And A Lesson From A Tea Strainer
Last week, I was outside Japan, coaching 29 speakers for an Asia regional conference.
Let me share with you my top three conference presentation tips (and a surprising lesson) to help you when you next have an opportunity to speak at a large or small event.
1. Stand on the stage before the conference starts
Most people get nervous when giving presentations – unless they’ve had lots of practice or coaching.
Stepping onto an unfamiliar stage and suddenly seeing everyone looking at you – maybe also bright lights shining on you – can trigger a “fight or flight” survival response in human beings.
Your mind may go blank. This is because the body is focused on quickly responding to what it perceives as danger and the signals to the neocortex – the thinking part of the brain – stop (if a bicycle comes at you fast, do you pause to think about what’s the best action to take or do you jump out of the way without thinking?).
So, if possible, stand on the stage before your conference starts to get a sense of what it feels like. Notice the extent of the seats for the audience, where the projector shows your slides, and how much space you have to move around. And, if you’re using a clicker to control your slides, test that in advance too.
2. Memorize your presentation structure, not your script
You may be tempted to write a script for your presentation and memorize it – especially if you’re speaking in your non-native language. This is dangerous. As I mentioned above, it’s very easy to experience a moment of “fight or flight” and go blank. Or you’re thinking hard about what to say next, so you’re focused on yourself and not engaging with the audience.
Even if you initially create a script, turn that into bullet points that form the structure of your presentation. Then memorize the structure, rather than each word in the script.
The audience doesn’t know what you planned to say, so it’s fine if you miss a part out. The more relaxed you are, the easier it will be to notice that you missed something and go back to it. And audiences really aren’t concerned about you getting the grammar exactly right. What’s important is to connect with the audience and get your message across.
3. Practice in a shorter time
Have you attended a conference where the speaker went over time? This causes problems for the event organizers and upsets other presenters. A variation is when the speaker knows to keep within the time, but still has many slides to show. Seeing the presenter skip through slides quickly can be frustrating for the audience.
Confirm in advance how much time you have to present and then ALWAYS rehearse with a timer and practice completing your presentation in less time. For example, if you have a 5-minute presentation, practice for 4 minutes and 40 seconds. If you have one hour, aim for around 55 minutes. This is because in most cases, speakers take longer on the day than they do in rehearsals.
And here’s the extra lesson, which I learned from… a tea strainer.
I was staying at a lovely hotel. When I ordered tea with my breakfast (I’m traditionally British in that way), the waiter brought me what you see in the photo – a teapot with a little cover for the hot handle and a tea strainer.
Now, I don’t usually use a tea strainer at home (or a cover for the handle!). I either use teabags or I have a teapot with the strainer inside.
So, at first, the waiter placed the strainer on the teacup and elegantly poured my tea.
I drink tea quite quickly in the morning, so I continued to refill the cup myself.
As I was finishing my breakfast, I noticed the tea leaves building in the bottom of my teacup. I thought it was strange. Then I realized: I had not been using the strainer when I was refilling my cup!!!
Such is the strength of habit. I don’t normally use a strainer, so I automatically refilled without the strainer – even though it was right there next to the cup!
This made me think about communication skills. Our communication is based on habit. If we want to improve our communication skills it takes intention and repetition.
So what are you going to focus on and keep doing until you build that new skill?