What's the key to a great talk?

So many people over-rotate on worries about their gestures and their bodies when they are preparing for a talk. ‘How should I use my hands?’ ‘Where should I stand?’ ‘Is my voice weird?’ ‘What about this thing I do with my eyes?’

My response is always the same. Let’s talk about that last.

Every speaker's first priority must be a deep understanding of her audience. Because any successful talk will leave an audience feeling that they have been seen, that they have received a vital gift. Do you want your audience to feel energized, motivated, and inspired? Then you need to know what energizes, motivates, and inspires them. What types of people will be there? What are their biggest challenges? Fears? Hopes? What’s the language that will most resonate with them?

When you’re super clear about your audience, move on to shaping your message. A great speaker uses her audience’s needs and hopes as a filter to organize the kernel of an idea into excellent content. Is the insight you’ll be on stage to deliver sharp and compelling? Does it address what the audience really needs? What soundbite will be most useful and memorable? What stories will drive key points home with resonance and emotion?

Finally, once you have a great, audience-focused message, it’s time to look at style. But here’s the thing. Over the years, I’ve seen again and again that when you focus on a sincere, empathetic connection with your audience and have conviction in your content, your gestures and your voice will naturally reflect that. With just a few tweaks on using your gestures and voice, you’ll deliver a great talk.

Many presentation coaches would think that my ‘audience first’ approach is backwards, that properly delivering a talk is all about how you move and use your voice.

No talk will succeed if you don’t understand your audience or have something substantive to say that matters to them, no matter how fluid your presence on stage.

Not sure how to crush your next presentation? Persuade that difficult customer or team member? Navigate tough questions from regulators, press, your boss? How about some pragmatic, actionable communications advice?

If you are a startup founder, an intrapreneur at a company, or a leader looking to grow, consider Office Hours with Lisa, a great way to get bite-sized, personalized communications coaching. Because your business must scale and you must scale with it. Because it’s the great communicators who create change!