Present Like a Pro: The Modern Guide to Getting Your Point Across in Meetings, Speeches, and the Media

177 Pages·2017·1.14 MB·English

by  Carl Hausman

Present Like a Pro
Present Like a Pro
The Modern Guide to Getting Your Point
Across in Meetings, Speeches, and the Media
Carl Hausman
Copyright © 2017 by Carl Hausman All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior
permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Hausman, Carl, 1953-author.
Title: Present like a pro : the modern guide to getting your point across in meetings, speeches, and the
media / Carl Hausman.
Description: Santa Barbara, California : Praeger, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016042048 (print) | LCCN 2016056962 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440853289 (hardcopy :
alk. paper) | ISBN 9781440853661 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781440853296 (eBook) Subjects: LCSH:
Business presentations. | Public speaking. | Business communication. | Public relations.
Classification: LCC HF5718.22 .H39 2017 (print) | LCC HF5718.22 (ebook) | DDC 658.4/52—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016042048
ISBN: 978-1-44085328-9 (hardcover) ISBN: 978-1-44085366-1 (paperback) EISBN: 978-1-44085329-6
21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available as an eBook.
Praeger
An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC
ABC-CLIO, LLC
130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911
Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911
www.abc-clio.com
This book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
Expanded Contents
Introduction
How to Use This Book
Chapter 1. Plan It Like You’re Patton: Determine Your Battle Plan—Map Out
Exactly What You Want to Do and How You Will Do It
Chapter 2. Present It Like It’s a Play: Harness the Structural Power of Mini-
Acts, Scenes, and Climaxes
Chapter 3. Magnify Your Message with Credibility, Approachability, and
Listenability
Chapter 4. Maintain an Arsenal of 10 Techniques to Deflect Skepticism,
Hostility, and Inattention
Chapter 5. Perfect and Polish Powerful Opens and Closes
Chapter 6. Be Master of Your Domain: Make Visual Aids, Handouts, and
Room Layouts Work for You
Chapter 7. Give Your Ideas a Strong Voice: Lower Your Pitch, Raise Your
Resonance, and Amplify Your Vocal Power
Chapter 8. Control Stage Fright and Understand That What You Can’t Control
Can Work for You: Being Nervous Is Good If You Channel That
Energy the Way Many Famous Performers Do
Chapter 9. Harness the Energy of Humor, But Learn How to Use It
Appropriately and Gracefully
Chapter 10. Master the New Media: Presenting Effectively on Skype, Podcasts,
Video, and Broadcast
Chapter 11. Ten Templates for the Types of Presentations You’ll Commonly
Encounter
Chapter 12. The Ten Techniques in Action: Classic Demonstrations and
Explanations of the “Present Like a Pro” Techniques in Various
Presentation Scenarios
Afterword
Appendix A Presenter’s Guide to Using and Understanding Statistics
Notes
Further Reading
Index
Expanded Contents
Introduction
How to Use This Book
Chapter 1. Plan It Like You’re Patton: Determine Your Battle Plan—Map Out
Exactly What You Want to Do and How You Will Do It
1. Determine Your Main Takeaway and Write It in One Sentence;
If You Can’t, No One Will Get Your Point
2. Remember That a Presentation Is a Journey: Plan Where You
Want to Start, Where You Want to Go, and Where You Want to
End
3. Inventory the Knowledge, Needs, and Interest Level of Your
Audience
4. Be Focused on the Audience’s Needs: What’s in It for Them?
5. Ruthlessly Narrow Your Focus and the Amount of Material
6. Decide on the Format That Works for You: Reading from a
Script, Bullet Points, Cue Cards, Memorization, or Ad-Libbing
7. Decide Whether to Use Media, What Kind, and Why You Want
to Use It
8. Rehearse Like a Professional: Make Yourself Better, and Don’t
Practice Your Mistakes
9. Write Your Draft for the Ear, Not for the Eye
10. Gear Everything to Your Desired Outcome—and Remember
That J. P. Morgan Hit It on the Head When He Said a Person
Has Two Reasons for Doing Something: One That Sounds
Good, and the Real Reason
Chapter 2. Present It Like It’s a Play: Harness the Structural Power of Mini-
Acts, Scenes, and Climaxes
1. Visualize It as Three Acts: A Grand Theme Supported by What
Aristotle Called “The Rule of Three”
2. Tell Stories, Don’t Dump Data
3. Make Your Audience the Main Characters
4. Create Suspense: The Technique of Tension and Release
5. Hit All Three of the Classic Drivers of Opinion: Logos, Pathos,
Ethos
6. Exploit the Power of Silence
7. Plan Three Memorable Phrases and Build Your Presentation
around Them
8. Alternate between Problem and Solution
9. Use the Playwright’s and Composer’s Trick of “False Endings”
to Build Audience Anticipation as You Approach the
Conclusion
10. Bring the Curtain Up on Time (But Be Prepared to Fudge with
the “Networking” Gimmick If There Are Unavoidable Delays)
Chapter 3. Magnify Your Message with Credibility, Approachability, and
Listenability
1. Begin with the Three Rules of a Coherent and Engaging Talk:
Slow Down, Slow Down, and Slow Down Some More
2. Adopt the Power Pose That Research Shows to Be Most
Effective
3. Move with a Purpose: Use Powerful Gestures and Work the
Room Gracefully
4. Maintain Eye Contact through Planned Focus Points
5. Use Proven Strategies to Invite Audience Involvement
6. Get Questions Rolling with a Plant in the Audience
7. Eliminate Rhetorical Flourishes
8. Project Lucidity and Organization by Monitoring Time and
Milestones along the Way to Maintain Interest; Avoid Running
Long or Cutting Material Short
9. When Trying to Persuade, Frame Statistics within Stories—But
Don’t Mislead or Overreach
10. Ask for What You Want
Chapter 4. Maintain an Arsenal of 10 Techniques to Deflect Skepticism,
Hostility, and Inattention
1. Bridge Agendas: Find What Your Agenda and Your
Opponent’s Agenda Have in Common, and Pursue That Route
2. Use the Ricochet Question to Divert a Troublemaker’s
Question to Someone Else in the Audience—a Technique That
Defuses Hostility and Buys You Time to Think
3. Use the Bounceback Question to Put Troublemakers on the
Defensive
4. Keep an Emergency Store of Additional Information to
Overwhelm a Troublemaker
5. Reframe and Repeat a Hostile Question to Your Advantage
6. Refocus Audience Attention to Deflate a Scene-Stealer
7. Be the Grownup in the Room
8. Defuse Passive-Aggressive Hecklers by Embarrassing Them
9. When Dealing with a Reporter or Someone Assuming That
Role, Frame Your Answers Carefully to Avoid Being Taken
Out of Context
10. Break Up the Routine to Overcome Passive Resistance
Chapter 5. Perfect and Polish Powerful Opens and Closes
1. Whenever Possible, Have Someone Introduce You (with a
Script You Provide)
2. Don’t Start Talking Too Soon
3. Go Easy on the Thank-Yous and Other Trite Ingredients of a
Tepid Opening
4. Grab the Audience by the Lapels
5. When You End Your Presentation, Make Sure There Is a Real
Ending
6. If Appropriate, Insert the Question-and-Answer Session before
the End
7. Ensure That There Is a Call to Action at or near the End of
Your Presentation
8. Somewhere near the End, Use the Jigsaw Puzzle Technique to
Show Your Audience How Everything Fits Together—and
Validate the Expenditure of Their Time Listening to You
9. Somewhere near the End, Circle Back Briefly to the Beginning
to Demonstrate That Your Presentation Was a Complete,
Spherical Gem