The Servant Speaker Archive - The Art of Communicating

The PowerPoint fail

A simple reason why 90+ percent of all PowerPoint presentations are crap: The presenter thinks that PowerPoint exists to make the presenter’s life easier.

It doesn’t. It exists to make your audience’s life easier.

For example …

To make a point that’s quicker to see than to hear.
To make concrete what would remain abstract using words only.
To give depth to an argument that would be hard to follow using words only.
To illustrate subtleties that would be hard to spot using words only.
To visualize complexities that would be hard – sometimes even impossible – to visualize in our minds.

Or, in short: to make life easier for your audience.

There’s not much more to know about PowerPoint. It’s a tool to serve your audience. Everything else follows from here.

It starts with the speaker

Who else is tired of speakers who waste our time with boring speeches that take forever but lead nowhere?

Who else thinks it’s disrespectful when speakers don’t take the time to prepare well?

Who else is done with selfish speakers who only show up to take advantage of the audience?

Relationships are built on respect and generosity.

Value your audience’s time and they will treat you accordingly.

It’s a simple dynamic. But it starts with the speaker.

Much like the idea of servant leadership has changed leadership, the idea of a servant speaker could do the same for speaking.

Who’s with me on that?

How is clarity to be achieved?

“And how is clarity to be achieved? Mainly by taking trouble and by writing to serve people rather than to impress them.” — F. L. Lucas

Wow effects are easy to achieve. When in doubt, throw money at the problem. Samsung, for example, has put entire orchestras on stage during their keynotes.

Wow effects rarely increase clarity, though. Also, you don’t even need clarity to achieve a wow effect.

Aha moments are different. You can’t buy an aha effect.

The aha effect requires effort. It requires you to do the work and think things through. You’ll have to see your audience to understand where they’re coming from and what matters to them. You’ll have to understand their language so that you can find the words that lead everyone in your audience to see what you see.

Aha effects require clarity. Clarity requires effort.

But it’s worth the effort. Because while wow effects usually fade quickly, aha effects often last.

The best way to think about wow effects is as a door opener to your audience’s connection. But once you’re in, lead them all the way to an aha moment.

The gift of speaking

We’re giving a speech. Yet, ironically for most speakers speaking is about taking. Taking for granted their audience’s time. Shamelessly making their communication about themselves, trying to persuade their audience into buying, agreeing, voting etc.

How about we remind ourselves of the “giving” again? How about we give our time rather than take our audience’s time? And how about we start today?

Today, many families around the world spend their time together. How about we stop taking ourselves too seriously. Rather than expecting our family’s attention, we gift our attention to them. Rather than speaking about us, we listen to them. Rather than insisting on the way we would like the day to unfold, we just let it happen the way that our loved ones like it best.

Whose time invest is it?

Traditional presentations consume their audience’s time. Modern presentations reward their audiences for the time they invest.

The selfish presenter of traditional presentations is mainly concerned with herself. She considers the time of her audience as her time. For her, the job is done when everything’s said. Everything? That’s mainly dumping massive amounts of generic marketing messages onto the audience. Boring stuff for the audience. So, the usual reaction of her audience is to think: “Please stop!”

The servant speaker of modern presentations is concerned with her audience. She values the time of her audience as a precious gift. She starts by asking herself: What is it that matters most to my audience? What do they need from me? What do they need to know so that they can make best use of my service? What do I need to tell them so that the time they invest is of the greatest value for them?

The ultimate reward of the servant speaker is when her audience wants them to tell them more.

By creating a win for their audiences, servant speakers create an even bigger win for themselves.

The habit of tuning out of a presentation

Ever seen this empty expression on the faces of people having to sit through a sales presentation?

I guess we’ve all been there.

We totally understand: They think that their product is amazing. And it probably is.

We also understand that they want us to learn about that amazing product. It’s ok that they bring a presentation.

Yet, we’ve all seen enough of those.

It’s really the same story. Every time. Again and again. And again. And again. And again.

Really. We’ve seen them all.

That’s why our habit has become to tune out of a sales presentation as soon as possible. Wake me up before you go.

If you want to break that habit of tuning out of a presentation, you’ll need to do things differently.

Spare us the boring parts. Spare us the parts that just put praise on you. Speak about the things that matter to us. Talk not to us but with us. Let’s have a conversation. One that’s meaningful. For us. Not just desirable for you.

That’s why the posture of the servant speaker is being embraced by more and more people. These people understand that we are tired of speakers who waste everyone’s time with boring presentations. We’ve had enough of disrespectful speakers who don’t take the time to prepare well. We’re done with selfish speakers who just read off their generic marketing script.

Long-lasting relationships are built on respect, generosity, and personal exchanges. Value your audience’s time and they will treat you accordingly.

How to decide what to leave out

If you’re anything like me you could probably speak for days about your topic without you getting bored. Most likely, your audience won’t grant you as much time to speak.

So, what to leave out?

Here are two questions that may help you find an answer. Start with clearly stating the change you’re trying to make. Then, for every part of your presentation, for every detail, every slide, and every word, ask yourself:

Does it contribute to making my point obvious to my audience?
Do they care?

If the answer isn’t a resounding “yes” to both questions, then this detail most likely doesn’t belong into the presentation – at least not in its current form.

A great presentation is 100% relevant and delivered with clarity.

How to serve your audience well

Here are four ways that make your audience’s life so much easier.

Keep it short! How often have you been frustrated by speakers who just won’t cut to the core. We are all busy and still grant the speaker access to our time. The more the speaker values our time, the more we value her effort.

Make it relevant! You’re not doing a presentation for you. You do already know what you’re going to say. You’re doing it for them. So, what do they need from you? What do they need to know? What do they want to know? What is it that matters most to them? Make it about these things.

Take responsibility! There’s a very simple rule in speaking: If they didn’t get it, they didn’t get it. This is always the speakers fault and never the audience’s. So, take responsibility and keep it simple. Use their language. Use examples that make it easy to relate to. Have a clear structure that makes it easy to follow along.

Make it entertaining!
Just because it’s serious doesn’t mean that it can’t be fun. Think about yourself: if in doubt, we’d always choose entertaining over boring. So, if we can deliver the exact same content but 10x more fun, why shouldn’t we?

How to get your audience to like you

Often, I get asked how one can work towards ensuring that your audience likes you. In general, people are much more open towards people they like. If you want to inspire your audience and – even more – if you want them to buy from you, this will be much more likely to work out if they, well, like you.

So, how can you improve your “likability”? How can you make your audience feel like you’re a nice person?

Well … be a nice person! It’s as easy as that! Instead of working hard on a facade to give the impression of being nice, why not work on the real thing?

Because if you genuinely care for your audience and treat them with respect, if you are honest in what you say and believe in it yourself, if what you have to offer is, in fact, helpful to your audience, then why should they not like you?

That’s the key: Be nice! Don’t act “as if” but do it because that’s who and how you are! And if you are, your audience will notice – because they always do when people speak right from their heart.

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