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TEACHING EXECS HOW TO PRESENT
 We are a small company, and several members of our executive team — CEO included — insist on speaking at our annual customer conference. The problem is, many of these executives are horrible speakers. Some practice “Death by PowerPoint.” Others are blowhards. And still
others just don’t seem to understand how to connect with, let alone inspire, an audience.
We’re at a loss regarding what to do. How can we tactfully break the news to these higher-ups, and what steps should we take to alert them to this problem — without risking our jobs — and improve their speaking skills? We’ve considered everything from directly confronting them with the low scores on their speaker evaluations to finding subtle ways to prevent them from speaking on their own by involving them, instead, in panel discussions and co-presentations with stronger speakers.
Help! What can we do to improve their presentation quality?
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work the network
The best solution involves creativity and a rolodex of great contacts. Your panel-discussion thought is absolutely on the right track. Try introducing interactive “Ask the Expert” panel sessions, and find a high-profile moderator to facilitate them. You’ll not only solve your speaker problem, you’ll also receive credit for a great idea and manage to incorporate your executive team on all levels.
But don’t be underhanded; instead, involve executives in your preparations by asking them if they have a contact who would be a good moderator or panelist, or by asking the executive to choose the panel-discussion topic. Pre-event, you might also ask execs to put their heads together and select one person from the executive team to sit on the panel as a voice for the whole team.
Another idea: Create a video that incorporates interviews with senior managers, and have the CEO introduce the video to attendees at the beginning of the conference. The video should tell a story, and people from all levels in the organization should contribute to it. In the film, give your CEO a chance to talk briefly about the company and his or her ideas and plans for future growth. Then the CEO should step aside and let the rest of the team add to this message.
This solution not only addresses your speaker problem, it also creates a sense of authenticity and increases the likelihood that your customers will remember the message they hear in the video long after the conference is over.
Above all, refrain from focusing on the negative. Instead, identify one positive trait that each member of your executive team possesses and find a way to incorporate that strength into your conference. You’ll eventually find a role for everyone; it just might take some time and a bit of creativity to figure out. Odds are, though, that your efforts will result in not only some great ideas and a great conference, but some powerful team-building for your organization as well.
Leonora Valvo, CEO,
The Global Executive,
Ridgefield, CT
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Train ‘em All: A CEO’s Perspective
I’m not a natural public speaker, but I have steadily gotten better at it over the years thanks to a lot of practice and a willingness to work hard to improve. I am always willing to give my presentation in front of people who can assist me and provide guidance.
Training is a big part of our culture at FastSigns International Inc. Each year, our training department holds a presentation-skills training session in preparation for our annual franchisee convention. As part of that training, presenters are required to submit notes detailing what they want to include in their PowerPoint presentations, and then a person on the training staff schedules training with all presenters so that they have an opportunity to rehearse, receive constructive feedback, and work toward becoming a stronger and more confident speaker.
If this process isn’t easily replicated in your own organization, or training is not part of your corporate culture, my advice is this: Let these “challenged” speakers watch their own performances on video so that they can see for themselves how invigorating they are. If that doesn’t make the point, hire a third-party presentation expert to provide training and assistance.
One way to sell the idea of hiring an outside consultant is to inform execs that based on across-the-board attendee evaluations, all speakers within the company could stand to make some improvements. Then have the third-party expert come in and evaluate and critique every speaker’s presentation, not just the CEO’s. If your execs aren’t willing to spend the money on an outside trainer, establish an internal review committee tasked with evaluating video of all speaker presentations and providing constructive feedback.
If your execs are so out to lunch that they aren’t willing to accept assistance or constructive criticism, than they have bigger problems than just presenting. If that is your situation, I’d either find another company to work for or simply accept the fact that you and your attendees may continue to suffer “Death by PowerPoint.”
Gary Solomon , CEO, Chairman
and co-founder, FastSigns International Inc.,
Carrollton, TX
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Do Your Legwork: Eight Tips
One of the touchiest subjects to approach executives with is an assessment of their ability to deliver a speech. Some are naturals; most are natural disasters. Here are eight tips that help deal with this delicate challenge:
1. Find a trusted speech writer. You might find someone within your own company or at an agency partner. Wherever you find your writer, be sure he or she is someone whom your executives can trust and with whom they can build a relationship. After all, this will be the person who gives your executives their voice.
2. Use a teleprompter. One of the most effective ways for any speaker to make immediate improvements is to incorporate a “presidential paddle” teleprompter system. Teleprompters are actually easy to learn to use, and I have seen a marked improvement in every speaker I have worked with who has properly rehearsed with and become comfortable with one.
3. Plan for practice. Don’t let your executives write their speeches the night before, and don’t let them see their graphics for the first time the morning of the presentation. The golden rule: Don’t make the on-site presentation the first time your executives give their presentation.
4. Don’t build the show with PowerPoint. The executive is the presentation, not the slides. Begin scripting every presentation by helping executives to build objectives and main ideas, then list key supporting points. Build the slides last.
5. Use a designer. If you — instead of a designer — are putting slides together for your executives, stop. Designers know how to best balance text, images, and white space to make a compelling visual presentation. If your executives are poor speakers, perhaps poorly designed slides have something to do with it.
6. Minimize changes. Don’t miss deadlines for creating the show or rehearsing it, and don’t get in the habit of letting executives make last-minute changes (unless legally necessary).
7. Use speaker evaluations. If it can’t be measured, it can’t be improved. But take care to keep your evaluations in the spirit of continual improvement. (Download a free keynote evaluation at www.allbeegreen.com)
8. Build an environment of openness and honesty. If you’re walking on eggshells with your executives, perhaps it’s your company sociology that’s the problem, not your training and improvement processes. There are great communications consultants out there who specialize in the delicate issues of building a positive creative culture, coaching executive speakers, and creating powerful presentations.
David L. Green , Partner and co-founder,
Allbee Green Events & Marketing,
Carrollton, TX
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