Presentation
by Elizabeth Kanabe
We all have images of people who don't quite seem to fit their 'status': the young genius, the crazy inventor, the hippie with a million dollar software company. We like to think that people are judged solely for their personality, ideas and contributions, and products are judged for quality. More often, though, we see businessmen in a suit. We know that appearance and delivery does account for a lot when dealing with others.
People draw judgments about quality from other cues when they don't have the time to test everything. Additionally, various deliveries set different tones. However accurate it may be, it provides us with shortcuts for evaluations. The way that people present themselves, a product or an idea to others will impact how they are received. In the least, others opinions are impacted by presentation.
When we think of presentation, we might first think of physical appearances. A four-star restaurant chef spends a lot of time in the presentation of his meals, signifying the high quality of the food and preparation effort involved. Web sites selling products should be well made themselves, or else people will assume the quality of the product is as poor as the site. Hotel lobbies are important, because it sets the tone for what you expect a stay there to be like. How a person is dressed, how they package themselves, often implies something about their work, personality or priorities. But it is not just the physical presentation that we often view, but a combination of it along with what a person says or their personality.
The Harvard Business Review had an article a few months back called "How to Pitch a Brilliant Idea", about how personalities affect presentation. It focused on studies done in the competitive entertainment industry where people were trying to pitch ideas for new shows to television executives. They found that the decision-makers, those choosing the new shows, judged an idea by the presenter as much as the show itself. If the presenter could draw on the nostalgia or past experience of the executive, or involve them in the creative process, they were much more successful in selling their ideas. They were even able to identify four distinct personality types who were the most successful with having their ideas well received.
Another way that we invoke response is how we communicate our thoughts. Although many people have similar ideas, we find the ones who draw the biggest audience and support have a way about them of finding the right words in situations. In a book entitled "Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence", they start off with an example as to how two executives dealt with conveying the bad news to an entire department at BBC that they no longer had jobs. The first executive was almost escorted out of the room by security, the second one received cheers when he finished speaking. Although they both delivered exactly the same news, the second executive was able to draw on positive emotions, appear sympathetic and provide hope to the workers.
Additionally, we often set the tone for how others view us, by our actions and how we communicate. We set ourselves up with what we say before we even try to convey an idea (even if it is in just everyday conversation). We can try to make ourselves seem like the expert; we can lower people's expectations; we can excite them to want to hear more. Whether we start off speaking in a positive or negative manner is picked up by our audience. Take an example of a team going into a big presentation and notice how the following openings can set different tones:
"We can't believe this all came together. We have been so busy the past couple weeks with projects we didn't think we'd finish this one!..."
"We met with a lot of people on these numbers. There are so many future factors we're not sure of that could impact our models, but here is the best we came up with..."
"We've studied past trends and future possibilities in our forecasts. We've developed several models and are excited to share with you the opportunities that we've found..."
Even if the remainder of the presentation is exactly the same, the audience will pick up on such cues and develop different feelings towards the information.
We all have unique ways of communicating. Though you may not need to change, being aware of how your appearance, body language, presentation and tone affect others' perceptions is critical. You can experiment with different deliveries and determine which gain the most supportive and enthusiastic response from others. There are even books written about different styles, and what forms might get the response you desire. Take note of what you say when you see friends. Do you complain about how tired you are always, or do you speak about exciting projects? How might they see you? Interactions like that develop cultures, and impact you daily. Your approach can help you attain your goals or be a hindrance to you always.
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