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Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Relax You’re ready to make a presentation. You are the featured keynoter or seminar facilitator. You practiced your presentation until you could say it in your sleep. All your supplies and equipment are set. You look good and smell good. You are confident of your subject and have the opening and closing down pat. You know you will look and sound good on stage or in the front of the room and that is all you have to worry about. Right? Think again. From the time you walk into the room—or your audience walks into the room if you are there first—until the time you or they leave, you are “on stage”. Everything about you is observed and noted by anyone in the room and you have no idea by whom or how many. You must act like you’re on stage even when you are not if you want to convey a consistent, sincere, credible image to your audience. Professional and frequent speakers are able to turn on a switch and turn on the show. We have learned to leave the rest of the world—cares, woes, aches, and mild illnesses—at the foot of the stage and make the show our entire purpose in life when it is Time To Speak. I submit that the time to impress and sell yourself is long before you walk to the stage. Your audience usually figures out that you are “The One Who Is Speaking” long before you present to them. You are the stranger in the group, the person they have not seen in their usual circles of contact or throughout the conference until now. You are at the head table—a sure sign that you are Somebody at that particular function. You are at the head of the table in the honor seat and all eyes naturally drift to you throughout the event. You could be seated next to or near the person who will introduce you and this person will probably be known to a large number of the people in the room. You are the “different one” in the room. If you in fact turn on an invisible switch to put on the show, flick that switch on when you first make contact with the first individual who will be your audience for the day and leave your glow on until the last person leaves (or you leave.) Be enthusiastic, upbeat, positive, and confident the entire time you are in the room. Smile a lot. Look attentive when individuals speak to you throughout the event and look interested in the other presenters if there are others than yourself. Your greeting is the first step towards gaining trust and credibility. Meet everyone individually as they walk into the room. Extend a firm handshake as your audience enters and thank them for coming. In some instances you might present your business card as people arrive, or a product sample or a handout. Determine what is appropriate for the event and open yourself to others as you encounter them. Individual greetings also help you establish those friendly eyes that you find when you present on stage. You are watched especially when you are placed in a prominent position. Even if you are just another colleague at the table people will usually know you are presenting at that meeting. You might on the agenda or an announcement may have been made ahead of time identifying you as the speaker. People periodically sneak peeks at you wherever you sit or stand. They notice if you shuffle papers nervously. They see you reading your notes instead of paying attention to the rest of the meeting (and possibly to what others are presenting.) They see you sweat or adjust your clothing often or show other indications of nervousness or uncertainty. Try not to shift around in your seat excessively. Look attentive and alert and poised even when you think you are not being observed. Dress properly to the situation to look authoritative, competent, and comfortable. Avoid being (or appearing to be) aloof or quiet. Be animated when you talk one-on-one or informally to the entire table and exude warmth. Act like you care. At the end of the function after you expertly present your material, sit down or leave with poise and warmth. You are watched even more after you present. Now people think they know you because you exposed yourself to them. You now have fifty or 2000 of your closest friends trying to catch a glimpse of you after you helped them in some way through your presentation. Continue projecting the image you started with or portrayed when up front. Avoid doing a “Whew! That’s over with!” production. Your audience will sense you were a fake when you were on stage presenting to them. Linger if you can when the function is over. Say “thank you” or “good bye” to people to acknowledge you appreciate their taking their time to focus on you and your message. Stick around to answer questions that might have surfaced during your presentation or after people give more thought to what you said. If you did not do so before, pass out your business cards and offer further consultation—if appropriate—at the end during one-on-one conversation with audience members who approach you. Continue selling your message in conversation. If your host is distant—perhaps a high-level rank in the organization or not approachable as a personality—excuse yourself politely for a few minutes and go to audience members you see standing around or lingering. Go to the one who asked questions the most or who challenged you the most during your presentation. This person is the one whose peers later talk with her about your message. Sell her. She will sell the rest. Spend time with the decision-makers and the people who control the money for more sales. Approach them if they do not approach you and ask if they have further comments about the topic that you presented. If you are a professional speaker who has back-of-the-room products for sale, excuse yourself from lingering conversations and get to the sales table. People can buy your book online or at a bookstore. Seeing you in person encourages your audience to buy on the spot but also excites them to get your autograph or talk with you more about the products. Your presence at the table—even though you have an assistant who actually staffs the table and sells the products—is analogous to a music star’s greeting and autograph session after a concert. People who buy at your function want to see you in person and may want you to autograph a product. Come across to them as caring about them as people more than just selling a product. By the way, be sure to have a pen that writes on all surfaces and does not have ink that smears. Just when you thought it was safe to relax and be yourself, both before and after your actual presentation, think again. All eyes are on you as long as they can be on you. Make sure that what those eyes see reinforces the message you worked so hard to convey. © Sylvia Henderson |
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