Regardless of the topic or content of a presentation to colleagues or clients, and the degree of preparation of the same, it is worth asking what competency features distinguish effective presenters, and what other traits of yours can undermine a presentation. I made a list of 12 soft skills that seemed necessary in the presentations, although, logically, they also contributed to improving other tasks: conceptual thinking, capacity for synthesis, empathy, didacticism, flexibility… I did it thinking that training by competencies would be imposed, within this kind of reengineering of continuous training in companies, as a desirable advance against the more traditional courses by tasks: " effective presentations ", " participation in meetings”,“ Negotiate successfully ”,“ teamwork ”
Indeed, I believe that the authentic reengineering of continuous training will not be so much the consolidation of e-learning or b-learning, as the well-understood and applied competency movement.
For years, executive seminars have been useful for different purposes, but we cannot assure that they have contributed much to the improvement of performance, in the respective tasks or functions: leadership, meetings, negotiations, decision-making, sales…
Nor would competency training be of much use to learning if solid steps were not taken in identifying and developing them.
Some large companies with e-learning platforms have incorporated short online courses entitled "Commitment", "Initiative", "Creativity", "Influence", etc., but it is not possible to think that users can visibly improve these competency features after 2 or 3 hours online, it is not clear that the keys to a future self-development are always provided, nor do we know where the now postulated b-learning will come from.
Hopefully it succeeds with the method, but, above all, I think that the content must be right.
My analysis may have been hasty, but I found 12 features that I had sometimes missed attending presentations, and I discussed them with some colleagues; Although I must also say that I have met magnificent presenters and speakers, and that I keep them in my memory.
Recently, I have attended the Expomanagement 2004 in Madrid and it is not necessary to refer to the quality of the speakers, both in terms of funds and forms.
If, in memory of my 30 years of professional life, I had to make two large blocks, I would separate the presenters who displayed ease and self-confidence (“tables”), from those who showed some awkwardness and fear.
But there are other divisions, and I also remember cases where self-confidence turned into arrogance or boasting, which always produces rejection in one part of the audience.
Also, I know of cases where the presenter believed he knew more about the subject than the attendees, but he was wrong; However, I will leave aside the knowledge of the subject to refer exclusively to soft skills.
1. Conceptual thinking
I have suffered transparencies (or PowerPoint screens) with a large geometric apparatus and profusion of arrows, which I could not understand even with the explanations of the presenter: I may be clumsy, but I have other testimonies; and I have also collided with some forced concept fittings, with whose classification or hierarchy I did not feel in tune.
Having other cases, of equal or greater complexity, in which the discourse was assimilating well, I suspect that the conceptual thinking of the presenters was uneven.
If you wait for a definition, I would say that we are talking about a rigorous handling of concepts, which allows us to relate them correctly and create models to explain complex systems; but it is a very deep competition.
Can something be done by the conceptual thinking of the attendees during a short course? I believe that it can help to become self-critical, to raise awareness of the importance of this faculty of the mind and to identify keys to improvement. If we cannot dedicate more than one or two hours to this competition, we cannot expect much more.
If, on the contrary, you had a couple of days on a well-designed, practical and exclusive course for this competition, then some modest but solid progress could be made.
This is my impression, respecting others.
I do not grant many possibilities to e-learning as I know it, although I do not rule out blended learning; But of course, if you are going to orchestrate a physical presence in the classroom, you have to look for the best profitability of the online part, which could perhaps be replaced by adequate prior reading, which would be economically more advantageous.
I would not want, with my modest points of view, to screw the e-learning providers, but it is they who seem to be betting on blended, and I still do not know how the methodological distribution will be made in each case.
Actually, what was said in the previous paragraph, is useful for other competitions, and I will only make a brief description of the soft skills that we have related (without ruling out others) with effective presentations.
Perhaps the development of emotional competences is more possible than that of cognitive ones, but also in these it is possible to advance, and it is worth it.
2. Dialectical discipline
Dialectical or narrative discipline allows us to move in the desired direction, closing the parentheses that we open, and making sure that we are followed. If the presenter is sure of the sequence and solidity of his messages, and of his timing, he will not be misled by questions from the audience, nor will he fall into gaps that force him to cling to something unforeseen, or to make sudden jumps.
One remembers those times when the presenter took time to look for a lost transparency…
An expert presenter may occasionally stray from the path, but is not lost or disoriented, and this also has to do with self-confidence and self-confidence.
In reality, there is an overlap between competences, and that, by the way, assures us that we do not leave empty spaces in professional development.
3. Capacity for analysis and synthesis
Unlike conceptual thinking, analytical thinking seems to be located on the left side of the brain, more methodical, sequential, and rational; but it is already known that the brain works all of it "as a team".
We are before the modality of thought that, in addition to contemplating causes and consequences, brings out the underlying problems or elements, and allows us to visualize and understand things, no matter how complex they are or masked that they present to us.
Our capacity for analysis is happily complemented by synthetic thinking, in the same way that we have to reach conclusions after a study.
Note that synthesis is something different from summary: this would be a mechanical collection of data, while synthesis implies us, because it involves an intelligently and intentionally formulated collection.
4. Creativity
This is a broad concept that includes cognitive elements, such as divergent thinking, and also emotional elements, such as that disposition to the new that the Moneoneists lack.
I think creativity seminars were already taking place in the 1930s, although I don't know what they were. One aligns more with Csikszentmihalyi than with De Bono, but all the experts - these and others - should be thanked for their contribution.
If we leave it in the capacity to have good ideas, we would have to resort to that resource, little resorted to but highly assisted, which is the unconscious or subconscious.
If we stimulate and improve incubation processes, more and better ideas will appear. The most experienced readers will find here common elements between creativity and intuition, but this is an ocean in which we can drown.
The presenter does not have to flaunt creativity, but a little novelty or uplifting originality greatly enriches the session.
5. Security and self-confidence
Sure, you have to start with self-knowledge.
Before taking any personal development action, one must ensure that he is well aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and that he acknowledges his feelings and their consequences. From there, which is an inexcusable condition for everyone and for everything, there is room for self-confidence and self-confidence.
People who trust themselves take positions, and make decisions, without caring about going against the grain, and, as Goleman says, they have "presence". But this trust must have a solid foundation and cannot become arrogance.
Between strenuous fears and doubts, on the one hand, and petulance and arrogance, on the other hand, we have to locate the ideal point of self-confidence and security, in which a small dose of good humor also finds its place.
6. Self-control
It also goes without saying: if one does not adequately control his impulses and emotions, he generates a somewhat primitive image of a person.
But self-control goes further, so that we can use our faculties and assume our responsibilities, even under pressure and, in general, in difficult or adverse conditions.
Without a doubt, during the presentations we can be in a situation of tension, and that is why I selected this competition.
Sure, you don't give yourself away until the time comes, but we've seen surprising things on more than one occasion. If you get out of control, you already know that you have to recognize it and apologize right away; it is known, but it is not always done.
Fortunately, there is always someone who mediates to regain serenity, and here, by the way, the presenter himself would have his chance if controversies arose in the audience.
7. Eagerness to achieve
It may be more necessary in some presentations than others, but, even if you do not try to convince anything (even if we are in an assertive or neutral zone, without entering a persuasion zone), at least we have to make our presentation satisfy the audience, and it is not bad that it is noticed, if it does not become complacency.
A point of optimism and enthusiasm brings the presentation to life, and it can be boring if the presenter is emotionally low.
The development of this competence is closely linked to the completeness or incompleteness of the individual as a human being, with his psychic energy, with his purpose in professional achievement… It is that, assured of our good perception of reality, we are satisfied in the end of the presentation.
We do not say that we are satisfied with how well we speak in public, but with the visible results achieved.
8. Flexibility
There is certainly a danger that we want to impose, at all costs, our script of the moment; But be careful: we have to be flexible enough, and, of course, we have to be very flexible if intuition gives us a warning.
It may seem complicated, but you have to reconcile the achievement of your own goals with the other elements that may appear on the go. Surely, inflexibility is always a mistake, but flexibility can also be if we don't keep it in its proper measure.
It should be said, it seems to us, of an "adequate" flexibility, the best degree of which is sometimes indicated by other synergistic competences, such as emotional attunement with others or insightful detection of underlying currents.
It would seem that the presenter has to have many antennas deployed, but then everything is simpler than it seems.
Let's not be stubborn in following the script, or in keeping our positions, if that makes us lose connection with the audience.
9. Empathy
Sure, the reader would already be thinking about it. Whoever writes this, an engineer due to the demands of the family script, spent a long time without knowing what empathy consisted of, and the same thing happened to me with assertiveness and other traits.
How could I improve my empathy, if I didn't even know what it was, and maybe I didn't have it? Now I can't imagine a salesperson who is not empathetic; But I think this is the first of the social competences, and therefore necessary for everyone. Without sufficient empathy, the presenter cannot tune in to the audience, to understand their needs, feelings, and expectations.
Lack of empathy in people (especially in managers) causes serious harm to organizations.
Almost all of us have, by the way, known some narcissistic executive lacking self-knowledge and empathy; Conversely, empathetic people contribute to the healthiest bond of society, and empathetic managers to that of their community organizations. Let us always put ourselves in the shoes of the audience.
10. Organizational awareness
It was also an advertised competition. By focusing on the business environment, we cannot forget the position of each person in the audience within the organization.
The presenter must know how to interpret the verbal and non-verbal signals that are offered well, also attending to the space of power or responsibility of each present, and depending on the objectives of the presentation.
If we simply had to report without further pretensions, there would perhaps be no greater difficulty; But if we want something, then we must deploy strategy and tactics.
In any case, our possession of the word must not make us forget the existing hierarchy; This is not usually suspended entirely during the presentation.
11. Didacticism
Whenever you have to speak in public, you have to be didactic to some extent, although sometimes you have to be more: it depends on the content.
We found that this is greatly appreciated by the audience, and that there is a noticeable difference between the most didactic and the least. It would seem that those who are the most are going to teaching, but not all teachers are sufficiently didactic.
In short, the presenter has to be easily understood, both in simple and complex terms. Some people are teachers, and perhaps it is not only due to aspects of their birth chart; Of course, improvement always comes in handy.
12. Control of the allegation
It is not necessary to insist on convincing if it is not necessary, nor when it is tried it is necessary to persist in it.
It seems like a truism, but we don't always control well the adequate level of our pleading endeavor, located between the information without great pretensions and the other extreme: convincing, and even winning, with our arguments. We have already referred to the desirability of putting a point of enthusiasm, but vehemence is not recommended.
It will be understood that the good tone, and the good exercise, of the allegation is especially useful in management meetings, where a good exercise of inquiry is also required. Peter Senge and his collaborators spoke to us of a certain balance between one and the other, for the benefit of an intelligent and penetrating conversation.
And finished
They will have discovered overlaps (we have already discussed this), and they will have missed some other necessary competition. In reality, the list of competencies to be addressed in each case (in each course) must be established between the client and the provider.
This writer only wanted to attract a little more attention to training by competencies, without entering the "battle" of methods opened by e-learning (if I may say so, for simplicity).
I think that the “effective” surname that we frequently give to presentations, meetings, etc., requires training by competencies, and perhaps it is a pity that we have not advanced any further since David McClelland published, in 1973, the famous article “Testing for Competence rather than for Intelligence ”, with which the competency movement started, if I'm not mistaken.
