Why Presentations Matter

A great message delivered poorly is as unsuccessful as a weak message delivered well. When we think of what makes a great presenter, we often jump to the platform skills, but knowing how to combine great delivery with a powerful message is the true key to presentation success. Join Tommy as he talks about his book, The Power of Presentation, and shares how his formative experiences as a Broadway actor taught him the importance of effective presentation skills.

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If you need to design and deliver compelling business presentations, buy Tommy's book, The Power of Presentation, on Amazon.

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Transcript

Today I'd like to talk about why presentations are important. Presentations have power. They have the power to influence, to inspire, and to rally. They even have the power to save lives. Now okay Hey Wait a minute While that might seem a little dramatic, it's true.

A well done and engaging presentation can ensure no one is harmed. Imagine that you work in a laboratory with potentially dangerous chemicals. If there were a real emergency with those chemicals, the safety presentation given by the head of the department might be the most important one you've ever attended. And it would be in that department's best interest that nobody falls asleep during the presentation that conveys vital safety information. When life or death is on the line a presentation like this can equip us with the information we need to prevent disaster.

Presentations have the power to cause change. Presentations teach us Think back to one of your first jobs and the initial training session. That presentation probably shaped the way you started your career and led you to where you are today for better or for worse. Presentations open minds and spark creativity Maybe you've been working on a research project that has the potential to provide a huge breakthrough in your field but you need financial support to get it across the finish line. Who you present your research package your ideas, and you pitch it to key investors.

Your inspiring presentation lands you the funding you need to do your vital work. Presentations inspire us. They connect us. They reassure us. But presentations also have the power to put us to sleep. They can confuse us in a key decision making moment or make us run from a potential investor. Or wonder about working at that new company. A presentation can be like the proverbial double edged sword wielded correctly? Its power is unstoppable. But if used incorrectly, it can wound the presenter.

Ultimately, the power of your presentation resides in you, in your mind in your eyes, and your voice. They determine what kind of power your presentation will have for your listeners. For it to have the power you want, you have to be in command of all these elements and use them to your advantage. You know my whole life I've been fascinated by how words images and voices come together to make things happen. Maybe that's the reason I chose the theater as my first profession. It's really such a robust form of communication and it can have a huge impact on audiences.

Early in my career I was fortunate to work as a professional actor and playwright in New York. I even had the great honor of performing in the nineteen seventy five Broadway production of a chorus line. That show would go on to win nine Tony Awards one of the highest honors in American theater. My time in working in the rehearsal studio and acting on stage gave me an opportunity to explore both sides of the theater, creating and performing. And it's there that I learned how to craft compelling messages and engage the audience with passionate delivery.

I didn't know it then, but I later discovered that these are the two keys to powerful business presentations. Great content and great delivery. Since I left the theater I've spent the last thirty years in the field of training and organizational communication. When I ask participants in our programs to describe presentation skills, they usually respond with a list of platform skills how to speak in front of a crowd They wanna learn how to be more engaging less monotone, or calm their nerves when speaking in public And that's all really important. But what they come to discover in our training is that that's only half the equation.

Successful communication requires both a compelling message and fluent delivery. Another thing theater taught me was to realize that the reason presentations are so effective is because they allow for live discourse. In our digitized world, both theater and presentations raise the following questions. Why do we do it live? Why not just make a movie or write a book or put something on YouTube? Why is a presentation a better method of communication than a written report in certain situations? 

Well, anyone who appreciates live theater will tell you it's about being in the same place at the same time together, experiencing something with each other that is happening in the moment. Being able to turn to the person next to you and say, did you just feel that Did you just hear that This is the impulse that's been drawing us together since the first time someone stood up and told a story around a campfire. That's the allure of doing it live. The story is unfolding in front of us. And this joint experience creates reciprocity The audience gives back and those on stage respond to it.

In the theater we have what's called the fourth wall It's an imaginary veil that separates the on stage action from the ad audience but make no mistake actors feel and sense and know how the audience is responding even when they're immersed in their roles. It's interactive It's live It's dynamic And it can cause conversations to happen. Presentations in the business world mirror this in the moment quality They're just the same. They might be less dramatic But in conference halls and meeting rooms, people are gaining new information, having important discussions and making key decisions together. Theater productions and presentations both exist.

To communicate something vital to an audience While most people attend a play to be entertained, a good theater production will impart some idea or share a feeling or inspire the audience to action And it's the same thing when we present in business. We have specific purposes. We're gonna talk a little bit more about that throughout this series, but to put it simply presentations have three purposes in general to inform to persuade, or to inspire. That goes back as far as Aristotle. And I think what people need is a simple way uh template so to speak, to build their presentations so that they can be as vital and entertaining as a great play. Now just as Broadway plays won't succeed if they're not meticulously written, cast and rehearsed your business presentations are gonna fail without the prop preparation, development and delivery.

But unlike in the theater, most people delivering presentations really haven't had that much training, maybe none in performing or speaking in public. And that's unfortunate because presentations are such an important form of communication in a business setting. So I'd like to give you the tools to have more success with your business presentations. That's what this podcast is about. We're gonna provide tips, tools, and ideas to help you be a powerful presenter. Thanks for joining.