Sirens, fire alarms and hippos – anticipate the potential for distractions in your business presentation. And don’t even try to compete!

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.

Take a moment to ‘own the space’ when getting straight to the point in your business presentation

Last week I was discussing the need to open your business presentation with the kind of energy you feel when you’re closing a successful presentation – and taking inspiration from the great magician John Archer.  It reminded me, however, that there can be conflicting objectives at play as you open.

On one hand, you want to come straight to the point, driven by that sense of energy. One the other hand, you actually need to take your time to get established, allowing your audience to ‘tune in’ to you as they settle and ensuring that you don’t simply blurt your all-important opening words because your heart is pounding away that little bit faster than normal. Above all, you need to take control of the situation and ensure that, for the next few minutes at least, you ‘own the space’.

I usually illustrate this to asking those I am coaching if they have ever been to a dinner with entertainment provided by ‘table-hopping’ magicians. I explain that it’s a tough environment for the magicians – they need to break into the table, interrupt the conversation and struggle with noise, difficult lighting conditions and waiters trying to serve food, never mind potentially tipsy guests. The best performers will do all they can to ‘own the space’; they will clear a small area for themselves, adjust the seating a little and clear away any obstructions or distractions. Only then will they start to perform their magic – when the conditions are right for them to do the best job possible. 

Few people get to experience working as both magician and businessman, so I was

delighted to hear Marvin Berglas echo my thoughts in one of Pete Wardell’s excellent ‘Magic State of Mind’ interviews.  Marvin is the man behind the super-successful range of ‘Marvin’s Magic’ tricks that you will find in department stores all over the world. He continues as a performer, however, particularly at the Emirates Stadium where he organises the corporate entertainment for Arsenal FC. Inevitably he gets asked in business meetings to ‘show us a trick’. The way Marvin responds is to say: “Sure, but not near at the corner of your desk; let’s go and sit around the table and I’ll show you something special”.

So – take a moment or two before launching straight into your business presentation. A moment to check that your audience are all settled and that everything you need is in place. And 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. So stop speaking and make a point of pouring the coffee yourself. Far from looking servile it will show that you are in charge and you will re-start when full attention can be assured.  You own the space!      

Open your business presentation as if you were finishing it – the John Archer way

I have discussed in the past click here (May 2013) the importance of opening and closing a business presentation. Rule 13 of the Rules of Magic states that ‘Firsts and Lasts are remembered’, so special focus and rehearsal are always required for these elements in any presentation.

Firsts and Lasts each have their own additional reason for being important. It is at your close that you need to place your ‘Call to Action’, thereby getting a reaction and hopefully a result from your presentation. Your opening, meanwhile, is your chance to engage your audience and if you don’t achieve that, anything that follows will be rather meaningless.

For this reason I have long advocated a degree of extra energy up front – be a little more ‘full of beans’, I say, than might feel completely natural and the energy will bounce back between yourself and your audience. Aware that ‘full of beans’ may cause some translation confusion with some of the multi-national business people I coach I have long sought a more universal phrase and I have found one – within the world of magic.

John Archer is a magician and comedian much admired by his peers. He tours extensively with his friend Tim Vine, he was the first person to fool Penn & Teller on their TV show and he lectures regularly at magic conventions. His take on First and Lasts goes like this:

“You come off stage feeling so pumped up you could go back on. You should go on like that”.

Extracted and adapted from Nick Fitzherbert's book

Presentation Magic, published by Marshall Cavendish.  

German edition available April 29 

Use words that ‘paint pictures’ in your business presentation and your audience will ‘see’ what you are saying as well as hear it.

Of all the different methods of adding impact to the delivery your business presentation, one of the most effective is using words that 'paint pictures’. I have already applied the principle in the title of this blog. I could have said ‘using visual imagery helps audience...’, but instead said ‘words that paint pictures’, thereby conjuring visions in your mind of artists, brushes, colours and a beautiful end product. It is perhaps ironic that the term ‘visual imagery’ has no such power.

If we use words that paint pictures our audience can ‘see’ what we say as well as hear it and the impact is increased considerably. If Churchill had talked simply of: “ideological conflict and a physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas” or even “efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the west” would we still be quoting him today? We do so because he painted pictures with the words he used in 1946: “an ‘Iron Curtain’ has descended across the continent”.

The concept of words that paint pictures can be extended with great effect to phrases that paint pictures. Many enter our everyday language to the extent that they become clichés and we have to think again: making mountains out of molehills; using a sledgehammer to crack a nut; take the wind out of my sails etc.

A good descriptive phrase can, however, do much more than simply paint pictures in our minds. I was once coaching a team of Fund Managers in presentation skills. We got into a debate about the importance of stating clearly that good Fund Managers should develop intricate knowledge of the companies in which they invest by making regular visits to those companies. “I think that can be taken as read” said one somewhat surly member of the team; “the trouble is that anyone can say that”, said a more reasonable colleague. The one person who said nothing was reserving her thoughts for the presentation she was about to give. “I like to invest in companies”, she said, “where the management sit close to the loading bay”. With that one short sentence she had painted a clear, meaningful and memorable image; furthermore she had made it self-evident that she visits companies and follows a specific protocol.

The surly Fund Manager was suddenly keeping rather quiet and he sunk even deeper into his seat when his colleague built upon her ‘loading bay’ pronouncement with a story that was guaranteed to fix her in the minds of her audience. “On one occasion I was nearly arrested for loitering while doing my investment research”, she said. “A policemen was concerned that I was paying very close attention to a row of parked motorcycles. I had to explain – to the extent of showing ID – that I was considering investing in a company that made a specific part for motorcycles and I needed to see for myself how widely the part was being used on the bikes in my surrounding area”. Investors see a lot of Fund Managers; here was one that would stick in their minds as truly committed to getting the best bang for their bucks.

PS Regular readers of my blog posts will know that I usually brighten them up with a picture or two. I have not done so this time – I am relying on the words alone to create pictures in your minds!