Watch how David Epstein looks at individuals in his audience as he builds suspense: “Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger?”
Present Stand & Deliver
Contents
With practice, anyone can be a powerful presenter.
Written reports provide a comprehensive, detailed overview of information, data, analysis, and recommendations. Written documents give audiences the opportunity to review and digest the material at their own pace.
Presentations, however, condense key information from written reports into a more accessible format during which decision-makers can quickly grasp the main points, insights, and recommendations.
Presentations also allow for real-time interaction, where audiences can ask questions, seek clarification, and converse with presenters. Moreover, presentation visual aids and storytelling emphasize critical points and improve audience engagement.
According to Forbes, 70% of employed Americans who give presentations agree that presentation skills are critical to their success. 20% of respondents said they would do almost anything to avoid giving a presentation, including pretending to be sick or asking a colleague to give the presentation. As you practice and improve your presentation delivery skills, you will be prepared to confidently contribute at critical moments. Powerful presenters often get the job, the raise, and the opportunity to repeatedly return to the table. Hone your presentation skills so you’ll be less stressed when your manager turns to you and says, “Why don’t you take 10 minutes and explain those numbers to us.”
This chapter provides proven tips to strategically prepare your message, prepare for media delivery, practice full-body communication, and troubleshoot your presentations.
Plan
American Comedian Seinfeld once said,
"According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to the funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy."
Although comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s quote, seen here, may sound funny, it’s true. Most people—no matter how successful they are—fear speaking in front of others. Why?
Georgetown University’s Professor Sarah Gershman’s research reveals that our fear may be linked to a primal fear of being watched. Gershman notes that the amygdala—the part of the brain in charge of fight or flight—perceives public speaking as an attack, explaining why anticipated presentations cause sweating, shortness of breath, and shaky voice.
Stop thinking about presentations as performances. Instead, think of them as conversations between you and your audience. Concentrating more on the audience and less on your nerves tends to calm the fight-or-flight response.i
For more tips about analyzing your audience, watch this video:
Use the SMART technique
Second, plan to organize your presentation using SMART technique, a perfect fit for oral business presentations. For a more detailed description of the SMART technique, visit the ORGANIZE chapter.
“Thank you for being here today. I’m honored to share some thoughts with you about. . . .” Admit it—you’ve already checked out and are playing Candy Crush on your phone. Don’t be one of most speakers who start with bland, generic pleasantries.
Instead, draw your audience into the conversation with an engaging story: “Meet Liza, a four-year-old girl with Down Syndrome. Liza was killed in a Russian missile attack on Vinnytsia, Ukraine, on July 14, 2022. . . .”
In business presentations, the opening story is called a hook. Far more than an opening quip, the hook implies the conversation’s overall theme. A hook mentioned only at the beginning and ending of the presentation is forgettable—or worse—a manipulative gimmick.
In the case of the foregoing example, if the rest of the presentation does not connect with war’s heartbreaking casualties, the story about four-year-old Liza is little more than a cheap attempt at pathos. Make your hook short and, above all, relevant to your core message.
Watch how Wharton organizational psychologist and
best-selling author Adam Grant captures his audience with
a self-deprecating personal story.
What does the audience need to know or do? Communicate the conversation’s main idea, which should be directly related to and presented immediately after the opening hook. Don’t hide it from the audience only to reveal it later as a misguided “Aha!” moment. Almost without exception, a business presentation should not mimic the structure of a detective story. Be direct and clear about what the audience should know and do.
Give a clear preview of the presentation's contents. The business presenter is the tour guide. In that context, if the main idea is the destination, the agenda previews the itinerary—the stopping points along the way. The tour guide sets the audience’s expectations of where the travelers will go, what they will see, and what they will do.
Similarly, the presenter sets the audience’s expectations of what the presentation will cover—no more and no less. Do not add unexpected stops or uncomfortable U-turns. Never add information that does not pertain to the main idea. In a thinly veiled attempt to impress the audience, too many presenters stray from the core message, meandering instead of purposefully guiding the audience. Instead, be a responsible tour guide—use the agenda to lay out a coherent itinerary.
Decide on the information and evidence the audience needs to know. Include relevant details that support the main idea, in the order stated in the agenda. Inform, instruct, persuade, and recommend.
Prepare for Q&A
Do not include every piece of information in the body of the presentation if it includes a Q&A session. Instead, plant seeds—intentionally omit information that leads to a later question. When asked about omitted information, presenters can confidently reply, “That’s a great question; I’m glad you asked,” before deftly answering the question.
Do not omit critical information, but do not bore your audience with minutia. Audiences always appreciate concise presentations.
Here is an example of planting seeds for Q&A:
Suppose you’re introducing an international expansion strategy and you know the decision-makers in your audience are keen on India. However, your research shows that Africa, not India, is the most promising market for expansion. Make Africa the focus of the conversation, but have clear answers and Q&A slides that address the question, "Why not India?" When used judiciously, this planting-seed method makes you look like a genius.
After the Q&A, restate a powerful call to action, motivating the audience to act. Instead of regretting the time wasted during the presentation, the audience will feel satisfied that attending your presentation was time well spent.
ACTIVITY
Use the SMART technique to outline an oral presentation you anticipate presenting in the next few days, weeks, or months. Perhaps ask ChatGPT or another AI tool for help coming up with a story or other hook. What is the main idea? What agenda points relate to it? List places you can find credible support for the reasons, and craft your task—the call to action.
Prepare the media
Accessible
A slide deck is a visual aid—and an aid is meant to help. Never mistake the deck for the presentation itself. The message and messenger comprise the meat of the presentation. Should the media fail, your presentation must stand on its own merits.
If you are using technology in your presentation, check it in the physical room or virtual presentation space to ensure that everything works properly. If possible, solicit help from a colleague who is willing to run a virtual test meeting or sit in the presentation room while you practice the media.
If your deck contains complex animations, make sure they work. If the deck contains video clips, make sure they load.
Believe it or not—the audience wants you to succeed. They feel nervous and uncomfortable if something goes wrong with the presentation slide deck. So save yourself and your audience unnecessary anxiety by planning ahead.
Back in 2013, presentation guru Nancy Duarte reported that as many as 80% of presentations were delivered remotely. In Duarte’s 2021 research report on communicating and presenting, 81% of respondents are regular presenters; 75% of respondents are regular audience participants. To read the complete free, downloadable report, click here.
Make your virtual presentation sing by following the rules in this short article from the Duarte organization: Step Up Your Virtual Setup: Quick Fixes to Look and Sound Great From Anywhere.
When presenting in person, bring appropriate adaptors if your tech device is not compatible with all systems (i.e. Mac vs. PC). When presenting virtually, practice the technology and delivery. For more tips on preparing for virtual presentations, read this LinkedIn article on managing your energy during virtual presentations. Hint: Do not waste your energy and emotions on technology that does not work.
Practice
Be fully human when you’re presenting in person. Use everything you’ve got. Most of these principles apply to presentations delivered virtually, even asynchronously.
Before you deliver a presentation, practice, practice, practice. Three times. That’s the magic number for confidence and success. Don’t write your presentation word for word and try to memorize it—that approach uses a different part of your brain that’s not as nimble. If you try to deliver a memorized speech and lose concentration or forget a word, you are sunk—just like Hollywood director Michael Bay at this Samsung product launch. (Cringe.)
If you have good notes and practice your talk three full times in front of a co-worker (or even your smartphone’s camera), your brain has a solid but flexible framework. Practice also gives you an innate sense of timing, helping you know where to stretch or cut your content if needed.
As you review your recordings, inspect your voice, eyes, face, hands, body movements, and dress and grooming.
Team presentations also require practice; never take for granted that the presentation will be flawless as long as individual presenters know their parts.
Voice
Your voice is a signature part of you, like your fingerprint, according to Dr. Wendy LeBorgne, a researcher and elite vocal coach. Strengthen your vocal signature by modulating your rate, pitch, and volume. Don’t shy away from injecting feeling and expressiveness into your voice. Get feedback from peers on these features because what you hear inside your head isn’t what your listeners hear.
Another option is to record a video of yourself to check your voice. Just as you need to keep your face and body mobile, keep your voice mobile, too. The voice, just like the media, should be congruent with the message.
Although your voice is an irreplaceable tool, the absence of a voice speaks volumes. Don’t be afraid of pauses or even a short moment of silence—particularly when you’re pausing to avoid an um, uh, or other filler word. Deliberate pauses gather attention, emphasize a point, or give audiences time to ponder a rhetorical question. Strategically placed silence is powerful.
And even if you are not completely silent, slow down. Stanford University psychologists Lucia Guillory and Deborah Gruenfeld suggest slowing down is a way to confidently claim "social space."
Presenters who speak slowly risk being interrupted by someone in the audience, but by speaking slowly, the presenter indicates no fear of interruption. Presenters who don't rush have a high chance of being heard.
Slow, however, does not mean delivering without any pacing or vocal inflection. Monotone speech will put most audiences to sleep.
Learn from vocal coach and researcher Dr. Wendy LeBorgne how to take best advantage of your unique vocal characteristics. Wendy LeBorgne: How Your Voice Shapes Your Communication Image
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eyes
The eyes connect with the audience—see and be seen by them. Presentation coach and author Sarah Gersham’s research reveals that nervous presenters tend to focus inward and become self-conscious—looking down at the floor or up at the wall.
Remind yourself that the people in the audience generally want you to succeed. In the spirit of making your presentation a conversation, hold short mini-conversations with individual audience members. Look an audience member in the eyes, speak to them for three seconds and then have another conversation with someone in another part of the room, thus spreading your attention throughout the audience.
Eye contact during virtual presentations is a different matter. If you try to look at different people on your screen, no one will feel like you’re looking at them. Instead, focus your eyes on the camera. To create a focal point, attach a picture of people you know and like. You’ll be more likely to look at the picture and smile. Your audience will feel like you are looking at them.
Unless you’re delivering bad news or presenting on a serious topic, allow your smile to shine through your eyes. The audience will mirror a twinkle in the eye, making them feel more positive about your presentation and you.
face
The story might hook the audience, but the face will keep the audience engaged throughout the presentation. Faces indicate the tone of the presentation and the presenter’s level of comfort with the audience.
Smile
An authentic smile is one of a speaker’s best resources. Starting with a smile sets the audience at ease and creates a bond with the presenter. It doesn’t have to be a big toothy grin, but unless you’re announcing a tragedy, try to look happy—or at least relaxed. A wry smile is fine if you have a dry sense of humor—be yourself.
Animate your face
A stiff, immobile expression is off-putting—even disturbing—to watch. The larger your audience, the more you need to exaggerate your expressions and move your eyes, eyebrows, and mouth with more emphasis than you might in a personal conversation.
hands
Remarkably useful storytellers, human hands can nonverbally emphasize a trend by moving from the audience’s lower left to upper right—sales are up!
Spread hands wide to demonstrate a concept—we are spreading the task load more evenly among the teams.
Hands can count out three points, put an end to an ineffective policy, or raise people to their feet for a stretch. The key is to use them purposefully to accompany the words coming out of your mouth.
Whatever you do, remain open to your audience. Hands in pockets are unavailable for storytelling. Hands folded are defensive. Keep hands in a neutral position so they are always ready to help guide the audience through the presentation.
When you’re in a large space, go big or go home. Former Harvard professor, world-renowned TED speaker, and social psychologist Amy Cuddy, a body language expert, calls this technique claiming your social space. Keep arm motions above your waist and away from your body.
body
Great posture conveys confidence, so roll your shoulders back and allow your limbs to hang from that strong framework. Straightening your spine pulls your head up, too, and makes managing your arms and legs easier. Believe it or not, your posture changes the hormones in your body, replacing stress with confidence.
Watch the video below to find out more about posture.
Dress and Grooming
How you look and act can matter can matter as much as your ideas. Your dress and grooming can enhance or detract from your body language, so pay attention to how you dress and be impeccably groomed.
Arrive fresh, clean, and dressed one step above the audience average. One step, however, does not mean dressing so far above the audience that they feel uncomfortable being in the same room or in the same virtual meeting with you.
Depending on the importance of the event and your own fashion awareness, asking for dress advice can be useful.
Wrinkles, baggy knees, uneven hems, broken zippers, rips, and stains are all distracting and reduce audience confidence.
For virtual presentations, you should still dress professionally—even if the audience cannot see your basketball shorts. Dressing professionally makes you feel more confident, and your confidence will shine through during the presentation.
Grooming is equally important. Demonstrate your respect for your audience by paying attention to your personal hygiene—groom your hair, nails, and teeth. Check your clothing and body for odors. Bathing is a necessity to eliminate offensive odors. Overall, project a sophisticated, respectful, professional image that indicates you care about your audience—and yourself.
Team Presentations
If you are presenting with a team, rehearsal is even more important. Practice introductions, choreograph transitions, decide who will handle questions for each topic, and even coordinate your level of dress. World-class presentation teams attract attention and garner credibility, so show your audience that you work well together by delivering well-rehearsed, flawless presentations.
Troubleshoot
Regardless of how well prepared you are, you may still encounter hiccups: audiences become distracted or lose attention, side conversations arise, presentation hijackers try to take over, you might say the wrong words, you may be faced with less time than you were originally allotted, or you may encounter tough questions. This section provides a little advice on how to troubleshoot these inevitable situations.
recover attention
Communication expert and coach Carmine Gallo reported on a Harris poll showing 46% of respondents admit to being distracted during a co-worker's presentation, As a presenter, you’re responsible for the energy in the room. The tips mentioned so far should help you inject and maintain a high level of audience energy.
46% of Respondents who admit to being distracted during a co-worker's presentation. They are most likely
- sending text messages
- answering an email
- surfing the internet
- checking social media
- falling asleep
Keep an eye on your audience. If you see signs of disengagement—people falling asleep, checking their phones, or chit-chatting with each other—act.
Follow the tips below to regain audience attention.
Turn on the lights. Even if you are in the middle of a long slide presentation, turn on the lights and review the agenda to get everyone on track. Remind them why they should care.
Move to a new spot. People will perk up and wonder what's going on when you abandon your traditional post and do a few minutes from a different spot in the room. The same holds true for a hybrid presentation.
Ask a question. Assign small groups to discuss a question and report to the group. But never put people on the spot. Even if they have not been listening, do not embarrass them by cold calling.
Encourage movement. If people are sleepy, get them moving. Adjust your suggestions to the formality of the situation. A quick round of "Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" could be great for co-workers, while dignified bathroom break might work better with senior managers.
Distract the chatters
Sometimes, it's not the entire audience: a few people check out and start their own party. One way to get them to quiet down and refocus is to move to stand right beside them. If that doesn’t do it, ask a question directly to one of them, or give them a meaningful and playful glance.
In virtual presentations, the audience’s energy level is much more difficult to gauge and maintain. Follow Kahoot! VP of products Jim Micklethwait’s suggestions for keeping virtual audiences engaged:
shut down a presentation hijacker
If someone in the room is TOO into your presentation and starts to take over your role, suggest a future time when you can hear their ideas. You may need to interrupt someone to do this. That’s okay. Those who are not socially sensitive enough to have caught your throat clearing or attempts to cut in probably need less subtle cues. Others in the room will thank you. Most audience members don’t like the unpredictability that results when a participant turns into the presenter.
recover after a mistake
Did you get a report number wrong or mistakenly call your boss mom? Don’t worry. Everyone makes mistakes. If you are impeccably prepared in other ways, your audience will forgive and even ignore minor blips.
Do not apologize for inadvertent mistakes. If you forget what you were going to say, take a breath, gather your thoughts, and proceed. You might look at your presentation slide or notes to jog your memory. Remember, your audience wants you to succeed, so be calm and move on. If you appear uncomfortable, your audience will be too.
plan for length changes
Suddenly you’re getting the cut-it-short sign from the back. Can you? Some meeting organizers are great at protecting speaker time, others not so much. Be sure you have XS, M, and XL—extra-short, medium, and extra-long—versions of your presentation planned so you can finish the presentation in the allotted time. The most common scenario is that you’ll need to cut it short, so spend the most prep time on the condensed version.
Always plan to end 5–10% early. No one will ever come up to you afterward and say, “I need another 12 minutes of that presentation, please!”
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handle tough questions
Maybe you’ve encountered a hostile audience or are unprepared to answer a key question during Q&A. Your best response is to listen. Repeat the question to clarify. Ask follow-up questions to understand your listeners’ concerns or requirements. If you don’t know the answers, be honest—say so. Once you fully understand the issues, say how and when you’ll address them.
How to handle the Q&A by TEDxNashville Executive Director Leslie Belknap
build slide decks
Not all the principles that apply to slide decks apply to presentations. Why? Slide decks are meant to convey visual information delivered in a presentation or meeting; they are not reports. If you are presenting information, verbally explain it instead of putting paragraphs of text on a slide. Text-heavy slide decks are presenter-focused, not audience-focused.
The design of your presentation slides can vary greatly depending on purpose and audience. Slides for TED Talks have very low information density. They’re cinematic—dominated by simple, high-impact visuals, keeping the focus on the speaker. In contrast, slides for a weekly project update might be dominated by charts and graphs.
Across nearly all audiences, however, presentation slides tend to have too much text, distracting the audience from the presenter. Avoid this problem by keeping your slides simple, consistent, and visual.
Be Simple
Stay Consistent
The human brain is wired to recognize and remember patterns. Patterns are familiar arrangements of objects, symbols, or sounds. Imagine that you receive an insulting text message with a heart emoji. The message would confuse you because the words and the visual contradict each other: You insult me but you love me anyway? The elements don’t fit a familiar pattern.
Apply the repetition principle to your slide design: follow an agenda and use consistent colors, themes, images, and fonts.
be visual
Make your slides visual. Create slides that relate with your audience, follow the rule of thirds, and show visual relationships. Why? The human brain remembers images far longer than it remembers text.
According to the dual coding theory, information is better retained when it is presented in both verbal (text) and non-verbal (visual) formats. The brain processes information encountered through visuals through both the visual system and the language system, creating two separate channels for encoding the information. This dual coding makes the information more memorable.
Visual information, compared to text, is also processed more quickly and efficiently by the brain. The brain can quickly recognize and interpret visual elements such as images, colors, and shapes, whereas reading text requires more cognitive effort and time.
Visuals also provide spatial and contextual cues that aid memory recall. The brain can remember an image’s location on a page or screen, helping retrieve the information later.
For more information on following the rule of thirds, click here.
In Conclusion
In your professional life, you’ll often be on stage, which may be in a thousand-seat auditorium, a six-person breakout room, or a virtual presentation environment.
Regardless of the venue, use the principles in this chapter to convey energy and confidence. Your audience will unconsciously imitate your mood and rise to the level of your energy.
Getting humans together in a room—or on a screen—is costly in time and money. Use every such opportunity to make a difference—for them and for your career.
Learn More
Bold citations are referenced in the chapter text.
Articles
Belknap, Leslie. “How To Handle a Q&A Session During Your Presentation.” Ethos 3. January 15, 2016. Accessed August 2023.
Cain, Susan. “10 Public Speaking Tips from My Year of Speaking Dangerously.” Quiet Revolution. Accessed August 2023.
Duarte, Nancy. “Conquer Your Nerves Before Your Presentation.” Harvard Business Review. April 28, 2015. Accessed August 2023.
Duarte, Nancy. "The State of Communicating and Presenting Online." Duarte Inc., May 2021. Accessed August 2023.
Gallo, Carmine. “New Survey: 70% Say Presentation Skills Are Critical For Career Success.” Forbes. September 25, 2014. Accessed August 2023.
Gallo, Carmine. “5 Ways to Project Confidence in Front of an Audience.” Harvard Business Review. May 28, 2018. Accessed August 2023.
Kraft, Tara L. and Sarah D. Pressman. “Grin and Bear It: The Influence of Manipulated Facial Expression on the Stress Response.” Psychological Science 23, no. 11 (2012): 1372–78. Accessed August 2023.
Micklethwait, James “Five Ways To Create Engaging Virtual Presentations.” Forbes. June 11, 2020. Accessed August 2023.
Morgan, Nick. “How to Become an Authentic Speaker.” Harvard Business Review, November 2008. Accessed August 2023.
Neff, Doug. "Step up your virtual setup." Duarte Inc. Accessed August 2023.
Rowh, Mark. “First Impressions Count.” American Psychological Association gradPSYCH Magazine. no. 11 (2012): 32. Accessed August 2023.
Savoy, April, Robert W. Proctor, and Gavriel Salvendy. “Information retention from PowerPointTM and traditional lectures.” Computers & Education 52, no. 4 (2009): 858–67. Accessed August 2023.
Books
Cuddy, Amy. Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges. Boston, MA: Little, Brown& Co, 2016.
Duarte, Nancy. Data Story: Explain Data and Inspire Action Through Story. Oakton, VA: Ideapress Publishing, 2022.
Duarte, Nancy. Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2010.
Duarte, Nancy. Slide: Ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media, 2008.
Gallo, Carmine. Talk Like Ted: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2014.
Gallo, Carmine. The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World's Greatest Salesman. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 2022.
Gruenfeld, Deborah. Acting With Power: Why We Are More Powerful Than We Believe. New York, NY: Currency, 2020.
Reynolds, Garr. Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery. Berkeley, CA: New Riders, 2008.
Videos
CNET. "Michael Bay quits Samsung's press conference." Youtube, January 6, 2014. Accessed August 2023.
David Epstein. "Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger?" TED, March 2014. Accessed August 2023.
TED. "Adam Grant: How to stop languishing and start finding flow | TED." YouTube, September 28, 2021. Accessed August 2023.
TED. “How to make a profit while making a difference | Audrey Choi.” YouTube, published March 16, 2016. Accessed February 2017.
TED. “Your body language may shape who you are | Amy Cuddy.” YouTube, published October 1, 2012. Accessed February 2017.
TED-Ed. "The benefits of good posture - Murat Dalkilinç." YouTube, July 30, 2015. Accessed August 2023.
TEDx. “How to sound smart in your TEDx Talk | Will Stephen | TEDxNewYork.” YouTube, published January 15, 2015. Accessed February 2017.
TEDx. “And now for the eyebrow | Irrah Carver-Jones | TEDxChelmsford.” YouTube, August 20, 2015. Accessed February 2017.
Weinschenk, Susan. “5 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People.” YouTube, published June 18, 2012. Accessed February 2017.