Building a Presentation – Part III
“Words build bridges into unexplored regions.”
- Robert Frost
Mr. Frost was spot-on. Great transitions, clear examples and a dynamite introduction will build the bridges that will entrance your audience as you pass along your message. These three ideas will lift an average presentation in to a life changing motivational oration. It only takes a little creativity to spice up your words and stories.
In the third part. of my four-part series, on how I put together a presentation, I will talk about the next steps to building a extraordinary presentation.
The first two parts can be found at:
Building a Presentation — Chris Carlisle (thecoachcarlisle.com)
Building a Presentation – Part II — Chris Carlisle (thecoachcarlisle.com)
The three steps that are explained in this article are:
Step Five: How I developed examples of the talk.
Step Six: The most important part of the talk: Transitioning from one idea to the next seamlessly.
Step Seven: The evolution of the introduction as you see the rest of the talk coming together.
These three steps are about the process of the talk. They are also the parts of the talk that too many will take for granted. When these steps are not a priority your talk becomes very bland and very jumpy.
Step Five: Filling Out the Skeleton: The Organs: Examples
Dealing with the audience that I was going to perform for (4-year-olds to 12-year-olds) I not only had to have great stories that they could relate to, but I would also need to have a graphic example that would keep them tied into the entire presentation.
Believe in You:
To bring this topic home I used a “card to an impossible spot” gimmicked trick. This is where a card is selected by the volunteer will start in one place and end up in what is seen as an impossible place.
During the trick I had one provision. The volunteer had to say, “Yes, I can!” to any question that I asked them.
I had a young lady volunteer for the “experiment.” I had her pick a card. It was the seven of club. I then made sure the audience saw the card.
I put the card in a zip lock plastic bag. I asked the crowd if they thought the volunteer could reach in and pick the card. They all said, “YES!” I then started adding cards to the zip lock bag.
Each time I added more cards, I would ask the audience if they thought she could reach into the bag, without looking and find her card. Those who thought she could do it got smaller and smaller as I added more and more cards. After asking the audience if they thought she could find her card, I would ask the volunteer. As directed, she always responded with, “Yes, I can.”
I continued to add cards to the gallon size zip lock bag until I put the entire deck of cards into the bag. I asked the audience if they though she could find her card, without looking, and they all said, “No”.
The only person that thought my volunteer could do it was my volunteer. When I asked her, she replied, “Yes, I can!”
I shook the bag to further mix the cards. I then asked her to turn away and hold out her hand. She then reached into the bag and pulled one card out of the zip lock plastic bag.
As she held it tight to her body.
I asked her to remind the audience what card she had initially chosen, she said, “The seven of clubs.” I asked the audience if she was right. They agreed. I then asked her to show the card she had selected. It was the seven of clubs.
I closed the subject with this:
“Too many of us stop believing in ourselves, not because we don’t think we can do it, but because those around them don’t believe that we can do it. When the people who we surround us give their opinions on what they think we can do they can be either uplifting or crushing. When they give negative reinforcement what is actually happening is that THEY are casting THEIR lack of belief in themselves upon you. They know they can’t do it, so, they believe, you can’t do it either.
When we are told “you can’t” enough times, instead of believing in ourselves, we believe what we are being told. When this happens, we become a version of their life, not the possibilities of your life.
When we believe in ourselves and don’t let others decide the outcome, we can accomplish the goals that are needed to be accomplished so that we can achieve our dreams. So, always believe in yourself.”
Everyone Matters:
My talk’s “experiment” or example, began with me playing music. I played the first song, a child’s rendition of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. Everyone knew it. They even started to sing the song. I asked them to remember that song and listen to the next song. It was a classical music piece. They didn’t realize it right away, but it was “Mary Had a Little Lamb” but in a classical format. They liked that too. The third song was a blues rendition of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” by Steve Ray Vaughn. They really liked this one. The kids started to rock and sway. The fourth song was a jazz exploration of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” by Geroge Braith.
I asked if this was 4 different songs? They all said, “Yes”. I argued, that it was the same song, but with four different genres of music surrounding it. They could understand that a little.
Then I asked them, by holding up their fingers to which song they liked. One finger was for the child’s rendition, two fingers for the classical versio, three fingers for the blues version and 4 fingers for the jazz rendition. All of the students held up fingers. Some 1’s, very few 2’s, a whole bunch of 3’s and a few 4’s … and even a 5. That young person was on a deeper plane then I was on.
I saw two boys sitting next to each, one had three fingers up and another had just one finger up. I asked, “How can you sit next to him, he doesn’t like the same music you like.” The young man said, “That’s okay, we like different things but we’re still friends.”
A definite “WE” moment. “WE can still be friends”. I wish more adults were in the crowd.
Never Lose Your Imagination:
I brought the subject home by doing another “experiment”. This time I showed a volunteer my grocery list on a note pad. I had the young man randomly choose an item the was written on my note pad. He could have chosen items like: apples, oranges, pickles, chicken, milk, and other grocery items. When he had made his choice, I asked him to imagine that item fit into his hand. I then asked him to put that item in his pocket and concentrate as hard as possible and imagine that he actually held it in his hand.
I then had him take his hand out of his pocket and hold it out to the audience. Now the audience didn’t know what he had chosen. I asked the audience if they could see it? I was not surprised that they couldn’t.
I then brought out an empty paper bag and showed the audience that the bag was completely empty. a I asked the young man to throw what was in his hand to me so I could catch it in the bag. He stood on one end of the stage and I took my position on the other side. He threw his item and I caught what he threw. The audience was amazed when they heard something fall into the bag.
I walked across the stage and asked my volunteer to hold his hands out. As I was tipping the bag up to empty its contents, I asked him what he threw. As he was telling me I dumped out what was in the bag. And it was what he had imagined.
My point was that my volunteer believed so much in what he was throwing that he made it become visible for the rest of the school.
This type of occurrence happens all of the time. All through out history people have seen what others could not see. And when they worked hard enough they were able to change the world with what only their imaginations had once saw.
I believed I could win a Super Bowl. I did it. I believed I could write a best-selling book. I do that too. There were several detractors in my life. But I believed so much in my abilities that I made what was unimaginable to some into reality for me.
Step 6: Filling Out the Skeleton: The Life Blood: Transitions
If you have ever heard a great speaker, you would notice that there was a flow in their presentation. The stories and teachable moments blended together seamlessly so that a forty-five-minute talk seemed like it lasted 10 minutes.
After listening to this speaker did you want to hear more? Did you buy their book?
On the other hand, have you listened to a speaker who jumped all over the place and never made a statement of purpose? This forty-five-minute talk seemed to go on forever. You couldn’t wait until the last words were uttered before you bolted for the door.
What was the difference?
Transitions.
Transitions are the bridges that a speaker will build that tie the talk together into a coherent useful experience.
For me this is the hardest part when I am building a presentation. I have more than enough stories that will carry the message I want to passed on. I have the examples that emphasize the stories, and make it real to everyone. But it is the transitions that connect each part of the story, from the opening through the call to action (conclusion).
When this is done right, you are excited to make changes in your life to take in these new ideas. You buy the books that the speaker sold themselves and the books that were referred to during the talk.
Dependent up on your speaker your notes are either well connected or they are a hodge-podge of quotes and words and numbers.
When someone asks what the speaker talked about, can you sum it up in a few words? Can you only remember one or two points that the speaker made? Or, do you shrug and say, “I have no idea what they spoke about and I will never get that 45-minutes back again”?
When a speaker has great transitions, you don’t feel them. They just happen and you are lifted to the next idea. Without great transitions you are left wondering if they are still talking about their first point, or have they moved on to the second point.
I watched a clip of a writer for on the animated series South Park tell and audience that the transitions should not be “And then …”. He said if you wanted to add something that took away from the flow of the main theme of the show “you were screwed”.
Instead, you wanted your transitions to be “Therefore” or “But”. This happened, THEREFORE, this happened or this happened, BUT this happened. It either followed the theme or there was a dramatic turn, not a totally different idea that took your listener away from your intended focus.
Watch the next time someone is speaking to your group. Look for the transitions or the lack of transitions. They will make or break a great talk!
Step 7: Building an Intro: Setting the Stage
When I build a presentation, I begin at the end of the talk. I want to know where this talk is going so that when I am done everything led the listener to this point and we made it together. This talk was about the individual controlling the important aspects of their life. When I know this, I can formulate the content or the stories that I am going to use to make my conclusion very clear. When I have the stories, I can weave the examples into the tapestry that is the talk.
Now I need to have an amazing opening. I need to set the stage for what is about to happen without telling them exactly what I am going to do. It’s like a great appetizer. When dinner starts “great” then you are anticipating where this could go. You look forward to the next course.
Because I was speaking to such a wide range of thinkers (Pre-K through 6th grade) I needed for my opening statement to grab them and make them sit up and get excited. I knew where I was going with my talk, I knew my stories, my examples and my transitions all I had to do was get them focused on what I was saying so I could take them where I wanted to get them to.
To do this I started with a reserved, “Good Morning”. I got nothing back. Which is what I had planned. I then turned and stared at them. They had no idea who I was or what I was capable, so their eyes got big.
In a louder voice I slowly said, “Good Morning?” And in response I got a few of the students and most all of the faculty to say, “Good Morning” in return. I then walked the stage from one end to the other and said, “You can do better than that, I said, “Good Morning”, very loudly. This time I was greeted with a thunderous “Good Morning”. They were glad not to have to use their inside voices. But I wasn’t done.
I then got on them in a kindly way about how “Good” is just average. I want them to have a GREAT Morning. When I shouted, “Great Morning” they responded in kind. I had them.
I continued with my introduction that THEY controlled how their day would start and how it would end if you followed three easy steps.
I took control of the audience. I made them part of the presentation. I allowed them to do what they didn’t normally do. And then I started the conversation.
If you follow these steps, you can get anyone excited about any subject.
When the audience is caught up in the speaker’s energy and they are thinking outside their boxes, they become more open to new ideas. Now all you have to do is to transition into your first topic.
Wrapping It Up
These 3 Steps really set the tone for the talk. The audience will not understand the time and effort that went into these steps. But they will know when you didn’t focus on these steps. Without examples, transition and a killer intro your talk will be a bland dissertation of facts and words with no anchor points and no flow.
In Part IV I will finish the series with:
Step 8: Building a Call to Action (Conclusion):
Step 9: Choreography: Movement
Step 10: The Heart: Vocal and Body Infections
Remember if you have any questions about this process send them to me at info@thecoachcarlisle.com
Have an amazing day!
