Author: John Clarke
bc
Presentation Delivery Skills
April 1998
Copyright© 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.
Reviewer: Susan Caraviello
Steven Tallman
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Agenda
Presenter audience dialogue: Overview
Word choice
Vocal delivery
Physical delivery
Personal style
Key takeaways
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Agenda
Presenter audience dialogue: Overview
Word choice
Vocal delivery
Physical delivery
Personal style
Key takeaways
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Overview
An effective presentation is an organized, audience-centered communication of key insights derived from highly-focused analysis. It engages the audience in a dialogue created by a logical structure, and supported by word choice, the voice and body, and personal style.
Presenter audience dialogue
Presentation structure
Word choice
Voice
Body
Personal style
Answer-First/ Pyramid Principle
Word choice
Directive language
Active speech
Bad habits
Vocal delivery
Vocal “tics”
Physical delivery
Presenting slides
Self-communication
Credibility
Overcoming fear
Handling questions
Closing
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Dialogue Through Pyramid Structure
The pyramid structure creates an engaging rhythm of idea audience question answer (idea) question answer (idea).
Situation: Mayflower has $800MM in cash, no debt, and strong earnings (“Yes. So what?”)
Complication: These attributes often attract unwanted suitors
Question: Is Mayflower vulnerable to a hostile takeover?
Answer: It is unlikely that Mayflower will become a target at today’s market price
(“Why?”)
Mayflower does not fit acquisition profile
Post-acquisition financials look unappealing
Key voting shareholders remain loyal
MF is largest non-oil
MF has highest P/E
Post-acquisition cashflows negative
Negative earnings through 1999
Ames family (28%)
Omnibank (15%)
(“In what way?”)
(“What do they look like?”)
(“Who?”)
(“Why?”)
(“Why?”)
Requires steady capex
Synergies will be minimal
Combined cost structure is high
Market will remain flat
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Preparation
Ensure that delivery preparation reflects the same robust attention to objectives, storyline, and detail you have given to organizing your slides.
Master the presentation context and flow
know your audience
crystallize your objective
internalize the road map
Consider off-slide elements
craft your opening statement - “know” it without memorizing it
prepare supporting examples and back-up
develop the closing, including next steps
Be absolutely clear on the “why” and the “how” of each slide
key insight(s): “So what?”
slide orientation: how information is organized on data slides
data supporting your insights
Adopt a “transitioning from insight-to-insight” mindset - as opposed to, “slide-to-slide” habit
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Agenda
Presenter audience dialogue: Overview
Word choice
Vocal delivery
Physical delivery
Personal style
Key takeaways
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Word Choice
Supported by Answer-First graphics, use words to indicate that you are pursuing a strategy of accumulating support for a particular and informed interpretation of the data.
Choose words that will meet audience expectations
some revelation of your “self” and point-of-view
value added by you that would not be gained from reading a slide deck or report
an appearance of spontaneity, but within an overall design/structure
information packaged in small, discrete units
clear language, well-crafted phrases, and an economy of expression
“Bracket” your insights
communicate a definite beginning and an end for each insight
use bracketing to create pauses for your audience to process/respond to your insight
Avoid “insider” jargon unless each member of the audience is fluent in Bain Speak
Strictly avoid profanity, ethnic humor, racial stereotyping, homophobic references, and sexist language
Use “directive” language (explanation follows)
Use the active voice and lean grammar (explanation follows)
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“Directive” Language
Source: Adapted from Thomas Leech, How to Prepare, Stage & Deliver Winning Presentations (New York: AMACOM, 1993)
When used in combination with vocal stress and timing, “directive” language engages listeners by helping them focus on your key points.
Enumerate:
“We identified four sources of capital hemorrhaging: A, B, C and D. The first source, A, created deficits totaling over…”
Emphasize:
“Downtime in the Elk Run facility - the most critical driver of cost overruns - accounts for over 17%…”
Repeat:
“Over 37% of survey respondents targeted incorrect billing as their primary reason for switching vendors. Over 37%.”
Restate:
“Let’s look at the competitor picture another way.”
Focus:
[While indicating a specific point on graph] “Note the spike in fourth quarter earnings. We attribute that to…”
Bridge:
“So far, we’ve examined the nature of the problem and isolated the root causes of….Now let’s turn to possible solutions.”
Question:
“What, then, is the best option?”
Invite:
“Put yourselves in your customers’ position.”
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Active Speech
Source: Adapted from D. David Bourland, Jr. and Paul Dennithorne Johnston, To Be or Not: An E-Prime
Anthology (San Francisco: International Society for General Semantics, 1991)
Eliminate barriers to audience engagement by using the active voice, direct speech, and lean grammatical construction.
Recommendations
Avoid
Use
Change verbs from the passive to the active voice
“The sample was taken from…”
“A team of four assemblers from the Saginaw plant took samples from…”
Replace “is” with an action verb
“We found 3 out of 5 lid assembly lines were inefficient.”
“Poor maintenance contributed to 43% of downtime in 3 out of 5 lid assembly lines.”
Make an “is” statement more concrete
“We believe the decision is a good one.”
“The decision will save you $214K per month in purchasing costs.”
Get to the point by saying what you mean
“At this point in time, it is our opinion that you proceed to trim your portfolio of businesses that siphon off valuable resources from your core business.”
“Divest. Now.”
Link assertions to your experience by eliminating “seem.”
“The data would seem to indicate that…”
“Our experience in similar situations leads us to suggest that…”
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Word Choice: Bad Habits (1 of 3)
Source: Adapted from Thomas Leech, How to Prepare, Stage & Deliver Winning Presentations (New York:
AMACOM, 1993); Introduction to Bain Presenting (training presentation)
Some frequently-used words and grammatical constructions undermine the power of the presenter audience dialogue.
Weak
Comments
Better
“one criteria”
“a rare phenomena”
Avoid singular/plural confusion. “Criteria” and “phenomena” are plurals of “criterion” and “phenomenon,” respectively
“one criterion”
“a rare phenomenon”
“at this point in time”
Replace verbose phrase with a simple, direct word
“now”
“Obviously, the revenue picture is bleak”
The observation may not be obvious to everyone
“As the data here indicate, revenues will drop off sharply”
“the consensus of opinion”
Is there any other form of consensus?
“the consensus”
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Word Choice: Bad Habits (2 of 3)
Source: Adapted from Thomas Leech, How to Prepare, Stage & Deliver Winning Presentations (New York:
AMACOM, 1993); Introduction to Bain Presenting (training presentation)
Some frequently-used words and grammatical constructions undermine the power of the presenter audience dialogue.
Weak
Comments
Better
“a somewhat unique proposal”
“the most unique proposal”
Either the proposal is unique or it isn’t. If it is unique, its singularity is implied by its uniqueness. That is, it can’t be “most” unique, as if it were one among many other “unique” proposals.
“a proposal which may be unique”
“the unique proposal”
“We sort of did a study”
“The situation is kind of serious”
“Hopefully, the recommendations will…”
Avoid verbal filler and empty qualifiers. Get to the point without clutter or ambiguity.
“We studied x, y and z”
“The situation is serious”
“We estimate that the recommendations, if implemented, will…”
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Word Choice: Bad Habits (3 of 3)
Source: Adapted from Thomas Leech, How to Prepare, Stage & Deliver Winning Presentations (New York:
AMACOM, 1993); Introduction to Bain Presenting (training presentation)
Some frequently-used words and grammatical constructions undermine the power of the presenter audience dialogue.
Weak
Comments
Better
“conduct an analysis of”
“take into consideration”
“exhibits a tendency to…”
Use verbs in their simplest form.
“analyze”
“consider”
“tends to…”
“To tell the truth, layoffs are inevitable.”
“To tell the truth” implies that you haven’t been totally candid up to that point. Just answer the question.
“Are layoffs inevitable? Yes.”
“This slide/bar/data says…”
“What this slide means is…”
The slide/bar/data/ isn’t “saying” a thing. Position yourself as the medium of insights.
“From our analysis, we concluded that…”
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Agenda
Presenter audience dialogue: Overview
Word choice
Vocal delivery
Physical delivery
Personal style
Key takeaways
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Vocal Delivery: Pace
Use your voice to support the presenter audience dialogue. Make it easy for the audience to hear and understand your presentation by using appropriate pace, pitch, and volume to communicate the relative importance of elements in your presentation.
Vary pace (rate of speech) to sustain audience interest and to indicate your point of view
in general, slow down for more important, complex, or controversial points
speed up for supporting details
Tell a story - choose a conversational rate of delivery
Use pauses
to set ideas apart
to allow audience time to respond to your insights and formulate questions
to indicate transitions to new elements
Avoid extremes
“motormouth”: speaking so fast the audience can’t absorb information
disinvites audience to participate in the dialogue
leaves audience breathless at best, disengaged at worst
“drawling pedant”: speaking so slowly that audience begins to fidget
encourages audience’s collective mind to wander
promotes fantasizing about cattle prods
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Vocal Delivery: Pitch
Use your voice to support the presenter audience dialogue. Make it easy for the audience to hear and understand your presentation by using appropriate pitch to communicate the relative importance of elements in your presentation.
Explore varieties of inflection within your “normative pitch band”
avoid extremes of high or low pitches that strain your voice
Avoid speaking in a monotone
monotony precedes hypnosis
you can’t sustain dialogue with a comatose partner
Avoid sing-song patterns
comes across as talking down to your audience
promotes instant eye-glazing
Delete “upspeak” from your vocal repertoire (see next page for explanation)
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“Upspeak”
Avoid “upspeak,” which imposes a yes-no question inflection (pitch rising on last words) on a declarative sentence.
Erodes speaker credibility by making you sound tentative
Particularly deadening when repeated sentence (?) after sentence (?) after sentence (?)
Lends an unsophisticated “Melrose Place” quality to your presenting, like…y’know?
Say out loud, “Are you talking to me?”
Now, imposing the same vocal inflection on each of the following sentences, say, “The results are quite promising. You will save $4MM in the first quarter alone. In the first year, you will save over $20MM.”
If you did the exercise correctly, your “upspeak” would most likely convey the notion that you are not at all confident about the results
and it sounds quite annoying, doesn’t it?
Exercise:
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Vocal Delivery: Volume
Use volume as an interpretive tool to emphasize key words and ideas
in general, loudness indicates an important idea and conveys certainty
“Changing the price structure at this time is your greatest opportunity.”
however, softness may also indicate importance
“Unless you turn around revenues, what up until now has been your greatest asset [louder] will soon become your chief (pause) liability [softer].”
Use change in volume to indicate transitions
Don’t let sentences trail off in volume
communicates lack of interest in completing your own thought
leaves audiences free to finish your sentences for you - a risky enterprise
Choose volume limits appropriate to the room, audience size, and situation
for most business presentations, shouting and whispering stretch the bounds of standard presentation volume
Use your voice to support the presenter audience dialogue. Make it easy for the audience to hear and understand your presentation by appropriately varying volume to communicate the relative importance of elements in your presentation.
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Vocal Delivery: Tone
Audiences react negatively to poor tone
voices that are dry, raspy, or harsh grind on the audience’s ears (and nerves)
on the other hand, audiences may also react negatively to voices that are so “pear-shaped,” resonant, and polished, they call attention to themselves and sound unnatural
“Regional” accents may also impede the presenter audience dialogue
some accents not native to the audience’s region may be liabilities
in the US, some audiences regard broad accents (., Hahvahd) as affectations
Misunderstanding and abuse of the vocal mechanism cause bad tone
insufficient breath control
nervousness aggravates shallow breathing and leads to gasping, panting, and short, choppy phrasing
replace shallow upper-chest breathing with lower-ribbed abdominal breathing
tension in the mouth, throat, or jaw
isolate areas of tension and relax them to release the voice freely and naturally
fatigue
a history of smoking and excessive alcohol consumption
Develop a pleasant tone, or overall vocal quality, to promote audience attention and engagement.
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Vocal Delivery: “Tics”
Avoid vocal “tics”, which, like their neuromuscular counterparts, are involuntary, repetitive, and annoying.
Vocal Tic
Comments
“You know…you know”
Well, if we know so much, why are you telling us?
“ah…uh…um”
Creates the impression that you are nervous, unprepared, and unconvinced by your own argument.
“okay…okay”
A filler word, “okay” comes off as self-directed pep talk.
“et cetera…et cetera”
“ek cetera” [sic]
Should be banned from presentations. Naming the category, followed by examples (“such as x and y”), conveys greater precision. If you must say “et cetera” (“and the rest”), get it right. “Ek cetera” is meaningless.
“As you can see...”
Why not just show us, without the annoying introduction?
“Actually...actually”
“Basically…basically”
Actually, these are basically filler words and actually add no value. Really.
“and…and…a-a-a-nd”
Sentences strung together by “and” should each stand alone with a definite beginning and ending (pause).
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Agenda
Presenter audience dialogue: Overview
Word choice
Vocal delivery
Physical delivery
Personal style
Key takeaways
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Physical Delivery: Eye Contact
Communicate your “self” as competent, sympathetic, and candid through eye contact
Use eye contact to convey your sense of being present to and for each audience member
sustain real eye contact
engage one person, one phrase or idea at a time (roughly for 3-5 seconds)
longer eye contact (>5 seconds) makes the receiver uncomfortable
eye contact for less than 2 seconds makes you appear fidgety and “shifty-eyed”
maintain an unwavering listener focus
the screen, table, slides, walls, and ceiling make poor dialogue partners
never begin to speak without first engaging eye contact
monitor audience reaction
Vary focus from one person to another, but don’t fall into predictable side-to-side sweep or circular patterns
Use disciplined eye contact to help your audience engage in the dialogue set up by the presentation structure.
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Physical Delivery: Gesture
Use gestures to emphasize key words, and to indicate shape, trajectory, number, and size
Eliminate gestures that are distracting, repetitive, or predictable
gesture intentionally, not involuntarily
cultivate an appearance, at least, of spontaneity
avoid stabbing every accented syllable of each word
be expressive without getting out-of-control
if you begin to look like a talking mime, you’re probably overgesturing
don’t punch the screen or use hit-and-run gestures
you don’t want to leave the audience hunting for the object of your attention
to be more effective, indicate, linger, release
When pointing to an element on the screen, zero in with precision
Find a “home” position that is relaxing and natural for you
when you are not gesturing for a reason, use “home” as a neutral position
remain poised to communicate with your next gesture
Use economic gestures, to help your audience engage in the dialogue set up by the presentation structure.
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Physical Delivery: Gestures to Avoid
“What me? Worry about presenting?”
“at ease”
“Toscanini”
“Freudian Clutch”
“Penguin”
“Papal Special”
“I’m a little teapot”
“the Diva”
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Physical Delivery: Gestures to Avoid (1 of 2)
Avoid idiosyncratic gestures which ignore the hands as a valuable resource for communicating and reinforcing the presenter audience dialogue.
Gestures to avoid
Comments
“Freudian Clutch”
Primarily resorted to by men, the “clutch” consists of hands planted firmly over the groin - “Hockey, anyone?”
In general, use above-the-waist gestures
Never, ever use the “Freudian Clutch” as your home position
“At ease”
The opposite of the “clutch,” hands rest firmly behind the back - conjures up military images
Without resting “at ease,” convey a sense of ease through eye contact and confidence
Never, ever use “at ease” as your home position
“The Diva”
Hands clasped at navel - “For my next aria…”
Reads as a profoundly undynamic, tense, defensive gesture - don’t use as home position
Replace with more open, asymmetrical gestures
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Physical Delivery: Gestures to Avoid (2 of 2)
Avoid idiosyncratic gestures which ignore the hands as a valuable resource for communicating and reinforcing the presenter audience dialogue.
Gestures to avoid
Comments
“Papal Special”
Hands pressed together at chest - fingers and thumbs pointed upward - prior to other mirrored gestures
Great in the pulpit, but the board room?
“I’m a little teapot”
Hands planted firmly on both hips - may degenerate into side-to-side aerobics
Can be read as affected, combative, or cocky
“Penguin”
Arms held stiffly at side, hands flapping nervously
“Toscanini”
Hands fly, swoop, and swirl with seeming abandon - the opposite of the “Penguin”
Cultivate economy of gesture
“What, me? Worry about presenting?”
Hands in pockets to affect a studiously casual look - may degenerate into jangling keys and change
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Physical Delivery: Movement
Stand up straight without stiff formality
Distribute weight evenly on both feet
avoid shifting weight from one foot to the other
don’t cock your hip, rock back-and-forth, or sway from side-to-side
When presenting slides, integrate your body with slide screen image
don’t force the audience to split its attention between you and the screen
point to slide elements on screen with gestures that are precise and sustained
move deliberately with a specific objective and destination in mind, ., overhead projector screen
write on your slides to highlight a particular point, but usually don’t exceed four annotations per slide
For most conference and board room presentations, move within a triangular “performance area”
roughly defined by the screen, the overhead projector, and a point approximately 3-6 feet to your right of the projector
Move toward persons asking questions - without intimidating them
Use body placement and movement to help your audience engage in the dialogue set up by the presentation structure.
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Physical Delivery: Movement Debates
Bain has not yet reached consensus on some of the finer points of body position and movement while presenting. Below are highly personal glosses on three of the issues:
Issues
Comments
Position: Present from right or left of the projector?
Although awkward for right-handed people, present to the right of the projector (the audience’s left)
gives you easy access to axes on graphs
positions you at text slide bullets - people read from left to right
Movement: Remain to one side of the screen image or move back and forth?
Do not cross in front of the screen image
creates significant audience distraction
if you have been advised to rove about to provide visual stimulation, you have more serious problems with your presentation than what to do with your body
Avoid tattooing your face with the projected image
to get to those hard-to-reach portions of the slide image, point to desired element on slide on overhead projector
Relationship to slide: Stay at screen or projector?
Mix and match depending on room configuration, audience size, and sightlines
Always guard against eclipsing the screen image with your body
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Presenting Slides: HOT
Present the HIGHLIGHT, or key insight
ORIENT the audience to the way information is organized on the slide
TELL how the data support the insight
Use slides to support insights through the HOT process.
H
O
T
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Presenting Slides: Highlight
Push Answer-First down to the slide level by presenting the highlight in your transition
as with the beginning and close, you should know transitions cold to maximize eye contact
avoid false transitions (see next page)
In the silence - as you change slides - the audience formulates questions in reaction to your insight/new idea
“How did s/he arrive at that?”
“What impact will that insight have on our business? On my career?”
“How does that fit with what has gone on before?”
Use slides to support insights through the HOT process. First, present the highlight, or key insight.
H
Present the highlight, or key insight
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Presenting Slides: False Transitions
Learn to craft and deliver transitions that convey insights. An effective transition delivered with full eye contact should leave the audience leaning forward in their chairs. A false transition will leave them disengaged.
False Transition
Description
The Absent Transition
Slide after slide presented with no hint of bridging or sequencing to reinforce the logic of your argument
What’s missing from the Absent Transition:
“So far, we have looked at….Now we will explore…”
“While on the one hand factor A, on the other, factor B…”
“Not only insight C [which was just introduced and supported], but also insight D…”
“Consequently…”
The Slide as Surrogate Transition
“The next slide says…”
words that promote the slide as surrogate presenter are not - make that never - a transition
Similar to the equally ineffective “The next piece of analysis we did…”
The “Uh-oh. What’s Next?” Transition
“Uh” or “ah” is not a transition
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Presenting Slides: Orient
Place the slide on the overhead projector
Pause, checking image alignment on screen
Provide verbal and physical slide orientation
[Pointing to Y axis] “We analyzed revenues [indicating X axis] over five years, beginning with [pointing to] 1992.”
Use slides to support insights through the HOT process. First, present the highlight, or key insight. Then, orient the audience to the way information is organized on the slide.
O
Orient the audience to the way information is organized on the slide
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Presenting Slides: Tell
Answer anticipated audience questions in response to your insight
Avoid abdicating your communicator role to your slide
Eliminate “This slide says…,” it is a meaningless, utterly null and void way of communicating
all claims to the phrase’s being a figure of speech aside, you (expert, confidant, and advisor) - and not the slide - are in dialogue with your audience
Extract observations relevant to your objectives
Monitor audience reaction - agreement, enthusiasm, skepticism, confusion, boredom
Transition to next highlight/insight
Use slides to support insights through the HOT process. First, present the highlight, or key insight. Then, orient the audience to the way information is organized on the slide. Finally, tell how the data support the insight.
T
Tell how the data support the insight
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Agenda
Presenter audience dialogue: Overview
Word choice
Vocal delivery
Physical delivery
Personal style
Key takeaways
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Personal Style: Self-Communication
Determine your own core presenting style
degrees of formality you are comfortable with in various business situations
your placement within the “normative band” of Bain business etiquette
casual conversationalist
storyteller
salesperson
teacher/facilitator
lecturer
communication of your own self in your own “voice,” with credibility
your interaction style and comfort level with ways of engaging the audience, ., detachment vs. intimacy
Express your self - your values, ideas, and feelings - with confidence and conviction
Implement a personal improvement strategy
practice presenting
solicit feedback from peers, supervisors, mentors
observe internal and external experts
execute, monitor, evaluate
Develop a presentation style that promotes the achievement of your professional objectives and ultimately a personal comfort level. In addition to presenting fact-based insights, you are communicating your “self”.
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Personal Style: Credibility
Source: Malcolm Kushner, Successful Presentations for Dummies (Foster City CA: IDG Books Worldwide, 1996)
Communicating your own self with credibility is fundamental to developing a personal style. Key factors affecting credibility are:
Key Creditability Factors
Comments
Character
Your perceived fairness and capacity for demonstrating ethical behavior
Competence
Your demonstrated expertise in a particular area
Composure
Your appearance of being at ease with the audience
Affability
Ease in communicating oneself as a friendly and reliable business confidant and advisor
Moderate extroversion
A presentation style that avoids extremes of being too outgoing on the one hand and reticent on the other
indicates your willingness to be available and present to the audience as a thinking, rational expert
demonstrates your appetite for deriving pleasure and energy from the interplay of challenging issues and ideas
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Personal Style: Overcoming Fear
Sources: Roger Ailes, You Are the Message (New York: Doubleday, 1995); Effective Presentations (Bain training presentation)
The keys to overcoming fear of presenting are knowing your material cold and recreating the relaxation, security, and confidence you feel when you are speaking one-on-one. Fear of presenting tends to fall into three categories:
Fear
Remedy
Fear of performing poorly
Understand how your body responds to presentation situations, ., dry throat, trembling, accelerated speech
Visualize presenting successfully
Use physical relaxation techniques, such as breathing deeply and isolating and relaxing areas of muscular tension
Use the energy that fear produces to trigger alert responses and mental engagement with your message
Fear of the audience
Avoid assuming that the audience is your adversary
Show enthusiasm about sharing your ideas
Tell yourself: “I have a right to be here. What I have to say is of value to this audience. No one else here knows this subject as well as I do.”
Fear your message will not stand up to close scrutinity
Do your homework
Anticipate and be prepared to answer potential objections
Remember that, while practice doesn’t make perfect, at least it approximates perfection
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Handling Questions
Anticipate questions and prepare answers in advance
incorporate key issues into your presentation
produce back-up slides to answer likely questions
Be clear up front about how you intend to handle questions
“Please feel free to stop me at any point …”
Actively listen to each question
content
intent
feelings
position and influence of the questioner
Before answering, reflect your understanding of the question - clarify, as needed
Answer
engage through eye contact
maintain credibility and control
check for questioner’s satisfaction
consider the entire audience’s interest in the question
respect time constraints
Treat questions as an opportunity for additional dialogue.
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Closing
Summarize
reaffirm key points
reflect on learnings from audience questions and input
Contract for follow-up to unanswered questions and unresolved issues
Agree on how to proceed - clarify expectations on next steps
deliverables
timeline
intermediate communication
Use the closing to review insights and preview next steps - finish high!
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Agenda
Presenter audience dialogue: Overview
Word choice
Vocal delivery
Physical delivery
Personal style
Key takeaways
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Key Takeaways
Use words, your voice, body, and personal style to sustain the presenteraudience dialogue created by the Answer-First pyramid structure
Choose words that will draw your audience into your presentation by engaging their intellect and their emotions
Eliminate barriers to the audience’s participation in the dialogue by using the active voice, direct speech, and lean grammatical construction
Use your voice (pace, pitch, volume, and overall tone) as an interpretive tool
to indicate your point of view
to communicate the relative importance of elements of your presentation
Know your opening, transitions, and closing cold
In terms of physical delivery, first and foremost, engage your audience with eye contact - one person, one idea at a time
Use gestures to emphasize key words, and to indicate shape, trajectory, number, and size
Eliminate distracting, repetitive, and predictable gestures
Don’t wander about aimlessly - move with a purpose
Push Answer-First down to the slide level by delivering “insight-ful” transitions
Develop a personal style - communicate your own self in your own voice with credibility, confidence, and conviction
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