Why A Master Of Ceremonies (MC) Matters

by Promod Sharma, CC

When you're speaking at an event, you feel important, and are. (You may also feel terrified, which is where Toastmasters helps if you join early enough.)

The Master of Ceremonies (or Moderator or Chair) is also very important. I didn't think this role mattered until I attended TEDxIBYork at the Ontario Science Centre. David Newland was exceptional. He made everything look smooth.

Since then, I've appreciated how an MC makes a difference. It's easy to find lousy ones. Maybe they aren't comfortable speaking or didn't care enough to prepare.

Best Practices

A great MC

• takes responsibility: this includes preparing and compensating for any problems which may arise
• improvises: reading entirely from a script drains energy
• exudes a personality: this helps in getting the audience ready for the speakers

Example

Last week, I gave a presentation on Building Trust With LinkedIn. The MC is Chris Paterson (LinkedIn profile), who I've known for several years. Watch what he does during the introduction and conclusion. You can skip the rest (for now!).

Introduction

Chris deviated from the bio I provided in advance. Instead, he told a story and endorsed me. This is valuable for the audience and speaker.

Conclusion

After I finished, Chris gave a summary and expanded on what I said. That helps the audience and feels good for the speaker.

Overall

Chris gave introductions and summaries for all three speakers. He also moderated the panel discussion which followed. He unified the event and made it bigger than the individual presentations.

Next time, pay more attention to the MC. You'll learn from the good and not-so-good ones. For practice, volunteer to be Chair at your Toastmasters club.

Links

• Murphy’s laws vs six presentations in a row
• How presenters under-deliver (and what to do)
• Five presentation lessons from Seth Godin
• image courtesy of Michal Zacharzewski (Poland)

You'll find Promod Sharma's presentations like Building Trust With LinkedIn on YouTube.

Squawkfox Talks: The Speaking Secret From Kerry K Taylor

by Promod Sharma, CC

Squawkfox spoke at this weekend’s sold-out CPFC12, the Canadian Personal Finance Conference (agenda). She was excellent. Her simple and clear slides exuded quality. She used lots of original photos. Her delivery was polished. A real pro. Or so I thought.

Squawk who?

Squawkfox is really Kerry K Taylor, a now-famous blogger from British Columbia. She writes must-read posts like

• Make a Starbucks Frappuccino for 32-cents
• Six words that make your résumé suck
• How to buy life insurance without getting screwed
• The real reason you’re broke
• The costs of a car crash

The day before, Kerry shared money-saving tips on The Morning Show on Global TV. Take a peek. She’s got solid content and speaks well. A real pro, no?

Critique

At the conference, Kerry talked about how she got millions of readers (without SEO trickery). When she started speaking, she used the crutchword “um” several times. This was not distracting because her delivery was engaging.

Mid-way, she stopped using her clip-on microphone because she heard some feedback. That’s unfortunate because her volume dropped. This wasn’t a problem either because her voice carried well. The audience helped by listening attentively — a sign of keen interest.

Surprise

Kerry spoke just after lunch. She later revealed a secret: she felt anxiety all morning and during her talk. This came as a surprise because she didn’t look or act nervous.

There’s more.

Kerry is a novice speaker. She’s only presented a couple of times. Here she was delivering an all-new presentation to her largest audience. Attendees included prominent bloggers and journalists. That’s gutsy.

Secret

How did Kerry give the best talk of the conference? She cared. She prepared. She practiced. She got videotaped. She made changes. That helped her be all she can be: herself.

Kerry is another example of how our overpowering worries go unnoticed by the audience. Her hidden fears made her presentation an even greater accomplishment than she may realize. And an inspiration. We can show grace under pressure.

Links

• How to get millions of people to read your blog (Kerry's slides) (new)
• How to prepare, practice and promote a brand-new presentation
• What goes wrong when presenting outside your club
• Three permanent fears for presenters
• Control your fear of public speaking
• The six basic fears
• Introverts can speak

Promod became more comfortable as a speaker at Goodyear Toastmasters. You’ll find his talks at www.promodsharma.com/presentations.

Getting Rejected As A Speaker By A Conference Like TEDxToronto

by Promod Sharma, CC

Toastmasters builds your skills, which in turn builds confidence. This year, I took a leap and applied to speak at TEDxToronto about trust.

I got (politely) rejected but don’t feel like a failure. I’ve applied to attend the live event (though I’ve been rejected every year except one).

Rejection isn’t ideal but is part of your journey as a speaker.

Humility

In Toastmasters, you learn humility if you have the courage to take risks. By going beyond your current skills, you will fail ... and grow.

If you find the right club, you're experimenting in a safe environment where members are trained to give feedback.

I'm amazed when speakers — beginners to experienced — refuse to get recorded. The equipment is cheap. At Goodyear Toastmasters, the process is free and no one else sees the footage. If you can't stand to watch yourself, you've got a problem. If you don't bother making changes, you're limiting your growth.

Greater humility comes from posting your I-could-do-better video online. Even if very few people watch, your courage grows. You have an even stronger incentive to improve when there's online proof of your past skills.

Good Enough?

How good a speaker are you? That's difficult to say but as you speak, you get better. Start by focusing on your club. Volunteer for different roles for extra practice.

As you improve, volunteer to talk to different groups. Your ideal audience depends on your topic and level of skill. In the beginning, you might need to change your topic to suit different organizers. Later, you’ll get known for your niche.

As you continue speaking, you establish yourself and start getting invited to speak. That's your goal. For faster results, reduce the risk to organizers by posting your past speeches (or at least excerpts).

Choose Yourself

Organizers will reject you but no one can stop you from speaking. You can record yourself and post video on YouTube. Maybe that will help you get selected next time.

Links

• Control the fear of public speaking
• Introverts can speak: The case of Susan Cain
• Tips on getting interviewed by a journalist
• How to memorize with storytelling
• Do you stay up late the night before a presentation?
• Finding the right Toastmasters club for you
• image courtesy of jarpur (Australia)

Promod Sharma posts presentations with additional resources like slides and other links. His local audiences include the Association of Independent Consultants, the Canadian Association of Management Consultants, the Experion Group, Freelancecamp Toronto, GoodWorks, Podcamp Toronto, a Toastmasters International conference and the Word11 blogging festival. He’s open to opportunities to speak about trust and other topics.

Always Use A Wireless Clicker/Presenter For Presentations

by Promod Sharma, CC

When you're presenting with PowerPoint, you need a wireless clicker/presenter to advance the slides. The best choice is your own since you’ll know exactly how it works.

Obstruct

Audiences pay attention to motion. If you must return to your computer each time to move through the presentation, you distract your audience with unnecessary movement. You might even block their view temporarily.

If you use an assistant, you’re dependent and don’t look very competent.

Untether

If you must advance each slide manually, you're anchored to your computer. That's ineffective. When you use a wireless clicker, you can move around.

Select

If you're planning to do more presentations, you'll benefit from buying your own wireless clicker. You can get one at places like Staples, Best Buy and Amazon.

Nice to haves include

• a laser pointer (green is better than red)
• a countdown timer to help you end on time without glancing at your watch
• a button to blank the screen to focus attention on you when a visual isn't needed
• a power switch to prevent battery drain when not in use

Some devices have a trackpad or arrows to allow mouse movements. You may find that feature helpful or a distraction.

A basic model will do when you're starting out. You can upgrade later and keep the simpler unit as a backup.

Builds

If you want  to bore and distract your audience, show them too much information on a slide. You'll get better results by using more slides or by building the slide to show one element at a time. Creating slides with builds takes longer, which gives you more time to learn the content.

Extras

Bring extra batteries. If your clicker has a laser pointer, try that. If the beam is strong, your batteries are probably fine. If there's no beam, you may have inserted the batteries incorrectly. Check that before you replace the batteries.

Unless your clicker has a reliable on/off switch, remove the batteries after use. That's also a good precaution if you don't make presentations regularly.

Links

• The two tools PowerPoint presenters need (marketingactuary.com)
• Polish your presentation with Presenter View in PowerPoint
• Gift ideas for your business (marketingactuary.com)
• Why lessons are better than speeches
• Getting a video recording of your speech

Promod Sharma has three wireless clickers and posts his presentations on the YouTube riscario channel and at www.promodsharma.com/presentations.

Why Lessons Are Better Than Speeches

by Promod Sharma, President 2011-2012, CC

Confession time. I don't like giving speeches. There's too much preparation and practicing. The timing needs to be right.

In Toastmasters, each speech has specific criteria which get progressively tougher. That's why I haven't done in a speech since becoming a Competent Communicator three months ago.

Real Life

In real life, do you deliver speeches? I give presentations. The length is generally 45-60 minutes, including questions. A speech isn't the right form of practice but a lesson is.

At Goodyear Toastmasters, a lesson is typically 15-20 minutes long. You can practice a full presentation in three or four sessions over a period of months. Or you can practice the core elements in one lesson.

At first, giving a lesson may look like difficult because you have more time to fill. The opposite is true.

Lessons

A lesson is much easier than a speech. You're not expected to memorize. You're more likely to use visual aids like PowerPoint. There's time for audience participation, which develops your impromptu skills. You're not rushed.

If you feel nervous in the beginning, you'll have more time to recover. You'll have more time to try different things. When you watch the video playback, you may spot unintended behaviour more easily. Perhaps your body language changes when each time you get a question.

If you're using PowerPoint, you can use Presenter View to help you remember your content. When you're live, you don't want to look like you're simply reading. When you're practicing, Presenter View is very helpful.

The Topic

If you already know your topic and don't need visuals, you can prepare a lesson in minutes.

If you're doing an important presentation (for work, say), you won't want to rush the preparation. As you do more lessons, you may be able to reuse elements such as slides. 

Crutches

If you normally use visuals for lessons, try one without. I've done that several times recently

• Using Social Media To Grow Your Practice
• Mastering The Mastermind
• Mastering Time

You're then better prepared should equipment malfunction.

That’s the lesson for today, Class dismissed.

Links

• Prepare a lesson in minutes
• How to discuss taboo topics
• Getting a video recording of your speech
• You’re a Competent Communicator. Now what?
• Be cautious with vocal variety
• image courtesy of ihor-seamless

Promod Sharma blogs about marketing at marketingactuary.com and tweets about trust @trustandyou.

Polish Your Presentation With Presenter View In PowerPoint

by Promod Sharma, President 2011-2012, CC


"It's easier to find a new audience than to write a new speech."
--- Dan Kennedy, marketer

If you deliver the same presentation over and over, you'll soon know what to say. That's comforting. It's also boring. Why not put a video on YouTube and get to something new?

My presentations keep changing. This is riskier but warranted: the audiences vary and my thinking evolves. Elements get re-used but there is usually something new.

The challenge is adding polish when your content is fresh. You can’t easily practice an hour long session. PowerPoint comes to your rescue.

Rescue

The Presenter View is your easy-to-overlook friend. When you’re designing a slide, you probably know what you want to say  --- especially if you tend to use bullet points. Even then, you may want to say things in a particular way.

The bigger challenge is the transition between slides. Polish comes from knowing what to say just before or just as the next slide appear.

Tips

To use Presenter View, you need two displays. On one you show what the audience will see. The other shows what you'll see. You can decide which monitor is which. I put the Presenter View on my notebook computer. The second display could be a monitor or a projector.

Depending on your computer, you may need to press a combination of keys to use an Extended Display with different content on each screen. In Windows 7, pressing the Windows key and P at the same time may be enough.

Live

When presenting live, I use Presenter View often. Projectors vary. They often show the same content on your screen and the big screen ("cloning"). That's of no use. If you arrive early, you'll have time to experiment and get the settings right.

For best results, use your own computer.

Links

• How to master your presentations using Presenter View (How-To Gook)
• Do you stay up late the night before your presentation?
• How to make your message stick
• Three permanent fears for presenters
• Presenting enthusiasm
• image courtesy of How To Earn And Keep Trust (presented for the first time, earlier today)

Promod Sharma has been using Presenter View for years when developing, practicing and delivering presentations like Be The One They Want for job seekers.