We have all seen it.
And we all cringe.
When someone does something to “spice up” their talk, and it has the opposite effect.
The video freezes. The slide has a typo. The joke bombs. The live demonstration fails (see Steve Jobs with the Iphone).
It hurts so bad to watch.
However, in my opinion, as far as talks go, even small presentations, illustrations are a necessary evil.
Let’s talk about why.
Well, the mind can only process so much information at a time. I don’t know the science behind it, but our attention spans are shrinking more and more with each passing – wait, hold on, I just got a ReTweet.
We have so many things competing for our attention. Therefore, as a presenter, we must end the competition by commanding the attention of the audience.
Enter our frenemy, the illustration.
I define illustration as a mental break from the conveyance of content for the purposes of re-engaging the audience. This has many different forms.
- Jokes
- Stories
- Videos
- Audience participation (questions)
- Powerpoint
- Demonstration
- Graphs
- Statistics
- Testimonials
- Pictures
- Dance moves (that’s just me)
The list goes on and on. These are important tools for giving a talk. And just like tools, they can become weapons that destroy your presentation.
So, what do we have to do in order to keep them from killing what we are trying to say?
Here are my general rules of thumb:
1) When it comes to stories, stats or jokes, either know it perfect or skip it entirely. NYT Bestselling Author Jon Acuff just sent an email this morning about public speaking and he said the rule is
“Know or no.”
That is absolutely right.
If you don’t know the material that you’re trying to present as an illustration, it will do the opposite. It will come across as a distraction and it will make you look like a presentation poser (yeah, it’s a thing).
2) Videos, slides, powerpoint and any other media must be tested, and then tested, and then tested once more. The only time a visual illustration fails is when you’re using it. It looked great on your iMac in your office. That video played fine on the iPhone. However, if it’s going to break, it’s going to happen in front of your audience.
I delivered a keynote to a large group of non-profit workers once. I had to do the talk three days in a row. I was so paranoid about loading my stuff onto their computer (I had three videos and a powerpoint) that I just brought my own laptop, presentation software, and connecting cords.
And guess what. . .when they loaded my stuff into their system, it didn’t work. My laptop came in handy and it was flawless (the presentation illustrations, anyway, not the talk!). During testing, it took two minutes for us to hook my machine up and test it and I was rolling like a snowball in an avalanche.
I think we need to test things more.
As an aside, with video illustrations and powerpoint, and this is just me, I prefer to have someone else running them than me. I know that I’ve seen it done a bunch of ways, and I may waver on this, but I like the idea that I’m only focusing on giving the talk, not advancing the slide.
3) If it gets messed up, move on. I think I’ve said this before a handful of times! But don’t try to save it. Don’t try to redeliver the joke. And don’t have them re-play the video. Unless you’re Steve Jobs doing a tech presentation about the new iPhone, your illustration now has turned into a weapon. And just like Superman and Kryptonite, it’s best that you distance yourself from it as quickly as possible.
As a side note, make a joke when something fails. Do it. Let it go a little bit. I wanna write a whole section at some point on when you mess up a talk. In the meantime, don’t pretend it was smooth. Own it and your audience will see you’ve still regained your confidence.
4) Make sure what you’re saying is true. The internet machine has made many public speakers liars. Don’t be afraid to say “I read this here.” Or, “In an article I was reading on Time, it said…” or, “I don’t know if this is true, but I read…”
When your transparency about how you came to your information goes up, so does your audience’s connection with you and their trust in you. Huge deal if you wanna ever deliver more than one talk.
5) Don’t you dare turn around and read those slides. I told you before about this. Don’t turn your back to the audience. I was filming a presentation once for a company and the businessman doing the talk did a total “about face” and turned and faced his powerpoint, as though he was singing it a love song and the audience had the privilege of peeking in on this sacred exchange.
Don’t. Even. Think. About. It.
Those slides aren’t for you. They’re for your audience. Use notes if you need to, but if you’re so dependent on the slides that you need them every moment, you are not ready to give that talk. No way, Jose.
6) Don’t forget illustrations are to enhance your content, not to become it. I have been guilty of spending so much time on an illustration that I neglected the content. That’s a crime. If your content isn’t solid, the illustrations are going to make what you are saying look like marshmallow fluff. And that may be appetizing to eat, but it ain’t pretty to watch.
7) Connect or reject. This is just a final thought. If you can’t tie in your illustration to the content of your talk, it’s not appropriate. You have to be able to transition into what you’re talking about.
Again, I am chief of sinners on this. I’ve used awesome illustrations. But when you are doing this during a presentation and it doesn’t connect, you end up coming across like the little boy on Jerry McGuire that keeps giving random facts from the back seat that have nothing to do with the adult talk going on in front. “Jerry, did you know the human head weighs eight pounds? Did you know bees and dogs can smell fear?”
Yeah, that’s you. That’s how you sound when you use an unconnected illustration. Except you’re not cute. And I’m bored and confused.
So, that’s how to keep your illustration from turning into a devastation to your presentation (that’s the best line I’ve written all year).