7 Steps to Success — with Body Talk

April 17, 2009

Dress for Success

What you wear is 95% per of what your audience sees, so make it appropriate. Take particular care with your suit, tie, blouse and shoes – a good rule of thumb is to dress slightly better than your audience. Make sure that you are well groomed (hair, nails etc.).

State

Put yourself in the right state to convey confidence in both your verbal and non-verbal communication during the presentation. An appropriate warm up, with body and voice stretching exercises should be all part of your pre-presentation routine.

First Impressions

In order to build rapport, calm your nerves and acclimatise to the environment, meet as many of the audience as possible beforehand. When you shake hands use an upright handshake (this means that your thumb is pointing upwards), which ensure that you are seen to be on an equal footing with the other person. Your grip should match their grip in terms of firmness. Use a genuine smile and thank them for coming. When you are being introduced stand to one side, out of the limelight. This will enable you to walk forward into the spotlight in a confident positive way at the appropriate moment.

Openness

Audiences don’t warm to, listen to or believe presenters who use closed body language, so make your gestures warm and open. If you are asked a difficult question don’t bluff — any signs of lying or deception will be apparent in your body language. Watch politicians and model the best.

Posture

Upright posture gives you confidence and conveys a confident authority to your audience. If you are in a small group you may decide to sit down from time-to-time — for effect and to gain rapport — don’t sit for very long. Avoid using lecterns unless it is a very formal presentation with lots of technical content. If you do have to use a lectern, make sure you move away from it to make key points. If you are using PowerPoint, keep it fast and energetic. If you are not sure why a slide is on the screen your body language will give you away. Try to examine the point of each slide you use and see if you can dispense with it.

Audience body language

Take note of the body language of the audience and respond to it. This will enable you to keep their energy positive and their learning level high. If, for example, more than 10% of people have their arms crossed, maybe its time for a re-energising exercise or a coffee break. But, be careful not to misread individual gestures; some people can look sceptical when they are evaluating what the presenter has said.

Confidence

As a member of the Professional Speaker’s Association you would expect to have your material well researched and presented. Make sure you are also properly prepared with regard to equipment, personal items and timings. Always have a back up for anything that can go wrong and don’t rely on key equipment being supplied.

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