One of the things that has amazed me the most about moving back to Nigeria is the quality of the writing that you come across. Be it the news, a newspaper, a magazine or even a Nollywood movie, it is often a surreal experience. It seems to me that the only intention of the writers is to baffle you, as the audience. Unnecessary use of complicated words? Check. Inappropriate use of said words? Double check. Bizarre syntax? Oh yes! Sometimes, I picture the writers sitting at their desks, thumbing through a dictionary, looking for a new word to foist upon us as the unsuspecting public.
The title of today's post is the old figure of speech, which means something is unclear or difficult to understand. If you are the person meant to be doing the communicating, you can see why this would be a piece of feedback you don't want to receive. In order to communicate well, your message should be clear and that is usually best achieved by keeping it simple.
If you think back to the speeches that you remember the best or the messages that stayed with you the longest or the call to action that actually inspired you to do something, they all had something in common. They were clear, they were simple and you connected with them on a personal level. One of my favourite books of all time is The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. It's a small book, with no airs or graces about it, but it is a powerful story of love, betrayal and redemption, simply and clearly told.
When you write a speech or an article, edit and re-edit until it is as clear and unambiguous as you can make it. Run it by other people for their feedback too, because what seems clear to you, may be as clear as mud to someone else! Watch out for cross cultural issues too. A few years ago, Beyonce released an album called B'Day. Unfortunately, no-one told her it rhymed with 'bidet' the French word for a plumbing appliance used to wash one's bottom! I'm guessing that no-one wants to be interrupted mid-presentation by a sniggering audience, which could happen if you make a mistake like that.
Clarity of speech is one of those things that we all admire, but can be fiendishly difficult to achieve. Good editing is the only way to get clear communication. Something that works for me, is to go back over my writing and remove any unnecessary words. I know I have a tendency to be a bit wordy, so I really need to edit my work ruthlessly. If you can't trust your editing skills, then find someone who won't be shy about pruning your writing. It's one of those things that is hard but necessary.
Finally, always remember the personal element of any communication. As human beings, I think we are hardwired to respond to personal stories, especially ones where we have a connection with the characters. There is a reason why books and movies are written the way they are. In any story, we want a hero to root for, we expect them to have a challenge, to overcome that challenge and win the day (and the girl) at the end. When we read a book or watch a film, we invest in it. We want to be able to identify with it and that's what will keep us remembering that book or film, long after it's ended. Using personal stories in your communication helps your audience to connect with you and makes them more likely to pay attention to what you say.
I'd love to have your input on this post, so feel free to comment and tell me whether it was clear, simple and had enough of a personal feel to it. How would you edit it to improve it? Alternatively, would you like some help with something you've written yourself? Contact me on 0706 335 0864 and let's get started if that's you.
Until next time, speak up, because the world needs to hear your voice.
I recently discovered the delights of Instagram (I know, I came very late to the party!). At first, I had no idea how to use the effects, but I played around and found out how things work. Now I am hooked. I'm not talking photoshop at 50 paces, but I've certainly been making sure that my pictures look super fly! And that my friends is what editing does for your presentation. Good editing makes sure that whatever you are presenting is shown in the best possible light.
I know you may feel that what you've written is a masterpiece and maybe you are one of those rare individuals whose first draft is excellent. However, in my experience, most of us need to edit our presentation before we deliver it. This is because your first draft is unlikely to be your best draft. I remember reading a tip a while back, about how to write a blog post in an hour. The idea is to write everything down, without worrying about how it reads or anything like that. Once you've got the first draft down, then you spend the rest of the time editing it, until it's what you want. Unfortunately, i'm far too finicky to stick to that advice (I always think someone's looking over my shoulder and going "tsk tsk" at my grammar). However you do it, bear in mind that no matter how good it is now, it can only be better, once it's been edited. Thinking your first draft is your best draft is like cooking a great meal and refusing to season for taste!
Secondly, editing your presentation critically, helps to reduce the chances that you won't connect with your audience. Be ruthless. Anything that doesn't work, cut. That joke that you're not sure about? Cut. The anecdote that seemed really funny, but doesn't sound so funny now? Cut. Something that a person has to read 5 times, before they understand it? Cut. The aim of communication is to be clear, concise and easily understood. If your presentation fails on any of these points, then maybe it's time to think again, revisit your draft and edit some more.
I'm taking my own advice this week. I think this is probably the shortest post I've ever written. I'd love to hear from you. Would you edit this post some more? How would you edit it? Leave me a comment and let's continue the conversation.
Until next time, speak up, because the world needs to hear your voice.
Many moons ago, when I was a nervous law student, I had to give a presentation. Nothing unusual there I hear you say. True, but the catch was that it had to be recorded, so you watch it and see what you were like as a speaker. This was back in the day when there was no photoshop or Instagram to help a sistah out. All I could see on the video were my teeth and the whites of my eyes-scary! As for the presentation itself, I've blanked it out, because I'm pretty sure it was epically bad. It was my first attempt at public speaking and it was every bit as nerve wracking as I thought it would be. If I'd had an advisor, I hope they would have told me, what I'm about to tell you: "practice makes perfect". No matter how experienced or inexperienced you are as a speaker, a little bit of practice is always helpful.
In the first Sex and the City film, after her friend Carrie is stood up at the altar by Big, Charlotte comes up with a phrase that she's going to say to Big, whenever she sees him. She sees him on the street, delivers her phrase, it falls a bit flat and her waters promptly break! My point? There are some things that just shouldn't be said. They should stay in your brain, preferably taking up very little space. The best time to discover this? During your practice run and not when you're in front of an audience, who up until now had been pretty impressed by you! If you're unsure about something in your presentation, practice it, get someone else to listen to it and then decide whether it needs to be included or not.
Secondly, practicing helps you notice and get rid of any distracting body language. People pay attention to what your body is saying as well as what comes out of your mouth. The trick is to make sure that they are saying the same thing, but not so it distracts your audience. In ordinary conversation, they may be ignored, but if you have something important to present, the last thing you want is for people to be fascinated by the little twitch above your left eye! I remember being in court once and watching in fascination as my opponent took down her hair and put it back up again in a completely different style, during the course of the case. I cannot remember now, what we were arguing about, but I remember that, because it was so distracting.
Lastly, practicing beforehand can do wonders for your confidence. Even if you only discover that there are some things better left unsaid and that you have a seriously distracting mannerism, those are 2 things that won't be sapping your confidence during your presentation. Better to discover them during practice and make adjustments.
In the end, the most important thing is not how you practice, but that you actually practice. Some people recommend speaking to yourself in the mirror. That would freak me out, but might work for you. Other suggestions include recording yourself or running through your presentation in front of other people first. Try them all and find the method that works best for you. You don't want to be so practiced that you lose your personality, but you don't want to lose the plot either.
What have your experiences been when you have or haven't practiced? Have you ever said something and immediately wished you could take it back? Why not give me a call on + 234 706 335 0864 or drop me a line, so we can make sure that you become the best presenter you can be?
Until next week, speak up, because the world needs to hear your voice.
Imagine this scenario: you're in front of an audience of about 100 people. The auditorium is quiet, because they are riveted by what you are saying. You grabbed their attention right from the beginning and you haven't let up since then. Your message is clear and you can see by their nods that they are with you. You make your last point, they are on the edge of their seats, waiting for your grand finale and you end by saying "thank you for listening, that's the end of my presentation." Oops! I can see the energy leaving the room, as people just sort of deflate at your damp squib of an ending! Up until this stage, you had been doing great, but you forgot a very important point: "your ending is as important as your beginning"
Can you imagine your favourite film, without the grand denouement at the end? What would a romantic comedy be like, if the star crossed lovers didn't get together at the end? What would that great thriller be like, if we never found out who the villain was? Say what you like about Hollywood, they generally write great endings. They know just how to write an ending, that keeps us gripped, until the very last minute. One of my favourite series is the Good Wife and this season has kept me gripped from the beginning to the end. And every ending, makes me look forward to the next episode. We can't all be Hollywood scriptwriters, but we can certainly learn something from them, about how to end on a high note.
There's a couple of things that you can do to make sure you end well. If you started with a story, you could save the end of the story, for the end of your presentation. As human beings, we love closure and we always want to know what happened in the end. I'm so bad that I actually read the end of a story, just to make sure I know what's going to happen (terrible habit I know).
Questions are a great way to start a presentation and so answering the question at the end of the presentation is another effective way of ending your presentation on a high note.
My favourite though, is to end with a powerful 'call to action'. A call to action is just a way of inviting your audience to do something with the information you have given them. When you communicate effectively, the audience is already inspired and energised and your call to action taps into that. Depending on how powerful your call to action is, sometimes it can actually morph into a slogan, which is incredibly powerful.
So, as I end this week, I'm asking you: what will you do, with what I have just shared? Will you file it away, never to be re-visited, or will you use it in your next presentation? How have you used the tips I've been sharing for the past few weeks? Would you like some help becoming a more effective communicator? Then contact us on +234 706 335 0864 or through this site.
Until next time, speak up, because the world needs to hear your voice.
There are a few things that are iconic about James Bond films: Q and his amazing gadgets, the 'will they, won't they' vibe between Miss Moneypenny and Bond and the opening sequence. I always look forward to the opening sequence of a Bond film. It's like a really great sneak peek at what's coming next (which of course it is). It's kind of become a Bond thing and it illustrates the point of this week's blog perfectly. The core message for this week's blog is "grab your audience at the beginning, with a great opener"
The main reason you want to do this is because, if you do it well, your audience is much more likely to engage with you and connect with what you are saying (providing of course you continue to hold their interest). I'm pretty certain that most of us have been subjected to presentations that started off making us want to gouge out our own eyeballs and ended with us metaphorically banging our heads on the wall in boredom! I can hear some of you saying "I dare you to make a presentation on health and safety interesting". My advice would be to find an interesting and/or funny anecdote (preferably both) that illustrates your main message or one of your supporting points. I think human beings are hardwired to connect through stories and so when you start off with the right one, you grab their attention early on. You could also try including some fun trivia, or have a couple of questions that you throw open to your audience, to get them involved, right from the start. These are just 3 ideas, but there are loads more out there, if you're prepared to go the extra mile to come up with a great presentation. Be careful though, not to be too gimmicky. People can always sense when you're trying to manipulate them. If you are authentic and passionate, chances are, your audience will tap into that.
The second reason, you want to grab your audience's attention early on, is that it's always harder to regain something you've already lost. It's a tactic I use with my 3 year old all the time. If I need her to do something, I always start with something she's interested in, so that she's less resistant to anything less interesting that she has to do later on. Since 3 year olds are notorious for their short attention span, if it works for her, it's worth trying on adults don't you think?
Finally, if you capture and keep the interest of your audience, there's a much better chance that they will remember your core message, which is really what you want. We all have so many things vying for our attention, that if we tried to keep them all in our brain, it would probably explode! The beauty of a short, succinct and clear core message is that we have a much better chance of remembering it, long after we've left the presentation.
I hope this week's tips have given you a bit of confidence about how to make your presentation more engaging. If you'd like some help with a presentation or speech or want to become a more engaging public speaker then either give us a call on +234 706 335 0864 or use the contact form on this blog.
Until next time, speak up, because the world needs to hear your voice.
