Archive for the ‘Presentation Skills’ Category
Presenting to the visually impaired
I faced a new and interesting challenge earlier this week when undertaking a one day workshop for a group of people. Within the group were three visually impaired people.
Naturally, much of the work I had prepared was in PowerPoint format and for two of them they were not able to see the slides.
Between us, me struggling somewhat whilst they were very helpful and understanding, we managed to have a great day. The first lesson I learnt was to be up front and find out from them the best way to carry out the presentations.
The second lesson was to vocalise everything. So every time I changed a slide I said that I was doing so and then explained as I discussed each point made. Where there were photographs and graphics either I or another member of the group would describe them in detail before we proceeded.
Of course, what it really forced me to do was to return to my roots and conduct my delivery as if giving a presentation without visual aids.
Nevertheless it made us all realise how much we rely on body language to reinforce the spoken message. Instead I had to think about how I could describe each action in word pictures.
There are a couple of morals to this story. Always check who is going to be at a presentation and check whether additional aids might be needed. If you are presenting to a visually impaired audience then try and get the slide placed into braille beforehand. This means putting all the wording into a MS Word document first. Obviously graphics or photos cannot be changed.
Despite my bumbling incoherent start to the day, we all managed to make it work and I learnt to be better prepared in the future.
Remembering to breathe
The presenter who passed out through nerves that I mentioned in the last post clearly forgot to breathe. It is a common reaction when we’re under pressure to hold your breath – which is of course the worse thing you can do!
Reminding yourself to take deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth is the best way to deal with difficult situations.
Also if you focus on your breath it takes your mind off any nerves you might have.
A very nervous presenter
I was coaching someone yesterday who had been so nervous many years ago when presenting that he had acutally fainted! Now this is clearly an extreme reaction but panic in this situation is not unusual.
Practically everyone I’ve ever coached in public speaking or presentation skills has wanted to deal with nerves. There are many great techniques and strategies for doing this and the one I always start with is preparation. And that means pracising out loud the words that you are planning to use in the presentation.
It amazes me how few people do this as it is such an effective way to deal with the nerves that result from worrying that something is going to go wrong. I wouldn’t expect to be able to get up in front of a room full of people and, for example, play a piano sonata withoug practising first. So why on earth would I expect to deliver a fantastic presentation or speech without doing the same?