Meetings

You, not Your Slides, are Your Presentation Last week, I attended a training seminar where the speaker stood by the side of a projection screen and behind a table where he had his laptop. He hardly moved from his position during the hour-long seminar. He was short and was barely visible from the back of the thirty-people room, as shown in the illustration. Despite his interesting content and compelling arguments, he was physically disconnected from his audience.

One of the common mistakes speakers make is that they regard their slides as the core of their presentation—they give their slides the center stage during their presentations. Sometimes they stand behind a podium or by the side of a projection screen and command very little attention from the audience.

Here are a few tips to help you engage your audience.

Get a handheld or a clip-on microphone and a remote control to advance your PowerPoint or Keynote slides. Walk around the room and establish a positive rapport with your audience.
Maintain a relaxed body language and tone, smile and engage the audience in discussions. A relaxed stance and engaging conversations quickly establish your authority over the subject matter and your credibility with the audience.
Maintain eye contact with all the members of your audience. Observe their body language for non-verbal feedback to your presentation content.
Have a friend or family member attend your presentation and request that he or she observe your non-verbal communication, viz., your appearance, enthusiasm, tone and volume, gestures, eye contact, audience engagement, pauses, and pace of delivery.

As you prepare for your next public speaking assignment or presentation, remember that your slides or handouts just augment your presentation and support your line of reasoning. You are the presentation; you should be the focus.

Preparing to Attend Meetings Meetings are important organizational tools. Whether as one-on-one conversations or as larger all-employee information sharing sessions, meetings are integral components of getting work done. Despite some obvious benefits, most meetings are not very productive and are longer than necessary. One of the primary reasons for the lower productivity of meetings is that attendees come unprepared.

Assume you have consented to attend a meeting because your participation is critical to the objective of the meeting. What questions will you ask to prepare for the meeting?

Have I read the meeting agenda? What is the objective of the meeting? What is my role? How will I contribute to the meeting?
What segment of the meeting is relevant to me? Can I join late or leave early if I am not required throughout the length of the meeting?
Is this a follow-up to a previous meeting? What action items had I agreed on then? What results will I present? What questions will arise?
What relevant pre-reading material should I seek?
What research do I need to do? Whom on my team should I talk to regarding items on the agenda?
What is the desirable outcome? What is the undesirable outcome? Is there a compromise?
What positions am I prepared to take on key issues being discussed in this meeting? What facts and charts will I present to support my position?
Who are the other attendees? What positions are they likely to take on key issues? Why? What are the likely group dynamics: who will support me, who will oppose my positions? What counter arguments will I present?
What other attendees should I talk to prior to the meeting to garner support to my position? Can I invite additional attendees to the meeting to help support my position? How will I persuade other people to see my point of view?
What action items am I willing to take? Do I have the necessary resources? Will I participate in follow-up meetings, if scheduled?

Meetings are all about sharing thoughts in a collective setting. They are only as good as the ideas that attendees bring to the discussions. By asking the above questions, you will contribute to focused, productive meetings. You owe it to yourself, the meeting leaders and to your fellow-attendees.

Meetings

You are Your Presentation, Your Slides Aren’t

How to Prepare for Meetings

Meetings

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