How to connect with your audience in presentations and workshops

Melanie Stanton — RedRibbon Careers

​​Giving presentations and running workshops are essential elements of many local government roles. Here’s some advice from Melanie Stanton (www.redribbon.nz) who designs and implement workshops and training programmes for businesses and organisations.

What’s the difference between a presentation and a workshop? Do you have a preference?
A presentation involves conveying information, with a question and answer time.

A workshop is interactive. People do stuff, have experiences and talk to their neighbours. I like workshops most because they challenge me. I am interacting on the spot, live, and I don’t know what’s coming. People could be arguing my points. If they do, I give them a high five for courage.
People are their own experts, so it’s good for them to express what they know.

How do you know when a presentation or workshop is going well?
I can sense the level of participation in the room — I can sense when I’ve lost people so I change tack.

Yawning is normally the biggest giveaway, especially when talking about legislation on a Friday afternoon!

What are some of the things people can do to give their presentation or workshop a good chance of being successful?
Know who their audience is and cater for that specific audience.

The best thing to do at the start of a workshop is to have an icebreaker, for example, ask the participants to tell you what they do, and follow up on the response.

In a presentation you need to create a relationship. In a bigger group talk about yourself a bit, and why you are speaking to this group in particular. Show you know who they are – research them so it’s sincere. And talk about the things that really light you up, genuinely.

Do you have any suggestions for someone who is inexperienced with making presentations or running workshops?
Start small, and be generous to yourself by considering how to manage the focus being on you.

Powerpoint can be a good option because people will look at the screen. In a workshop, get the participants to do stuff. This also takes the spotlight off you, so you can have a breather. You can relax and interact with the group.

I do these tricks myself — I like being up there but it is uncomfortable, you are being seen. You can’t pause — it’s happening.

Two key things to remember:

• don’t open with a statement that you are nervous. It’s just affirming that to yourself
• don’t just read the speech as written.
  
  

What sort of preparation do you do for a presentation?
I do lots of preparation. I think about the topic and I read books.

I occasionally go online, but I don’t do this first. There is too much information, it’s overwhelming, and you can feel like everyone’s already said everything about the topic. It is useful for filling gaps.

I think about how I want to present the topic and what I’m passionate about, while taking the audience into account.

It’s about finding your message, what you want to say and how do you want to say it —then the rest just falls into place.

Do you get nervous before a presentation? If so, how do you manage that?
I get nervous, but not anxious. The very first one I did, I put a vase on my presentation desk, with fragrant jasmine. I gave myself a whole lot of treats, to be kind to myself.

I also got there really early, to give myself time to set up, and to feel in control.

What sort of notes do you take with you?
I write a list of bullet points beforehand. But I don’t take it with me.

Notes are not helpful to me, and because it’s what I want to say, I don’t forget it. Some people do take bullet points into a presentation.

In a workshop situation, I provide workbooks, with the powerpoint slides printed out and space to write notes alongside.

Any comments about ‘death by powerpoint’? Is powerpoint a bad option or a valuable aid?
A bad powerpoint presentation is when you write everything up on that and read off it.

It’s even worse if you read it, and then put the same words up for the audience to read.

Only put topics on the powerpoint, not details. For example, in my legislation presentation, I put up snippets of the legislation in a powerpoint to highlight key points, but I didn’t read them out.

Powerpoint should not be the presentation, it is an aid for you.

Any suggestions on using visuals or other techniques to make a presentation interesting?
YouTube clips are great — you can push play and walk away. They are popular.

Microbreaks are a good idea. Give people two minutes to talk to the person next to them or to write down any notes. This also provides a breather for the presenter.

Groups of three where people can talk about their experience work well. People love that because they have lots to say. Give times for these break out discussions. You can adjust it later if everyone is fully engaged.

You can ask other people to contribute but that’s slightly unpredictable.

Physical visuals are also useful. For example, I have used a jug of water and cups to talk about balancing what you are giving out and what you are getting back.

Do you have any other suggestions of ways to build up confidence with presenting?
Talk about your real experiences. People aren’t so much wanting to hear what books say – they want to hear from you.
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This type of presentation has a different quality. It’s about bringing stuff to life, and relating it specifically to them. When I’m speaking in this way I’m loving it, because it’s what I want to say.