Four simple 'body-hacks' to deliver a great presentation

The great investor Warren Buffet once described public speaking as 'an asset that will last you 50 years if you master it.'

The content of our presentations is critical as words really do matter. Yet the saying goes 'it's not what you say, but how you say it.' And how we say it, goes beyond just the words by themselves. Our body language plays a significant part in 'how' we communicate.

The famous study of course was conducted back in 1967 in California during the 'Summer of Love' by Dr Mehrabian known as the 7-38-55 rule. The argument being that only 7% of communication is done through verbal communication. The more impactful is 38% from our tone of voice, most persuasive is our body language at a whopping 55%. Now one can argue on the specific numbers (Mehrabian was referring to expressions of feelings and emotions not all situations) yet beyond dispute is the importance of body language in delivering a killer speech.

So below I provide four 'body-hacks' to deliver a great presentation.

Hand Gestures

What do I do with my hands is the question that is asked perhaps the most. So what are we to do with them? (Please don't do the love of personal development gurus and constantly ask me to raise them in mock agreement, hands up who...has a tired arm!)

Our hands are there to reinforce our message, to provide physical punctation to our words. But just how significant are they to the impact of our presentations? Well according to behavioral investigator Vanessa Van Edwards (who claims to have studied thousands of hours of TED Talks) the most popular speakers show their hands more. At a primeval level we look to the hands first to see if the speaker has a weapon...a legacy of evolution. Van Edwards claims the more popular TED speakers who went viral 'showed their hands' more, twice as much in fact as the less impactful speakers, 472 times versus a mere 220 times in 18 minutes.

When we have open body language we send a message of trust and at a deeply unconscious level our audience registers it. In contrast when we are 'closed' we send out those micro-expressions that conflict with the message we wish to project. So remember to use your hands to express and reinforce your message, just don't over do it, your not landing aircraft.

Posture

We can project power by taking up the space and standing with a wide open stance. You will look more confident and assured to your audience. But its not just the listeners who benefit, it actually helps the confidence of the speaker.

Harvard Business School Professor, Amy Cuddy's research demonstrated that our body language not only impacts how others see us, but how we see ourselves. Our posture triggers a reaction from our hormones, with 'Power Poses' seeing a spike in our testosterone and a lowering of the stress hormone cortisol. The result? We feel more confident and others can see it and experience it. We build trust with the audience as the speaker becomes more persuasive through sending one clear message with their words, voice and body.

Eye Contact

The eye is the window of the soul as we all know. When presenting, our eyes help us to build rapport with the audience and provides valuable feedback on the vibe in the room.

The real trick though is to try and make it a conversation between two people. So hold for two seconds on one member of the audience to make the speech more personal and impactful. Before breaking and then moving on to another audience member as we start a new point.

By increasing eye contact it also helps with the pace of our speeches by slowing us down. As we concentrate on the room we tend to lower the pace as we focus out on the audience. It also helps with nerves as we project out to the listeners and focus on giving them our pearls of wisdom. This can stop the internal dialogue of worrying on how you are doing, how am I coming over...

Facial Expressions

The late Steve Covey said that 'common sense isn't always common practice.' Often the most profound ways we can improve are simple truths we skip over for something more exotic.

This can apply to our health, our happiness and of course our presentation.

If your awkward, tight and closed as a speaker, you can guess the atmosphere in the room. So as speakers we have to remember that the audience will reflect the emotion of the presenter. The simple answer then is to slow down, breath and smile:)

Smiling helps in two ways it will make our voice sound warmer by softening our tone of voice and by smiling our pace will slow; try talking fast whilst smiling - - -told you.

Yet the biggest impact will be on the audience as we will build more rapport as the audience emotions will reflect those of the speaker.

So there you have four simple ways to improve your ability to deliver a great presentation.

To learn more about how you can improve your performance as a presenter please contact Pando Training.

Pando Training delivers professional skills workshops that propel performance. By applying practical science to increase learning and develop individual capability. Our highly interactive training courses build knowledge, develop skills and increase confidence.