Speaking from the Heart

©Speaking from the Heart

Face-to-face presentations are essential to advancing a career. Here's how to present your message with confidence, passion and power.

by Joseph L. Marzano, Jr.

Most every day, executives must make presentations. At business forums executives present 90-second "elevator stories" in the hope of gaining a customer, investor or top employee. At career networking events executives present 30-second "introduction drills" in the hope of gaining an interview, referral or information on a position. At work executives present summaries of future visions and past performance to inspire and inform staff, investors, clients and other stakeholders.

Most adults fear public speaking, yet communicating a right impression quickly and effectively is vital in our fast-paced "video age" of talk-show images and sound bites. Individual communication skills are different from presentation skills, which is why managers and persuasive salespeople are often poor group speakers. Here are four proven presentation strategies you can use.

Be Positive
Thinking positively controls how you feel, and behave. Positive affirmations such as "I know more about this topic than anyone" or "my next talk will be my best" help over-power nervousness. Recalling positive memories of past events when you have communicated successfully will guide your feelings before speaking. When you feel it and believe it, you will do.

Be Prepared
Know your audience including their buying influences and roles, and any desires or fears you will address. Determine to provide value first before expecting to receive value, and you will build rapport that leads to relationships and influence. Know their interest in your message, and it's relevance to them. Whether addressing five or five hundred, know what you expect from the interaction and plan accordingly.

Be Believable
Deliver a consistent message by establishing your competence, character and composure. Use relevant, personal stories to support key points. Ensure your words and actions send the same message. People believe what they see before the words you speak. Be respectful of your audience, speaking equal to equal. Avoid pacing or nervous habits (like hands in pockets), take deep breaths and pause often to maintain composure. Match your attire to the situation, and "follow your heart" by squarely facing your audience.

Be Interesting
People are attracted to (and hire) people like themselves. Greet people with a smile, a solid handshake, and their name. Use adequate projection, a pleasing tone and appropriate timing to be clearly heard. Convey excitement by talking faster, create calm by speaking slower. Maintain eye contact without staring, even in a group. Use gestures and body movement to demonstrate or emphasize points. Use tools like Powerpoint to emphasize key messages, not to replicate the presentation.

Without the right speaking skills you risk losing valuable business or great job to someone else. Follow these four strategies and you will gain attention and interest in today's highly competitive marketplace.

Mr. Marzano is a partner with InterLINK Management Consulting, a Pittsburgh, PA based group that specializes in developing sustainable leadership skills and integrated management solutions for small to medium sized organizations. Mr. Marzano inspires leadership to create opportunities through keynote presentations, team retreats and training workshops, and personal executive coaching sessions. He may be reached by phone at (412)793-5636 or by e-mail at Jmarzano@interlinkbusiness.com.

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