in front of their chests? The answer is—none of these!

Effective use of body language and gestures contributes to communication—to emphasize, show agreement, and maintain audience interest. As a result it is important to consider and plan what message you want to send as you make body movements while presenting, In general, use movement when you want to convey enthusiasm and energy about a particular point in your presentation. Some seasoned presenters walk to different parts of the room while making eye contact with the audience. Movement can be used to engage all the members of the audience, especially if you approach different areas of the room to make personal contact with the participants. This technique keeps everyone focused on you, including those who might be in back corners or the far recesses of the room.

Movement can be used to make a point or draw attention to something going on in part of the room, such as a participant asking a question. By moving in a purposeful way during the presentation, you help to maintain the audience’s interest and to keep the presentation flowing.

Gestures refer to hand and body movements that are part of any presentation. When you watch a play, the actors use gestures to convey emotions, add emphasis to particular points, paint a mental picture, and so on. Important points to remember about body language and gestures include

• Use quick, positive, energetic movements—of the hands, arms, and head. Keep the attention of your audience by making your movements unpredictable. Make your gestures purposeful, for example, walk rapidly, but alter the pace of your stride as you make points and reinforce them. Coordinate movement and gestures with your delivery.
• Take a natural stance—but do not look too casual. This is very important when presenting. You want to project a comfortable, confident image, but not look too casual. As a general rule, stand with legs about 18 inches apart or so (depending on your size), equally distribute your weight on each foot, with your arms in a comfortable position at your sides or lightly resting on the lectern with your notes in view.
• Pay attention to and eliminate unconscious body language—some gestures and movements can distract the audience including fidgeting, pacing, clicking a pen cap, and jingling keys or coins in pockets.
• Use gestures for emphasis—for example, if you say, “There are three steps in creating an effective opening,” hold up three fingers sequentially as you articulate each point.
• Observe the audience’s body language—facial expressions, down-turned eyes, looks of concern, fidgeting, or slouching are all signs of boredom, disinterest, or lack of understanding.
• Use positive facial expressions—including smiles, expressive eyes, a look of concern, empathy, and encouragement. Look at your face in the mirror. How do you communicate feelings and emotions? How do you use your eyes, eyebrows, and mouth to express yourself?
• Never sit behind a desk or stand behind a podium— during your presentation. This establishes a barrier between you and your audience. Put more life into your presentation by moving freely about the room and down the aisles. Presenters who trap themselves behind the podium and venture out occasionally to write on a flipchart appear less than enthusiastic.
• Walk toward participants as they respond—to your questions. This encourages them to continue. As a participant responds, nod your head slowly to show you hear what they are asking. If you need to think through what he or she has asked or need to clarify the question, consider paraphrasing the question back to them or say, “So if I understand your question, you are asking...”

Above all, demonstrate enthusiasm and passion about the topic and the opportunity to present. Your enthusiasm is contagious and often generates interest and positive feelings from the audience.

Eye Contact and Facial Expressions

Making eye contact and exaggerating or animating your facial expressions shows the audience that you are engaging with them. Keep in mind that the larger the audience—the more you may need to exaggerate your expressions and body movements for them to be seen by the people in the back of the room.

So how much eye contact is appropriate? As a general rule, spend five or six seconds of eye contact at least once with each member of your audience, making sure that you look at everyone when presenting to a small group and to small pockets of people in a larger audience. Eye contact also offers an opportunity for a presenter to get a feel for how his or her audience is reacting to the presentation. By making eye contact and seeing people’s expressions, the presenter can often gauge the audience’s interest.

Facial expressions convey emotion and provide the presenter with the power to change the mood in the room simply by changing the look on his or her face. One of the easiest actions to take while presenting is smiling. In addition, a smile can pay dividends, too. Smiles are often interpreted by your audience as a sign of confidence, commitment, and interest in ensuring that the audience understands the presentation message. Although some presenters find it difficult to smile and talk at the same time, it is a skill worth practicing!

Using Microphones

Microphones are wonderful inventions that allow audiences to hear presentations. Although they may seem easy to use, many presenters make mistakes that cost time and cause embarrassment. There are three types of microphones that you’ll likely encounter:

Handheld Microphones

Most handheld microphones these days are wireless, but you can still run into some that are attached to an amplifier via a long, cumbersome cord that can make you feel anchored to your stage. Here are some tips on using handheld microphones:

• Don’t forget that you have a microphone. Every sound, whether it’s a whispered remark to a colleague, a cough, or an accidental bump against the microphone, is heard by the audience.
• Test the sensitivity of the microphone—before the audience arrives! No one likes to be subjected to the presenter repeating, “Test 1-2-3.” Find the right distance between your mouth and the microphone to avoid feedback and ensure that your audience can hear you.
• Try to be natural holding the microphone and think of it as an extension of your hand.

Lavaliere Microphones

A lavaliere microphone clips to your lapel, blouse, or pocket with the transmission unit stored in your pocket or attached to your belt. A lavaliere mike allows you to walk around and speak in a natural manner. Most are wireless, but again, you may run across microphones that are still attached to a cord. Here are some pointers for using lavaliere microphones:

• Make sure the microphone is in a position to pick up your voice before you present.
• Turn your microphone’s transmission unit off when you’re not using it. One colleague went to use the restroom and forgot to turn off the transmission unit! Again, noise and perhaps embarrassing comments might be heard by the audience.

Podium Microphones

Some podiums have the microphone already attached—which means that you are trapped behind the podium. This fact may bother some presenters, but novice presenters often find comfort in this type of setup. When using podium microphones:

• Don’t cling to the podium with a death grip.
• Don’t read from your notes just because they’re right there in front of you on the podium.
• Even if you can’t move around, you can still use nonverbal communication to connect with your audience.

Now that you have reviewed the communication techniques that will enhance your presentation, use Tool 6.1 to verify that you have mastered these skills.

TOOL 6.1

Speaker’s Communication-Skills Assessment

Use this checklist to self-assess an audio or videotape of your practice sessions, or have your friendly critic complete it while you rehearse or during an actual presentation. Enter the following items to indicate if you did or did not exhibit the behavior on the list.

• An item to indicate when you did the item on the list.
• An item to indicate that you did not model that item.
• An item if it did not apply to the presentation.

• Chose a title that tied audience interests to the topic
• Chose a title that established realistic audience expectations
• Used an attention-getting opening
• Presented body of the speech in an organized, logical sequence
• Used transitional words and expressions (such as then, next, despite, on the other hand) to help the audience follow the presentation sequence and flow
• Made the presentation’s main theme clear
• Offered adequate substantiating arguments, statistics, examples, and so on to support the main theme
• Used words to distinguish facts and proofs (“actually,” “in fact“) from opinions (“I believe,” “many people think”)
• Used a conversational tone
• Demonstrated appropriate degree of formality
• Used personal pronouns (you, we, I)
• Explained technical terms
• Avoided jargon
• Handled notes unobtrusively
• Handled microphone professionally
• Avoided nervous gestures/postures
• Made eye contact with individuals in audience
• Avoided staring at one section or person in the audience
• Used gestures that supported (rather than detracted from) words
• Used pertinent, inoffensive humor
• Spoke loudly enough
• Varied pace of speech
• Avoided speaking too fast or slow
• Paused for audience reactions
• Avoided filler words (um, er, us, right? Okay?)
• Varied pitch of voice
• Was neither shrill, squeaky, nor monotonous
• Spoke clearly
• Pronounced words correctly
• Dressed appropriately
• Met time requirements for the presentation (within five minutes)
• Presented a memorable conclusion