What do audiences love about young speakers?
Plenty: their energy and creativity, their perspective, their easy command of new ideas and technology.
Why, then, do younger speakers feel they lack traction when presenting to more senior colleagues and clients? And more important, what can a younger speaker do about it?
We're often asked to work with smart young professionals to help them appear more confident and credible. Here are some things we suggest to every speaker that are especially helpful when a young person is working to make a strong impression.
Don't lecture on things they know
Does a successful business executive in the U.S. need a lecture on how competition works in the marketplace? Does a Congressman's staff need an explanation about the branches of government?
You might want to say, based on what you've seen in the news, why yes they do. But most don't need that kind of background. They know it.
Not only do they not need it, they don't want it.
As a young speaker, when you lecture your audience on the fundamentals in this way, you come off as someone who doesn't understand the audience and their work. Worse, you may seem as if you just learned this information yourself--and feel the need to enlighten the world.
For any presentation, an influential speaker wants to consider:
- What does my audience know?
- What do they need to know?
- What information really matters to them? What can I leave out?
- What do they care about--and how can I start there?
As we've noted before, a top complaint we hear from executives about their teams is this: They tell me everything they know. I just want to hear what I need to know.
Research before you present
What DO they need to know, you might wonder? This is where research can help. You can gather information about your audience by talking with others who know them, by finding out how they've reacted to other presentations, and by taking some time to get familiar with their work and their goals.
We suggest that presenters consider:
- How the target audience likes to get information. For example, if you know your client likes to make decisions based on data, plan to bring the data. Conversely, if you know they are bored by data, present key findings in another way that makes it relevant to them.
- How much time the audience can spare for you. Don't plan a 45 minute presentation for someone who has 10 minutes. Distill your message. Even if you go in planning for a longer presentation, be prepared to condense your message. Plans change--and you may be asked to adjust.
- The target audience's history with the topic. Has someone approached them before about the same thing? What happened? Has the client had a positive or negative experience in the past? As a young speaker, you lose credibility if you don't have some sense of what's already taken place. You give them the opportunity to think (or say): "Of course, you couldn't know. You haven't been around long enough."
Prepare for questions
Every speaker should be ready for questions when they present--and you can find some of our guidance for handling questions here and here.
In general:
Brainstorm the questions you expect--the tough ones and the easy ones--and plan answers. You'll find that this process helps you better answer all questions, even the ones you didn't anticipate. Get up on your feet and role play answering them with some colleagues.
Know that it's okay to say you don't know, need to find out more, and get back to them. If you can offer a general answer, then do. But don't make things up or commit to something you can't deliver.
Be ready to answer questions as they come up. Even if you were planning to answer questions at the end of your presentation, don't tell a client or senior leader to wait. Sometimes, the question is an indication of what they'd like for you to address, that you're giving too much background--so try to answer and move ahead with your presentation to that topic, if you feel that's the case.
It may help your confidence to think of answering questions not as a test of knowledge but as an opportunity to build a relationship: How you answer questions is showing your audience what it will be like to work with you. Are you at ease with being challenged? Are you confident enough to say you don't know but can find out?
Polish your presentation skills
Speakers of every age use filler words, mumble, rush, fidget, ramble. It seems unfair that young speakers are excessively criticized for any of these.
Yet they are. By polishing your presentations skills, you remove this source of objection.
Whenever possible:
- Plan your message carefully--so that you have a clear point and make it as cleanly as possible
- Eliminate filler--so that uh, um, like, you know don't pop up repeatedly when you speak.
- Speak deliberately--at a pace that makes your message easy to follow, with volume and diction that make your words clear.
- Take a solid stance--and move with purpose. Avoid randomly pacing and shuffling feet. Practice using gestures that enhance your message.
- Make eye contact with people, one by one--and talk to the people you're trying to persuade instead of looking at the table top, your notes, or over their heads.
Better presentation skills evolve through practice. Public speakers you think are brilliant have most likely worked hard to seem effortlessly talented. With those ideas in mind, set yourself up for success with key audiences by practicing on your feet before you deliver to them.
LEARN MORE
Find more our our recommendations for young speaker here.
More speaking opportunities will help you become more confident. Here's how to find those opportunities if presenting isn't part of your work now.
Use our how-to guide for projecting confidence when you're not quite feeling it.
