Marija Ocokoljic

TO SPEAK OR NOT TO SPEAK…PUBLICLY? I NEVER GAVE SPEECHES TO THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ON POLITICAL RALLIES…BUT I HAVE SAT IN A BOARDROOM FULL OF PEOPLE WITH STONE FACES WITHOUT ANY REACTION TO THE MERE EXISTENCE OF MY TEAM AND ME INSIDE THE ROOM, LET ALONG TO THE CONTENT WE WERE SHARING WITH SO MUCH PASSION AND DRIVE. And I work in the best industry in the world…advertising. We create brands, messages, develop ideas and communication strategies. And in most cases drive our inspiration from our own experiences, emotions, team dynamics etc. So it is kind of personal. And the worst thing to happen to us is for someone to not have a reaction to what we created, even a negative one. LEAVING THE AUDIENCE INDIFFERENT IS THE WORST POSSIBLE OUTCOME FOR A PUBLIC SPEAKER. But, things are not as scary as they seem. Let’s go through a few points about that whole public speaking thing, dreaded by so many, and try to demystify it a bit. One time, I had a discussion with my CEO about sending a few junior team members to presentation skills training. ``Oh no``, he said, ``you either have it or you don’t, you can’t teach it. `` OH YES YOU CAN. People learn how to be brain surgeons from scratch, so you can bet on the fact that good public speaking skills can be learned. So, for those who do not feel confident enough to wow the TED crowd yet, IF YOU WORK AT IT YOU WILL BE GOOD AT IT. The crucial thing is preparation. Guys, KNOW YOUR CONTENT. Don’t rely on your improvisation skills, if you have fear of public speaking you wil for sure not improvise well. Don’t rely on just reading your slides, they are there for your audience to read, not you. It makes you look unprepared, like you do not really know your stuff. So, know your content really good, prepare, rehearse so many times that you feel like you know it by heart. Ballet dancers do those turns million times a day, there is a reason behind it. When you literally master the technical part, in our case content, on the day of the event you will not worry about what was that number on slide 25. You will focus on delivery. You will appear more sure of the idea you are pitching. Audience always feels it and you will have more chance for them to buy into it. What the audience also experiences and can be worked on is you voice and how you speak. For those with deep voices I can only say that I’m jealous. But for us with a bit more tender voice it is not so easy. You can work on you voice to make it a bit lower and stronger, it is all a matter of breathing and posture. I have a colleague in the team, so bright and dedicated and hardworking, but never got the attention and the chance she deserved. She speaks so fast that people do not catch half of what she is saying. IT IS NOT ONLY WHAT YOU SAY BUT HOW YOU SAY IT AS WELL. So be very careful about how you speak. Too slow will be boring. But too fast is even worse. No one can keep up; it feels like you are trying to hide something by running over the content. It sounds simple enough, but for people who speak fast naturally it is a struggle. So work on it. Record yourself and listen. If it does not sound right, go back and do it again. When talking about how slow or fast you deliver, there is one important point to keep in mind – TIMING. You usually get limited time for your presentation. Find out how much time you have from organizers of the meeting. Rehearse how you fit, do you need to speak a little faster or maybe cut some of the content. Don’t count on ``Oh I will just quickly run through these slides`` Those slides are clear to you, but your audience will see them for the first time, so they need more time to understand. Hide the slides, keep them close by, and if the audience asks for more info you will be ready. Plan possible delays, tech failures, Q&A session. And the Q&A session…if it even comes to that. One of the most dreaded outcomes for a pitch is finishing your presentation and there are zero reactions. Thank you for your time, we will be in touch, goodbye. Like after a bad date. But, luckilly in business it does not neccessarily mean that they are indifferent. Pitching ideas, especially in big companies, is a process lead by procurement departments, with strict procedures for all participants. If that is the case, they can not go into too many details with you, even if they loved what you have just shown. So DON’T BE DISCOURAGED IF YOU DON’T GET MUCH FEEDBACK INSTANTLY, it does not have to mean that they are not interested. There is a very important matter to keep in mind here - WHO SITS IN THE PRESENTATION ROOM. If a Marketing Manager loves your proposals, but CMO or CEO is sitting in on the presentation as well, the manager will for sure hold back, leaving the lead to more senior people. And they by default do not say much. Some companies are just like that, strict, especially when seniors are in the room. Others do not even dare to speak. I have seen an atmosphere in the room going from a very friendly and chatty before the presentation (since we worked with that client before and always were friendly) to a North Pole ice cold, afraid to even look at me, as I was presenting. What changed? SHE walked into the room. The boss. And it didn’t even finish out so bad. Presentation went without any sign of life on their part, but in the end we got the project. So companies are different. And THE MORE YOU CAN FIND OUT ABOUT WHO YOU ARE PRESENTING TO, THE BETTER. And when we talk about people in the room – if I had a nickel for every time I saw strange behavior in a meeting room. We had eating sandwiches as we present, writing emails, surfing on their diamond infused IPad, going out, coming back in the room. You name it, we in the advertising business have seen it all. If someone loses attention while you speak, do not let that discourage you. Go on, find a friendly face in the audience and present to him/her. If they start whispering, it does not have to be a bad sign. Maybe they are just commenting on the content you showed. So whatever happens inside that room, keep going with conviction and enthusiasm because you know what you are talking about. Remember, they are just humans after all.