After reading an article that highlighted the techniques of some acclaimed conductors and which interviewed them on their craft, I saw very clearly how their skills parallel those of effective presenters.

The presenter is the interpreter of the ideas, manifested in the content (words and visuals) and delivery of the presentation. He or she aims to convince the audience of a message or to get them to take an action. The conductor is the interpreter of a musical score and communicates that interpretation to the orchestra so they play the music as he or she envisions.

In short, both presenter and conductor must expressively convey their message to their audience or orchestra in a way they can take in…and in a way that will inspire them to take the desired action.

Conductors rely almost exclusively on body language to communicate while presenters transmit information with words and behaviors. In this piece we’ll focus on the area of overlap between presenters and conductors: communication using the body.

The Language of the Body
The British conductor Harry Bicket said, “If you imagine trying to talk to somebody in a totally foreign language, and you wanted to express something to that person without the use of language…that’s really what you’re doing.” In their body language and vocal quality, presenters must do the same. That means, as for conductors, it’s crucial to use the body, facial expression and even breath in a way that gives meaning to the content or music.

Arms and Hands
A conductor gives most of the information — keeping time, the feeling and texture of the music — through the arms and hands. Presenters use their arms and hands to enhance the spoken word. Successful presenters gesture naturally and freely, as they would when telling a story. And a good presentation, after all, does tell a compelling story.

The Face Speaks
Next to the arms and hands, the conductor’s face gives the most information. “I feel as if my face is singing with the music,” The upcoming director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, said. A good presenter uses their facial expression in keeping with their words and body language. It’s all integrated. If the face does not express the content of the words, the audience will experience a disturbing dissonance and will discredit the speaker on some level.

Eye Contact
Conductors find that a simple engaging look can relax and encourage musicians. And good presenters know that engaging their audience using eye contact wins their attention, creates a connection with them, and opens the lines of communication. It encourages the audience to attend to you since you are attending to them.

Engaging Everyone
Both conductors and presenters know it’s crucial to engage even the people in the back. They know that if you include everyone, especially people from the furthest points in all directions, you’ll form a kind of lasso to reel in the entire audience. When the audience knows you may meet their glance at any time, they are motivated to engage with you. You show them your attention and they give you theirs.

Several of the conductors interviewed said they get a good sound by looking at the players in the back. Mr. Nézet-Séguin said, “You’re getting them in the game,”

Conductor Valery Gergiev uses the same technique with people in the back and said: “Looking at [someone in the back row] means I am interested in him. If I’m interested in him, that means he is interested in me. Correct? Everything I do, I try to do relying on expression and visual contact.”

Communicating from the Heart
For both conductors and presenters, the eyes are also a crucial way to communicate feeling to the audience or orchestra. According to conductor Xian Zhang, “The eyes should be the most telling in musical intent. The eyes are the window of the heart. They show how you feel about the music.” And the eyes also show the audience what a presenter feels about his or her material. We want to see a speaker show passion for the topic, and that is expressed through the eyes.

Your Brain and Doing What Comes Naturally
Does this mean that presenters and conductors plan in advance their facial expressions, how they will move their bodies and what they will do with their gaze? A good presenter certainly does not choreograph his or her moves (see “stiff” and “phony.”)

The impetus for body language starts in the brain. One’s thoughts manifest physically in natural body language and behaviors. You tell a story and free your arms and they will move naturally. Similarly, when a conductor prepares mentally for a performance, the physicality comes organically. Conductor Carlo Maria Giulini taught that “the clarity of a gesture comes from the clarity of your mind.” As a speaker, keep your mind on your material and your intent and you will move — and even use your voice — accordingly.

That Certain Something
In the end, it’s about more than simple technique. “You can do everything right and be of no interest at all,” said James Conlon, the music director of the Los Angeles Opera. “And you can be baffling and effective.” Likewise, you’ve seen compelling presenters with all sorts of quirks, and you’ve seen presenters who have hit all their marks and been unbelievably boring.

As Mr. Conlon put it, and this applies to presenters as well as conductors: “You can discuss gesture and physical comportment endlessly, but ultimately some intangible, charismatic element trumps it all. Nobody has ever bottled it. To which I say, ‘Thank God.’”

I wish you all that certain something.

This time I offer three ways to connect with your audience as you deliver your presentation.

1. Eye Contact

Eye contact is the most fundamental way to connect with one’s listeners, whether one-on-one or speaking to a huge auditorium of people.

It grabs and keeps people’s attention:

Eye contact signals to people to “listen up, I’m talking to you” and they will respond in kind. Attending to someone who is making eye contact is a primitive response. It is known that 6-24 month-olds are more receptive to communication when accompanied by eye contact. Research even shows that dogs are too!* And people tend to pay attention when they think you may be looking them in the eye at any time. (Think teacher who is facing the class vs. facing the blackboard. When do paper airplanes fly?)

Eye contact opens people up to you.

When you want to know if someone’s telling the truth, look them in the eyes. “The eyes are the window to the soul.”

If you look into your audience’s eyes, they will feel they know you better. You will seem more trustworthy…more friendly. They will be more likely to believe what you are saying and take the action you are requesting.

In small to medium groups it’s important to look at as many people as you can, each for a sustained period (one idea, one point, a few sentences) Look at them randomly, not in a routine, predictable fashion, and include everyone possible. Even those far to your right or left, which is less natural for us to do.

In larger groups, you can look people close to you in the eye. For people farther away, look randomly at what seems to be a person, and the entire small group around them will have the experience of your looking them right in the eye. As in smaller groups, move your gaze around the room, and they will start to feel that you could be talking to any one of them next (another attention-keeper.)

2. Engage your audience

You can connect with your audience by engaging them in the conversation, either out loud or in their heads.

Ask a rhetorical question and create a picture for them. “Do you remember the last time you went to a department store? Was there a sales person there to help you with what you needed?” (Asked by one President of Wholesale talking about the need for dedicated specialists for that brand) That picture functions for them as a sort of response to your question. You’ve made a connection through a “dialog.”

Or ask a real question and expect responses. You can pose an actual question to open up the conversation more fully. They may bring up issues that you wanted to cover, or introduce another point of view and thus illuminate the topic for you. Outcome: greater connection.

Engage them physically: “Show of hands: who has ever traveled to Asia? Who would like to travel to Asia?” (One President of the international Division of a corporation introducing the topic of their increased business in Asia.) Not only does this wake them up, it gets them involved in a “physical dialog” with you. You can also try, “Stand up if you…”

3. Take in their support

When someone offers us a gift, it really turns them off if we reject them and say, “no thanks, I don’t want that.” It’s the same with your audience. If they are out there, offering their support by paying attention, thinking about what you are saying, feeding you positive energy… you need to take it in.

Their support is a gift. Accepting it increases your connection with them. It leads to a cycle of trust, respect and support between you and your audience. You give to them, they take it in…they give you their support, you take it in.

That means not shutting off to them by putting on a mask. It means being yourself up there and letting them in. Look them in the eyes and smile. Avail yourself of the positive energy being thrust upon you. Breathe it in. Then feed it back to them. Both you and the audience will feel more connected.

I’ve seen it countless times: a presentation can be a pleasure for all involved when you nurture the connection with your audience.

1. Research your audience

To whom will you be speaking? Understanding who they are and where they are coming from is key to connecting with them in the content, and will guide you in determining what to include in your presentation.

Try to find out what you can about them. If it’s a large group, ask the organizers who will be attending. What is their background? What’s the breakdown of the audience? Why are they there? If it’s a group of meeting planners, check out a Linked In group or trade organization site to see what concerns and interests them.

If it’s a small group, research the attendees. If colleagues have dealt with them before, ask about their personalities. If possible, as the attendees directly what they would like to get out of the presentation.

Some questions to look at:

• Who are they? What is their area of expertise? (Will help you determine what angle to take)
• What are their needs and interests as related to your topic? (Will determine the goals and main messages of your presentation and which aspects of your topic to cover.)
• How do they feel about you, your organization? (You may need to tread carefully or you may want have a more casual, friendly tone)
• What is their level of knowledge about the topic at hand? (Will they understand jargon? How in depth can you go? Will analogies help?)
• Considering the above answers, how can you best touch them?

Which leads me to #2.

2. Include real-life stories and examples that will involve them on a human level

Theory is great, but the audience will feel much more connected with you on an authentic, human level if you back your points with real-life stories and examples. Even better if you can incorporate an experience they have had — something from their frame of reference — into your presentation. And that “story” can be as short as a few words.

When addressing a group of store managers, one speaker (VP in charge) was talking about increasing storage room space and referred to the problem by saying, “You know, the stock rooms you can’t turn around in?”

That elicited a slew of images and feelings for those store managers who had such overcrowded stock rooms that if they made one wrong move, boxes would tumble onto their heads. (Chuckles were heard in the room…) They felt understood by the speaker, and were thus more open to his message.

3. Address their concerns

Media trainers in crisis management recommend addressing the sticky issue before it hits the media, and presenters should do the same. If there is a touchy issue (poor sales, management turnover, etc.) better to address it yourself. Include that issue as one of the points in your presentation and you can put a positive — or at least less damaging — spin on it.

If you ignore the elephant in the room, listeners will find you dishonest. They may confront you on the subject in Q an A and then you will look like you were trying to pull a fast one on them. By facing sticky issues in an honest and straightforward fashion, you will become more credible and trustworthy, and listeners will be more likely to buy into whatever it is you are trying to convince them of, or take whatever action you would like them to take.

Try these ways of connecting when you craft your next presentation. When you create “connected’ content and connect with the audience while you deliver it, you will see how involved and responsive they become.

I hate to say it, but as a life-long New Yorker, I’ve experienced that too often. And it is alienating. I feel like I want to take their head and turn it towards me and say, “hey, I’m here, you know! Aren’t you at all glad to have a friendly customer?” (apparently not so…)

How do you think your audience feels when they see you up there presenting without maintaining eye contact and with a very serious look on your face? Maybe the same?

The fact is that most audiences are positively disposed towards presenters. They either want to or have to be there, and would rather give the presenter the benefit of the doubt and believe that the experience will be interesting and informative. They are there to offer their attention and support, but only if you reciprocate. And that means giving them your attention and taking in their support.

Probably the simplest way to do this is through eye contact. It’s the most fundamental way to create a connection with a person, and with the audience. And it simultaneously makes us vulnerable, putting ourselves out there for the other person/audience. “The eyes are the window to the soul.” So making eye contact, one person at a time, helps them to connect with you and thus connect with your presentation.

Smiling is also important in forming connections. How open is someone to a person who never smiles? A completely serious face tells us to “go away.” It’s not an open face. It is not interested in connecting with anyone.

That is not to say to deliver a presentation grinning like you’ve just won the Lotto, but smiling at appropriate times, especially in conjunction with eye contact, will do a lot to predispose your audience towards you. And then you need to take in their support. Don’t close off to the positive energy they are offering. You can feel it, and you need to take it in, or they will feel as alienated as they would from the unfriendly cashier. No one wants to give someone the “gift” of their attention and support and have it handed back to them saying, “no thanks!”

You can easily practice this in daily life. Try with that unfriendly cashier and see if they change their tune. Practice it with co-workers, friends, family, the bus driver. Look them in the eyes and smile and say hello and look for their response. You may take some of them off guard, but chances are that with some practice, you will notice people becoming more open to you, and connecting with you more.

Then you can try it in meetings and in your presentations, and watch what happens.

Until the next time…

Kayla

“Unlike some candidates, Obama ‘comes across more like a common person and has an aura of authenticity.”

– Dori Molitar, the Chief Executive of WomanWise, as quoted in an article from the NY Times from July 22, 2007, (“Campaign Chic: Not too Cool, Never Ever Hot, by Guy Trebay, about presidential candidates and what their clothes say about them.

Speaking of authenticity, Trebay also quotes Bill Carrick, a Democratic political strategist. “[Authenticity is] the one thing you’ve got to worry about. If someone doesn’t come across as real and believable in their image, they’re not going to be believable in their content either.”

Most people have an automatic meter for authenticity. You can dress someone up, but unless there is consistency in all aspects of a person’s communication, he or she will not appear to be believable, trustworthy or genuine.

The three components of a communication, are considered to be physical behaviors and appearance, voice and words. And according to the famous study by Albert Mehrabian, the three factors matter in that order.

The content of what someone says, wonderful as it may be, will seem hollow and false if it is not in alignment with what people “get” from the speaker by seeing his or her body language, appearance, physical energy and style.

It’s not necessary for every speaker to be beautiful, dressed impeccably or even standing up straight. Speakers simply need to be authentic and passionate about what they say, and behave in an integrated fashion. An audience will trust and believe you when you are a physical manifestation of your words.

Until the next time…