Here is a very useful technique from a high school guidance counselor.

When my daughters were attending high school and planning to go on to college, both parents and kids were invited to attend a nighttime “lecture” telling us all about what lay ahead in the college application process.

It was led by Guidance Counselor Neil Clark and he did one thing in his presentation that was simply brilliant. I think we should all adopt this in its exact form or at least in its spirit.

He would welcome everyone, make a silly joke of some kind and then say something like this: “It is now 7:10 we will end exactly at 8:30. We have a lot of material to cover so let’s get going.”

He would then launch into his content, hand out handouts, ask and field questions and at exactly 8:30 he would end.

Additionally, he would remind us throughout of his pledge: “It’s now 7:45. We are on track. I am going to keep my promise. At 8:30 sharp – we are done.”

I have heard it often said that the two most egregious sins a speaker can make is to 1) be boring and 2) run long. We can discuss the first in many future emails, but the run long thing is critical. No audience member ever complained if you end before your time.

You may have the most spectacular content but if you run long you are jeopardizing the entire experience for your listeners. They may start throwing things. A gentle reminder: this is where the phrase “get the hook” originated.

It is a matter of respect for your audience. Neil diffused the fear of a dragged-on presentation in everyone’s minds right off the bat.

And then he kept that promise.

A very powerful technique.

Here’s a good deal: Download “3 Mistakes that Are Ruining Your Presentations” https://ready2speak.com

Tom

P.S. If you must run long — ask permission. Maybe 10 minutes before the scheduled end of your presentation ask the audience if it is ok to go a bit over. They will almost always say yes. But don’t push it – just go for a little while more.

It’s a matter of respect.

My brother, who is a classically trained actor, watches my videos and lovingly teases me: “Stop it with the flying arms already.”

He has a point. But the bigger question is this: what are appropriate gestures for a presentation today? And what are appropriate gestures for you as a speaker? And how do you go from a gestureless talking head to a full-gestured, arm-flying crazy person.

Let’s see what we can figure out.

Item 1. Back in my youth most of the speakers we ever saw where men in suits like Walter Cronkite. If they gestured on camera it was very little and controlled.

I think it is safe to say that today things are different. We want speakers who are engaged, active, lively and, most important, show passion about their topic. I think that reasonably requires some vocal dynamics and body and hand movement.

I know there will be people who disagree, but you are wrong. Actually, you do have a case to make, but how else will you display your energy and commitment? By shear eloquence? I am not that good, and I think audiences today want some additional avenue of connection.

Item 2. What are appropriate gestures for you, your subject matter and your audiences?

This is much more fluid. I can only tell you what I have found works for me. For years, since TED was a boy, I watched countless presentations online and in person. I studied their structure, their tone, their presenters and all the nuanced components. And I guess I just picked up ideas for body movement and gestures through osmosis.

And I experimented.

I remember I had committed to a very critical business presentation before a small influential audience. I rehearsed endlessly and as part of that I intentionally added specific gestures to parts of my story. Those movements became embedded and then spread to my general presentations.

Item 3. So, my take-away here is this: If you want more natural and frequent gestures then practice. Real practice. Imagine an audience. Stand. Practice movements and gestures. Video. Watch, edit and repeat. Start small with just a section of your presentation, perhaps your opening or a story. Push your comfort zone just a little. (go ahead — it is very liberating!)

I am sure these movements will feel uncomfortable at first, but they will evolve. Then you will see yourself using them in everyday conversations.

And when you will get a mocking email from your brother, you know you have arrived.

Gesture coaching? We don’t need no stinking gesture coaching. But you might…

With great power comes not so great stomach-churning slide presentations. PowerPoint gives us toys and we beat each other up with them — they feed into our most primal weaknesses.

Let me explain by way of example: Many years ago, my wife and I were visiting the Chattanooga Aquarium with our two young children. I highly recommend Chattanooga and it’s aquarium by the way. What I don’t recommend is sending your 5 year-old daughter into the gift store with the innocent sounding instructions to “pick something”.

After an excruciating amount of time with much frantic discussions (actually arguments and yelling) we finally decided on one of the thousands of stuffed toys.

It was a horror show.

This is remarkably similar to what happens when you give a normal, responsible adult the power to apply any of the millions of transitions and animations in PowerPoint. It is beyond their ability to control. After all we are but simple creatures.

My advice: Do not “zoom”. Do not “push”, “split”, “reveal” or “random bars”. Or any of the others.

Unless you are a Pixar animator put down the mouse and accept the fact that you can’t handle this type of insane power.

Two quick suggestions.

1. Try adding a simple “fade” transition between slides. Shorten it up to about .25 seconds. It’s nice.
2. If you must use a particular transition or animation, do it only if it adds to the meaning of your content.

Don’t overdo it. Be aware that what you think is cool is very quickly perceived by your audience as childish, amateurish or down-right nasty.

Remember, PowerPoint was created by evil sorcerers. Be very, very careful.

There is an incredibly valuable resource available for almost nothing to anyone who wants to take the leap and become more able and confident at public speaking.

I am speaking of course about Toastmasters – that ancient organization originated in the last century by men who wanted to drink and talk (or so legend says).

Today Toastmasters is so much more. There is very little drinking (although I did sample some single malt Scotch and a glass of excellent homemade brew at past meetings) and it has become a very popular world-wide organization.

There are many reasons people join Toastmasters. I joined to become better at pitching my graphic design services to potential clients. And thus, began a long journey to become a speaker and then a speaker coach. So I also owe much to my Toastmaster’s start and to the people who have graciously helped me along the way.

To be sure, there are a number of Toastmasters practices and inadequacies I take issue with and I might just rant about one or two of them if I wake up in a uber cranky mood some day.

But for now, let’s talk about what I see as its most obvious benefit. The greatest value I see to average ordinary folk incoming to the Toastmasters groups I have belonged to is very simple.

They get to practice (and therefore get better) in front of a very gentle and supporting group of people.

This builds better speaking skills and, most important, confidence.

And we all know confidence is the key to the golden door of happiness and success in life.

So my advice to anyone starting out, whether you are an extrovert or introvert, look for a good Toastmasters club (unfortunately there are many that are not up to snuff) and jump in.

They are generally a safe place to get better. And we all need a safe place to get better.

I needed to fix the door latch on my daughter’s very old Toyota Sienna. So of course, I quickly ran to the wisest person I know to ask for advice – Captain YouTube. I shuffled through a few videos and found what I wanted. Then of course I went to Amazon and ordered the necessary part.

Then there was a problem. It was for the wrong door. (I know, I never claimed to be mechanically inclined – just cheap). The part I reordered in the green that looked like it would match my daughter’s car did not.

Anyhow, it worked – it opened the door and added a nice two-toned effect to that side of the car.

The point is sometimes we are, as Ben Franklin could have said, “penny wise and pound foolish.”

Sometimes, it is good to learn things on our own. But if we are to become really good at something — let me put in a shameless plug – we need help.

Maybe a coach. Not for your home minivan repairs.

But maybe for your next speech.