(This is Part One. Part Two is here.)
When I lead a Presentation Skills workshop, it's always funny to hear a participant say they'd prefer to be filmed sitting down.
"Why?" I ask.
"Because I never stand up to present."
"Why not?" I ask.
- "There's no need to."
- "Everybody else is sitting down."
- "The room is too small." (Only a valid excuse if it is.)
- "I'm uncomfortable standing." (Only a valid excuse if you have a medical condition.)
- "It's un-Australian."
No surprise, the vast majority of people prefer to sit down when making a presentation for three reasons: they're more comfortable, they feel less exposed, and it's more collegial.
While they're understandable reasons, they aren't accurate. Simply put, the vast majority of people are at least 50% less dynamic when sitting down, because their body movements are halved ... and perhaps as much as 75% because everything else is restricted too. It's more difficult to breath properly, which means it's harder to project your voice. Hand gestures diminish, if not disappear. Eye contact disappears too because the person tends to read what it's front of them. All of this adds up to what I call "a stable sameness."
That's not to to say there aren't reasons to sit down when presenting, but there are just as many reasons to stand up. And, you should make the decision to do one or the other based on the simple objective: What are you trying to do?
You want to stand up when you want FOCUS. In other words, you want the audience to focus its attention on one spot, usually a screen (usually a PowerPoint slide) or a flip chart. You're doing this because you want to educate, demonstrate or explain something to the audience. More so, you're doing this because you need to ...
- Watch or monitor your audience's facial expressions, reactions or emotions.
- Command or establish authority.
- Inspire, rally or challenge.
- Facilitate by controlling the audience and flow of communications.
- Brainstorm, formally.
- Or simply to be seen, especially for large audiences.
You want to sit down when you want equality, usually to DISCUSS something. In other words, you want to diffuse the audience's attention, usually toward something in front of them, such as a hand-out or a pass-around. More so, you're doing this because you want to ...
- Encourage input from everyone.
- Demonstrate that all opinions are important, least of all, yours.
- Suggest the formal part of the meeting is over, and now it's time to talk
- Brainstorm, informally. But, if it turns into a debate or argument, STAND UP.
To these guidelines, I'd add a few times when sitting is appropriate.
- You are told to, by an authority. But not 'asked to'.
- The room is too small.
- There's less than 3-4 people, including you, and it's conversationally easier to lean across the table to point to a chart or graph to explain it.
Always consider how you might adapt your body, gestures and voice if you do sit. Because, quite simply, you don't want your career - worse, your reputation - to take a beating at a critical time because you can't stand and talk confidently and credibly.
Part Two of this topic is here. Specific points in Presentation Skills for body, gestures and voice when you do sit down, as well as tips to handle your skills when part of your audience joins by conference call.
Questions about Presentation Skills workshops? Email me at andy@aqus.com.au.
