I would like to seize your
attention for a moment to discuss the topic of distractions in business
presentations.
It follows my recent musings
about the benefits of taking a moment at the beginning of a presentation to
‘own’ the space. I added: Don’t, whatever
happens, get caught out by the arrival of the coffee. All too often a trolley
arrives just as you are delivering your full-on, scene-setting,
engagement-designed opening statement. You cannot hope to compete with the
clinkety-clink of cups and saucers and the passing of the sugar bowl.
Arrival
of the coffee is perhaps the most regular and common of all distractions; others
include fire alarms and passing sirens. You can’t compete, so stop, making a
light-hearted reference if you can think of one, then carry on again once the
distraction has passed. That way, nothing you say will be missed and you
reinforce the fact that the floor is yours at that moment and you are in
control. Indeed, if the coffee arrives, stop speaking and make a point of pouring it
yourself. Far from looking servile it will show that you are in charge - you own the
space!
I
talk about distractions along these lines when I am coaching business people in
Presentation Skills, but what I really hope for is that distractions will occur
naturally during the day so that my points become self-apparent. I was
delighted, therefore, when at PR client hired a rather inappropriate room
– underneath a pub – for a day’s team coaching. As the day went on and
delegates had to see past the mirror ball hanging over the table and contend with
constant banging in the kitchen, one presenter even had to compete for
attention with the arrival of the manager’s dog. I had no need to start talking
about distractions as mundane as sirens and fire alarms!
Sometimes
the distractions are less apparent because they exist in the minds of your
audience. Soon after I started an
awayday for a major car manufacturer, news came in about the possible closure
of one of the company’s plants. It became very apparent that that was what they
were all thinking about, rather than anything I was saying. So I called a halt. “Let’s break for an
hour”, I said, “make your calls, see what needs to be done and then when we
re-convene we can decide whether to continue or whether to let you all go”.
They made their calls, clarified the position, realised there was nothing they
could really do and everyone was back and ready to continue within 35 minutes.
So
think carefully about what is likely to be on the minds of your audience as you
plan a business presentation. If, for
instance, you have picked up that they are anxious about catching a specific
train, then make that the first and most important item on your agenda. Tell
them you are aware they need to get away on time and you have arranged to
finish 10 minutes early. Then you can even add a bit of theatre – ask them to
come to the window and point to a taxi; “that car is already waiting to take you to the station”. Now you have the best possible chance of
retaining their attention – because you have eliminated the big distraction.
The
most unusual distraction (apart form the arrival of that publican’s dog) that I
have come across recently was when I was helping a friend who was giving a
presentation in a pod on the London Eye. We discussed opening with energy and
impact and how to cope with sight lines in an unusually shaped ‘venue’. The
real challenge, however, was that as soon as the pod was up in the sky anything
I said about eye contact was going to have little value – everybody’s gaze
would inevitably be drawn to the view! How can you compete with that?
We
decided to plan for it. “Start off”, I said, “with a bit of audience
interaction by asking for help from someone who is good at identifying
landmarks in South-East London. Say that you will be stopping your story when
you get high in the sky so that everyone can admire the view and you will need
their help at that point”. With a
specific moment promised for admiring the view, no one would worry about
missing it, giving the speaker the the best chance of keeping the focus on
herself as she spoke.
Finally, the most extreme distraction I have experienced was with one presenter who
thought she could hear hippos! This was a very long way from sirens and fire
alarms, but then so were we – because we happened to be on a game reserve in
Swaziland. Amusing as it was, I didn’t really want the distraction to continue
into Day Two, so I checked it out. While there were hippos nearby – and we got
to see them on the final day – the noise turned out to be coming from the
local equivalent of a cattle grid. 
The German translation of Nick Fitzherbert's book
Presentation Magic was published on April 29.
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