John public speaking
Everybody fails. Sometimes we do so spectacularly and sometimes we simply don’t reach our potential; I experienced the latter sort of failure on Saturday when I gave what can only be described as a mediocre presentation – the audience probably thought “it was fine”.
For me, though, giving a presentation that is “fine” just isn’t good enough.
Talking in front of people is totally my thing. I am absolutely in my element when building and delivering awesome presentations, workshops, keynote speeches, and wedding toasts. So, when my five minute talk about career options for UBC engineers fell short, I deconstructed the experience and reminded myself of three simple steps that I will absolutely take to make sure it never happens again.
Be prepared and keep it simple
For this particular presentation, I strived to do too much. My preparation was more of a copy-and-paste from an existing workshop than a truly unique creation– this being said, I did add some relevant data. This backfired and things got complicated -what should have been a clear and concise message got lost in too many ideas in too little time.
Know your teammates, your audience, and your surroundings
It is not uncommon for me to present as part of a group, which was the case on Saturday. When you’re part of a team, it’s important to know who is saying what and how much time each person has to speak. By packing so much information into my presentation I had to speed through my slides to finish on time. I also didn’t focus enough on what the audience (parents of future UBC students) wanted from the presentation: career outcomes for engineering graduates. My presentation had some great stuff, but in the context of what was a really, really jam-packed day for parents and kids, it was just too much; and the great data got lost in my attempt to be inspiring. Finally, the room was a big, hollow place, and I chose to speak without a microphone and was later told that my voice sounded “tinny” in the space. Had I better known my surroundings and tested the facilities beforehand (which every great presenter knows is essential) this would not have been a problem.
Perfect practice makes perfect
A wise and very talented speaker once told me that it’s not enough to prepare by reading your slides; you need to practice the same way that you want to present, which should be awesomely and within the allotted time.
So there it is. When preparing to give a presentation remember that fewer slides will help you stay organized (plan to spend two minutes on each slide), that you need to know the look, feel and sound of the room, and that practicing your presentation exactly how you want to see it delivered will do much for realizing your potential in front of audiences that you want to influence, engage and inspire. This is common sense, but wasn’t common practice for me last Saturday.
And sure, these tips apply specifically to presentations. And they can absolutely be applied to anything in which you want to realize your version of success.
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Awesome photo of me emceeing a wedding courtesy of my main man Jamie Reid