Interview skills meet presentation skills

It might be a bit much to fly into a full illustrated talk in response to each question in an interview but be assured presentation skills will be of use to you in an interview situation in the following ways:

Boosting confidence.
Organising your thoughts.
Controlling your nerves.

Knowing how to speak to an audience and being aware of your abilities can make it easier in a one to one or panel situation, especially as you will be able to predict many of the questions that will come your way.

You can take the time to order your thinking in your preparation accentuating the positive (and minimising if not eliminating the negative). Look for logical progressions in your career path that have brought you this far and which suggest your future trajectory in your new situation.

Learn to breathe well and how to control your voice. If you don’t look nervous then from your audience’s perspective you are not nervous, you are in control.

The interviewer may object to oratory and speechmaking but they will be interested in confident articulate candidates who appear in control.
Check out Fundamentals at skillpresentations.com

Volume up or down?

If you can’t be heard it doesn’t matter how well you have prepared or what you have up your sleeve. It is essential that you speak to the individual at the back of the room; but beware.

Speaking at the weekend I was grateful for the assistance of Jan who helped me appreciate that I was projecting a tad too much.

A sore throat that that seemed to induce coughing as we chatted before the presentation had me feeling a bit nervous that my throat would expire long before the scheduled forty five minutes were done, additionally I’d underestimated the quality of the sound system and set out with a bit more attack than necessary.

Then I got the signal. Hands over the ears, ouch.

I took a step back from the microphone and moderated my volume, which seemed to do the trick.

At least I hope it did.

There’s so much more to volume in speaking than being heard. Variations in volume and pace can do a lot to underline your key points and to make it easier for your audience to listen to you. Choosing the correct level of volume also conveys meaning and adds a sense of veracity to your comments.

MG
Skillpresentations.com

Without notes??

Recently we heard from a speaker; we’ll call him Dave.

Dave wanted to speak without a script, it worked for him before and he was sure he should try it again even though he was speaking for a good deal longer and he had more to lose.

Of course Dave is a professional speaker with a skill-set of fluency, superior audience awareness and a nice line in presenting himself as the next big thing.

Did he succeed?

On some levels he has been very successful a standing ovation, he still has his job and some say he has scared off the opposition (though they say they don’t scare so easily). On the other hand all the talk is along the lines of ‘look no notes’. Does anyone remember what he said?

Would it work for others? Why not? From day to day we all talk without notes but seldom to an audience.

Of course Dave did have notes; minimal notes, but enough to provide a series of way marks. Think of a list of directions for a motorway journey, simply a series of junction numbers and destinations. Way marks.

Knowing the points to be made and the order in which to make them can be sufficient for many speakers on one condition. Time has been spent in preparation. If you think Dave didn’t prepare you really need to think about the fundamentals of public speaking.

When are you presenting?

It seems fairly clear that standing in front of a dozen people, all of whom are listening to us intently, we will be using presentation skills. However this is by no means the only scenario where these skills come to the fore.

Asking a question at a meeting or seeking clarification of a point would be moments in time when clarity of thought and fluency would be required. These would also be occasions when vocal quality and appropriate body language would enhance the reception of your point and your audience’s (because now they are your audience) perception of you.

An understanding of the fundamentals of presenting to an audience will empower you in the business setting. These are life skills fully transferable from one profession to another. Any manager or leader – not necessarily the same thing- must have presentation ability as part of their repertoire.

Motivating staff, outlining strategy, persuading the board, making the sale: all opportunities to use our presentation skills and because these are truly transferable skills we can use them to send colleagues on their way with our congratulations, we can speak at our friend's wedding or our own special events.

We all need presentations skills. skillpresentations.com

To note or not to note?

It’s conference season and speechifying is everywhere, theoretically we should be looking at the cream of presentation skills. Theoretically.

The difference between a barn storming performance and being tied in linguistic knots can come down to something as simple as notes. An extemporaneous speech can communicate personality fantastically well, impressing the audience with your leadership credentials, however the need to avoid inadvertently promising to do away with income tax means that notes are essential.

The key difficulty with notes is that it is very difficult to read your notes and look at your audience at the same time (thus the clear screen displays so the leaders can look like they are looking at the audience).

When you don’t look at your audience they don’t believe what you are saying (don’t believe me, try it with your friends), so your notes need to be manageable and unobtrusive and above all you must not be tied to them. So rehearse and then rehearse again.

Then do it again. skillpresentations.com

Stretching analogies

A bank holiday today spent bouldering at Alien Rock Edinburgh tempts me to the topic of analogies in presenting. It is always possible to stretch too far but a well placed analogy can lend interest and comprehension to a topic. It can catch and retain attention without being overly distracting or gimmicky.

Can success on the boulder face illustrate business?

Be prepared to stretch but don’t overstretch; moving from our comfort zone can bring us a surprising result. Reaching higher on the wall, making an overhang that has previously defied us, convincing an unwilling client, improving a sales conversion ratio or finding new skills in the team and building new confidence as a result.

Overstretching can lead to rapid falls in both settings. Awareness is required of present position, physical strength and future potential: translate this into financial terms and an awareness of the team’s capabilities and strengths.

Three point contact; the wise climber remains in contact with the rock face at three points, in other words only one limb is removed from safety at a time, a firm grip on the rock face is maintained at all times for fairly obvious reasons.

What is the rock face in business? That might depend on the slant of our presentation. The market, our core competencies, business goals, a geographic area or financial restraints would be possible interpretations. Maintaining a firm grip of the desired area without fear of movement powers the business upward with minimal risk.

Many business tasks are far from exciting in their own right, however choosing analogies that compare these tasks with something a bit more dramatic can help us communicate the importance of attending to the business tasks at hand.

Often we will be presenting information to a team with the intention of sharpening their performance for the benefit of the business. Helping the team to see their tasks in a positive light can be a great step forward in achieving our goal.
See 'Clear logical structure' at skillpresentations.com.

MG skillpresentations.com