Training Presentation Skills

By Catherine Kaputa

Speaking—whether in a small meeting or a large forum—is one of the most important business skills, one that can make or break an executive career. Good presentation skills can make the difference between selling your proposal, recommendation or company, or striking out. Good presentation skills can the one factor that distinguishes an executive who goes all the way to the top of an organization, and one who gets stuck in a mid-level job mid-career.

So what separates the average communicators and presenters from great ones? And how can you train people for successful speaking?

First, to really be great at presenting, you need to tap into your inner actor, because a talk—even a short presentation at a meeting—is a performance. Particularly if you are giving a talk or presentation at an industry conference or to a large group at your company, it is your time to shine. But don’t neglect to prepare for the small meetings, too, whether it's the weekly staff meeting or your one-on-one meeting with the boss to push your recommendations. Here are some ideas from my new book, U R a Brand, How Smart People Brand Themselves for Business Success.

Study Good Speakers Around You 
You can tap into various speaking influences in developing your own speaking style. Pay attention to people around you who speak well and might help inspire your style: your minister or rabbi, executives in your company, speakers at networking or industry meetings. Listen to their presentation technique and see if there is something there for you to adapt for yourself. After his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama explained the sources of his speaking style: "I tap into the tradition that a lot of African-Americans tap into and that's the church. It's the church blended with a smattering of Hawaii and Indonesia and maybe Kansas, and I've learned a lot of the most important things in life from literature. I've been a professor of law. I'm accustomed to making an argument. When I am effective, it's coming from my gut."

Read wonderful writers for presentation inspiration. Listen to the rhythm and cadence of their words. For me and many others, the person I keep coming back to more than any other for inspiration is Shakespeare. (It used to be said that Shakespeare is quoted more than any source except for the Bible. Now, that’s out of date. The Bible is No. 2.)

Practice, Practice, Practice
No one, not even a person known for eloquence like Lincoln or Churchill, writes and delivers memorable talks without lots of preparation and practice. There’s a story about the Gettysburg Address that has a valuable lesson—a story every school child is familiar with—that Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address on the back on an envelope on the train ride to the battle site. In fact, Lincoln had been working on his remarks for several weeks and he kept working on them until the final minutes before he spoke. Some of the most memorable parts of the address, such as “of the people, by the people, for the people,” were phrases Lincoln had been exploring earlier in his writing and talks.

Winston Churchill’s secretary said that he would prepare for one hour for every one minute of a speech. That means he would spend 30 hours preparing a 30-minute talk! Churchill’s measure might be impossible, but the lesson is to spend as much time as you can in crafting your message and delivery style.

Don’t Hide Behind the PowerPoint
Don’t let pieces of paper come between you and the audience. (You can always put notes on 3x5 cards in your pocket. I do.) You want to build a relationship between you and the audience, no matter how big or how small. The development of a relationship begins with eye contact. JFK was said to look at people first in one eye, then the other, a technique called “planting.” In a large group, you can isolate a few people to make eye contact with during your presentation. You want each person to feel like you are talking directly to them.

In his book, The Art of the Start, Guy Kawasaki advises people in business presentations to observe “The 10/20/30 Rule:” 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30-point-font text. Most business meetings are trial by PowerPoint: too many slides, too many words, too many points. You must engage and build a relationship with the audience. You can’t do that if they don’t experience you because they are trying to follow wall-to-wall slides.

Catherine Kaputa is a brand consultant, speaker and founder of SelfBrand LLC, a New York brand strategy company that works on marketing projects for companies, products and people (www.selfbrand.com). She is the author of U R A BRAND! How Smart People Brand Themselves for Business Success, a new book now available from Davies-Black Publishing (www.urabrand.com).

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The development of a relationship begins with eye contact. JFK was said to look at people first in one eye, then the other, a technique called “planting.” In a large group, you can isolate a few people to make eye contact with during your presentation. You want each person to feel like you are talking directly to them.