How To Give Insanely Great HR Presentations…
by Alan Collins
Public speaking and giving talks in your HR area of expertise is one of the fastest ways for you to promote yourself and advance your HR career.
I was reminded of this when I was recently asked to give a 30 minute talk to a group of 20 senior HR executives in Chicago.
Since I was given a few days notice, I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare so I followed my “simple formula” for giving great 30 minute presentations…
Speak for 22 minutes straight from the heart.
No slides.
No handouts.
No flip charts.
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse beforehand.
And if you must open with a joke, let it be on you.
I’ve done a lot of talks over the years. What I’ve discovered is that the best presentations are simple, authentic, genuine and leave the audience wanting more of you, not less. And, one of the best things I ever did for my HR career is becoming a good public speaker. Notice I said good, NOT great! Let me be clear: no one will ever mistake me for being the next Tony Robbins, Obama, Reagan, JFK or MLK.
However, I’m convinced that any HR professional can give terrific presentations if they’re willing to speak, prepare in advance and have a passion for their topic. In fact, the best HR leaders seek out opportunities to speak and enthusiastically share their message all the time.
The superstars in HR give presentations at offsite meetings, team presentations, big annual meetings, or to HR associations. Or they lead college recruiting presentations, orientation sessions, teleclasses or webinars. They use these presentations to promote their topic, their organization…and yes, promote themselves and their HR career.
Guidelines For Giving Absolutely Horrible, Clueless Presentations
The biggest presentation mistake I see HR professionals make is waiting until the last minute to prepare. They then rush to throw together a PowerPower presentation relying on it as their “crutch” to bail them out. You can tell who these HR presenters are because they follow the guidelines below…(note: #16 & #29 are my personal favorites):
1. They just dive right to the first slide – and forget about any sort of WOW beginning
2. Show lots of slides – about 1 slide per minute (or 60 slides for a one hour presentation)
3. Focus on sharing facts and data – no interesting stories, anecdotes and examples
4. Use 12 lines of bullets per slide
5. Don’t use images or pictures on the slides, just lots of text
6. Read each slide word for word
7. Read the slide twice to make the point
8. Make an excuse about small text, “I know you can’t read this, but…”
9. Use lots of animations, especially twirls, fly-ins and spinning words
10. Make the text so small people in the back can’t see it
11. Turn their whole back to the audience when looking at a slide
12. Use that annoying laser pen
13. Make crazy little circles with their laser pen
14. Make zig-zags with their laser pen
15. Have no gestures, just stand there with arms dangling down
16. Or, wave their arms around like Michael Jackson singing Billie Jean
17. Or don’t move at all, or
18. Pace like a lion in a cage
19. Walk or stand in front of the screen (letting the words display on their face)
20. Tell a few jokes, even though they know they can’t tell a joke
21. Walk with their hands in your pant pockets
22. Fold their arms
23. Don’t sound passionate or interested in their own material
24. Don’t engage the audience
25. Memorize their slides and sound like a robot
26. Put two or three charts on one slide
27. Use those cheesy annoying sounds or fly-ins or spins as each slide is presented
28. Use as many builds as humanly possible on each slide
29. Point to a slide with their middle finger
30. Point at the audience with any finger
31. Use lots and lots of flash animation
32. Insert poorly shot videos
33. Insert videos with muddled sound
34. Use lots of word art and slanted text
35. Use child-like clip art and lots and lots of cartoons
36. Never repeat the agenda so people can follow their ideas
37. Always go over, never under their allotted time
Nobody ever walked out of one of these presentations inspired, sold, or well-informed. They just left bored out of their freaking mind saying silently to themselves: “I wonder how long that presenter is going to keep that great HR job she has.”
Obviously, I’m building up to a better way.
Guidelines For Giving Insanely Great Presentations
If you must give a presentation — and yes, if you must use PowerPoint — the video below will show you some better guidelines to follow…compliments of Steve Jobs:
You may not be the CEO of Apple, but if you’re an HR leader (or an aspring one), you must look and sound like a leader in every talk you give. There’s too much riding on your performance — your ability to influence others, your personal impact, your image and your career advancement in HR.
And if you’re drop dead serious about taking your HR game to the next level, start taking steps today to polish up your presentation skills.
Besides, why should you settle for just giving average presentations…when you can give insanely great ones!
For more detailed suggestions on giving great presentations and using them to sell yourself and your ideas, I’d highly recommend checking out Christopher Witt’s Real Leaders Don’t Do Power Point: How To Sell Yourself and Your Ideas by clicking HERE. It shows you how to become more confident, more commanding, and a more compelling speaker. What I like best is that most of Witt’s chapters can be read in five minutes or less and you can go through this book in one setting.
Feel free to add your comments on this article by CLICKING HERE.
About the Author: Alan Collins was Vice President – Human Resources at PepsiCo where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. He is now President of Success in HR, Inc. and the author of: UNWRITTEN HR RULES: 21 Secrets For Attaining Awesome Career Success in Human Resources with TWO FREE CHAPTERS that can be downloaded HERE.
© SuccessinHR.com
January 21st, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Alan: This is well put together.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Al Duff
January 21st, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Alan, the experience you have gained from your amazing career could help anyone ramp up quickly. I was on a panel discussion at a HRMAC event last year covering the topic of networking.
Being on a panel discussion showcased my skills as an expert in the industries and definitely generated a lot of interst. Coupling personality with the mechanics of an amazing presentation would definitely raise anyones game. Thank you for sharing your expert opinion in your book.
Zach
January 21st, 2010 at 7:05 pm
Alan: As a person who often speaks professionally, I’ve seen my share of speakers (and made my share of mistakes) over the years. You have put, in an easy to read essay, the critical components of a great presentation. The formula really isn’t all that complicated, is it? The suggestion to rehearse, rehearse and rehearse some more can’t be overstated. Thank you for taking the time to help us all become better speakers.
January 21st, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Alan,
You are right on! There is nothing – absolutely nothing – more boring than watching a presenter read the powerpoint slide bullet points. In most cases, using a lot of slides is just an excuse for poor preparation. The presenter uses them as reminders of the details of the presentation.
As you indicated, if you must use slides, keep the slides and the bullet points to a minimum. The audience can read the words, the presenter must tell the audience why they should care about the slide’s message.
My most successful presentations were made to persuade a group to adopt a particular point of view or to accept a new idea. I’ve found that the maximum number of points that you can successfully make is three (3). Anything more than that, the audience will probably forget.
Lastly, to echo your “formula” — no slides, handouts, or flipcharts. Why would you want your audience to look at your props — they should be concentrating on YOU.
Great subject, great video, great points! Keep it coming.
Glenn
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Timely topic: I was just discussing this with a colleague who had returned from a deadly Power Point presentation. He said the entire audience was nodding off because they’d given up trying to follow the 10 point fonts on the screen. Your advice is solid and practical for all professionals, not just those in HR.
WHEN will people learn that a Power Point presentation alone will not make an effective presentation?
February 10th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
[...] on a recent HR project you got rave reviews on? Do you blog? Not a writer, ok – can you speak? Could you put together a short presentation that showcases your expertise? Do you already have a [...]
February 13th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Superb advice. It is sad to see so many great HR professional sink like stones when doing direct talks or open forum presentations. Sage advice..