TJ’s Insights

Many of my presentation clients come to me from around the world. Here is a common complaint I hear from them:

“TJ, English is not my first language. People have a hard time understanding me when I speak. How can I improve?”

I have them give a sample speech and we videotape it. Sure enough, they are hard to understand. In addition to having a foreign accent, they are speaking softly and in a monotone fashion. They also happen to be incredibly boring because they are doing a data dump and are going through bullet points on a PowerPoint (nothing specific to foreigners here—all my US based clients are guilty of the same crimes).

On May 27th, 2006, The New York Times ripped in to Home Depot CEO Robert L. Nardelli with all of the gusto of the New York Post drooling over a Kennedy Klan driving accident. Nardelli has come under fire for getting paid a quarter of a billion dollars over the last few years while his company’s stock price has gone way down while at the same time his largest competitor’s stock price has soared.

What do you do if your boss gives you a thoroughly lousy PowerPoint presentation to deliver and it has 50 bullet points on each slide, complicated graphs, and long sentences everywhere?

Don’t panic! In this case, your PowerPoint slides are not going to help your presentation. But they don’t have to hurt you or destroy the presentation either. Here is what I recommend you do in this tough situation:

1.    Ask your boss what the desired result is from the speech.

2.    Ask your boss what the 5 most important message points he/she wants the audience to remember.

Watch the video clip here.

Former Senator Lloyd Bentsen (D) Texas, who died on May, 23, 2006, had a distinguished career in Congress and as the Secretary of the Treasury during the first two years of the Clinton Administration. But political junkies will always remember him best for his ultimate political putdown soundbite in the Vice Presidential debate in 1988 against Dan Quayle.

Here is the exchange:

Quayle, “I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency.

Bentsen, “Senator…” with a sad tone in his voice.

TVWorldwide.com, a fast-growing web-based global TV network, announced today that it had been selected by Media Training Worldwide, Inc. to develop and launch “The Speaking Channel,” www.speakingchannel.tv, an Internet TV Channel featuring live and on-demand content for people who want to learn from great speakers and improve on their own speaking skills, whether they are speaking to large or small audiences, the news media or in civic or social arenas. The Speaking Channel has been in confidential conceptual development and testing throughout the spring of 2006.

Normally, I stress to my clients the need to be positive in media interviews and in speeches. In part, I find that most people respond to positive messages in a more powerful manner. And in part, because negative messages stick so much harder, there is the danger that they overwhelm all your other messages.

But there are exceptions. Simon Cowell and Howard Stern come to mind. Cowell rips apart contestants on his American Idol TV show in a vicious manner. But deep down, you know he is sincere. He is being brutally honest, while other judges may sugarcoat.

TVWorldwide.com, a fast-growing web-based global TV network, announced today that it had been selected by Media Training Worldwide, Inc. to develop and launch “The Speaking Channel,” www.speakingchannel.tv, an Internet TV Channel featuring live and on-demand content for people who want to learn from great speakers and improve on their own speaking skills, whether they are speaking to large or small audiences, the news media or in civic or social arenas. The Speaking Channel has been in confidential conceptual development and testing throughout the spring of 2006.

Guy Goma was literally an average guy going in for an interview for a computer job at the BBC in May 2006. He was sitting down for what he thought was going to be a run-of-the-mill job interview when all of a sudden a bright light turned on his face and he heard himself being introduced as another Guy, Guy Kewney, an expert on trademark law brought in to discuss the dispute between Apple Computer and the Apple Corps record company.

If you are going to conduct proper due diligence before being interviewed by the news media, you need to test your messages several ways. Typically, executives write out their messages and then narrow them down to the top three based on a variety of criteria such as relevance, importance, legalities, and interest.

Mendenhall, PA. May 2006 – ULiveandLearn, a leading eLearning solutions provider of critical business skills training for individuals and organizations, has developed a W eb-based program on Professional Presentation Training, with author and trainer T.J. Walker, founder of Media Training Worldwide.

http://www.presentationtrainingschool.com/

“Budget constraints and hectic schedules for executives looking to improve their presentation skills are like 8-track tapes – a thing of the past” says TJ Walker.