INTRODUCTION (c) 2007 Ray Franklin

“You want me to speak to a large audience?”

You never expected to be in this position. Your boss always does a great job at these meetings but never in a million years did you anticipate having to stand up there as well. As a product manager or specialist with the firm you are now charged with the responsibility to communicate your knowledge at the next meeting.

Delivering presentations to large groups was probably not on your resume, in your job description or on the skills required for the job. It is now!

This is not a book on “How to Write” an effective speech, but rather, “How to Deliver” a knockout presentation with confidence.

We’ve all seen what happens when politicians, clergy, even co-workers stand before an audience and deliver a message that is interesting, informative and welcomed by all.

We’ve also seen what happens when someone is ill-prepared and unsuccessful delivering a message on stage.

You won’t find an “easy” answer here, but you will benefit from this book’s proven ”toolbox” of successful speaking techniques. When used and practiced, these “tools” will result in great experiences as you speak in front of any audience.

A very short history lesson

First, a little background on me, and how I came to develop this proven method of helping people just like you to look and sound like the professionals they are.

The business climate was quite different when I started in the ‘70s as a production director of live corporate events.

After college I worked in TV news. I was trained “on-the-job” for studio and field news reporting and interviewing. Whether I was at a small market station in Miami or on network news in New York or Washington, I had to be concerned about the message and how it was delivered.

I traded my on-camera TV news job for what was then called “Business Theater.”

Corporate business meetings at the time were run by the advertising agency. The meetings were slick and well-rehearsed. They used actors, singers, and dancers, custom music, and theatrical effects.

The show often came to a screeching halt when the company executive would deliver his obligatory two minute segment while glued to a lectern or teleprompter.

Then the slick production would continue with pyrotechnics and magic reveals.

It was not unusual for a new-car dealer meeting to cost $5 to $8 million. The production costs for new product announcements, employee or distributor motivation continued to escalate until companies realized they needed to get a better return on their production investment.

Substance became more important than hoopla.

These days, there are fewer Broadway-style singing and dancing numbers at corporate events. Budgets are limited.

This transformation has caused companies to look internally for their own people to deliver a quality message.

As a result, people within the firm don’t have the time or the budget to support lavish productions – and so they must rely on PowerPoint graphics created either internally, or with a production company.

Perhaps you are one of those now required to present a narrow message to an internal or external audience.

People still complain about how much time it takes. “I can’t do that because I have a real job.” Get used to it: Giving presentations is now a part of your “real job.”

My job – then and now

Technically, my job is to deliver the equipment and the personnel to make the meeting happen with perfection.

But for every business meeting I am hired to direct, I consider my first job to be audience advocate, although it is never described that way.

Looking at presentations from the audience perspective it was clear most corporate speakers needed on-the-job coaching for success on the platform.

The better corporate meetings have “off site” rehearsals, usually in a training or meeting room at Headquarters. It is easy to see the first timers. They stammer, they don’t know what to do with their hands, and they wander around the stage area constantly fixated on their notes.

Without some intervention the message would not be delivered, the audience would not benefit, and the first timer would be judged for their performance rather than their material.

I began to intervene - coaching market managers, product specialists, and junior account executives forced to speak, to ensure their success.

Proof of my success was a very personal letter I received from a junior market manager for a pharmaceutical company after he was promoted VP of marketing after only four years with the company. He told me that he had three sources to thank for being where he was today: His God, his mother, and me - his speech coach.

In 1979, that was pretty impressive. Since then, I’ve gathered hundreds of similar success stories and letters of appreciation illustrating how being a strong speaker directly related their rise up the corporate ladder and their ability to stand and deliver.

How I fine-tuned this method

For many years, GE Capital – the financial arm of GE – held their annual leadership meeting for their 600 top people in Puerto Rico. At the time, GE was headed by CEO Jack Welch and President of GE Capital Gary Wendt. Welch and Wendt insisted on excellence in all aspects of business – starting with people excellence. The two company leaders insisted their employees constantly improve their skills.

Throughout this period, GE delivered double-digit growth year after year after year. At the time, GE Capital was the global leader in finance, delivering double-digit growth year after year after year.

Sitting in the audience in Puerto Rico each year was the best of the best.

Every year during my nine years’ association with GE, I worked with 60 - 70 people from around the world, who had been selected to give a 3-5-minute presentation to this audience on their particular business specialty.

It was not unusual for someone to be selected to make their presentation less than a week before the meeting in Puerto Rico.

Needless to say, the pressure on those speakers was enormous.

Because of the extreme time frame – I only had a few minutes for each of the 60-70 speakers – I had to develop a method that would work for everyone regardless of their experience level.

The experience inspired me to develop what has become a very successful eight-minute coaching process.

One on one, in a very short time, I covered much of what you are about to read. You will soon how to use that knowledge to jump ahead on the corporate ladder.

In their everyday lives, each of these GE Capital people felt confident speaking to a group of 10 peers in a meeting room at the home office. For many of them English was not their native language.

When the audience changed to include the company’s 600 leaders from around the world, the pressures obviously changed exponentially.

My job was to provide on-the-job coaching on the day before the dreaded speech.

I “inherited” them after they had met with the graphics designer in another room to discuss the look and feel of their presentation.

The basics of each speech included:

• A lectern
• The speaker’s scribbled notes
• “3 ups” – their graphics, printed three per page with space for notes.
• Graphics projected on a big screen behind them.

The speakers advanced their own graphics using a wireless remote control connected to two computers located backstage.

My “classroom” was the empty ballroom and stage. Each of the presenters stood there rattling their notes at the lectern before an “audience” of 600 empty chairs. Clearly, they would rather be outside playing golf with their colleagues.

I knew those empty chairs were part of their nervousness. I knew each of my “students” was imagining their bosses sitting in every one of those chairs.

To help ease their minds, I placed myself physically between them and the empty seats in the ballroom.

Next, I looked them in the eye, and used the next eight minutes to coach them on giving an effective presentation.

Were my GE Capital presenters still nervous, even after my eight-minute coaching? Absolutely. But after working with me, they knew what to do with all that energy. (And you soon will know what they learned.)

At this point I learned the value of the pressure on each one of them. They would be able to focus on each of the tools I handed them and impress their boss – and themselves.

During the years I have been in business, many other clients have learned how to make better presentations. In many instances, my mid-level to senior executive clients found that the time and effort invested in delivering an effective presentation yielded big returns. As I mentioned earlier, it helped them to advance their careers and to increase their personal value within their companies. Many of my clients worked for leading organizations such as:

• Taco Bell
• DuPont
• Lockheed
• Monsanto
• Corinthian Colleges
• Comcast
• J&J Companies
• Kelley Services
• American Airlines
• Hertz
• United Airlines
• YUM! Brands
• Bank One Retail
• Continental Airlines