Executive Animation

Knowing your presenters is the key to helping them shine

Recently, I worked with an executive who call me in after the screens for his presentation had been developed and the script for his talk had been written. He wanted coaching in style and dynamic delivery. He did a presentation run of the presentation and said that it just wasn't working for him. I could see and hear that.

There were two main problems. First, although the presentation contained a lot of pretty pictures, it didn't hold key words and phrases-in other words cues to what the executive should say. The screens also didn't flow logically. They needed to tell a story in and of themselves that the executive could follow.

Second, the person who had written the script had made a serious mistake: He used his own words, not the executive's. Consequently the executive sounded phony when he was talking. So I sat down with the executive for half-hour and wrote down what he had to say about the business. Then I told him to talk using his own words. The presentation was better.

Those who create presentations have a double job: to create a great presentation, and to create a presentation that the presenter can use to give an excellent, compelling talk. Presentation developers have the power to make the presenter look good or appear ill-prepared and uncomfortable. Of course, if you're working with a client who hasn't learned how to present with style, there is only so much you can do. That person needs coaching in delivery.

But I'll assume that your client has the necessary speaking skills. What, then, can you do to help him or her give an effective talk?

The Big Speech

Match the styles of the presenter and the presentation, Your client comes to you and says, "put together a fantastic-looking presentation for our next company meeting. The president will give it." The first thing you need to consider is the president's presenting style. Is his or her style conservative or moderate? Enthusiastic? Animated? You don't want to pull together a bells-and-whistles talk for a president who will stand in one place and read a script. Your fantastic presentation will overpower the president, and he or she will appear more dull and boring than usual.

Avoid scripts. You'll want to encourage the person giving a Big Speech to work without a script, for a couple of reasons. First, a script anchors the presenter to one spot and can hamper his or her ability to sound animated. Second, scripts can keep presenters from establishing rapport with the audience. Instead of writing a script, the creator can design the presentation screens to serve as cue cards. In other words, make the screens the presenter's notes, but be careful not to turn the screens into a script.

Involve the presenter early in the process. A colleague of mine who creates presentations for companies sometimes work directly with the person who will be giving the talk and sometimes work with a go-between. Both situations can result in effective presentations. Recently, however, my colleague with a go-between who evidently had not discussed with the executive given the speech exactly what he wanted. The company had been using an old presentation, and the go-between saw an opportunity not only to bring the presentation up to date but also to rearrange its sequence.

My colleague went merrily on his way, redesigning the presentation with new visuals and moving information around. He then gave the finish product to the go-between. She though it was great. The executive was horrified. He was used to the sequence of the older presentation and uncomfortable talking about the subject using the new order. He wanted the presentation changed.

My colleague spent two days and nights revamping the talk. The days he didn't mind, but the nights were difficult. And the company spent more money than it had planned to in creating the presentation. All of this work and expense could have been avoided if the presenter been involved in the process from the beginning.

Knock'em Dead Four steps for successful big speeches and company talks Find out how the talk will be used. find out who will give the talk. match the multimedia presentation with the presenter's style of delivery and to his or her level of knowledge about the content. Work with the actual presenter or presenters whenever possible.

AV Video & Multimedia Producer, April 1997