Presenters can benefit from the tricks of the trade in the performing arts world. After all, performing artists are in front of critical audiences every time they show up for work! And, they go on stage for a living.
Here are some powerful ideas for applying performance strategies every time you make a pitch:
1. Take the Stage How you enter the room (on an actual stage or in a virtual zoom room) tells your audience what to expect from the rest of the time they’ll spend with you. Are you high energy and welcoming? Or are you quiet and mysterious? Plan ahead of time the energy level you want your audience to experience.
2. Greet Your Specific Audience There’s a reason rock stars yell, “Hello Cleveland!” when they step up to the microphone. With this customized greeting, they’re acknowledging their specific audience and making that audience feel special. Be sure to plan ahead of time exactly how you’ll greet your audience and start your pitch. I’m talking about the very first words out of your mouth. Nail these, and the rest of the pitch will be a lot easier.
3. Face Your Audience Stage actors accept that they are fully visible the entire time they are on stage. Their audiences will be looking at them and listening to them. Actors open themselves up to this vulnerability and reveal themselves to their audiences – creating a real and lasting connection. As a speaker, you can do the same. Use open body language. Make eye contact. Move toward your audience. Even for virtual meetings you can do the same: Look into the camera for the equivalent of eye contact. Show your head, torso, arms, and hands in your frame so you can make gestures that support your points. Do everything you can to make a connection with your audience.
4. Read the Room You want your audience to stay engaged and be with you through your entire pitch. This means you’ve got to constantly scan your audience to make sure they’re paying attention and are interested in your presentation. For virtual meetings, ask a lot of questions and use the “chat” feature to get written responses. In person, ask questions that can be answered by audience members raising their hands. If you start to lose your audience, quickly move on to a new topic. Even if you think the current topic is important, it’s your audience that matters. You know who’s great at this skill? Stand-up comedians. With every joke, with every gesture, they’re reading their audience. They know instantly if the audience is responding positively or not. They can adjust their performance based on this audience response, and they read the room constantly.
5. Use Clear Diction and Enunciation Actors, late-night TV hosts, voiceover artists, and many other performers understand that their audiences have to understand their every word. While this sounds obvious for presenters, I can tell you that this is an area that often needs coaching. (Clear diction is especially important for virtual presentations, where low quality microphones, earbuds, speakers and poor bandwidth are the norm.) Here are two pointers: (1) Slow down your speech. (2) Clearly pronounce the last consonant of your words.
6. Be Aware of Your Stage Presence As a presenter, you can never get flustered. To be successful, you’ll need to stay calm, look confident, and exude executive presence. Both actors and musicians are absolute professionals at these skills. They regularly make mistakes in their performances with absolutely no reaction whatsoever to the mistake. They go on, without missing a beat. They keep their “game face” on, and audiences see nothing in these professionals’ facial expressions that would give away how panicked they feel inside. So, take a deep breath, square your shoulders, keep a calm demeanor, and face the pushback and challenging questions you’re sure to get when presenting your ideas.
7. Exit the Stage Gracefully Dancers, opera singers, and rock bands all end their performances basking in the glow of the stage lights and acknowledging their audiences before they head off stage. You can do the same as a presenter. When you finish your pitch, make eye contact (for virtual meetings stare into the camera), let your audience know they’re important to you and that you want to stay in contact, and leave the room energetically.
Each of these strategies takes practice and requires a specific mental framework to execute confidently. When the strategies are used effectively, the presenter will exude a level of presence and authenticity unavailable to most presenters who are unaware of these performance strategies.
