Do this every time you speak

 You will have received lots of tips and guidance on how to improve your speaking and presenting skills. However there is one I recommend above all other tips, techniques and tricks. 

You will know by now there are a lot of ways to become a more effective presenter. The one I'm going to share with you today is absolutely critical. This technique will elevate your presenting way beyond anything else you do!  

In fact you will never get past a certain point in your presentation effectiveness unless you do it. If you use it, you will improve - no matter how good you are right now.

This is a three part technique, and like anything with three parts, miss one out and it fells wrong.  Like your holiday, it’s got to have a great hotel, a great resort and appropriate weather.  Miss one and somehow you fell let down or unfulfilled.

Part one: Record yourself every chance you get. This could be at a Networking group, Chamber of Commerce, a school parents association, or your local interest group.  In fact, you should do this anywhere where you express your thoughts or opinions.  Starts by using a voice recorder, many smart phones have the facility, or you can pick up an inexpensive digital audio recorder.  Every time you speak, switch it on and have it in front of you so it picks up everything you say.

Part two: Once you have become familiar with the sound of your own voice and at easy with your digital audio recorder, start to video every talk you give.  And yes Chamber events, Women’s Institute talks, Networking meetings, everywhere you speak, tape it.

Part three:  Review each and every recording so you can plan your way forward.  You know about learning from your mistakes, well this is a great way to check what you have done, and where you see improvements can be made – Make them.   

A quick note : A lot of people do Step One only. This process will ONLY work effectively if you do Steps Two and Three.

Having the right equipment will help and you can no pick up a Digital audio recorder for about £50:00 and most of us will have a camcorder of one sort or another.  If you can use an HD version it will help, because it will pick up more of the facial nuances you may not be aware of.  And as the advert goes “every little helps”

Feedback is one of the most important tools you have. And you should ask for it at every opportunity. Here is an offer when you start doing this send me a link to your talk and I will review it and send you a detailed review.

And while we are on Feedback, I thought I would share with you a fantastic book I am reading.  The DNA of success by Chris Norton, is full of fascinating stories gleaned from leading figures from sport, politics, business, the military and the arts from some of the most influential business and thought leaders in the UK today.  So far I’m getting lots of real good information. 

Anyway please take a look and it would be nice if you fed that back to me.  Here is the linkhttp://bit.ly/tlfMbw I hope you enjoy it.

About the Author

Paul M Johnstone is a Professional Communicator, Speaker, Executive Mentor and PowerPoint Guru! He works with companies, charities and individuals, helping them improve their communication skills and deliver successful presentations. 

Paul can be reached at +44 (0)7711 324362or through his website at http://www.pmjohnstone.co.uk/ and http://www.paradigmshakers.co.uk

Know your Audience, Public Speaking ~ Paul M Johnstone

Whenever I get a booking to speak, I always ask the following questions of the meeting organiser.  This is because the more I about the audience, the better I can tailor my speech.  Once you know their profile you are half way there.  This is a great way of preparing for your presentation and helps overcome the fear of public speaking that is those who are still a little nervous.

Here are the questions I currently ask: You may of course have your own parameters that are important for you.

The first set are about the venue and will give you a much better idea of what to expect.

• Where is the venue?
• Is there parking?
• Do I have preparation time at the venue? (changing space etcetera)
• IS the venue lager enough to require the use of a microphone? 
• Can you visit the venue beforehand?
• Are there any known issues with the venue? (poor sight lines, iffy acoustics, uncomfortable seating)

The next questions relate to the event itself.

• What sort of event is it? (Seminar, exhibition, Training day, Networking event, After Dinner, discovery day, team building etcetera)
• What topic do you want?
• How many people are expected?
• What are their responsibilities?
• Why Are they coming?
• Are their partners invited?
• How much of the event is business and how much social?
• What is the average age?
• And what are the age ranges?
• Are there any non English speakers attending?
• If so what's the percentage?
• What is the male/female ratio?

Here are a couple of questions are about where in the programme you will be.  You will be surprised that the position and timing of your slot can make a huge difference on your audiences reaction to your presentation. If you get the graveyard slot, that's the one straight after lunch, you will need to prepare for your audience who are still digesting their food and may not have the highest levels of concentration!

• What slot do I have?(if you get the graveyard slot you need to know in advance)

•  And who am I following and what is their topic?

• Who is on after I speak, and what is their topic? (You might get a great audience profile, but be doomed to failure because of the program schedule)

I started to formulate these questions when I was in the corporate world, where missing anything in your presentation could be a lot more damaging to your career than just about anything else.

On accepting the engagement, these questions are repeated on the pre-program questionnaire. This may seem like overkill but you are being rewarded for your efforts, you want to be remembered as a quality speaker who delivers professionally and does what it says on the tin.  That way you are more likely to get repeat work and recommendations from your audience for other jobs.

You will want as many levels of verification as you can get, so that
I know what I am getting into. Some people use a scoring chat which may well help you.  I prefer to listen to the answers and where appropriate ask supplementary questions in order to form my opinion. However I always have a set of criteria I look for which is event dependant. 

You’ll discover over time which events and topics that work for you.  Assessing possible work is not a science it’s an art.  You will quickly get used to what to listen out for and which events work for you. 

I would love to hear from you and I am interested in your comments.  So please leave your remarks once you have read this blog, Thank You

About the Author

Paul M Johnstone is a Professional Communicator, Speaker, Executive Mentor and PowerPoint Guru! He works with companies, charities and individuals, helping them improve their communication skills and deliver successful presentations. 

Paul can be reached at +44 (0)7711 324362or through his website at http://www.pmjohnstone.co.uk/ he can also be reached at http://www.paradigmshakers.co.uk

Working with Photographers - Paul M Johnstone

The next time a newspaper photographer takes your picture, remember the 5 things they hate!

1. People who are up themselves and demand that other people be included or excluded from the shot.   Never tell the photographer who to photograph. Don’t put them on the spot like this, because you want a top job.  Think about it, if you try to put them on the spot, what usually happens is, they will oblige and take a few shots just to placate you.  But then they will make a mental note that you're a real pain to deal with.

2. Not giving the photographer enough time to take a photo. After he arrives, he might want to look around, consider several different backdrops, check and double-check equipment, make sure the lighting is adequate, and experiment by shooting you in several different settings. So don't rush him.

3. Know all’s.  These are usually amateur photographers, who think they know all the best angles, lighting and backdrops. Hang on a moment.  The photographer doesn't tell you how to do your job. So you shouldn't tell them how to take a photograph

4. Public relations people and staff members who act like bodyguards and refuse to let the photographer talk one-on-one with the photo subject. Photographers like one-on-one contact for several reasons. It makes the photo subject feel more at ease. It also helps the photographer discover something about the photo subject that they that might not have known.  

Often these people leave the photographer waiting for half an hour. Call them as soon as you know there will be a delay.  The photographer may want to reschedule, as they have another job to get to. A reminder for you, every minute you make a photographer wait is one less minute they can spend helping you look good.

5. Being a control freak! Demanding to see all the photos they have taken so you can choose.  Leave this decision to the photographer and photo editor. Added to that demanding that you get to keep originals, these are the property of the Newspaper or media organisation. They are under no obligation whatsoever to give them to you, although some media outlets will sell you a print.

Photographers tell me that it’s often these people who ask if the photographer can send them 10 reprint, for free!  Don't ask the reporters or editors. Call the publication and order them yourself, and expect to pay.

Please comment on this or any of my earlier Blogs. All feedback is great feedback

About the Author

Paul M Johnstone is a Speaker, Author, and Executive Mentor. He has build two businesses by using the power of the network and with almost no other marketing. And can be reached at +44 (0)7711 324362or through his website at http://www.paradigmshakers.co.uk/ and http://www.pmjohnstone.co.uk/

P.S.  I’m reading a great book The DNA of success by Chris Norton, which is full of fascinating stories from leading figures from sport, politics, business, the military and the arts from some of the most influential business and thought leaders in the UK today.  So far I’m getting lots of real good information. Anyway please take a look and it would be nice if you fed that back to me. I hope you enjoy it.

Top Three Goals for your Presentation- Paul M Johnstone

Public speaking, presentation skills and presenting with PowerPoint techniques are easy to master and just as easy to get wrong.  Let me know your views on these three easy steps to presenting with PowerPoint. 

True or false

Your PowerPoint presentations are always:-

• Compelling
• Illuminating
• Informative
• Clear, to the point and accepted.

Answer is usually FALSE

Making PowerPoint presentations that are clear, compelling, memorable and even enjoyable is not an art.  Presenting with PowerPoint is a science, and if you follow my top three goals you should get it right every time.  Your presentations will then be clear, enjoyable and memorable.  No more death by PowerPoint or people snoozing through your presentations.  These three goals work because they are based on the way we as humans absorb information, then use it.

First of all you must connect with your audience.   Top error for so many presenters, as they think just because they’re presenting every one else has to listen.   Well people especially business people need to be engaged, then they’ll listen. 

Secondly, your presentations need to be directed at the audience and hold their attention.  I once sat through a presentation on sources of finance, where a lady next to me wrote her ‘To Do’ list during it.  The presenter failed to connect with that lady and the rest of the audience judging by their body language.

Finally you should promote understanding and memory. Now this can be tricky for many business presenters, simply because they expect the audience to take on board everything they tell them.  Both of us know that is not correct.  A piece of jargon entering the vocabulary is edutainment.  This is where an educational message is wrapped up in an entertaining way.

By simply understanding just how people take on information, your presentations will change for the better.  Better for your audience, after all it’s the audience we are presenting for.  Better for your message clarity, it will be easier for the audience to understand it. Better for long term retention, your audience will retain information longer.

You may have guessed by now that these three principals shift the emphasis away from you the presenter, to the important people, the audience.   As a presenter you should be the medium not the message.  Entertainers are different as they are building their brand.  You want to get your message across in a way that is clear, simple and to the point. 

Keep checking back for more detailed insight into these three goals in the coming week.

Comments and feedback pleas! Feel free to comment on this or any of my earlier Blogs. You guys keep me on track and help me improve.

About the Author

Paul M Johnstone is a Professional Communicator, Speaker, Executive Coach and PowerPoint Guru!  He works with companies, organisations and individuals, helping them improve their communication skills.  Paul helps people want to speak and present more effectively, to improve their personal and professional success. He can be reached at +44 (0)7711 324362or through his website at http://www.pmjohnstone.co.uk/

©Paul M Johnstone

The eye’s have it- Or do they? Paul M Johnstone

At a police and local authority seminar recently, where the topic was police and business crime.  The local MP decided it would be a right and proper place to promote the direct election of police commissioners.  This got him a less than warm welcome from the audience.

What made it worse for him was the way he used his eyes when speaking to us.  At no time when he was selling his idea did he look any of the audience in the eye.  He looked at their faces, out of the window (a lot) and looked for inspiration on the floor.  But not once did he look anyone in the eye.

In a western society we associate looking someone in the eye with truth, veracity, honesty.  When you don’t look your audience in their eyes you loose so much as a presenter or speaker.  You have to work so much harder to win the audience over a second time. It’s best if you don’t fall into that trap to start with.  There are some great techniques to insure you achieve this first time round.

Firstly one I call ‘Lock Jaw’.  Lock Jaw is where you lock your jaw unless you are making eye contact with a member of your audience.  A simple thing to do once you have practiced it – you become good an you will see people actively reacting to your connection.

Second: Your body language tells the audience a lot about you.  The politician I mentioned earlier folded his arms every time he was about to use the phrase ‘elected police commissioner’.  This was almost always followed by time spent looking at the floor or out of the window.

Third: When you find yourself in-front of an audience you don’t know, smile.  This simple, natural act of smiling breaks barriers, and helps people who don’t know each other connect.  Look as humans we are friendly towards each other. A smile is a great way to introduce yourself to people who don’t know you.

Follow these three steps every time you present and you will not end up like the MP who looked and sounded false. 

If you’d like to improve your public speaking and presentation skills – get in touch! Feel free to comment if this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question Paul will try to help!

Comments and feedback pleas! Feel free to comment on this or any of my earlier Blogs. You guys keep me on track and help me improve.

About the Author

Paul M Johnstone is a Professional Communicator, Speaker, Executive Coach and PowerPoint Guru!  He works with companies, organisations and individuals, helping them improve their communication skills.  Paul helps people want to speak and present more effectively, to improve their personal and professional success. He can be reached at +44 (0)7711 324362or through his website at http://www.pmjohnstone.co.uk/

©Paul M Johnstone

The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint I think? - Paul M Johnstone

I suffer from something called Lack of Audience Engagement Disorder (LAED) but don’t worry, you cannot get it from reading my blog. The symptoms include loss of attention, low boredom threshold and the ability to multi-task (write a to do list or sort pout the shopping for the way home) during dull  presentations. 

There are many medical theories about its cause: too much salt, caffeine, or alcohol in one’s diet, too much stress, and allergies. But by far the biggest contributor is Boring, inappropriate presentation delivered by presenters too keen on them being the centre of attention, not the audience.  And now there is a cure, so I’m told.

To prevent an epidemic of LAED  in audiences, I am promoting something called the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. 

It’s quite simple: a PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. While I’m in the audience I want to be informed not bored and entertained as well as informed. Following these simple rules will help us get to this wonderful state of achievement.

Ten slides. Ten is the optimal number of slides in a PowerPoint presentation because a normal human being cannot comprehend more than ten concepts in a meeting—and I believe I’m quite normal.  By using more than ten slides to explain your idea, proposition, business, you  are squarely in LAED territory The ten topics that a venture capitalist cares about are:

1. Opening
2. Present your Problem as a Solution
3. Define your Model
4. Underlying magic/technology
5. Marketing and sales
6. Competition
7. Team
8. Projections and milestones (if you must)
9. Status and timeline
10. Summary and call to action

Hey, you don’t have to use 10 slides if you can get away with less great, do it.

Twenty minutes. You should give your ten slides in twenty minutes. You may have an hour time slot, but technology often takes thirty to forty minutes to overcome. Even if setup goes perfectly, people will arrive late and have to leave early. In a perfect world, you give your pitch in twenty minutes, and you have forty minutes left for discussion. When designing your presentation design in questions.  This does two things A) it involves your audience and B) you can tease out any limiting beliefs your audience may have.

Thirty-point font: The majority of the presentations that I see have text in a unbelievably small font. They cram as much text as possible into the slide, then the presenter reads it, just like a bed time story. Believe me. I can read faster then you can read it to me……... The result is that you and the audience are out of synch.

Using 30 point or larger ensures everyone in your audience can read your slide.  Cause it’s odds on the one you need to impress is at the back and they’ve forgotten their glasses.  If you think 30 point or larger is strange try this simple equation for defining the font you should use.   Find out the age of the oldest person in your audience and divide it by two. That’s your optimal font size.

With presentations if may help if you think that PowerPoint is there to be a visual aid.  That is there to support your presentation not be the presentation. So please observe the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. If nothing else, the next time someone in your audience complains of LAED, you’ll know what caused the problem. 

Catch up with you again soon!

Paul Johnstone is the founder of

The Paradigm Shakers

Providers of Thought Provoking Training

Delivered by Subject Matter Experts

http://www.paradigmshakers.co.uk/

©Paul Johnstone

Top Presentation Techniques - Paul M Johnstone

Presentations are something that we’re all familiar with. Unfortunately there are estimated to be over 50% of the 1.3 Million presentations delivered every day, are rubbish (conservative estimate).    

To help you get the best from your presentations here are just a few tips that will help you achieve the goal of any presentation. The effective transfer of information from you the presenter to the audience in a way they understand and use your information. 

Don’t abuse your visuals – Always, always use quality images.  Avoid clip art go for quality.  If you want to use a cartoon get a cartoonist to draw one for you!   Whatever your visuals may be, keep them simple and try to use three or four words only. The audience isn’t there to read your slides, they are there to listen to your presentation.

Eye to eye with the audience – A fantastic technique for engaging the audience 

is……….Look them in the eye.  Don’t spray your eyes round the room look at one person, deliver a sentence then move on to the next person.  If no one is looking at you, stop talking.  When they look up, look the next person in the eye, deliver a sentence and move on.

Show your personality – It doesn’t matter if you are presenting to a corporate crowd or to senior citizens, you need to show some of your character when presenting. When you just stand and deliver you become wooden and any enthusiasm you have for the topic is lost.  Be yourself, be natural and you will deliver better presentations.

Make them laugh – Although you want to educate your audience, humour will help your presentation be better remembered.   No this doe not mean you have to become a stand up.  Tel your story and lighten it up with humour or an anecdote.  This keeps the audience alert and they’ll learn more from you than someone who just educates.

Talk to your audience, not at them – Don’t you just hate it when people talk at, so don’t do it. You need to interact with your audience and create a conversation. An easy way to do this is to ask them questions as well as letting them ask you questions.  I know someone who asks one person in his audience “What do you expect to achieve from this presentation”?

Honesty is your best Policy – A lot of people present to the audience what they want to hear, instead of what they need to hear. Make sure you tell the truth even if they don’t want to hear it.  There are lots of words you can use to prepare your audience for bad news. It will help you if you collect a library of these words and phrases for when you need them. Oh and if you don't know the answer to a question, tell them you don't but you will get back to them with an answer.

Please Don’t over prepare – If you rehearse your presentation too much it will sound like it (in a bad way). Granted, you need to be prepared enough to know what you are going to talk about but make sure your presentation flows naturally instead of sounding memorized. Usually if you ask experienced speakers what you shouldn’t do, they’ll tell you not to rehearse your presentation too much because then it won’t sound natural.

Get out of the Grow Bag– You probably know it’s good to move when you are presenting.  The phrase motion comes from emotion is key here. Don’t stand in one spot, like you are trying to take root, (in your grow bag) a little movement and encouraging gestures help when making a point. People are more engaged with an animated speaker.

Watch what you say – You usually don’t notice when you say “err”, “ah”, or any other filler word frequently, but the audience does. It can get irritating; so much that some members of the audience will probably count how many times you say these filler words.

Differentiate yourself – If you don’t do something different compared to all the other presenters the audience may have heard.  You are branding yourself when you speak, so make sure you do something memorable.  I find your own enthusiasm for your subject is a great place to start.

Catch up with you again soon!

Paul Johnstone is the founder of

The Paradigm Shakers

Providers of Thought Provoking Training

Delivered by Subject Matter Experts

http://www.paradigmshakers.co.uk/

 ©Paul Johnstone

If you can't Be yourself? Why not be someone else? Paul M Johnstone

OK you're giving a live, important presentation to a large audience. For the sake of argument this is not something you do on a regular basis, or something you relish.

You might be a little nervous about your presentation, so you turn to friends or the internet for some public speaking advice. As you do, you'll undoubtedly hear or read this strange bit of folkloric wisdom:

Just Be Yourself! Act Natural!

The problem with this advice is that you'll find yourself in a completely unnatural environment – Hey you are alone in front of a large group of people, lights shining in your face, a mike wire dangling from your lapel, a huge visual displays behind you.  THIS IS NOT NORMAL So how do you go about being "natural" in what is an unnatural environment?

Now what if your "natural, normal" self is shy, nervous, or introverted? How does that help?

Telling a nervous speaker to "act naturally" on stage, just sets them up for a fall. Rather than trying to "act naturally", or be normal whatever that is.  Why not try one of these three more specific courses of action?

1. You can make the environment seem more natural.  

Nothing takes the nerves out of a presentation like a real, live, full dress rehearsal. Get lots of practice! Physically walk on the stage. Feel the lights on your face, the audio pack on your belt, the video remote in your hand.

Once you've experienced your surroundings, the stage environment is going to seem more natural.  What you are doing is preparing your brain for the real thing.  Once it has seen a situation it’s at ease and less of an opportunity to feel nervous.

2. If you're going to be yourself, be your best. 

There's really no point in being yourself if you're naturally shy and retiring. Getting up on stage without professional help mat do you more harm than good.  Find a professional speech writer, and speaking coach to help you and deliver of your best.  The other benefit is they will help you overcome your natural fears, the ones we all have when we start out.  Some of the most famous speakers started out being frightened of speaking in public.

As Red Adair said “If you thing hiring a professional is expensive, wait till you try an amateur!”

3. You can be someone else. 

OK, that’s not feasible is it?  But you can funnel the spirit and passion of someone you admire into your presentation.   Think about projecting their personality when you speak. This actually takes your speech out of the realm of "presentation" and into the arena of a "performance."  You may know it by another name, acting!   No doubt you may have heard that audiences find a good performance highly entertaining and an enriching experience.

Once you know who you are and are comfortable with the stage, you may do this naturally. You might do even better to act appropriately for the audience and the situation.

Anyway, what exactly does it mean to "be yourself?"

Catch up with you again soon!

Paul Johnstone is the founder of

The Paradigm Shakers

Providers of Thought Provoking Training

Delivered by Subject Matter Experts

http://www.paradigmshakers.co.uk/

Public Speaking, what a great sales tool! Paul M Johnstone

Humour and tales with a humorous punch line can help you get the sales presentation. They are great for helping you stay upbeat and on the ball.   

Here is a story of a friend of mine and how humour helped him.

One of the ways professional speakers get business is if you have to deliver free demonstrations, always make sure you get a tangible return.  My colleague was presenting for an advertising company in London. After the presentation, a lady came approached him and asked him to call her. She then went on to tell him, his information would be perfect for the employees at her place.

So he called three times that week, guess what no return call. Called three times the next week and did not get a return call. And on to the third week, no return calls.   Finally, he decided to sent a humorous fax.

Guess What?  She called back within the hour.  And as a result he got a large contract for a years work  When asked why she replied to he fax, her reply, She said the fax really made her laugh in the midst of all the pressure she was under and that's why she called.

Oh and it was a government department! 

You might be wondering how he could call someone 12 times in a month and not be considered a pest. Well she asked him to call. To me that means I'm going to call her the rest of her life until she tells me to stop.

Secondly, he knew she was a fun and lively sort of person, because he saw her enjoying the presentation where they first met.

So use humour words and phrase like I know your in box resembles Everest or I'll bet people are camping outside your office just to get to see you.

If you can use humour as an aid to your selling, try lots of things like these. 

You could sing on a prospect's voicemail (not if you’re tone deaf), send humorous post cards.    E-mail that makes people smile, make your mailers unforgettable. Why not send a packet of grass seed to help them grow their business, biscuits for their much needed coffee break.  Chewing gum for those sticky situations, in fact anything that will make you stand out. To stand out you need to be different from the crowd. Prospects are much more likely to remember you when they want something you do.  

Make your reminders witty, humorous, and different, as this  will help you get the call when they have a need.  For more tips like this please vist either www.pmjohnstone.co.uk 
Or the Paradigm Shakers who's link is at the end of this page

Catch up with you again soon!

Paul Johnstone is the founder of

The Paradigm Shakers

Providers of Thought Provoking Training

Delivered by Subject Matter Experts

http://www.paradigmshakers.co.uk/

Do you know your Reds from your Blues? Paul M Johnstone

COOL COLOR COMMENTARY

Flip Chart Colour

=> Black, blue and green inks have the greatest visibility. 

=> Blue is the most pleasing color to look at with red coming in second (note: pleasing to look at and visibility are not the same) 

=> Do not do the whole chart in red ink. 

=> Avoid purple, brown, pink and yellow inks. 

=> Permanent markers give the most vivid color but dry out faster if you leave the cap off. They also frequently bleed thru to the next page. Forget trying to get the ink out of your clothes. 

=> Water colors are less vivid and squeak when you write. Ink will wash out of clothing. 

Use Color Thoughtfully 

=> Use bright colors for small graphics to make them stand out. 

=> Use subtle colors for large graphics so they don't overwhelm. 

Use Color Psychologically 

According to Greg Bandy in Multimedia Presentation Design for the Uninitiated certain colors evoke certain emotions. 

=> RED = Brutal, Dangerous, Hot, Stop! 

=> DARK BLUE = Stable, Trustworthy, Calm 

=> LIGHT BLUE = Cool, Refreshing 

=> GRAY = Integrity, Neutral, Mature 

=> PURPLE = Regal, Mysterious 

=> GREEN = Organic, Healthy, New life, Go Money 

=> ORANGE / YELLOW = Sunny, Bright, Warm 

=> WHITE (if I make the example white you couldn't see it) = Pure, Hopeful, Clean 

=> BLACK = Serious, Heavy, Profitable, Death Since "death" is a pretty heavy way to end this section, I will give you a reference to find out more about outstanding visual design.

Catch up with you again soon!

Paul Johnstone is the founder of

The Paradigm Shakers

Providers of Thought Provoking Training

Delivered by Subject Matter Experts

http://www.paradigmshakers.co.uk/

How to Deal With a Hostile Audience - Paul m Johnstone

Here are some tips for dealing with the occasional detractor you may encounter. Your main objective is to remain calm so you are in control of the situation. What’s more the rest of your audience will then be on your side.

---

1. Listen carefully to the question & repeat it aloud - Make sure you understood the question correctly & that your audience knows the question to which you are responding.  Sometmes it helps to restste the question so you are clear what you are answering

2. Answer directly. Look directly at the person asking the question- Give simple answers to simple questions. If the question demands a lengthy reply, agree to discuss it later with anyone interested, but summarise there and then.

3. Refer to your Speech- Whenever possible, tie your answer to a point in your speech. A good tip is to view these questions as a way to reinforce & clarify your presentation.

4. Anticipate areas of questioning- Prepare factual support material in three or four areas in which you anticipate questions.

5. Be friendly, always keep your temper- A cool presentation creates an aura of confidence. When the questioner is hostile respond as if they were a friend. Any attempt to "put down" your questioner with sarcasm will immediately draw the audience's sympathy to the questioner.  It can also stir up the questioner for more difficult questions.

6. Always tell the truth - If you try to bend the truth, or tell a little white lie, you almost always will be caught. Play it straight, even if your position is momentarily weakened.

7. Treat two questions from the same person as two separate questions. Best tip hear is don't try to double gess your questioner, answer each question deliberatly and calmly.

8. Don't place your hands on your hips or point at the audience - These are scolding poses and give you the appearance of preaching.

9. Keep things moving - There is a rhythm to a good question-and-answer exchange. They volley back & forth in a brisk manner. Keep your answers brief and to the point with many members of the audience participating.

10. Conclude smartly - Be prepared with some appropriate closing remarks. End with a summary statement that wraps up the essential message you want them to remember.

Catch up with you again soon!

Paul Johnstone is the founder of

The Paradigm Shakers

Providers of Thought Provoking Training

Delivered by Subject Matter Experts

http://www.paradigmshakers.co.uk/

© Paul M Johnstone