Look into the heart of presenting and you will find movement.
Whether it’s a conference talk, business pitch or part of an interview process, every one involves movement.
Moving ideas out from the shadows and into the light
Moving you to share and articulate in fresh ways.
Moving others from awareness to belief; from belief to trust.
And this movement; this change requires energy.
Energy from you, your presentation and your audience.
From curiosity; from knowledge; from possibilities; from emotion; from connection.
In this five-part series on the art of presenting, we’ll be looking at how:
- to create this energy through your presentations and presentation skills
- it helps establish your credibility and encourages movement
- to confidently connect with and engage your audience
Presenting with Confidence and Credibility
Over the coming weeks, structured around the following five excellent energy sources…
- Understanding
- You
- Choice
- Delivery
- Development
…we are going to look at why these areas are important and bring benefit to you and your audience and how you can put it into practice.
So let’s get started with the energy of understanding.
Energy of Understanding
Before any slides or speeches are crafted, your first step is to look at your why, who and what.
Whatever the scale, scope or format of your presentation, this is always the place to begin.
These help you generate the energy of understanding because they encourage you to:
- bring context to what you are doing
- view the situation from perspectives other than your own
- envisage what a successful outcome might be for you and your audience.
The energy of understanding encourages and enables movement because…
Meaning – having aims and purpose start to bring strength and clarity to your preparations and your performance. Your talk is not going to be a series of words fired out at strangers. It is going to have power and presence; to show confidence and credibility.
Outward – recognising this whole situation is not just about you allows you to see the experience through the eyes of your audience. They are there for a reason too. Empathising with them opens up the chance of making a connection and adding value for them.
Vision – over-runs; high-speed endings, serve to de-energise, disappoint and de-moralise your audience. Knowing time alloted, format and any event ‘rules’ help you get a sense of how you can use this opportunity to benefit your audience and for yourself.
Energy – the energy of understanding combines energy from people, perspective and purpose.
Putting it into practice
Here’s how to help you and your audience benefit from the energy of understanding…
Why?
‘Why?’ relates to the reasons and aims for the presentation.
To understand more about the purpose of your presentation ask yourself questions like – Why is it happening? What am I hoping to achieve? What does a successful outcome look like for me…and…for my audience…and, if applicable, those who asked me to speak?
Who?
‘Who?’ relates to understanding your audience.
If you don’t know exactly who is going to be there, start with a general top-level statement about them. For example…local business community who are interested in research applications; academics interested in xyz field. Getting this perspective enables you to then make some basic assumptions about what matters to them and what will add-value and engage them.
If you know who will be there, for example, with an interview panel, do a bit of research on them – not in a stalker-ish way of course. Also try making some basic assumptions about what matters to a person holding that role / has a position of seniority / is wanting to add to their team etc. Getting this perspective will help you build trust, credibility and rapport.
What?
‘What?’ relates to the format, allocated time and any ‘rules’ associated with your presentation.
Understanding these elements and appreciating any constaints at the outset will help you to craft a more engaging and authentic experience for your audience.
The energy of understanding is the first source to add to your energy equation. Tapping into people, purpose and perspective to help you build credibility and connection.
In part two of this five-part series we’ll be diving in to the marvellous magical movement maker…
…the energy of you.
Career Energiser Blog 
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