Presenters can benefit from the tricks of the trade in the performing arts world. After all, performing artists are in front of critical audiences every time they show up for work! And, they go on stage for a living.
At Apifany, we have a high level of respect for performers. After all, our founder, David Motto, is a former professional musician. And, one of his mentors, communications specialist Alan Ovson, is a former professional actor. Both David and Alan know the realities of being on stage in front of large audiences – in the arts world AND in the business world.
Now that Covid is less of a threat and we’re returning to in-person meetings, off-sites, town halls, and events, being comfortable in front of an audience has gotten more important than ever.
Here are some powerful ideas for applying performance strategies every time you make a pitch:
1. Take the Stage How you enter the room (on an actual stage or in a virtual zoom room) tells your audience what to expect from the rest of the time they’ll spend with you. Are you high energy and welcoming? Or are you quiet and mysterious? Plan ahead of time the energy level you want your audience to experience.
2. Greet Your Specific Audience There’s a reason rock stars yell, “Hello Cleveland!” when they step up to the microphone. With this customized greeting, they’re acknowledging their specific audience and making that audience feel special. Be sure to plan ahead of time exactly how you’ll greet your audience and start your pitch. The crucial words are the very first words out of your mouth. Nail these, and the rest of the pitch will be a lot easier.
3. Face Your Audience Stage actors accept that they are fully visible the entire time they are on stage. Their audiences will be looking at them and listening to them. Actors open themselves up to this vulnerability and reveal themselves to their audiences – creating a real and lasting connection. As a speaker, you can do the same. Use open body language. Make eye contact. Move toward your audience. Even for virtual meetings you can do the same: Look into the camera for the equivalent of eye contact. Show your head, torso, arms, and hands in your frame so you can make gestures that support your points. Do everything you can to make a connection with your audience.
4. Read the Room You want your audience to stay engaged and be with you through your entire pitch. This means you’ve got to constantly scan your audience to make sure they’re paying attention and are interested in your presentation. For in-person presentations, ask your audience a lot of questions – even if they just need to raise their hand as an answer. For virtual meetings, ask questions and use the “chat” feature to get written responses. If you start to lose your audience, quickly move on to a new topic. Even if you think the current topic is important, it’s your audience who matters. You know who’s great at this skill? Stand-up comedians. With every joke, with every gesture, they’re reading their audience. They know instantly if the audience is responding positively or not. They can adjust their performance based on this audience response, and they read the room constantly.
5. Use Clear Diction and Enunciation Actors, late-night TV hosts, voiceover artists, and many other performers understand that their audiences have to understand their every word. While this sounds obvious for presenters, our experience here at Apifany shows that this is an area that often (very often!) needs coaching. Clear diction is especially important for virtual presentations, where low quality microphones, earbuds, speakers and poor bandwidth are the norm. Here are two pointers to instantly improve your diction: (1) Slow down your speech in general, and especially on important words and specialized terms in your pitch. (2) Clearly pronounce the last consonant of your words. Yes, that seems strange. The last consonant. Really – record yourself trying this strategy, and you’ll hear the difference.
6. Be Aware of Your Stage Presence As a presenter, you can never get flustered. To be successful, you’ll need to stay calm, look confident, and exude executive presence. Both actors and musicians are absolute professionals at these skills. They regularly make mistakes in their performances with absolutely no reaction whatsoever to the mistake. They go on, without missing a beat. They keep their “game face” on, and audiences see nothing in these professionals’ facial expressions that would give away how panicked they feel inside. So, take a deep breath, square your shoulders, keep a calm demeanor, and face the pushback and challenging questions you’re sure to get when presenting your ideas.
7. Exit the Stage Gracefully Dancers, opera singers, and rock bands all end their performances basking in the glow of the stage lights and acknowledging their audiences before they head off stage. You can do the same as a presenter. When you finish your pitch, make eye contact (for virtual meetings stare into the camera), let your audience know they’re important to you and that you want to stay in contact, and leave the room energetically.
Each of these strategies takes practice and requires a specific mental framework to execute confidently. When the strategies are used effectively, you will exude a level of presence and authenticity unavailable to most presenters who are unaware of these performance strategies.