Make the Most of Conference Speaking—Onsite Tips for Success

By Cyndi Maxey, CSP, and Kevin E. O’Connor CSP

Many professionals, when asked to speak at a conference, put off doing much about it until the last minute. While most don’t have a fairy godmother, they operate as if they do—as if a tiny person with a magic wand will appear and make everything come together as they walk in the room. If that conference presenter is you, read this article instead of investing in a magic wand. You’ll be able to work your own magic.

The Invitation to Speak Is to You…but Is Really About Someone Else
Being invited to speak at a professional conference is a compliment to your skills and talents. You’ve been asked to share your wisdom; the meeting planner is counting on you as well as your audience. There are those early in their careers who will learn from you as well as peers and higher-ups who will catalog your presentation in their minds to use for future networking, research, and promotions.

Therefore, the first order of business is to consider who is coming to hear you, what do they want, what do they need, and what do you have that will be useful to them.

We work with many professionals who are called upon to design impactful talks for large groups. We understand the pressure and how difficult it is to prepare such a talk in the midst of active careers. However, we’ve also seen experts fall below expectations, get low reviews, and disappoint the conference planner as well as the audience. A conference presentation is a great opportunity to buoy your work, your image in the field, and your network. It’s not to be taken lightly, even in the midst of a busy schedule.

Our experience tells us that there are simple, yet key actions you can take even when onsite to propel your success; these are the habits of those who get great reviews and get asked back. We want you to be one of those expert speakers. If there really is a magic dust that will drive the success of your talk—even when you’re onsite, it would dust across these ten areas.

Determine-Understand-Speak-Thank becomes the real magic DUST that will become magic.
Therefore, these are must-do’s—not “nice-to-do’s.” It’s important to give them priority; so forgo the social session and checking your Blackberry for an hour or two once you arrive and check these out.

Top Ten Tips for Creating Magic Onsite
Determine: Before you have come onsite as well as having talked to the meeting planner and prepared your remarks and your slides, consider interviewing some of the audience members by phone, even if you know them already. Ask for their greatest challenge, why they are coming to the meeting, and what they think the audience needs to hear. Believe us, this will transform not only your talk, but it will make you supremely (and rightfully) confident as you walk into the now empty (and soon to be filled) conference room.

1.    Check out the room. If possible, attend the session in your room that is directly before your session. Look at how seating is used and if it can be adapted in time for your session. How are the lighting, temperature, and microphone? Report any questions to your conference contact, association staff or house A-V staff. Also notice the mood of the audience. How is the presenter responding to them?

2.    Note where the lighting control is and turn it as high as possible to be able to still see your computer visuals. The house A-V staff probably did not set it as high as it will go; ask for help here if you need it. Staff will almost always defer to your slides when it comes to lighting. Remember, the audience came to hear you not to look at slides. Even if your slides are a bit “washed out,” lobby for and demand if needed lights as high as they go. See your audience clearly.

3.    Test the microphone by having someone sit in the back of the room to hear how you sound. Pin it securely on a lapel 4-6” from your chin. Place the microphone as centered as possible since moving your head away from your lapel will reduce the volume. Ladies, avoid silk blouses since a pinned microphone will weigh heavy on delicate fabrics. If you can’t test ahead of time, simply ask a volunteer to tell you right before you’re introduced. Ask the technician to stay for the first ten minutes of your talk and adjust the volume as needed. A bit louder is better than a bit softer. No matter the size of the crowd, never refuse a microphone—someone in your audience is hearing impaired and it just might be your boss.

Understand: Presentation is a cooperative affair with or without partner presenters. You are in partnership with the audience. The audience wants you to succeed, they are silently rooting for you, and they came to see only you. That is why your initial words must send a clear message that you are worth listening to and that your message is useful. No “thank you’s” no jokes, no “it’s great to be in Tuscaloosa”—none of that conveys value. Rather, consider starting with your last slide. Don’t build to a big finish, start with the big finish, then flesh it out and repeat it often throughout your talk.

4.    Review final delivery decisions for yourself and any partner presenters: Who will begin? What slides are most important? Who will manage the remote? Plan ahead so you are not stuck in front fiddling with the projector and conferring with your partner as the crowd that you want to impress is entering. Decide how much time each of you will take. Avoid one doing half and the other finishing. Instead consider segmented slots for each of you to allow a conversational approach and some relief for the audience.

5.    Practice the first four minutes alone or with any partners, as this is when you make important first impressions. Know this part without notes so your eyes can be out at the audience. Eyes connect; notes do not. Remember the fundamental truth of the U in DUST: When you begin, begin; don’t apologize or over-thank them for being there. They want to be there or they wouldn’t be in the room! In light of that, when they enter the room, be the hostess or host. Go and greet them, don’t fiddle with your projector; go and shake hands, don’t look at your notes; smile and have fun with them, don’t pace in the back. Your ratings will shoot higher than ever with this one simple technique.

Speak: Many presenters, in their haste and excitement of speaking, forget the purpose of speaking—teaching, not performing. Our job when we speak is to inform and excite, not to receive and linger in the spotlight. When you are prepared, ready, and focused you will speak with clear authority and enthusiasm and your audience will learn.

6.    Plan to speak as much as possible OUT from behind the podium. Walk across the front or down the sides of the room to answer questions if you can. If presenting with partners, share the stage. One of you can be at the side while the other is in front. You can facilitate questions from these positions and take in the whole room. Time after time we see the results when experts step out toward the audience, into the U-shape, or back and forth across the stage; the audience is more engaged.

7.    Plan to include one or two of these no-fail ways to engage the audience early on: ask a question, ask partners to discuss a topic-related issue, or tell a story and ask them to comment or reflect in some way. If you haven’t had time to plan ahead for one of these, try one anyway. The best questions are spontaneous and result from audience feedback—both verbal and nonverbal. Have fun with your audience. When we get convoluted, academic, and complex questions from our audience we just get close to the questioner, pause, look confused, and say, “Does anyone know what he just said?!” This brings a laugh and it always brings one more thing—one person who can translate for you! This kind of presenter-audience banter works well and you’ll get better and better with practice, but you will have to jump into the pool first!

8.    Select three points in your presentation where audience members will be asked to exchange ideas—in partners, small groups, or in large group Q/A that you control. If you make yourself mark your notes with words like ASK for feedback here or ACTIVITY; ASK people to share in partners, you stand a better chance of doing it. You won’t regret it. Engagement always adds interest and garners higher reviews too.

9.    When you do ask the audience to get involved, give very clear movement and timing instructions. In large conference groups, especially, participants need to be very clear about what they’re doing and why, and they will do it 99% of the time. The trick here is to be so clear that a first grader would understand you. Audiences check their brains at the door and when the unexpected need for them to think and move at the same time comes up, they can become clueless. “I’d like you to stand up,” (pause) “wave goodbye to the persons next to you,” (pause) “and find two others you don’t know and sit with them…” (pause) “Go!” And by the way, don’t ever force an adult to move or contribute when they’re not in the mood to play along. Everybody learns differently. Everybody has bad days. Never spontaneously call on someone. They might not even be paying attention. Only work with volunteers, they will be abundant.

10.     As Aristotle (380 BC) taught, both credibility and charisma sell ideas. Don’t underestimate the value of you and your stories. Be certain to have at least three personal stories or examples; these don’t need to be just your wins and successes. In fact, research shows that audiences prefer hearing about lessons learned rather than perfection. No matter what the tone of the story, the best person to quote is yourself. You bring experiences and value that is unique. Tell ‘em like nobody else will!

Thank: This last component to your magic DUST is vital only if you want to be asked back next time! Thank, in a handwritten thank-you note, the person who invited you. We guarantee it will be read. Thank each person who comes up to you with a comment simply, elegantly, and sincerely. And to begin the DUST all over again, determine what they liked with a simple “Thank you for tell me that, what did you find most useful?” This will be preparation for doing it all over again even better next time!

Cyndi and Kevin are coauthors of the top selling book, Present Like a Pro: Mastering the Art of Business, Professional, and Public Speaking (St. Martin’s Press/NYC 2006). Combined, they speak professionally more than 200 times a year.