Verbalization: The Magic Ingredient

Verbalization means turning your outline into a full-fledged presentation by practicing it beforehand. Speak the actual words you will use in your presentation aloud , accompanied by your slides. Do it just the way you will do it when you are in front of your intended audience. A truly effective presentation is practically impossible without this magic ingredient

Yet many of my business clients are reluctant to verbalize during our sessions together. Some claim that the presentation isn't "baked" yet, unaware that Verbalization will move the baking process along. Others feel self-conscious or uncomfortable about "performing" in front of others. Still others view Verbalization as too elementary. Whatever the reason, they try to short-circuit the process, often assuring me, "Oh, don't worry. I'll rehearse my presentation before I have to deliver it, and it'll be just fine."

Unfortunately, I've seen how most businesspeople rehearse their presentations. As the slides flip by on the screen, the presenter glances at each one and says something like, "Okay, with this slide I'm going to say something about our sales revenues and then with this slide I'll say something about our path to profitability and then with this next slide I'll show a picture of our lab and talk a little about R&D."

Sound familiar? As a form of rehearsal, it is completely unproductive. Talking about your presentation is not an effective method of practicing your presentation; any more than talking about tennis would be a good method of improving your backhand. I call this approach disembodiment because it distances you from your presentation.

A close cousin of disembodiment, and an even more common practice, is mumbling. We've all seen it done. The presenter either clicks through the slides on the computer or flips through the pages of a hard copy of the slides while muttering unintelligible words.

Neither of these methods is Verbalization.

The only way to prepare a Power Presentation is to speak it aloud, just as you will on the day of your actual presentation. By talking your way through your entire presentation in advance, by articulating your key points and making the logical connections, by doing a real-time Verbalization, you'll crystallize the ideas in your mind.

The only way to prepare a Power Presentation is to speak it aloud, just as you will on the day of your actual presentation.

Here's a personal perspective: I present nearly every business day of my life, so I don't have to verbalize material that I've delivered in one form or another thousands of times before. When I have to present new material, however, I verbalize it extensively in advance. An example is the pyramid presentation I referred to in Chapter 4 (Figure 4.1). You'll recall that I often give this presentation at conferences where I describe the essential components of any presentation by starting with the story as the foundation at the base of the pyramid.

Even though I've given variations of this presentation countless times, I still verbalize each new iteration a couple of dozen times in advance. When I have to deliver completely new material, I double that number of repetitions.

Another perspective is my experience with the CEO of a startup technology company. The man, who began his professional career as a scientist, had developed his esoteric technology in his garage and then bootstrapped his company without ever having to make presentations. But when his technology took off and his company was about to go public, he knew that he would have to stand and deliver the IPO road show. He retained my services and we went through all the steps you've learned in this book, except for the Verbalization.

On the morning of the day he was to deliver his road show to the investment banking team that would be selling his offering, he panicked. I printed out his slides on paper, spread them out on a conference room table, and asked him to talk through them. But he stammered as he did, and his panic intensified. I asked him to start again. As he worked his way through the slides the second time, he stammered less and less. I asked him to do it again and again.

By the fifth run-through, his stammering had disappeared; by the sixth , he was beginning to develop continuity; by lunchtime, when the bankers arrived, he was able to deliver a positively fluid presentation. The solid foundation of the well-developed story and graphics combined with Verbalization gave the apprehensive presenter the comfort level he needed.

When you verbalize, speak from your Storyboard Form (Figure 9.1). See and use this panoramic view to navigate through your presentation. Before long, you'll find that your Less Is More slides will be your guide. Each bullet, written on a single line , will serve as headline, and trigger the body text from you. Remember how the Roman orator used the columns in the Forum as his prompts. The same will happen when you use your slides as your Roman columns .

The solid foundation of the well-developed story and graphics combined with Verbalization gave the apprehensive presenter the comfort level he needed.

Each time you verbalize your presentation, and each time you deliver it before a live audience, you should expect the words of your narrative to vary slightly. The logic of your well-honed outline, and your improved comfort level, will guarantee that every time you deliver your presentation, you'll express your key ideas clearly and persuasively. That's the magic of Verbalization.