He Would Have Been Good…
…if he wasn’t so bad.
I recently heard a speaker who had the potential to be great. He was a relatively young guy, knew his stuff and had a quick sense of humor. He had enough stage presence and charisma to easily win the day with his presentation, but he blew it with many little mistakes.
He had been given 30 minutes by the meeting planner. He was well past the 10 minute mark and still telling us what he was going to tell us. Nobody is good enough to spend 1/3 of his or her time doing that.
His PowerPoint slides were pretty good and very numerous. There was no way he could cover them all. So instead of removing them from the presentation, he told us he was going to flip through them quickly for a cursory look. Don’t be lazy. If you don’t have time for a slide, get rid of it. The audience feels like they’re being cheated by a brief glimpse at a slide not explained.
The technology failed, and he spent too much time focusing on that…and waiting for it to get fixed. Be prepared to move forward without your visual support if necessary.
The guy was dressed casually. Too casually. It is always safer to dress a little better than the audience, not to show off but to demonstrate that you take them and the time you’ve been given seriously. If you want to be sharp, look sharp.
We heard the same ideas over and over. Repeating the same ideas too much demonstrated one thing: lack of precise preparation. This is a sign the speaker is winging it. You can be very prepared and still be natural in your presentation. The shorter the time for your presentation, the more important careful preparation becomes.
Finally, the presenter took 10 extra minutes. Maybe he thought he’d make up for the time he wasted telling us what he was going to tell us, his lack of preparation and his technology meltdown, so he took the time. Of course he took it from other people: the next presenter, the audience and the meeting planner. Nobody ever gets criticized for ending on time. Not to do so is disrespectful.
You and I can learn from everybody, both the good and the bad. This fellow would have been great…
Mark:
Good morning! As usual, I’m enjoying your articles here at your blog. This morning’s piece was right on b/c it reminded me of the importance of the following:
1. be mindful of the time allotted to you
2. dress appropriately for the engagement
3. come to the meeting room early to check your equipment (if you have any) and/or check the DVD/CD or whatever it is that you plan to use as part of your presentation
I am just coming off a speaking engagement in Traverse City, Michigan and I’m happy to say that I not only followed all of your suggestions but I also like to add to your list “flexibility.”
It’s important for speakers to be flexible and to “go with the flow.” A case in point: When I arrived to T.C., I immediately checked in with the meeting planner to assure her that I arrived safely. Not only that, but I also verified that previously requested video equipment (TV/VCR) would be set up. The meeting planner, to my surprise, said, “I’ll check with the hotel about that.” I immediately told her not to worry about it because I had a back up. I had a DVD that would work perfectly with the laptop they had already set up in the room.
So having a backup and being flexible works wonders for the harried meeting planner who is already preoccupied with making the entire conference run smoothly to the very end.
As a result of following everything you mentioned in this article plus being flexible, I was booked another speaking engagement for Las Vegas in 2008!
It does pay to follow your suggestions Mark! Great article. Thanks for sharing.
Stephen Hopson
Comment by Stephen Hopson — September 26, 2007 @ 5:35 am
Thanks. I have just completed a grueling speaking trip in Taiwan and Korea and PRECISION is essential. This is how the audience lives, and the speaker is expected to be as efficient.
Good writing - I bet you’re an excellent speaker.
Rod Smith
Comment by Rod Smith — October 11, 2007 @ 7:27 pm