171. How do you give an effective presentation?
Want to have influence in any room? 📢 Then it's time to spruce up your presentation skills! Brand strategists and hosts Phil and Lauren dish on their learned secrets of effective presentations—even in 1:1 meetings. You'll learn how to change up your pace, keep people engaged, structure your communications, and win over your listener. To make an interpersonal impact, listen to this episode.
Episode transcription
Phil
Well, hello there. Welcome to Brand Therapy. I'm Phil.
Lauren
And I'm Lauren.
Phil
And this is a podcast where we help you position, build and promote your brand. Today's topic is going to be more categorized, I think, in that final stage, promotion. But it also takes on several identities. I feel like you can listen to this episode, and get some takeaways that you can apply to a situation where you're standing in front of an audience to a situation where you're standing in front of a client trying to win over their hearts and their business. I don't know, I feel like you can apply this episode, these ideas, these resources, everything were packed into about 20 minutes or so you can apply this to a lot of things. Wouldn't you agree more and more?
Lauren
Yeah, I agree. Because it was my idea.
Phil
Correct. It was your idea. I probably wouldn't have even thought about doing a whole dedicated episode to this. But it does make sense and that is why we're doing it.
Lauren
I think that there's this misconception that just having a good perspective, or good information is enough in business. And I don't think it is, I think the way that you deliver that information in the order that you deliver it, that information is just as if not even more important. I've realized this personally over the years public speaking and delivering presentations, and even just communicating with clients in general, not my strong suit, not my comfort zone whatsoever. But I've realized that if you have little tricks to engage, to get people to listen to say what they want to hear, life becomes a lot easier, like a lot easier. Sales come quicker. People agree with you faster. You got alignment, again, quicker. I think that it just I don't know, I think if you're a good speaker, the scales tip in your favor in business.
Phil
Hmm, what made you think about this? Was there a particular moment where you went, Oh, I just noticed this presentation made me realize we should do an episode about it.
Lauren
Well, yeah, this morning, we delivered a brand audit recap presentation, which we deal with with everyone. And whenever we do these presentations, by the end of it, I'm ultimately selling them on a 30 to $40,000 project hoping that they say yes to half of of what's proposed. And today it looks like sold $20,000 worth of services. And I don't think that we would get those kind of results, if someone didn't like what they were hearing for the first 40 minutes before we start talking about numbers.
Phil
It's true. It's true. And I think we present in more ways than we even realize. Sometimes presenting isn't even called a presentation like this idea. And I think you look closely aligns with branding with this idea of like organizing the way you present information. I'm thinking, for example, right now about a new aspect of our business, which we're launching, which is content creation for some of our clients that we branded. And I want to be able to give them a one sheet explanation of like, here's what we do. And here's what we expect you to because this is teamwork, this is a collaboration. That in itself is a presentation I want to get on one page, I want to be able to show important information in a way that allows them to digest what they need. I think a lot of times you can organize information in a way that makes them by or makes them move forward. I think that's what you realized this morning was like, we presented information to help someone make a decision. Better yet we organize information in a way that we wanted someone to make a decision that worked in our favor, and it will work in theirs too. But we've got to get paid. So it works in our favor first.
Lauren
Okay. There are a few things that I've picked up from you from watching you over the years that I want to share with our listeners. First of all, and this it might sound like woo woo. But I think that you really need to feel out the energy and the vibe of whoever you're speaking with. I don't know if you're aware of this, that you do this, Phil but you do this really great job of being a chameleon and matching, whatever it is that you're feeling with the other person. Could you talk about that?
Phil
Yes, maybe it's one of my superpowers. Maybe it's my only superpower.
Lauren
No, it's not your only superpower. But I'd say it is a superpower of yours.
Phil
I think it stems from a place of desire for connection. So when I'm looking at someone, I know that a happy outcome for me is that person on the same wavelength as me or the ability to connect with that person in a way that becomes productive. That's my desire. And so when I go into a conversation or I go into a presentation, I am absorbing. I don't even know that I'm listening, I think but I'm absorbing the vibe. I don't describe it as a vibe. What is it? It's like it's an energy. It's facial expressions. It's volume. Yeah, it's eye contact. Hey,
it's a speaking case. It's
all of these things that I think we as humans compute right away. And yeah, I don't know. I just, it's not really something I do intentionally. It's just the way that I operate.
Well, let's go through two examples of that. One, when we're on a call with a lead, for example. And that person's like, wacky, like, you bring wackiness right back at them? Well, that's because I'm kind of wacky. Yeah, but you meet them where they are. And I've tried to think when you're on a call with someone that you can sense that they're stressed, busy and distracted. What do you usually do,
underperform? That's what I usually do, that's not my strength. So this actually takes me back to the days of working in a jewelry store, I was the only guy on the floor that worked at the jewelry store that would obviously sell old ladies their earrings. But also the the exciting part or the one that you know, the aspect of the job that had more pressure was selling an engagement ring, which could be $10,000 or more. And so you have to make the sale, it was just funny. We were like a roster of all the women in me. And then we would each take on certain personality types, I always got the older women or I got the wacko women, usually I work a lot with women. And look, it's reflected in our business, we work a lot with women, I enjoy working with women, I feel like we can make a lot of impact. I did not necessarily do well with like the macho men that maybe aren't as visible in their emotions or communication that was like better for someone else in the jewelry store. Not for me, but you kind of know your strengths. Like, I guess when someone's stressed and they're distracted, then I try and end it as soon as possible, because I believe their mind is somewhere else. And so what I can do to serve that person is to be efficient with the minutes that we use. Yeah, so I feel like I was quiet. Yeah, I would say listen, you probably got a whole lot on the go. So let me only take a few minutes of your time. Here's what I need from you. There.
And then then they like that. Yeah. Okay. So another thing that you do, I've noticed, Phil, is that you say things with a smile, and you keep it positive. And I've learned this in my presentations, too, is that people like to spend more time with other people who make them feel good, or make them feel happy. And so I kind of see my role as putting on a performance that gives people a break and is hopefully a highlight of their day. Something
that's good motivation. I heard once that Beyonce smiles while she's on the treadmill. Oh my god. So I think about that, I think about smiling, because it does rub off on people. And it also makes you present better. But along the lines of that I don't obviously smile ear to ear the for the whole hour. Let's say the call is very intense. I'm doing it right now. I very intentionally also vary the delivery. So people pay attention. If I was to talk monotone the whole time like this in a podcast episode that stayed the same. Like I can't even do it. See, yeah, I was I just I'm incapable of it. I do sometimes get made fun of it. And I embrace it, because that's just my persona. But I change the pace and the pronunciation and the ups and the downs. It's my signature thing. But I do it. Because I think it's what I have to do to get someone to pay attention is what I have to do to get myself to pay attention. I have the shortest attention span in the world. But I think it makes me better at my job. So I even have to do to keep myself to watch. I'm distracted or staring out the window.
Yeah, yeah, I try to do that too. I tend to be a bit more monotone, especially if I'm giving a presentation and want someone to feel like we've been really thorough and thought things through. It's tough because when you're presenting information, you're kind of reading information, and it can cut all blend together. So a trick that I do is I'll often say I want to stop right there. How does this feel? Does this resonate with you? What do you think? And by stopping and letting someone else introduce their own pace of speaking, I feel like that can kind of disrupt my somewhat monotone flow.
I don't think it's just about being monotone. That's also a very smart speaking tactic that a lot of speakers use because nerves pent up nerves. which are sometimes good, they can come from a place of fear over being one sided. So this idea that you have to go out in front of a bunch of people and talk at them, and teach them something and not screw up and see all the anxiety builds from all of these what ifs. But actually, if someone is prepping for a talk, and they're not comfortable speaking, then one of my first pieces of advice will be turn it into a conversation. It's not a broadcast. Yeah, it is a conversation you're having. And even if it's on a verbal, you know, conversation back and forth, it is still eye contact. Do you know what else I do? I will sometimes if I have the opportunity to talk with the audience after and someone in the audience made reactions, or facial expressions that I noticed, and it could be as simple as a smile, it could be as simple as a laugh or a smirk, or even a nod. If I get the opportunity to see those people that react that way, when I noticed it on stage, I'll thank them after. Because I think it's a really interesting dynamic. I'm totally fascinated with this dynamic of when you're in the audience, let's say even a classroom, you don't think the teacher is paying attention to you because you're in a sea of other people. But when you're the teacher, looking at that group, or when you're the speaker on stage, looking at that group, you can see almost everything. And if you're attentive, you'll notice little details like someone yawning, or someone getting up at the back of the room and your brain goes, Wait, is it because I'm boring? Or is it just because I have to pee, you absorb so much more from the audience. And I think the audience thinks that you do. Yeah. And so along the lines of having a conversation, it's very much conversation, even if it's not an exchange of words, it's an exchange of facial expressions, engagement. One of the, I'd say the most common pieces of feedback I get from event organizers is, wow, people were so engaged. And I think that is not just my presentation style, I think it's also my innate desire to connect and to make sure that it's a conversation. It's the same it can also be used as a mechanism. If you have nerves, the second you turn it from presentation or broadcast to conversation, a flow of, you know, give receive, like those moments when you so I'm going to stop for a second, how does this feel? Soon as you hear their voice? You're like, oh, yeah, that same thing that we're talking about the practice of making sure that it's an exchange of energy? Yeah,
for sure. So another thing that I do is I try to start off with a promise or a glimmer of what they're going to learn and create value around that. So I'm not just going to say, hey, so we've got some really great discoveries, I'm going to go through these today, I try to say we've got tons to cover today, I'm going to share the highlights with you, including a mood board that's going to show the visual direction of your brand, a summary of your audiences so that you have more clarity when you're communicating about your brand, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So really, not just saying literally what you're going to be covering, but saying the value of it. So they want to stick around and want to pay attention. And I feel like you kind of do something similar in your presentations. When you kick things off and say what you're going to be teaching today and why right.
It's a tease. Yeah, it's a tease, because that way people have something to look forward to or they have clarity over why they're even there. In that particular moment in that conversation. I think it's really important to do that to give little previews.
Yeah, yeah. And then in terms of structuring the information and how you unveil it, do you have any tips around that?
Don't overcomplicate it. And to do that, what I do is I pull up my iPad with a blank canvas, and I draw what I want to present. I literally draw a couple squares, maybe like six or eight squares, and I imagined start to finish how I can share what I need to share. That's literally what I do before looking at any research articles, or before putting a blog post that I've written or you've probably written, let's be honest, anything like that. The first thing I do is start with a blank canvas. And almost imagine if it was a conversation, where would I start? Where would I arrive at the middle? what point am I trying to prove? And then how would I finish? That's it. So I think people have a tendency to get overwhelmed and overcomplicated when we think about all this, but you don't plan a simple conversation before you go have a conversation with someone at a coffee shop. You're not going to plan that conversation, every word and every possibility of how you'll react to whatever they say. You don't do that. And so I think presentations need to have The same kind of flow, it needs to flow like a conversation, it shouldn't be contrived. It shouldn't honestly be over planned, one of the biggest mistakes that people can make is a script themselves out, and then put all this pressure on themselves to have to read the script that they wrote that no one else has or even cares about. Yeah, it's one thing in high school, when you're in a speech competition, and you've written a speech, that the teacher has corrected and suggested a major rewrite, and you've got a specific speech that you've written, and you have to deliver it. Or if you work for a corporation, and you're having to present someone else's information, I actually find that kind of stressful. And people say, Phil, how do you get up on stage and not have any nerves? Well, I always have a few nerves, but I get to present my own information. So I get to present what I can say what I want to say. And I can say it however I want. And there's a lot of freedom that I enjoy. And that and I remind our clients or anyone, I'm giving a pep talk to before a presentation, there's no script, there's no script, you just get to follow the flow, you get to say what you want to say. And you get to be the one that decides how you say it. And ideally, that decision is not happening ahead of time, ideally, is happening in the moment.
Okay, well, I feel like this is great. I don't really have anything more to say on this. You
I probably do. But let's leave our listeners with that, too, on that honey is one of my favorite topics. So if it's something that we ever decide to tackle, again, I've got new things to share on that. Yeah, I am giving a lot of presentations and partnering with a lot of brands to give presentations, which brings me sheer delight. This afternoon, I'm presenting one of three workshops with teachable, and I have at least four events confirmed with Adobe Creative Cloud Express where I'm giving workshops. But how cool is it that I've identified this as something that I really love to do and something I'm good at, and fit it into my every day. That's cool. And I hope our listeners, if presentations freak you out, then maybe we've inspired you to jump and take that risk and see if it's something and get comfortable with because it's inevitably a part of business. Or if it's something you already do enjoy, then please find a way to incorporate it into what you do every day. You know, if you're not speaking at conferences, or giving presentations, even for free if it's something that brings you joy helps you sharpen your communication skills, jump on Instagram live in lieu of doing in person events, like there's all kinds of possibilities and options. And I'd say it's just a great skill to have.
And I would argue that really any interaction at all, even a phone call is a presentation in itself.
Yes, it is. So you can't really become exempt from presenting even if it's one on one. It makes a big difference. fun topic. Good choice. We'd love to hear from you find us online on social media. I'm at Phil Pallen
I'm at the Lauryn Hill hashtag brand therapy
to continue to conversation and you know what to do if you enjoyed this episode or you enjoyed some previous episodes from us. We would love you to take the time to leave us a review five star five star that helps other people discover this podcast and we work very hard to create. Thank you for hanging out with us today. Brand therapy. We'll see you next time. Bye
