Presentation: Making the Connection

When you give a presentation, your aim is to make a connection that produces a result. Whether you’re reporting or training, selling or entertaining, you must make a connection with your listeners or you’ve wasted your breath.

There are three dimensions to that connection. You must be connected to your self, connected to your message and connected to your listeners. Any problem with your presentation can be traced to a disconnection in one or more of those areas. Let’s look at each one.

Being connected to your self challenges you to engage every aspect of your being in the interaction, so you really come out and play, and your listeners can appreciate you as a person. Physical tension, mental distraction and emotional dissonance distort your performance, prevent people from seeing the real you and undermine the presentation. Practicing relaxation, breathing, meditation and other activities that promote awareness and optimal wellbeing will enhance your potential for making a personal connection.

Obviously, being connected to your message challenges you to know your content and clarify the core message your listeners need to retain. But it goes deeper than that. You must know why it’s important to communicate the message and feel its significance, because that energizes your performance. Delivering the information is not enough. Examine your material. Ask yourself, “What is most important? Why is it important?

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Crucial Speaking Skills: Resonance

Resonance is one of the most effective strategies for getting connected to yourself and to your listeners. Like all good speaking skills, it helps you to engage yourself fully and communicate with your whole being.

Special Offer

Group Skype Class

If you need to improve your voice but private lessons are too expensive, consider this opportunity to work with Jay in a group setting, using Skype video chat. You’ll cover the basic technique in one month of weekly sessions. The pilot class will be limited to 5 students, for a reduced cost of $149 CDN. Lesson times (possibly 2:00 pm, EDT) will attempt to accommodate a range of time zones. Contact Jay to sign up.

Tip

Feel your connection to the ground. It seems obvious—wouldn’t you always have your feet on the ground—but being conscious of your connection to the ground helps you stay present, connected to yourself and connected to the room around you. That, in turn, helps you feel connected to your listeners. So treat the ground as an extension of your body.