Decide to be a Better Presenter
Time to put a little more effort into your presentations?
Most of us are familiar with the term ROI – return on investment; when you purchase a product or retain a service you evaluate cost v. benefit. You want a good return on your investment.
It’s time to take a similar look at communication.
This same cost v. benefit analysis can be applied to individual communication in a way that will help you accomplish personal goals. It’s not difficult; in fact we are often strategic about communication without even knowing it. But with a bit more knowledge and awareness, every interaction can support your end goal.
Your Communication ROI
If you are consistently underwhelmed by the response that you receive from the people around you – be it family, coworker or client - if, time and again, you find yourself to be misunderstood, misrepresented or asked to repeat yourself, it’s time to take at look at your Communication ROI.
Out of all the preparation that goes into a presentation, a talk or a negotiation – the hand-outs, the offer, the Powerpoint, the product – what I find lacking is the personal investment in the actual speaking portion. Time after time, when I ask a client “Why are you doing this presentation” the response is “because I have to.” or “because my boss told me to.” There are boring, uninspired responses – and, as you might guess, this lack of personal investment leads to boring, uninspired and uninspiring presentations. Which in turn leads to a lukewarm response and, even worse, can leave the impression that you are apathetic, uncomfortable and/or not leadership material.
You can, and must, choose to invest more energy, effort and emotion into your presentations for a great response from you audience – whoever that may be.
Now, to be sure, I am not positing that every presentation is an opportunity to win an Oscar – but it is an opportunity to inspire, impress and influence your coworkers and your managers.
So as you pre
pare for your next Quarterly analysis, your next product review, your next strategic planning session here are some questions to ask yourself:
Why am I in this room?
Why is this important to me?
What does this person(s) need/want from me?
What do I want/need from this person(s).
Who will be in the room and what is my relationship to that person(s)?
The answer to those questions form your communication intention, which is is the first element in Your Communication ROI.
Here are some not so good answers to one of thosee questions:
Why am I in this room?
- because they asked me to be here.
- because it’s my job.
- because I have to.
Here are some good answers to that question:
- I’m the only one who has the information that my team needs.
- I am the answer to their problem.
- I want to inspire my team.
More often than not, people want you to solve their problem. If they are in the market for a product or a solution – they want to find an answer. They’d just as soon have the first guy solve their problem as the seventh guy.
It is your responsibility to present the information that you have effectively and with intention. You can either bore people or you can become known in your department, organization, company, etc as the person who gives the best reviews, the best presentations, the most persuasive cases.
I am constantly coaching clients to reinvest in those weekly, monthly, quarterly team meetings. These meetings provide solid opportunities to inspire, influence and engage those around you. More often than not, it’s valuable face-to-face time with your supervisor or a C-level executive. If you want to be seen as leadership material, then you can use every interaction to reinforce that image of you.
Find a way to recapture that excitement you had when you first started a job or new position. Change the way you talk about your job and your responsibilities. Redefine and reposition yourself within your company. Find a stronger more compelling reason to be in the room. Give your coworkers a reason to listen to you rather than an excuse to tune you out. The return on your invest will be great, I assure you.
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