Suze’s advice on presentations

A friend of mine, Suze StMaur, has just blogged about the ways in which women can be (should be?) better presenters than men. See here: http://howtowritebetter.net/how-women-can-be-better-than-men-at-public-speaking/

Nancy Duarte - brilliant woman, brilliantly presenting!

Have a look at what Suze’s suggested – see what you think!

Now, setting aside the idea that the tips she provides apply to women only (are you listening Suze?!!? ;) ) the idea of recording yourself chatting and then writing in that style is a really good one. It’s easier said than done, of course, because as soon as most people pick up a pen (or sit at a keyboard), they stop thinking in Saxon and move into Latin. But if you can manage it, great!

To build on Suze’s tip, one technique we use in our training here which clients find very helpful is to talk to a person, not a microphone. Let them do the technical stuff (preferably so competently that you don’t notice it!) and do it over a cup of tea (or coffee if you must!). I have someone I use to do this for me because Clare’s an absolute genius at getting people to ‘just talk’ and is so competent with the technology that people don’t even notice the mic!

Also, when you listen back… it’s often helpful to ignore the first few minutes of the recording, too, as this means you’ve got to the point of being less microphone-shy. (Usually!)

For me, as a male and a presenter, I feel there’s an Aunt Sally fairly early on…….!

Men often can cover up poor material and a bad script by waving their arms and making a lot of noise in front of an audience”

Errrrr… no. If a man tries to cover up a bad script by waving their arms and making a lot of noise they look like a prat trying to cover up a bad script. And a bully.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s harder for men – just that presenting isn’t a special problem for women, necessarily.

Personally I think Suze’s got it a little bit wrong at the end, too – there’s nothing in her post to suggest that women can be better than men other than an assertion at the end. Frankly, I disagree with her – the tools used by men can be used by women and visa versa. There’s no God-given right to be a better presenter (or a weaker one) because of your gender.

What might be important however, is audience expectation. If the audience expects you to be great I suspect they’re more likely to find you great. If they expect you to be boring, they’ll find you that way. So perhaps women have it harder, if it’s true that men (people in general?) expect them to be weaker presenters….?

What’s certainly true is that women’s voices can carry better than mens’ as the bass registers in most men’s registers dissipate over distance more quickly than the slightly higher pitch of the typical woman’s. This gives women (sweeping generalisation alert!) an advantage in that regard – with the reciprocal problem that if they go over the top, women can sound a bit shrill. (Of course, any half-way decent PA system is going to be able to mitigate that for you, partially at least!)

The real solution, of course, for both genders, is to learn to breathe and project properly. And that’s just as easy for a woman as for a man. Proper, diaphragm breathing, the correct posture and making sure your neck/shoulder muscles aren’t tensed are the best way to counter the image that you might be going over the top, for men and women both!

A very simple trick, if you do find your voice is going shrill is to differentiate between your ‘stressvoice’ and your ‘chilledvoice’. (I think I’ve just done something illegal to the English language! ;) ). In English, we say ah-ha, going up when we agree with someone or are encouraging them to carry on speaking. We also say uh-uh, going down, when we disagree. In both cases the higher of those two pitches will be your stressvoice – the pitch at which you speak when you’re anxious. The lower of the two, your chilledvoice, is how you speak when you’re cool, calm and relaxed.

Before you go live in front of an audience, say those two phrases to yourself (in your head if you must!) and make sure you pitch at the right level. That way, male or female, you’ll sound more like you’re in control, more credible and less anxious/shrill.