In the October issue of Toastmasters magazine there is an article written by DTM Cathey Armillas on how to “Rock Your Presentation”. Cathey is a Ted Coach and Executive Speaker coach and has coached a wide variety of speakers: from a rap singer to a World War II veteran, from CEOs to TED speakers and Toastmasters World.
In this article she lists the ten top mistakes made when public speaking and then provides tips on how to countermand these mistakes so you can “rock your presentation”.
I have to admit I am guilty of the first mistake listed – “infowhelming” the audience – giving them too much information. Cathey also discussed the need to tailor the material to suit your audience and not based on your level of expertise which ties into the second mistake she discussed which is being “Audience Ignorant”, resulting in a presentation that does not match interest of the audience.
Cathey highlighted the fact that “leaders want the 30,000-foot view while analysts love to get into the weeds”. This is a really a really useful point that we could consider in our places of work when doing our presentations. As you prepare your presentation consider who is your audience. Is it a client? Is it your colleagues? Is it management or execs? What is the purpose for this presentation? How familiar are they with the material or initiative or project? Your response to these questions would determine how much detail you would go into for your presentation or whether you would just provide a Birds Eye view. Just note that more times that not, Senior Managers and Executives would just need a birds eye view of the information you are presenting.
Cathey also discussed the importance of connecting with the audience and that it’s our jobs as public speakers to bring down the “invisible wall between you and the audience.”
The magazine also has an article that highlights our 2020 World Championship winners: Mike Carr, Linda-Marie Miller, and Lindy MacLaine – a championship that was held virtually which provided its own unique challenges that these speakers embraced. Mike Carr’s story was particularly touching as he had stepped away from Speech contests after not placing when he had advanced to the International Speech Contest semifinals in 2015.
The Toastmaster magazine also has tips on how you can incorporate storytelling into your sales – an interesting read whether or not you are in sales because we may not be directly be involved in selling to a client but we can be trying to sell an idea or initiative or gain consensus in our places of work.
These are just a few tidbits of what is available so take a read today: https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine
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