Seven Tips To Make You A Rock Star At Your Next Presentation

After being paid to speak at conferences for more than 30 years, you might think that I’ve perfected my craft. Far from it! I’m constantly working to improve, and one way I do that is by working with a speech coach. One of the best investments I’ve made in my career is in working with a coach, who found room for improvement in many areas of my speech. Some were major changes, while others were nuances. The “net-net” was a better experience for both me and the audience.

There’s a reason that athletes, even those at the top of their game, work with a coach. A coach can spot opportunities, even small ones, that could yield improvement. One of my favorite sports images is of Tiger Woods practicing his putting with his coach. Even at the top of his golf game, he still saw the need for a coach. Or perhaps it was the coach who pushed him to the height of his game.

In the corporate world, there are plenty of reasons to hire a coach. Leaders want to lead better. Managers want to manage better. When it comes to making presentations—to the boss, to our employees, to our customers or the board of directors—we want to be rock stars!

Meet Patricia Fripp, speaking coach to the stars. She works with both professional speakers and top corporate executives from some of the largest companies in the world. I’ve had the honor of knowing and working with Fripp, as she likes to be called, for more than 30 years.

Fripp shared a recent assignment—or perhaps the word “challenge” is more appropriate. A client said, “He is not a bad speaker. He’s brilliant, shy and modest, and [he’s] an engineer. We are not a company that has any corporate rock stars. Write him a speech. Turn him into a rock star. You have four hours.”

She accepted the challenge, and to put it in rock star terms, she crushed it. Standing O!

I asked Fripp to share some tips that can propel anyone who has to deliver a speech closer to rock star status. She shared some great insights. Whether you’re speaking to an audience of one or 1,000 (or more), her tips will help you in your next presentation. I’m going to do a little work with them myself!

1.      Open Strong: It’s good to have a strong opening. It’s common sense. Engage the audience with something that grabs their attention and pulls them away from any distractions or whatever they were thinking about before your presentation. You can use a rhetorical question, cite an interesting statistic or share a powerful quote. Fripp’s tactic is to transport an audience to a different time or place by starting with, “Imagine…” or, “I wish you could have been there.”

2.      Clear Thinking: Fripp makes this clear: “If you can’t describe what you’re talking about in one sentence, you may be guilty of fuzzy focus or trying to cover too many topics.” Too much information or an unclear objective will confuse your audience, which could cause a lack of attention or even boredom. The challenge is to come up with a one-sentence premise or summary statement. Be clear about your topic and your message will come through clearly to the audience.

3.      Clear Structure: Similar to clear thinking, you must also have a clear structure, making it easy for people to follow what you’re saying. Fripp’s formula is simple enough. Start with a strong opening related to your premise; state your premise or central theme; list the rationales or points of wisdom that support the premise, illustrating each with examples (stories, stats and case studies); review what you’ve covered; take questions if appropriate; and finally, wrap it up with a strong closing.

4.      Use Memorable Stories: Memories are made of these. People may not remember exactly what you said, but they will remember the mental images you created with a story. Help your listeners see your message by using memorable characters and interesting situations as examples to emphasize your point.

5.      Connect with Emotion: Find a way to engage your audience. Fripp suggests answering an unspoken question the audience may not even realize they have: “What’s in it for me?” Don’t tell them what you’ll talk about. Tell them what they will learn.

6.      Pause: This is very tactical but very important. Pause for effect. Give them a chance to soak it in for a few seconds. Fripp says, “As counterintuitive as it may seem, your listeners connect to you more in silence as they digest what they have heard. When you give your audience time to consider how your message applies to them, they are more likely to remember and repeat your key ideas and message.” It’s okay to talk fast, as long as you pause at the right times to give the audience the chance to digest your most important thoughts and ideas.

7.      Close Strong: You start with a strong opening, so it only stands to reason you should close with a strong ending. What was your most important point? What do you want the audience to do? Remind them. Even challenge them. Make your final words strong and memorable.

Of course, there’s much more that goes into delivering a powerful presentation. Entire books have been written on the subject. Patricia Fripp has an entire course with hours of content on how to be a powerful and persuasive presenter. That said, this short article, featuring seven tips from the speaking coach to the stars, is a good place to start—and as Fripp says, open strong! Good luck with your next presentation!