Tell 'Em What You're Gonna Tell 'Em : Small Business Presentaions

Small Business Presentaions - Tell 'Em What You're Gonna Tell 'Em . . .

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Tell 'Em What You're Gonna Tell 'Em . . .

You've probably heard the following three sentences before. Though simplistic, they offer great advice.

Tell your audience what you're going to tell them.

Tell them.

Then tell them what you told them.

Adhering to this little bromide--which is really a streamlined version of Aristotle's ideas on giving speeches--will keep you on track as you prepare your presentation. It will make your audience comfortable and secure because they'll know where you're headed. And it'll help keep you focused as you make your presentation.

The Opener
The first few words you utter will set the tone for your entire presentation. This is the part where you "tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em." So it's imperative that you say something that will capture your audience's attention and give you rapport with the people.

There a number of ways to begin your presentation. You might start simply with a greeting: "Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to spend a few minutes with you today to discuss how we might work together to improve the quality of life for our less fortunate neighbors."

Then there's the shocker: "Thousands of teenagers die from drug overdoses every year. And this year, your child might be one of them."

You might introduce a little humor, but not of the "Did you hear the one about the priest, the minister, and the rabbi . . ." variety. Humor, is by far, the most difficult method to open your talk. Only use it when you are absolutely sure that it's appropriate, that your delivery is impeccable, and that it's actually funny.

Instead of humor, you might choose a warm and friendly approach that could include an anecdote that lets your audience see you as human and credible. For example, "My mother was fond of clichés and she used them liberally. `A stitch in time saves nine.' `Moss never grows on a rolling stone.' `A watched pot never boils.' She always had a cliché ready to help her family deal with life's situations. One of Mom's favorites was `Never a borrower or a lender be.' Our organization needs to heed my mother's advice, ladies and gentlemen. I'm here this morning to tell you that under no circumstances are we in a position to borrow funds to support our campaign."

In this approach, the speaker has taken his mother's homely advice; and because we all have mothers, most of whom were capable of giving us reasonable advice at least some of the time, he has made himself one of the group. He has injected his personality, a little bit of himself, into the presentation.

If you are good with words, you could create some verbal imagery--that is, paint a picture with words so that your audience can see, not just hear, what it is you are saying. This takes considerable skill, but if it's something you can do, it's extraordinarily effective.

Other formats for opening your presentation include:

An appropriate quote

A short list of facts or figures

A question

A challenge or call to action

Whatever device you use to open your presentation, just be sure to "tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em."

Chunk the Middle
A presentation has three major sections--the opener, the middle, and the close. The opener is the "tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em" part. And the middle part, often called the body of the speech, is where you actually "tell 'em." This is where you get your message across, where you cover your key points, and where you "chunk" the bulk of your message. And there are a number of ways to do it.

Kitty O. Locker, of Ohio State, suggests five different strategies for building presentations in general in her book Business and Administrative Communication:

1. Make a chronological progression from past to present to future.

2. Define the symptoms of a problem, identify the causes, and suggest or demonstrate a solution.

3. Explain the symptoms of the problem. Go through possible solutions. Then show how they don't work. Finally, give a solution that will work.

4. List all the pros of an idea, plan, or product. Then go through the cons, showing how they are outweighed by the pros.

5. Organize your presentation around three aspects of the subject. (See the following section entitled "Speaking in Threes.")

In Business Communication, Gretchen N. Vik and Jeannette Wortman Gilsdorf write that informative presentations often include one or more of the following self-explanatory organizational elements:

Chronology         Cause and effect              Classification
Description         Narration                          Problem-solution
Geographic         Illustration by example       Process
Compare and contrast

You can choose one or two of these elements and organize your message within that context. Entertaining presentations use many, if not all, of the same elements that informative presentations do.

In The Presentation Primer, Robert Nelson and Jennifer Wallick go into great detail about making persuasive presentations, including details of Aristotle's classic "proposition and proof" approach to oratorical argument. They also cover the psychological progression model that first arouses interest, only to create dissatisfaction, and eventually working through the problem that causes dissatisfaction and finding solutions based on results and benefits. This is pretty complicated stuff.

It may be easier to think about the body of the presentation in a less academic way. You organize the presentation based on what you want to accomplish. In the case of a persuasive presentation you can either define the problem, offer solutions, and identify the best solution or make a proposal (or state your thesis), build supporting arguments, create acceptance, and ask for action if appropriate.

Another approach to the persuasive argument--which, by the way, is the most difficult form of presentation and more likely to fail than informative or goodwill building presentations--comes again from Vik and Gilsdorf. They point out that persuasion is often linked to motivation (you motivate your audience to act or accept).

To motivate an audience, presenters frequently follow a five-step process:

1. Grab the audience's attention with your opener.

2. Establish and build their need or interest in your product, idea, or proposal.

3. Show them that your plan, idea, or proposal will meet their needs.

4. Help the audience visualize, through descriptive language or with visuals, themselves using your product, idea, or proposal to meet their needs.

5. Encourage the audience to take the action you suggest.

Items 2, 3, and 4 form the middle of the presentation.

The editors of The Executive's Guide to Successful Presentations point out that most people are not capable of retaining more than seven key points. But even seven is a lot. Unless your audience is already well versed in your subject or highly motivated to hear what you have to say, it's probably best to limit your key points to three.

Speaking in Threes
For some reason, the use of three points, examples, words, or ideas is more memorable than if you use just two or if you use four or more. It may have something to do with the sound or the rhythm of a series of three: healthy, wealthy, and wise; morning, noon, and night; gold, frankincense, and myrrh; bell, book, and candle. You can probably add dozens to the list.

There may be some psychological reason as to why a series of three stays in our minds. But whatever the explanation, when you plan your presentation, remember to use a series of three arguments, answers, or examples to make your point.

The Close
Finally, you're at the end of your presentation. You've made it through the whole thing. What do you say next? "Well, I guess that's it," is not one of the choices. There are presenters who actually do finish that way! No matter how eloquent you are for the opening and middle, if your close is a clunker, that's what the audience will remember.

So, go back to your purpose. What was your goal? If it was to inform, find out if you have given the audience the information they need. This is the time to "tell 'em what you told 'em." You can accomplish this by saying, "I hope you now have a better understanding of what the marketing department has done to increase our market share in the sixty-five and over bracket. Is there anything you'd like me to clarify?"

If your presentation was designed to build goodwill and entertain, there may be no need to repeat your message or answer questions. Instead, you might just thank your audience and say good-bye: "Thank you for sharing your evening with me. I enjoyed our time together." It's often appropriate to thank your host and the audience: "I'd like to thank Ms. Hooper for inviting me to speak with you this afternoon, and to thank you all for making my visit so comfortable." It may even be appropriate to steal Red Skelton's famous "Good night and God bless."

When your presentation is of the persuasive variety, your closing is a little more important. You may want the audience to take action, to accept your message, to buy your product, or to change their minds. In your closing remarks, you can do the following: