Rowitz On Leadership

    Many of us have attended numerous presentations by national leaders in our respective fields at conventions, conferences, luncheons, and other professional venues. As I was preparing to give a presentation last summer at a state public health association meeting, I noticed a pattern in the way that speakers gave their talks to a large professional audience. In order to gain an understanding of their presentation styles, I saw a number of interesting characteristics of speaker presentation styles. This article will show you and perhaps create a template for giving a formal group presentation. Perhaps a touch or two of humor will allow us the opportunity to have some fun with ourselves. Here are the ten rules to follow in your formal presentations:

    Rule 1: Stand behind the podium so that you look professional and clearly an expert- The podium also gives the professional organization the chance to advertise themselves on the front of the podium. Speakers tend to hold on to the sides of the podium to protect themselves from falling off the dais. The microphone is attached to the podium so that you cannot walk around the dais.

    Rule 2: Follow the dress code for speakers even if the clothes make you feel uncomfortable- Men need to wear jackets and conservative ties. Women do have some clothing options. A Hilary Clinton pantsuit would be appropriate or an unpatterned dress with a jacket would also work. Shorts and blue jeans are out for both men and women.

    Rule 3: Do not look at the audience when you read your paper, but if you do glance outward make it a quick look- Our presentations tend to be more and more complex these days. Thus, many speakers write out their presentations in order to keep in the time frame for their presentation and not to forget any critical content. However, audience members have told me that they forget many of the details of these presentations as soon as they leave the auditorium or large meeting room.

    Rule 4: Put lots of numbers in your slide presentation so that nobody beyond the first three rows can see-
It seems that slides are getting more complex than they used to be. Many speakers also go through the slides with a commentary that does not relate to the slide presentation. Stories and anecdotes work better.

    Rule 5: Tell jokes and stories with no relevance to your talk- Somebody has told the speakers that humor adds to the presentation and helps the audience to keep alert during the presentation. Humor is clearly good if the speaker shows the relationship between the joke or story to the content of the talk.

    Rule 6: Talk about the theme of the meeting in as confusing a manner as possible- The organizers of the meeting want the meeting theme to be part of the plenary presentations. However many presenters have canned speeches that they give at numerous meetings and often struggle to address the theme in their talks. Thus, the theme portion of the talk often seems unrelated to the talk being presented.

    Rule 7: Do not involve the audience in the presentation- Plenary talks are talking head experiences. We do not want audience interrupting the flow of the presentation. We clearly do not want the audience involved in the presentation through exercises and dialogue. In order to show the dominance of the speaker in the process, it is important to always run over in time.

    Rule 8: Leave quickly after your presentation or do noit leave time for questions that you may not be able to answer- It also seems that many speakers have canned answers to potential questions that they think may be asked. Even when a question is asked that does not fit their planned answers, they give the answer anyway.

    Rule 9: Arrange the room auditorium or classroom style so that the audience members can’t see each other sleep- It is important for the speaker to give the impression that everyone in the room loves every word that the speaker gives. Seeing people sleep does not help the speaker to give this image of great expertise and great interest in the talk by the audience.

    Rule 10:Mumble and speak in a monotone- Since much of the talk is confusing, mumbling helps to confuse the audience. Giving the audience a talk in a monotone style seems to not interfere with the sleep patterns of your audience.

    The real challenge for the speaker who wants to involve the audience in the great potential for learning is to break as many of the above rules as possible. I challenge you do try to change the way we have given talks in the past and engage our audiences.

Adapted by Dr. Louis Rowitz from a presentation on leadership in public health at both the 2008 Annual Meetings of the Wisconsin Public Health Association and the Arizona Public Health Association.