How to Understand Your Audience for Presentations

I was Wrong about Influence. Early in my career, I believed influence in a decision-making meeting was the direct outcome of a strong artifact presented and the ensuing discussion. However, with more leadership experience, I have come to realize that while these are important, there is something far more important at play. Influence, for a given decision, largely happens outside of and before decision-making meetings. Here's my 3 step approach you can follow to maximize your influence: (#3 is often missed yet most important) 1. Obsess over Knowing your Audience Why: Understanding your audience in-depth allows you to tailor your communication, approach and positioning. How: ↳ Research their backgrounds, how they think, what their goals are etc. ↳ Attend other meetings where they are present to learn about their priorities, how they think and what questions they ask. Take note of the topics that energize them or cause concern. ↳ Engage with others who frequently interact with them to gain additional insights. Ask about their preferences, hot buttons, and any subtle cues that could be useful in understanding their perspective. 2. Tailor your Communication Why: This ensures that your message is not just heard but also understood and valued. How: ↳ Seek inspiration from existing artifacts and pickup queues on terminologies, context and background on the give topic. ↳ Reflect on their goals and priorities, and integrate these elements into your communication. For instance, if they prioritize efficiency, highlight how your proposal enhances productivity. ↳Ask yourself "So what?" or "Why should they care" as a litmus test for relatability of your proposal. 3. Pre-socialize for support Why: It allows you to refine your approach, address potential objections, and build a coalition of support (ahead of and during the meeting). How: ↳ Schedule informal discussions or small group meetings with key stakeholders or their team members to discuss your idea(s). A casual coffee or a brief virtual call can be effective. Lead with curiosity vs. an intent to respond. ↳ Ask targeted questions to gather feedback and gauge reactions to your ideas. Examples: What are your initial thoughts on this draft proposal? What challenges do you foresee with this approach? How does this align with our current priorities? ↳ Acknowledge, incorporate and highlight the insights from these pre-meetings into the main meeting, treating them as an integral part of the decision-making process. What would you add? PS: BONUS - Following these steps also expands your understanding of the business and your internal network - both of which make you more effective. --- Follow me, tap the (🔔) Omar Halabieh for daily Leadership and Career posts.

"Public speaking is not about you. You may be thinking “What?! When I’m in front of an audience, everyone is looking at me. Everyone is listening to me. My name is in big bold font on the agenda. Of course, it’s about me.” I know this is counterintuitive but stay with me. Remember those people in your audience? Those humans who are dealing with the slings and arrows of life at work, life at home, and life in this mixed-up world? This experience is for them. They are hoping to gain strategies, wisdom, and inspiration to make their lives easier and more meaningful. Many of my clients initially come to me because they have had it with feeling anxious, self-conscious, and being in their heads. They are terrified about what people are going to think of them and this fear is undermining their confidence, creativity, and intuition. They’ve made the experience about them. If you relate and hate being the center of attention, focus on being of service. Do all you can to understand who will be in your audience, what their struggles are, and how you can help them. This will help you get your center of attention off of you. (See what I did there?) Also try this - picture that they are looking “to” you, rather than “at” you. You may be saying to yourself, “This doesn’t apply to me, I love being the center of attention!” Even if you are at home in front of a crowd, the same applies. Center your attention on your audience and what they need. People can sense if you are trying to help them or if you love hearing the sound of your own voice. Remember, you don’t get a presentation, you give a presentation." 🎉 That is the article I wrote for Expert Profile Magazine! 🎉 (I can link to the magazine, but not directly to my article. So, included my article here.)

My product review meeting with senior execs took a nosedive 📉 because I made this BIG mistake. Ouch! 🫠 I spent weeks preparing a 6-month strategy and suggestions for the product, with numbers, potential impact and a roadmap ready. I was determined to nail it. 5 minutes in, I saw eyes rolling, unimpressed faces and heads shaking in dismissal. I had lost my audience. Questions followed. Though I had answers, I just froze and couldn't deliver the rest of my presentation. I couldn't pinpoint what went wrong until I started working with a coach. "When presenting, you have 27 seconds to hook or lose your audience. You need a compelling narrative to engage them, and back it up with facts and figures." Since then, whether preparing presentations for roadmap walkthroughs, initiative kick-offs, promotions, or interviews, I craft a story around these 3 core questions: - What is the decision to be made? - What do they care for? - What is your specific ask? 📌 Weave your story around these questions to show (not tell) them the problem. Here's what you should do before your next presentation: ⭐ Before presenting: Understand your audience and what matters to them. Engage in 1:1 conversations before the meeting to learn about their concerns and objections. ⭐ While presenting: - Share your ask briefly. - Outline the problem in one sentence. - Present the TL;DR version of the solution, highlighting the business impact before/after your solution – save the details for later. - Showcase the impact of your solution on the target customer's life (behavior, usage, adoption, churn, etc.). ⭐ Closing your presentation: Recap the problem and your proposed solution. Repeat your ask. The duration of each stage depends on the setting you will present in, however, embrace brevity. Make every word and minute count. - - - - If you found this post helpful, re-share it so it can benefit more PMs. Follow Bosky Mukherjee, Product Coach for more stories and tech career insights! 😊 #productmanager #productmanagement #productcoach #womenintech #womeninproduct #storytelling

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I am kicking off 2024 with a series of Thursday LinkedIn posts on some short thoughts about what I'm calling the "Unarticulated Question." These are the concerns our audience members or our prospects have—questions that are critical to them, yet they don't actually come out and tell us! For example, have you ever sat through a meeting or presentation thinking, "When is this person going to talk about ____?" This kind of thinking and questioning can dominate our involvement (or non-involvement) in what could otherwise be a great experience. On the other hand, imagine how you would feel if you knew the presenter had YOUR question in mind. We, the audience, would be reassured that they would address our question with the answer we are seeking. So, consider this for your next presentation: As the leader, frame the topic and then immediately (within the first 5 minutes) put the audience into small groups of three. Ask them what question they had for this meeting. This lets them articulate their question, and it only takes 3-5 minutes, which you can then debrief with them using a paper chart…which becomes your new agenda! When’s the last time a presenter did that for you? Have you ever tried it yourself? Or if not, will you now? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below! #PresentationTips #PresentationSkills #EffectiveLeadership

Many of us have experienced this: We give a presentation and when we are done, we open it up for questions. Moments of awkward silence follow. Eventually, a few questions trickle in. Embarrassment avoided. But we know: active audience engagement looks different. Much of my work with clients revolves around designing engaging, highly interactive workshops, trainings, panel discussions, and presentations. I just stumbled upon a short article by Joe Murphy, CCEP (see link), sharing an effective technique he uses to get participants involved during presentations or trainings. The beauty of it: It is very easy to apply, doesn’t require props of any kind, and suitable both for in-person and virtual settings. The technique in brief: 1) After a short introduction of yourself and your topic, ask participants to turn to a neighbor or two. Ask them to introduce themselves and share what they hope to get out of this session. 2) As you finish your presentation and move into the discussion part, ask participants again to turn to a neighbor and discuss: What was presented that you have questions about? What is your perspective on the topic? 3) After a few minutes, harvest discussion topics from the group. Why is this simple technique effective? 1) The presentation becomes more user-centered. It allows the presenter to be responsive to the interests of the audience and conveys to the audience that they and their perspectives are valued. 2) The exercise loosens participants’ tongue. As they speak to each other, they rehearse what they have to say, boosting their confidence to speak up in the larger audience. 3) People are much more satisfied with a session where they were able to contribute and felt heard. The best techniques are sometimes very simple. I hope you will find Joe’s technique as useful as I did. I am curious to hear: What techniques can you recommend for designing more engaging sessions? Please share in the comments. #facilitation #uxdesign #ethicsandcompliance https://lnkd.in/eivNaqZB

I remember being scared to death to speak in front of my classmates.    For most people, fear of public speaking is greater than fear of death! Being able to speak effectively to groups is a key leadership skill, but fear can hold us back, cause us to doubt our abilities and shy away from opportunities that could propel us forward. I decided to follow my mother’s advice and take a public speaking class. Fast forward to today, over forty years later. I learned public speaking skills, taught university classes, and became a marketing and sales director.  I went on to become a paid speaker, life coach and the host of The Hero Within Podcast.  Learning public speaking was one of the most important career decisions I've ever made. Through the years, I've had the privilege of coaching others to become better entrepreneurs and leaders.   Whether it's delivering a sales pitch, leading a staff meeting, or engaging the audience, effective communication is critical to success. I continue to learn from my coaches who are helping me improve my presentation skills.  It isn't a one-time endeavor; it's an ongoing process that significantly enhances our effectiveness as a leader. Here are seven steps to becoming a better presenter and a more effective communicator: 1. Know your audience, their needs and interests.  Research and understand their problems and gear your message to solving a specific problem. 2. Become well versed in your content, allowing you to deliver it confidently.  Don’t memorize your material because then you’ll sound scripted.  Instead, be comfortable enough that you can talk about the main points from your heart. 3. Practice, practice, practice and practice some more!  It’s great to practice in front of a mirror, and it helps to become comfortable hearing your own voice. 4. Become an engaging storyteller to connect with your listeners.  Personal stories or hypothetical scenarios can make complex information more relatable to the audience. 5. Pay attention to your nonverbal body language, using posture, gestures and movement to enhance your impact.  Your posture conveys your level of confidence and your eye contact helps the audience build connection with you. 6. Manage nervousness by focusing on the excitement to share your message.  Instead of telling ourselves to “calm down,” reframing our anxiety as excitement is more effective because the feelings are nearly the same physiologically!    7. Actively seek feedback and continuously work to improve.  Be the first to give yourself feedback, assessing what you think went well and what you think you could improve.  You may also seek feedback from audience members, mentors, or your coach.  Take the feedback that you feel applies, disregard the rest and continue practicing.  See #3. By embracing these principles and dedicating yourself to ongoing growth, you’ll increase your speaking skills, empowering yourself to lead and inspire others with clarity and confidence.  

Art of Powerful Presenting 💻 Recently, I attended a women's networking conference organized by Goldman Sachs. The topic of the day was "Powerful Presenter," and it left a lasting impression on me. In today's fast-paced world, the ability to influence and communicate effectively can make all the difference, whether you're in an interview, at your workplace, or leading a meeting. As professionals, our success often hinges on our ability to convey ideas, engage others effectively, and leave a lasting impact. Key Strategies for Powerful Presentations 🚀 🔺 Understand Your Audience: Before crafting your presentation, take time to understand who your audience is. What are their interests, concerns, and expectations? Tailor your content to address their needs and provide solutions that are relevant to them. 🔺 Knowledge: Confidence comes from knowledge. When you thoroughly understand your subject matter and are well-prepared, you naturally exude confidence. Invest time in researching and organizing your content so that you can speak about it fluently and handle any questions or challenges that may arise. 🔺 Make it Conversational: Avoid the trap of delivering a monologue. Instead, strive for a conversational tone that invites participation and engagement. Use anecdotes, ask rhetorical questions, and encourage interaction. This approach creates a dynamic atmosphere where ideas flow freely and participants feel involved in the discussion. 🔺 Master Your Delivery: Pay attention to your tone and speed of speech. Varying your pace and intonation adds emphasis and keeps your audience attentive. Don't be afraid to pause to let key points sink in or to ask if anyone has questions. Effective communication is as much about listening and responding as it is about speaking. 🔺 Engage with Confidence: Maintain eye contact with your audience to establish trust and credibility. A confident demeanor and genuine enthusiasm for your topic will naturally draw people in. Your passion and conviction are what will leave a lasting impression. Effective communication is not just about what you say, but how you say it and how well you connect with your audience. Here's to becoming a more powerful presenter and making a lasting impression wherever your career takes you. 😊 #Presentations #CommunicationSkills #CareerDevelopment #LinkedInNetworking #GoldmanSachs #careergrowth #LinkedInLearning #Tech #Management #ProgramManager #InternationalStudents #Corporate #SoftSkills #WallStreet #WomenNetworkingEvent