13.5 The Dynamics of Public Presentations

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13.5 The Dynamics of Public Presentations

So a lot of work has gone into fashioning a beautiful set of overheads, a meeting has been scheduled, continental breakfast has been served, and you run through the presentation. I have been on the "giving" side of this dozens of times, and have been the receiver hundreds more. Experience teaches us several key points, as listed in Exhibit 4, that are worth examining before you make your next presentation.

Exhibit 4: Public Presentation Do's and Don'ts

start example

  • Be as casual as possible.

  • Look everyone in the eye at least once during your pitch.

  • Be yourself.

  • This is not a bully pulpit, but the opening of a dialog with valued project partners.

  • Guard against appearing like a "know it all" (i.e., arrogant).

  • Do not "blow off" questions. Try to table as many as possible for future follow-ups.

  • Avoid detailed technical conversations. These tend to generate noise and frustration instead of meaningful results. It is also a perfectly fertile ground for your potential enemies to sow the seeds of misperception.

  • Keep this meeting to an hour or less (i.e., brief). It is likely that you cannot personally answer all the questions. You do not want your team shouting out too many answers from the back of the room. That introduces chaos into the meeting and tends to open up those dreaded technical discussions.

  • Do not assume anything about anyone in the audience you do not know. You may find yourself zeroing in on a smiling face when, in fact, that person is not worthy of the attention, possibly to the degree that you look politically inept.

  • Do not be surprised at any hostile questioning, even from those you thought were friendly or sympathetic to your cause. Some people have a meeting persona that is far different from their casual behavior.

  • Do not get defensive or argumentative.

  • Thank each questioner, even if he or she is hostile or negative, and defer further discussion to "a more appropriate forum."

  • Be especially wary if a very senior person is in the audience. That tends to silence the more thoughtful in the crowd, while those desperate to catch the executive's attention prattle on without adding much value.

  • Treat the audience with grace.

  • Use self-deprecating humor to diffuse tension.

  • It is better to leave things hanging by tabling them for future examination than to belabor issues to the point that unfortunate or misleading comments slip out. I have seen this very thing turn relatively benign issues into controversies that can take months to resolve. Someone on your staff, for instance, may talk so much that he or she ends up increasing anxiety, when the intent was to be reassuring.

end example

Regarding the last bullet in Exhibit 4, there is an old saying in the sales profession: "He who speaks first loses." Think about it.



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Complex IT project management(c) 16 steps to success
Complex IT Project Management: 16 Steps to Success
ISBN: 0849319323
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 231
Authors: Peter Schulte

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