Speaker mistakes Part II - Set your house in order
This series is about the common mistakes speakers make as identified by an audience poll. The first post in the series talked about confidence. You can read it here. This post is part 2 in the series and deals with a vital aspect of your speech - your organization. Or what I call setting your speech in order. The mistake? Audience members told me it is frustrating for them when speakers are not organized in the presentation of their content.
If you make it too hard to follow you, we won’t! - Voice of the audience
This particular mistake has the potential to completely wreck your presentation. It is also one of the easiest mistakes to make and one of the hardest to pinpoint. If you do everything else right but fails in the area of organization, it hurts your impact. For the audience, listening to an unorganized speech is like trying to catch a scared chicken in an open field! The chicken is your message.
For the audience, listening to an unorganized speech is like trying to catch a scared chicken in an open field! The chicken is your message.
So let's look at some of the forms this mistake can take so that you can tell if it is hurting you.
Forms of the organization mistake
In my experience, this mistake occurs in one of three forms (sometimes all three):
Going on too many tangents. This confuses the audience as they are not sure what points matter and what exactly you are trying to communicate. As far as the potency of your message goes, digression results in dilution. As far as the potency of your message goes, digression results in dilution.
Trying to cram too much information into the presentation. This is really common with passionate but less experienced speakers. They try to tell you everything they know about an idea, subject or product in the ten minutes they have to present. They may actually seem organized with points and sub-points. But after the third major point and the 15th sub-point, you can be sure your audience tapped out a long time ago.
Excessive cross-pollination of points. This is when a presenter continually skips back and forth between the points of the presentation in a way that distracts and confuses the audience. Your speaking points can be linked like a chain but they need not be a complex web - especially when you have a tight time limit to communicate.
Your speaking points can be linked like a chain, but they better not be a complex web.
The problem with doing these things is that they result in you placing a heavy cognitive load on your audience. Let's talk about that a bit.
Cognitive Load
Presenters often are unaware (or ignore) the fact that there is a very real limit to how much the audience can absorb within a given time-frame. There is such a thing as information overload. When this overload happens, just like with computers, the Central Processing Unit “hangs”. In other words, the brain starts to close down.This is not just a cute and convenient analogy, it’s a neurologically researched phenomenon.In cognitive psychology, cognitive load refers to the amount of mental effort being exerted in holding and processing of new and already stored information.
During a presentation, the audience's mind is being exposed to information some of which might be completely unfamiliar to them. It takes substantial energy to decode, process and store this information. Please don't make it harder by being disorganized.
Clues not clog
It is ok and even a good engagement technique to drop a few clues or plant a few seeds of other points in your presentation as you speak. But this should be strategic and minimal. The effect should be to bring some cohesion to your central thesis (more on central thesis later) while keeping the focus on the present point you are making.
What often happens though is that some presenters sow so many of these seeds in the wrong patch of their presentations that the seeds produce weeds. These weeds, like real weeds, sap your audience’s brain juice.I call this phenomenon “when ideas speak out of turn”. And just like in real life, when too many people in a group speak out of turn, all you hear is noise.
What to do - Begin with the end in mind
Beginning with the end in mind means that you determine two key things - the purpose of your talk and the people to whom you are speaking - Purpose and People. By doing this, you can be strategic in your approach.The purpose of a good talk could be to educate, persuade, inspire or motivate. However, when you watch many speakers, it is as though they have chosen their purpose as being to inundate, nauseate or tranquillize. Not you. Not anymore.
It is important to identify what your purpose is as it will serve as a good filter for what points and sub-points you present as well as the order in which you present them.You must also consider who your audience is – their pains, interests and goals - and design your presentation accordingly.
Purpose determines presentation
For example, a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) with the purpose of motivating company staff and a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) with the core purpose of educating investors can give information in a talk about the company’s financial position. However, the amount, order and emphasis of information will vary significantly between the two scenarios. The CFO might want to focus on specific KPIs (key performance indicators) for the investors whereas the CEO might want to talk more about general trends of growth and revenues as a lead into influencing some behavioural change in the workforce.
Sometimes, you will discover that your talk has a dual or even tripartite purpose. This is perfectly fine. In this series for instance, I am educating on the common presentation pitfalls and methods to overcome them, motivating you to practice these methods and inspiring you to believe in your abilities to be an excellent presenter. The end goal though is persuasion—you actually going out and applying these techniques to your speaking.
...all presentations are, at their core, of one kind – they are all persuasive
Only one kind of presentation?
To help simplify this I invite you to look at all presentations as being fundamentally of one kind. Whether the presentation is about financial statements, health and safety regulations or attitudes toward organizational changes, all presentations are, at their core, of one kind – they are all persuasive. In one form or another, your overall aim is to get people to adopt or at least entertain a certain idea or point of view.
Depending on who your audience is and what you are trying to persuade them to do, you can choose what purposes are primary and which ones are secondary and thereby pick your points in a way that best achieves that purpose.
...your overall aim is to get people to adopt or at least entertain a certain idea or point of view.
Your central thesis is the overall thrust of your presentation. First, you must clarify this and then pick your supporting points. Regardless of how intricately involved the details of your ideas are, this central thesis is something that should be expressible in one short, concise statement. This is the core idea you are building on and driving at throughout your presentation. It brings order and coherence to your talk and guides the architecture of it.
“But you don’t understand, Anthony, my concepts are too cool and complicated to be simplified into just one short statement”
Ok, let’s look at an example.
Your central thesis is the overall thrust of your presentation. First, you must clarify this and then pick your supporting points.
What's the core?
Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity is one of the most important ever formulated in physics. It is a mathematically complex theory on which hundreds of books have been written and thousands of lectures have been delivered since its publication in 1915. However, even this grand scientific theory, with its dozens of pages of mathematical proofs, that has transformed our view of the universe has, at its core, a clear and concise central thesis – space and time are not separate but are intertwined as a fabric – the famous Fabric of Space-time.
Even one of the most complicated and influential scientific theories of all time has a simple central thesis.
See what I mean? Even one of the most complicated and influential scientific theories of all time has a simple central thesis. Being able to distill your message down to a simple, central thesis is not a knock on the value or sophistication of your ideas—it can be proof of it. It demonstrates that you have thought it through and are able to make it accessible to others.
Motivational speaking tips
If you were giving a motivational talk to your staff, for example, with the purpose of boosting their morale through a difficult period within the organization, your central thesis might be simply: Tough times make us stronger and better. Everything else you say, every joke, anecdote, story, statistic etc. that you include should, in some direct or indirect way contribute to this core idea.
You might add sub-points like tough times force reflection, build character, expose weakness, provide clarity etc. But the main thrust remains that you want them to leave your presentation with a sense of power and a positive outlook: These tough times will make me better.
You might suggest some action to take, some practice to adopt, you might even announce some changes in the way things will be done but again, for your message to be effective, that is for the audience to follow and understand, it should tie back to your core thesis: These tough times will us better.
Perhaps, on the other hand, your company has been doing quite well. Profits are on the up and you want to encourage the workforce to keep up the good work. Well, your central thesis might be: When you rest, you rust.
By clearly defining the main point of your speech, you are able to pick your pieces in line with this and present your ideas in a clear and logical progression which your audience can easily understand and likely remember.
Set your speech in order
People are drawn to order and organization. As a speaker, your credibility is boosted when you organize your presentation wisely. It tells the audience that you respect them enough to prepare something useful and orderly. They know order does not happen by accident - it takes effort. And they appreciate it. Order also makes your presentation more effective.
Build your organized presentation on Purpose and People and see how it greatly enhances your speaking success. You can learn some advanced speech arrangement techniques in this article—Speaking to inform: Advanced speech arrangement techniques.
Until the next article, speak with skill.
PS: Need individual coaching on an important presentation? Contact me
