By Kevin Daley
As a technical professional, you know that acquiring new skills and learning new technologies will always be essential to your career. A set of skills guaranteed to brighten your career prospects and increase your satisfaction in any job or contract you undertake are the skills of presentation. Being able to get up in front of a group and make a cogent and compelling case will set you apart from your peers and get you noticed.
Too many technical specialists dismiss the importance of oral communications skills. Some take the narrow view that it's not their department. Others believe there's no skill set involved - you just talk.
The truth is, that even in today's plentiful job market, employers are looking for scientists, engineers, and IT people who can talk the walk. They need technical people who are capable of interacting with customers, communicating effectively with senior management, and being part of team selling efforts. In a fiercely competitive climate, customers insist on a more thorough understanding of prospective suppliers than the sales force can provide.
But companies often find that trotting out their technical expertise for the customer backfires. The technical expert talks about things the customer doesn't care about, fails to address issues the customer cares passionately about, often seems to speak an alien and impenetrable language, and inadvertently weakens or loses the seller's case.
Inability to make meaningful contributions in meetings and presentations stalls the professional advancement of many intelligent and valuable technical experts. When you can articulate your ideas in a clear and compelling way, you find that your input counts more, gaining you support for what you want to do and recognition for what you have done. When you can match your message to the knowledge level and interests of managers and customers, you are seen as a person who contributes to the overall business strategy, and the bottom line, of your organization.
If you have not yet been asked to participate in a team sales presentation or to make an oral report to the management group, you can begin honing your presentation skills now.
Look your listener in the eye. Most inexperienced speakers lose the attention of their audience by looking up at the ceiling to collect their thoughts, looking at the floor, or darting their eyes around the room. Whether you are addressing a small or large group, lock your gaze on one person, and keep it there for about five seconds - long enough to complete a thought. Then look at another person, take a breath, and continue with your next thought. If you are talking to only one person, you'll want to break eye contact once in a while to avoid staring. But looking at one person per thought, and pausing slightly between each thought, is the most important technique of presenting.
You can convey emotion by what you say, as well as by how you say it. Especially when much of what you must present is factual or statistical, it's good to begin with a personal anecdote or a dramatic story or a provocative question. Your listeners will be engaged immediately, and receptive to hearing the meat of your argument. Analogy is also particularly valuable. Your audience will understand technical concepts if you can describe them as "the tip of the iceberg" or the "the last straw" or "where the rubber meets the road."
Everything you say will have more impact and make more sense if you vary the volume of your voice. Let the meaning of your words dictate when to increase the volume, and when to drop down to a softer level. Inflect your voice up on key words and phrases. A presentation delivered in monotone is monotonous.
A presentation is also a visual experience. Some speakers who sound great on the radio completely lose live audiences because of their body language. Rocking back and forth or from side to side, wringing your hands, crossing your arms across your chest, or any number of almost unconscious fidgety gestures undermine the impression of conviction and confidence you need to project. If you're standing to talk, face the audience squarely with your feet almost shoulder-width apart. If you're sitting, sit tall, with the small of your back against the back of the chair.
Use large, open-handed gestures to emphasize what you're saying. When you're not gesturing, drop your hands to your sides. If you're not convinced that actions speak at least as loud as words, turn off the sound on your TV and see how much you understand about the characters by their posture and movement.
Letting your work speak for itself can be hazardous to your career, no matter where you stand in the organization. But technical wizards who are also excellent communicators are on top of the world today.
Kevin Daley is chief executive officer and founder of Communispond, (300 Park Avenue, New York, NY; Phone: 800-529-5925; Internet Website: www.communispond.com), which has taught 300,000 people communication and selling skills.
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