10 Ingredients of a Knockout Speech (Number 9 is Impossible)

10 Ingredients of a Knockout Speech (Number 9 is Impossible)

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This was a terrible idea.

Archie swallowed hard, took one step towards the stage, and froze.

300 sets of eyes peered at the stage. Awoken by the movement in the shadows behind the bright lights.

Archie Benedict looked down one last time at his notes.

How had his business partner, Jeff, considered, even for a split-second, that this was a good idea?

Archie had a strong aversion to speaking in public. So strong, he’d done everything in his power to make sure Jeff was fit and able to deliver this critical product development keynote.

Archie had made sure Jeff’s secretary had booked him on an early flight back from New York, just in case there were delays. He’d called Jeff this morning to confirm he’d woken up in time to catch his flight.

Archie hadn’t counted on maintenance staff striking and blockading the airports.

No more Jeff.

He’d barely looked at the presentation content. Wasting time making sure Jeff could get back to do it.

Archie thought about escaping. Scurrying away to the sanctuary of his quiet office.

He looked behind him, preparing to run. There was Jeff’s secretary motioning for him to hurry and up and get out on stage.

Archie gulped. What a nightmare!

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and timidly walked on to the stage.

*

Have you ever felt like Archie?

Speaking in public is terrifying. Three quarters of us fear public speaking more than death.

It’s possible to overcome your fear and do standout presentations. It’s even possible for Archie to deliver a great presentation, despite having not prepared.

Here are the 10 ingredients of knockout presentations:

1. Treat your presentation like a conversation

Imagine you go out for a beer with friends.

Imagine one of your friends is speaking. He’s talking word perfect. As if he’s reading from a script.

As he talks you notice the pauses are unnatural or nonexistent. What he’s saying sounds too rehearsed. The tone and associated body language just doesn’t gel.

This is what most presenters sound like.

If your friend talked to you this way, it wouldn’t be too long before you excused yourself from the conversation. The same happens every day in business presentations… We excuse ourselves by switching off.

Good presentations are natural and conversational in nature (watch any TED talk as proof) so don’t focus on perfection. Focus on knowing what you want to talk about and what you would like the audience to take away from your talk.

Be conversational and you’ll be listened to.

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2. Be yourself

You know when you are talking to someone and something feels a bit off?

A little bit disingenuous? A little bit fake?

Maybe it’s a business meeting and you feel like one of the attendees is acting.

It’s pretty easy to spot, right!

It’s pretty easy to spot when someone is being fake when you’re face-to-face.

It’s also pretty easy to spot when they’re being fake on stage.

The lesson here is: Don’t try and be someone you’re not. Don’t act. Just be yourself.

The audience will respond negatively to acting. The audience will respond positively when you just be yourself.

3. If you make a mistake, move on

This is such a simple rule but such a difficult one for most people to follow.

Everyone wants to be perfect.

We are raised to avoid mistakes at all costs.

So, when a mistake happens in your presentation, it can be tempting to over-apologize, restart sentences, and beg forgiveness.

You mispronounce a word; You forget to say something; You get things mixed up. You are programmed to want to make things right.

But, here’s the thing. Most people won’t notice. And even if they do, they probably won’t care.

If you make a mistake, just move on.

If you forget something, the audience doesn’t know unless you tell them. If you mispronounce a word, the audience doesn’t care. If you get things mixed up, just sort it out and continue.

4. Decide where you are going

Your boss gives you a week off.

You rush home, pack your bags, drive a couple of hours to the airport, and then think: Where should I go?

That’s not the way it’s meant to happen, right?

You decide where you want to go and then everything else flows from there. Buying the tickets. Knowing what to pack. Arriving at the airport with enough time to check-in.

The same should happen in your presentation. Decide why you’re delivering your presentation before you do anything else.

What do you want the audience to do? What do you want the audience to take away from your talk? If you don’t know the answers, then hang around the drawing board until you do.

5. Visual communication is everything

It’s not the content.

Well it is… But it’s not.

Your content is important. How you say it is important too.

But if your visual communication displays a lack of confidence and doesn’t inspire the audience to listen to you, then your content is irrelevant.

Encourage the audience to listen to your great content by projecting credibility and confidence.

You project credibility and confidence through an open body position; strong posture; eye contact; gestures; and purposeful, but limited, movement.

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6. Empathy

The ability to empathize with others is important in every area of life, including your presentation.

If you don’t care about the audience they can tell.

Show them you empathize by demonstrating you understand the challenges they face relative to your topic.

If you’re asking them to take some action which will be bothersome, empathize with them and at least attempt to show them a better future as a result of the bother they have to go to.

7. Your first words

The audience will be quick to judge you. Make sure your first words count.

Make a strong statement which intrigues them and displays your confidence.

Avoid boring your audience with standard “Good mornings” and “Thank yous”.

Fire them up with something which gives them a reason to listen, like “From next week your administrative workload gets lighter.”

8. Your final words

Your audience will most easily remember the first and last things you say.

In your final few words give them something positive to associate to your presentation.

“Together we can do this. Thank you.” sounds nice, but this kind of positivity often feels hollow in business presentations.

Try something like: “Remember, all you need to do is make this small change when you get back to your desk. Next week, your workload becomes easier. Thank you.”

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9. Prepare your presentation in a specific order

This one’s tough.

Most people will not be able to do this. And that probably includes you.

And why is this point so difficult?

Because it takes time. Because it goes against everything you are conditioned to think.

Here goes. Prepare your presentation in the following order:

  1. Decide what the take-away is for the audience.
  2. Draft out what points you need to cover to get the audience there.
  3. Make a basic outline of your presentation (not a script).
  4. If there is part of your presentation you are not sure about, start learning, start getting familiar with it.
  5. Commence practice. Practice talking about each of the points in your presentation until you have a cohesive speech that you can deliver without prompts like notes and cue cards
  6. Video-tape yourself and watch it back with a critical eye. Address only the two biggest problem areas you found, no more.
  7. Time permitting, repeat step 6.
  8. Build your slides. At this point use your latest video recording and only create slides which emphasize key points in your speech.
  9. Practice your speech again with slides. At this stage your focus should be on not looking at the slides as you talk (this should be easy because you’ve already got your speech down).

10. Silence

If you take my advice in point 9, you’ll notice something during the video playback in step 6…

Filler words.

The amount of “umms” and “okays” and other fillers in your speech will make you look unprepared, unpracticed, and unconfident (is that a word?)

Whenever you feel like you are not sure of what to say next, pause. Be silent.

Identify the times you use filler words and the feeling you have at that moment. Practice being silent instead.

Pauses are extremely effective in presentations and, counter-intuitively, make you look confident.

You’ll appear cool, calm, and collected because you’re not using filler words and you’re comfortable with moments of silence.

What do you think? Let’s chat in the comments below.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Great article and really important pointers to guide through a presentation.
    Point 9 is quite important but I feel that if you look at your presentation like telling a story and point 9 becomes easy to build and will be the foundation on which the presentation flow will take place.
    All of us like stories and we have been conditioned for that since we were children, hence our attention is raised when we hear a story.

    Reply

  2. No. 9 is not really impossible, but takes time and effort. I try to follow every point stated whenever I am going to present something important or to an important audience.

    Reply

  3. Excelente article. Good suggestions for an speech. Simple and y seguí. I will remind año of then. Many thanks for Sharing

    Reply

  4. Excellent article, found every point to be useful. I was especially encouraged by #10 as after many years of public speaking I have only recently become comfortable with and begun to use pauses and moments of silence as a means of bringing emphasis to important points and things that I would want my audience to think through and consider more deeply.
    Many thanks for this!

    Reply

  5. Excellent, again, thank you! What I prefer to be the best advice of these all, if I should choose, would be number 2: Be yourself! Yes, keep in mind this. If you are trying to sound like your idol, walk like him/her or even trying to repeat the gestures, the only result will be near to a catastrophe. Do not bother, you will not become your idol and experience the metamorphosis, so just be you! After accepting yourself you will find your own way to make a speech and feel you confident. The public either likes your personal style or then not. Take a risk and try! After all, there will always be those who love your style and those who will not like it. But still, be yourself!

    Reply

  7. Great guide. Thanks. A tool I use in eliciting interest and feedback during presentation is making it as interactive as possible, including pausing for questions and comments, as well as throwing in issues for audience discussion. I also try to start and end with quotations by lead authorities.

    Reply

  8. The best part of this is the part before the 10 items. It’s a story. Telling a story engages the audience. Takeaway – never begin your presentation with your presentation.

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  9. This is a very clear and practical article. I would especially affirm the importance of considering how you begin and how you end. We can’t assume our audience is interested in hearing anything we have to say. Too many speakers fail to plan their closing comments so it feels like a plane that keeps circling the runway but never lands. Land the plane with impact and they’ll be contemplating your talk for days afterward!

    Reply

  10. Well put. Knowing the material and the preparedness are the keys to a good speech. However for me the turn off is the speaker not being genuine. No matter how well one prepared is, it shows when she/he not real.

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  11. So correct about #9 (BTW: good bait to get me to read the article). Great presentations also seem to take on a life of their own and the presenter must be proficient enough to read the audience and modify on the fly. this takes true talent when a PowerPoint is the driver but much easier when you consider this truism in your prep.

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  12. I think you need to be flexible with the flow depending on the feedback you get. Knowing the presentation well enough to change the order and find your way back again.

    Reply

  13. Great insight and article Dave!, one of my biggest mistakes in public speaking I made was talking in monotone my audience would be bored very easily then I discovered ways to differentiate my tone my audience became much more engaged this article was spot on to appear calm and cool a little pause also will convey confidence along with a change in tone and certain emphasis in points you want to get across to the audience.

    Reply

  14. While #9 is useful it is actually the easiest part of public speaking. In fact, it is the thing that makes the rest of it all fall into place, including overcoming stage fright. The best way to overcome stage fright is to understand how to do #9, then do it, then practice, then know that you are ready.

    Reply

  15. Great ideas indeed. Try to think like Steve Jobs and wow the audience with charisma and tell a story instead of death by PowerPoint.

    Reply

  16. Two points that I’d like to add:
    1) Tell them a story. I do. Everything you want to say, every point you want to make, every topic or theme that you want to present – has a beginning, a middle and an ending. A story keeps the audience interested.
    2) The Pause: It’s a vital tool, as you have stated. It can be used with telling effect. It
    can help to break the monotony, can be used as a break between ‘chapters’ – especially during a day-long lecture session. A sudden pause can generate anticipation, draw the focus of the audience, make them attentive to what you are going to say next. It can draw the audience in.

    Reply

  17. Very informative and helpful. One thing I may add that during such presentations where at outset ppl feel sleepy due to technical nature, it will be good to keep asking small advises from audience to keep them involved. Otherwise, when everyone ended yawning, the presenter starts!

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  18. Terrific ideas. Number 9 stands out because of wisdom one of my mentors shared – practice your speech in ‘chunks.’ If you continually practice out of order, you’ll give equal weighting to each chunk. It is also a terrific way to prepare for the unexpected.

    Reply

  19. I can add one thing. People love to give their opinions, so telling them early on they will have that opportunity at the end via clicker or other means will engage their interest even more.

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  20. An excellent article to be prepared for an effective presentation. All points are well thought and put together to avoid biggest mistakes which otherwise are quite common

    Reply

  21. This is terrific. I have kind of intuitively followed a number of these steps, especially the first few, but this nails it down to a repeatable method and confirms my intuition. Number 9 is a true gift; so often we start with the slides thinking we need to wrap what we say around them. I usually limit my number of slides to avoid this but this concept turns it all around, completing the starting place of what is the takeaway.
    Simple and brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  22. Great article. While I agree with all the points you made I am a fan of 7 and 8. Both are important components of a successful presentation. Your opening words should engage the audience and capture their attention. If step 7 isn’t executed properly then step 8 can be challenging especially if the body of your presentation didn’t do anything to help recover from a poor execution of step 7.

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  24. Good Dave. Straightforward, concise and effective content for all presenters whilst encouraging confidence and calmness.
    For me I simply follow that all presentations have a beginning , a middle and an end with a theme like an arrow all the way through shaped to satisfy your specific audience.
    PP

    Reply

  25. Great article. Thank you, Dave Mac. After 500 presentations, I am still a hungry learner. #1 and #9 are the two that changed the game for me the most. To all the new speakers out there: if you embrace this list, yo’ll be well on your way to standing ovations!

    – Catherine Byers Breet: Chief Stripe Changer, Keynote Speaker and Pretty Good Parallel-Parker.

    Reply

  26. I haven’ seen your material before – This is really good for anyone preparing to present – from novice to fully fledged. The connection I get from this lies in the practice – even if not by video, but run over and amended, because this leads to belief in the content – and then you can throw away the slides and deliver the perfect, stimulating, interesting, confident message. Audiences respect that.

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  27. I dropped the microphone one time and actually said the word “sh-t” – right in front of the entire company, bosses included! Item 3 in your list “Move On” is the only way to get over that. I just scooped the mic up, laughed it off and kept on going.
    I present my department goals and projects to the company twice a year. I practice and only memorize key words as triggers to discuss my talking points. The slides have a few words with an image. I get nervous at first, but then get over it. This time I plan to add a question as my first line to give myself time to pause, take a deep breath and continue. I hate that nervous waver in my voice during that first few seconds. If I exhale, it helps me get started and then I’m off and running.

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  28. Well written! Good check points before a presentation. I believe one of the most important factors is to create a flow of your presentation in line with the interest of the audience. Small quotes, stories and events sometimes liven up the room. Number 9 is not impossible if one believes in “the more the effort, the more the satisfaction.”

    Reply

  29. One small thing I’d add which has helped me personally: if you make a mistake, turn it into a joke or a quick story. One I use is to recount the time my partner and I arrived after a two hour flight for a new business pitch each thinking the other had the flash drive with the presentation loaded on it. Everybody out there in the audience has done something equally dumb and little asides like that can help build empathy and rapport..

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  30. Thanks for the simple, organized reminder! Consider including a sentence or two up front about finding out who your audience is and what they care about (culturally, professionally, personally) before deciding what they need to know.

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  31. Good stuff! This is what I teach my Sales Clients who think all the value is in the product, and beating back objections. WRONG! I deliver, “Improve Your Selling Skills when You Improve Your Speaking Skills” as part of my VAMP protocol. Gotta say, I did a #3/#10 combo some years back when I was presenting and completely blanked on my next point. It was gone from my mind, and I was in the midst of a no-notes presentation. #3 was in play, so I dialed up #10 to handle it. Afterwards one of the attendees complimented me on my dramatic pause! LOL, yeah, I can use fewer of those unintentional dramatic pauses…. Good article, sir!

    Reply

  33. Good tips! I’m a big fan of #9. It’s what we teach our subject matter experts who teach classes for their fellow employees. I love seeing that in your process, creating the PowerPoint is nearly at the end. We preach that but it’s a hard sell. Because many of our SMEs are project managers, we help relate it to their world by comparing the process to a project execution plan. They wouldn’t just jump into designing a bridge without a plan and they shouldn’t jump into training that way either.

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  34. I had a adjunct professor, detested the Umms, in regular conversation as well as presentations. He used to be in the army and in front of everyone in class he would stop me every single time I said an Umm. As a instructor myself, I didn’t have the heart to tell him how wrong this was for young children and adult learners. It took me about two grad classes later to get over the Umms in my presentations. Every class member I had in his class would remind me of my Umms. Correcting someone publicly does not help anyone trying to present. Great article.

    Reply

  35. As from next week my public presentations will be great. 😉 Thank you for these golden tips.

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  36. Hi Everyone,
    I like the content and the advice, especially 8 & 9. Only I would only careful with the TedX as instructinos – I have seen some really artificial presenters there. I mean that it may not always be as natural, as with a friend in a pub. However, there are some masterpieces too.
    Thanks. Andy

    Reply

  37. Very good recipe and very valid points.
    If I may add; making a presentation is like telling a story. it has to have logical flow, you must sound confident and most important is the demonstration of conviction of what is being said.

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  38. Seems to me that it might be important to Challenge the audience in some way during the presentation, in order to create actual engagement. What do you think?

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  40. Loved your concise summary. Knowing your topic and practicing even one or two of these tips would greatly improve anybody’s presentation.

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  41. Brilliant title, Dave. The mind cannot stand an incomplete puzzle. Curiosity is one of the best techniques to get us to read an article (you just proved it) and it works in live speeches as well. Well done.

    The only thing you missed was what I said to do on page 97 of my Step Into The Spotlight! book. (See, 2 can play this game, Dave! LOL)

    Tsufit
    Author, Step Into The Spotlight!
    http://www.SpotlightSecrets.com

    Reply

  42. An interesting / greatread, all very valid points and almost exactly what I was taught and have used since 1972.
    I have sat through a lot of presentations in the last forty years and a significant number have been scripted monologues where difficult questions are avoided by the phrase, “let’s chat about your points later”
    I think the most important thing has to be treat your audience as if they were your friends and you must be sincere. Make sure your key take always are delivered and do not be afraid to go off script; just make sure you get back on course. If you have practised delivery you will know exactly where you are and can recover quickly without an ummm.

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  43. Great article. Effective communication is so critical in every aspect of life. The key points regarding this were articulated well. If heeded, it will certainly improve both our private and public presentations.

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  44. Well Done! Simple and to the point! I have shared same experiences, very good tool for newcomers

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  45. 100% accurate. Loved #9. I also believe practicing and experience can improve our presentation skills. I always taught being silent at the middle of a presentation is awkward, but you cleared my doubt.

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  46. Great article. Here’s another suggestion: try Toastmasters. If you’re not comfortable with public speaking, this is THE place to help you overcome stumbling blocks. We can assist you with your catch words such as “uhm” and “so”, and help you with visual presentations as well. We are nationwide. Look us up. Stop in for a meeting. You won’t be disappointed.

    Reply

  47. Excellent article but my problem is stage fear.. i cannot talk in front of so many peopl whose eyes are grazing at me.. any way i can overcome it?

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  48. Great article with applicable advice! I really like the idea of video taping yourself and addressing the 2 biggest areas of concern.

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  51. Spot on regards filler words and silences. I always advise my clients to pause and allow the audience to absorb what you have said.

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  52. Nice article to read and re-read until we incorporate these ingredients in any of our presentations! Certainly will make use of this.
    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  57. Excellent advice about being silent. Many filler words seem to come between sentences. If you take a breath at the end of each sentence, it’s nearly impossible to say any filler word. The pause while you’re taking a breath allows you to gather your next thought; allows you to fuel your brain with oxygen; gives your audience time to process, absorb and/or digest what you just told them or showed them.

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  58. Excellent article! Simple and easy to follow with some solid points. It’s always important to see public speaking as a two-way process so I appreciate point #1 and will add that practice makes perfect. Practice the presentation aloud, it makes a huge difference!

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  61. Excellent article – my perspective is always if I was in the audience what would I think of the content/presentation. A presentation is not about me but about the audience.

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  62. Refreshing. Let’s face it folks, there are only so many pieces a Speaking/Presentation can be divided into and then examined… in excruciating detail. And yet I/we continue to look for something “new”. Usually disappointed. This article is well presented and I’m glad I stopped for a moment to read it. Nice job. Conversational. Friendly. And I too am a big fan of “Silence”. Thanx.

    Reply

  63. Exactly what I’ve been saying teaching public speaking for 35 years at the college level, and now in my business Sage Forward Training! Thanks for the confirmation. I’m sharing this with the students this term! Michelle Moore Brady.

    Reply

  65. Really interesting article. I especially like #9 – a very useful approach to ‘polishing’ a presentation.

    Reply

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