When you've put a lot of time into preparing your speech or presentation, it can be all to easy to miss some of the issues that make it less than dynamite. However much time you spend writing your content, the difference between the written and spoken word can rear its head at the last minute, when it's too late to make changes.
Photo credit: Tan Kian Khoon
In today's video tutorial from speaking expert TJ Walker, the need for running your presentation by someone that isn't already familiar with it becomes evident.
Video credit: RJ Walker
In getting an outsider perspective on your presentation, you might just find out the holes and weak points in it in time to be able to fix them up. TJ Walker notes that:
''A speech can read quite well - you can say on page one that you bought the stock at $10 per share. On page for you can say 'and I sold it for $60 a share.' Now it's very easy to connect those and go 'wow, that's great, 500% return on investment, that's wonderful!'
But if you say it like that, and four minutes have gone by, some of the audience could be thinking 'hmm.. did he pay $5 for it, or $70, I don't remember'. People don't remember things hearing it the same way they can reading it.
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The best way of making sure that the written and spoken words are working together well is by drafting in a friend or colleague to point out any problems or misunderstandings that they might have. Don't let your familiarity with the subject matter hoodwink you into assuming that everyone knows exactly what you're talking about, and you will be a step closer to clear, well written presentations.
