If you write out your entire presentation, do this
Not everyone writes out the entire content of their presentation (or speech… or sermon…), but many people do. I always coach my clients to avoid doing so because it causes us to become too focused on word-for-word delivery—which isn’t helpful for either the speaker or the audience.
But there’s another reason it becomes a problem. If you’ve written out your content in full sentences, you’ve likely hampered your delivery (and the success of your message) without realizing it.
How?
If you graduated from high school, then you had a class that taught how to write an essay. Some even had a class that taught public speaking. But neither class typically teaches how to craft content that is aimed at a listener instead of a reader. Since we process information differently when listening vs. reading, it’s imperative to write for the ear—not the eye—when crafting content that will be spoken or presented.
How to write for the ear not the eye
This is a challenge faced by many of my clients. (Especially the writers. They excel at sentence structure, grammar, and pithy turns-of-phrase.) When we don’t craft our content with the end in mind—presenting to a live audience—those magnificent sentences fall on deaf ears. Or at least confused ears.
Keeping a few simple tactics in mind will help:
1 Prioritize efficacy over eloquence. In other words, prioritize the message, not the words or phrases themselves. Audiences need to grasp the overall message of your presentation, not the sentences themselves. Think about how you can make it easy for them to understand and remember.
2 Short and small are smart. When presenting to an audience we have an inherent need for credibility. It’s what buys us the listeners’ attention. The temptation, then, is to dazzle them with big words and lengthy, complex sentences. But because audiences can’t pause to process or re-read, it’s wise to use small words (and no jargon unless your audience shares your expertise) and short sentences. Review your content; look for ways to simplify and shorten sentences; replace words that would be unfamiliar to your audience with words they know.
Related: Content aimed at a reader is generally written without contractions. (Example: “you are” instead of “you’re.”) This will come off as halting and unnecessarily formal when spoken aloud. Go ahead and use contractions. It will sound conversational, which is what you’re aiming for in even the most formal of settings.
3 Context comes before content. In formal, written language, we commonly provide the substance of a reference or statistic and follow it up with the attribution (i.e. quotations are followed by the credit). But in spoken formats, listeners will better receive the information and understand its meaning if they know first why it’s credible. Start with the source and then share the information or quote. For example, “Maya Angelou famously said, ‘If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be'” or “According to the latest Pew Research poll, ….”
What stays the same in both written and spoken formats?
Use active—not passive—voice.
Show don’t tell. Don’t tell them what to feel; provide the details that will awaken the emotion you want them to feel.
Keep it moving. Eliminate anything unnecessary to the core message.
Try it:
Instead of writing out complete sentences, write an outline using bullets. This will provide the structure and general content without marrying you to the specific word choice. Then record yourself while giving the presentation from that outline. It’ll be far from perfect but this is merely a starting point. Transcribe what you said in that first pass. Then, go back through the transcript holding these tips in mind, cleaning up anything that’s too wordy or complex. Then read it (recording again, perhaps with video); ask someone to listen and obtain feedback on their ability to follow your message. Make any necessary revisions and you’ll be pretty darn close to a “script” that will meet the needs of a listener instead of a reader.
Need someone to review your content or watch your footage? Let’s chat!