Think about how young children are being taught today. With a sweep of a finger, a toddler is turning the page on her dad’s iPad to be entertained. She is bored with a real book.
My listeners are getting younger and younger. They expect - no, they demand – to be entertained as well as informed. This means my skills – our skills – need to get better in order to keep them attentive and listening. You might choose to rely on the crutch of visual aids. Visual aids can add a great deal to support your presentation but the greatest visual aid you have to rely on is … YOU.
Let’s start with your face. It’s not a mask, it’s a window.
Poker faces show no expression. It’s a detached look. Why would anyone buy into your message if you look detached, like you don’t care?
Have you heard of the boxing term “Go to the body and the head will follow?” My experience is the exact opposite. When I get my client’s face working right, the body follows. So, if you want to overcome that poker face and look like you really care, smile occasionally.
Smiling is a simple technique … and powerful. If you are a leader and act friendly and smile occasionally you’ll be amazed ho much more approachable you’ll be. You’ll also be surprised how interesting what you are saying increases. Create a visual chime wherever you are presenting in order to remind yourself to smile. Put a small mirror by your phone as a reminder too. Smiling makes every voice sound better, even over the phone. If you have a serious or difficult message, start with a sincere smile. It will warm an audience quicker than anything else.
Lack of eye contact is a problem for many presenters and it’s easily corrected. LOOK ‘EM IN THE EYE! People who lack eye contact are perceived to be lacking confidence or shifty and can’t be trusted. When you introduce yourself one-on-one or in a group, keep eye contact with others. Don’t look down at your feet or at the center of a table. If you are at a conference table, hold eye contact one and one-half seconds with each person. Your eyes will click with their eyes, registering and affirming their presence. Then start over. With a large audience, break up the audience in quadrants and pick one person. Hold eye contact for five seconds and the other people in that line of vision will also think that you are looking at them Move to another quadrant and repeat the process. Your eyes should be looking at the audience 90% of the time.
International Speaker and Executive Speech Coach Gwen Resick-Rennich is the founder of Resick-Rennich Presentations, an executive speech coaching and keynote presenting organization. Gwen’s credits include over ten years of television experience as a CBS affiliate news co-anchor and reporter and as a NBC affiliate co-host and story producer for Denver’s television show “P.M. Magazine.”
The result of her extensive media background, with over twenty years as a professional speaker, is that Gwen delivers the message whatever it might be with heart, wit and intellect that engages the audience members and gets them to listen.
She is known worldwide, having spoken in nineteen different countries on four continents at more than one thousand venues.
Gwen’s speaking and coaching versatility have brought her into Fortune 500 and Global 1000 companies, small to mid-sized organization, non-profit organizations and universities. Gwen ha helped professionals in the fields of healthcare, legal, IT, insurance, real estate, education and fashion achieve new levels of effectiveness.
Gwen has spoken on topics such as leadership development, presentation skills, managing people with bad attitudes, conflict resolution, image and self-projection, and getting over the fear of speaking.
Individuals who work with Gwen learn to captivate their listener with impact, present themselves with poise and confidence and persuade listeners to act upon the information they share.
Website link: GwenResick-Rennich.com