The next time you are at a meeting watch what people do when they are speaking while seated at a table.

You will notice that most of them unconsciously play with an object.

They may spin their pen on the table or straighten a paper clip.  If they brought coffee to the meeting and the Styrofoam cup is now empty, they may start breaking it into pieces.

Rubber bands get wrapped around hands.  Ball point pens get clicked over and over.  Caps get taken off markers and put back on, repeatedly.  The possibilities are endless.

It’s not a big deal except that it can become distracting and, possibly, send a message of nervousness.

If you think this describes you, consider eliminating the temptations before it is your turn to speak.  Put the pen in your pocket and push the empty cup away.

Then, when you speak, combine occasional hand gestures with comfortably folded hands.

In my last post I talked about a strategy for getting started when you are asked to speak without prior notice (i.e., impromptu speaking).

Another impromptu speaking strategy—one that is essential—is to quit while you are ahead.  In other words, stop talking before you get into trouble.

Typically, when people are speaking on an impromptu basis, they keep trying to think of additional things to say no matter how much they have already said.  The quality of their comments inevitably deteriorates until they are speaking about trivia.  When they finally exhaust all their ideas, they sputter and stop like an engine running out of gas.

This can all be avoided by making it a personal rule that you will stop talking once you have made three—maybe four—points.  You don’t have to make that many points, but once you have, you know anything more you say is probably not going to be important.  So you make your third or fourth point and then finish.

If the people you are speaking to want to know more they can always ask you questions.  The important thing is that you ended your initial thoughts on a strong note.

When we get asked without warning to speak about something, the first few things out of our mouth can be no better than babble.  Eventually, we get focused and say something intelligent, but we wish we could go back and make a better first impression.

If only we could start out sounding immediately thoughtful while buying ourselves some time to get mentally up to speed

One tried and true way to do this is to lead off with some historical or background information.

Let’s say, for example, we are in a meeting that is supposed to only be about Project X, but the person in charge asks us to talk about the current status of Project Y.  We might start out by saying a couple of things about where Project Y was when the group last met.  You may recall that last month we were having some delivery problems with critical parts.  Two of our sub-contractors were running into raw material shortages.  They were being forced to shut down their operations for several days at a time.

Then, having gotten our mind focused on Project Y by talking about the past (i.e. old news), we could move into comments about its current status (what we were asked to talk about).  I’m happy to report that these problems have been solved.  Our sub-contractors found new sources for their raw materials and they are delivering our supplies on time.  Our deliveries are now on schedule and we are looking at a couple of new opportunities to bid on.

A few pieces of background information may not sound like much, but that’s usually enough to get our minds focused on the topic.  And, as long as we keep it to just a few lines, no one is going to get impatient waiting for us to get to the main point we were asked to address.  The important thing is that we didn’t babble when we first started talking.

A few days ago I watched a video claiming to reveal the “secrets” behind a well-known business speaker’s success.  The host would show a brief segment from one of this speaker’s presentations and then excitedly explain the “secret” that had just been demonstrated.

It was all quite silly.

Every “secret” was a basic concept in public speaking.  And, surprisingly, this famous speaker was not doing a great job of executing these basic concepts.

One “secret” was transitioning between the main sections in a presentation.  The famous speaker’s approach was to announce the end of a section and the beginning of a new one.   That ends x.  Now I want to talk about y.

Transitions are a non-secret requirement for maintaining a narrative flow.  And, announcing the end of one section and the beginning of another is only marginally better than no transition at all.

The best transitions create a narrative that is so seamless that a listener would have to be consciously listening for them to even notice.  In other words, one section naturally flows into the next, carrying the audience along, as in a story.

For example, a presenter who has been talking about competing economic forecasts might transition to a section on investment strategies by saying: “Each one of these economic forecasts suggests a different investment strategy.  If we were to choose to go with the most pessimistic forecast, a defensive strategy similar to what you see here (new slide) would be appropriate.”

The goal is not to obscure section changes, but to create a single, unbroken narrative.

In a way it’s like wallpaper.  When it’s hung well the patterns match and you don’t notice the seams.

I was channel surfing on Friday and caught the last few minutes of a speech by George Will, the syndicated columnist.

He used a closing technique that was impressively strong.  From memory he quoted several famous leaders—one right after the other.  Then he delivered a closing statement that summarized the point all these people were making—a point, I assume, that captured the theme of his speech.  

It’s not uncommon to hear a speaker quote someone at the end of a speech.  What was unusual was the use of several quotes from several different people.  One built upon another for a combined impact that no single quote could have.

 I’ve never used more than a few quotes spread out over a whole message; but, I’m definitely going to try this closing technique someday.

I just finished working with a group of individuals who present to a wide range of audience sizes from 4 to 700.  However, most of their work is with small groups.

What I observed with their eye contact was predictable.  When speaking, they gave most of their attention to the people seated close to them.  Only occasionally, if at all, did they glance at the audience members seated farther away. 

This is a common phenomenon.  A speaker habituated to small groups will concentrate on the first row or two of a big audience and, relatively speaking, ignore everyone else.  Without realizing it, they are sizing the audience to fit their normal experience.

I say “without realizing it” because it is an unconscious thing.  Everyone in the group I just worked with was unaware they were only looking at a few people until I gave them that feedback and they observed the video recording of their presentation.

If your typical audience is small you will have to make a conscious effort to extend your eye contact to the back rows when you speak to a large group.  It won’t happen automatically.

If someone asks you about a point you will be covering later in your presentation, is it okay to promise you will address it later, or should you answer?

I find it works best to do both.

By that I mean, give a brief answer that provides some value and then promise more information later.

Some presenters, determined to stay on track, will wave off a premature question with a quick “I’ll be getting to that later,” or “Please hold that question for now.  I promise I’ll answer it soon.”  Being so unaccommodating can come across as rude and discourage even timely questions from other audience members.    

A more considerate approach is to briefly answer the question and then promise more detail later.  It is true that these changes will lengthen our delivery times.  However, I have a slide coming later that shows how we can compensate for that.

Of course, if someone in a position of power is posing the premature question, you may have to go into more detail than you otherwise would.  But even then, you should be able to promise further detail later in the presentation. 

The key is to be both responsive to your audience and committed to your planned message.

You answer a question and a few minutes later someone asks the same question.

You feel compelled to say something about having already given an answer.  As I said earlier when this question came up…

Don’t.  Let it go.  Answer the question again without the corrective dig.  Only this time, keep your answer short out of consideration for the people who heard you answer it the first time.

Sure, maybe this person should have been paying better attention.  But, you are a presenter not a school teacher responsible for correcting behavior.  And, it’s in your best interest to be seen as someone who is considerate of audience members, not given to embarrassing them.

Entertain questions at the end of sections.

Your audience members want to ask questions any time during your presentation.  They prefer not to have to wait until the end.

You, on the other hand, may want them to wait because time is an issue or you are concerned about getting off track.

One possible solution—if your presentation has distinct sections—is to entertain questions at the end of each section. 

That ends the market research portion of my presentation.  Before I move on to our strategic options, are there any questions about the research?

This approach can be a reasonable compromise between your presentation-management needs and the audience members’ desire not to have to wait all the way until the end of the presentation to ask questions.

I’m not a big fan of speakers using jokes.  It’s too easy to either offend someone or—in an effort to avoid offense— to tell a joke that is so benign it’s lame.

However, if you have to tell a joke, please make it relevant to your topic.  It should have at least some connection to what you are talking about.

I once spent a day working with speechwriters who were on staff at a large corporation.  They talked about being frustrated by the CEO because he always wanted to start his talks with a joke.  They would prepare a strong, relevant opening and he would say: “I need a joke.  Give me a joke.”  If they resisted his request, he would come up with one from a book of jokes he kept in his desk.  The result was laughter (usually) but no relevance in how he was starting his message.

Go ahead.  Live dangerously.  Tell a joke.  But, use it to effectively tee up your topic.