Presentation Practices
Follow the Yellow Brick Road? Not!
When we negotiate we always start at the end. We must know precisely what we want and always keep the end clearly in mind, constantly being aware of cost of getting there.
The price can be high, particularly in terms of personal satisfaction. There are always others who are not familiar with our ideas, just as there are others who simply don’t like or care about them.
So we can be sure almost nobody has the time or patience to share our heroic or glamorous trip along the yellow brick road toward Oz, no matter how much it impassions us. Nor do they care how many encounters we might have had with the Wicked Witch of the West.
Remember, we are still in the presentation stage. All we need to do is absolutely ensure that other parties see the same end as we do. As of yet, they don’t have to agree and we don’t have to convince them.
So now we talk about the structure of our presentation:
Length: We’ll likely be told how long we have to make our presentation. Our credibility will be heavily influenced by our ability to comfortably finish within the allotted timeline. We are precise in our message, accurate in our facts and thoroughly knowledgeable with the subject matter.
If we think I’m sounding like a broken record on preparation... too bad. But the more time we spend preparing the more we will have in actual presentation time. If we are accurate, precise and knowledgeable, the time element takes care of itself.
Audio Visual Aids: PowerPoint presentations, YouTube videos and other audio visual support are fine. But they are merely aids to our presentation. We are the show! Aids should reinforce our position, never usurp it.
Materials: Handouts should focus on the highlights of our presentation, not the highlights of our position. Resource materials can be far more detailed as long as they are not identical to any educational materials or briefing notes we already provided.
Stand Alone: We have to be sufficiently knowledgeable and confident that, if all our luggage is lost or all our materials destroyed, we could still effectively make our presentation. If we are co-presenting, we should not rely (or better stated – “depend”) on help from our partners unless it is a panel-type presentation by design.
Observation and Feedback: We need to be aware of people’s reactions to us and observe behavior. Who wants to talk to us after the program? Who requests more information? Who ignores us? Post-presentation time is usually our best opportunity to reconcile, clarify, consolidate, identify targets and posture ourself for further negotiating.
Engagement: A non-engaging audience can be as detrimental as an over-engaging audience. We want our presentation to be stimulating, but not controversial. Audience engagement can be reasonably controlled. That is why we regularly identify types of difficult people.
Wrap Up: Now that we’ve successfully made our pitch we briefly summarize the presentation (not our position) and take note of those individuals who stood out. We have the opportunity to offer them something, ask for something and promise something.
Our wrap up includes our shopping list or actions that help us focus on the desired end. We never end a presentation with anyone wondering “what next?” or wondering what we want. Our presentation was the beginning of negotiations...not the end.