Speak up, or you might be passed up - public speaking; how to warm up an audience

Me? Give a speech? Make a presentation? Never!

"I'm an editor, not a speaker," says one. "I'm a writer, not a speaker," chimes another." "I'm a graphic designer, not a,speaker," adds a third.

Yet there were times when all three wished they were speakers, wished they could transfer their skills with words and images on a page into the ability to turn ideas into mental images expressed into the air. They may have been invited to speak at a professional meeting. They might have panicked and said "No," only to regret a missed opportunity. They might have accepted and been stressed out from that moment to the moment of delivery. Or, worse still, they might have accepted, delivered, and known from every clue given them that they could have done better.

Why all these scenarios? Much has to do with training. The writer and the editor had to write to succeed in school. They didn't have to speak. The designer also needed to write, but chose every opportunity to illustrate with graphics. This was rewarded with additional opportunities to paint pictures to be hung on the walls, in displays, and so on. So the designer, too, could succeed without speaking. From their earliest school days, editors and artists were not "stretched" into using the skills of speech. They could succeed without them.

Now they are professionals trained in their professions - and totally unprepared for the new task they face: Speaking. Now they need training - but where to find it? Where, for that matter, do you find the necessary training when you find yourself faced with giving a speech?

The answer is that you become your own teacher. The first step is to recognize that there are three components to every speaking presentation: the technical, the mechanical and the inspirational. The technical deals with your knowledge of the subject. The mechanical deals with the skills of speaking that allow you to get your message across. The inspirational deals with your style of delivery. All are important. Each could be the subject of its own article. In this article however, we'll consider the mechanical, or a portion of the mechanical, aspect.

Connect with your audience

You know your topic. You exude confidence and excitement, but you've got so much technical material, you simply read your speech or presentation. Don't! No matter how detailed and fact specific you must be, you must find ways to connect with your audience - with your eyes, your body, with the modulation of your voice. That means looking away from your speech - and not just for a fleeting glance, but long enough to establish eye contact so that each and every member of your audience believes that you are talking with him or her, individually.

The simplest way to do this is to build the rhetorical question into your presentation. You'll know when it come - and when it does, move away from your speech, look to the right and ask, "Why must this be so?" Then face the center and ask, "Is there no solution?" Then look left and ponder, "What does it take to increase readership?"

Now that you've established contact with eyes, body and voice, now that you've personalized, you can return to your written material and provide the answers. But can't you just see yourself a few minutes later moving away from the podium again to ask, "Doesn't that make sense? Can't you see how this would apply?"

Yes, just by building "connecting passages" into your presentation, even if you have to read each and every word, even if you are not able to move your eyes away from your material during the presentation itself, you've connected yourself to your listeners, and your program will be much better received.

Can you do more with the reading process? Of course you can. Let them, the audience, read with you by using visual aids, slides, transparencies and flip charts. It's easy. Just prepare the material in advance and, when you come to that portion of your program, reveal the words that you were about to read - and just be still. Project the slide, show the transparency, flip the page on the chart. Let them read, after which you can build on what has just appeared. This is another chance to look at your audience, make a specific comment or ask that rhetorical question, and then return to your written material. It will almost appear that you are delivering a spontaneous presentation instead of the carefully orchestrated program you're offering.

Which is better - the slide, the transparency or the flip chart? It depends on audience size. Too big is overkill, too little is distracting. Generally speaking, if your audience will be 125 or larger, the transparency works best; for small groups in a meeting room, the flip chart is most personal.

How much material should be on each of these visuals? Ideally, no more than 10 words. Make those words large enough to be seen, large enough to carry their impact and large enough to give your audience a sense of satisfaction that they have been part of your program - not an appendage.

The ideal visual is used to reinforce a point just made by you. Your visual needs to be introduced, just as you would introduce a friend at a reception. If during your speech you refer to the relationship between ad pages and editorial pages, don't show the slide and say, "See!" That's what amateurs do - but not you. You are a professional, and it win shine through when you make your comments about ad pages and editorial pages and then say, "Let's see what this looks like graphically." Then, voila, the slide appears. Don't read it to them. Don't explain it to them. Elaborate on it if you wish - but remember, a graphic is supposed to replace a thousand words, not require a thousand words.

Then, it's back to your speech. But what about the slide? Don't leave it there on display. That's distracting. Don't advance to an empty white space, that's blinding. Either turn the projector off, or have a dark blank slide on view so that when you are ready to reveal your next visual, all it will take is the flip of a switch. Transparencies work the same way: Introduce, reveal, comment - and then the visual goes into the background. The focus is now back on you and your presentation.

Notice, you're still "reading a speech," but just doesn't seem like it any more. To the audience, it's involvement and it appears spontaneous. Which leads us to an important point in this article: Questions. If all you want to do is get it over with as fast as you can, then leave no room for questions. And if any come up during your talk itself, push them away. But if you are trying to sway minds, build relationships or raise your image in the group, nothing works better than questions and answers. They are the ultimate acknowledgment of you as the expert. So, welcome the questions, either during your presentation, at the conclusion, or both.

Wrap it up nicely - on time

Finally, have a close to your presentation. Ideally, this close will tie in to your opening. Whatever your opening comments were, whatever promise you might have made to the audience at the very start, this is the time to remind them of your promise, your commitment to your program and your hope that they become part of the project.

In fact, it's okay to go back and read those opening lines, remind the audience of the key points of your talk, and then leave - all within the time time allotted to you. No matter how wonderful the presentation, no matter how valuable the information, if it was supposed to be delivered 40 minutes and you take 50, all your good work win be almost for naught. Your audience will remember you not for your contribution, but for your subtraction - how you took away from their break, from the next speaker, from the end of the meeting.

Let the show business rule prevail: "Leave them begging for more." If you've done your job well, you'll be asked to deliver that "more" another time. But then, you'll no longer have to worry about standing up, speaking up or being passed up. You'll be on your way. You'll have added another modality to your career-enhancing portfolio of skills.

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