Skip to main content
Top

2015 | Book

The Introverted Presenter

Ten Steps for Preparing and Delivering Successful Presentations

insite
SEARCH

About this book

The introvert is a personality type that draws energy from the outside inward. According to standard personality testing assessments, most people are introverts and no group is more introverted than technical professionals. Introverts are congenitally programmed to recoil from the prospect of public speaking with fear and loathing, yet making presentations to expert and non-expert audiences is an inescapable requirement for career advancement in any technical field. Presentation coach Richard Tierney rides to the rescue of fellow introverts in the IT and engineering sectors with The Introverted Presenter—his fail-safe guide to delivering competent presentations, no matter how unsuited by nature you might be to the performing arts.

This short book lays out the complete process guaranteed to raise you from a debilitating state of terror and aversion to a comfortable place of clarity, calm, and competence—perhaps even brilliance, if you can train yourself to convert the free energy of your fear into controlled performance. Tierney repeatedly warns his introvert readers that they risk presentation fiasco if they skip, skimp, or change the order of any of the ten steps he prescribes for thoroughly and efficiently preparing their presentations.

The surefire sequence of steps for The Introverted Presenter begins with defining your presentation’s audience and objective. The next step is to write the script of your speech in stages, constructing it on the basis of proven structural rules, cognitive laws, and dramatic tricks. Then you incrementally refine and tighten your script by delivering it iteratively, first in front of a mirror and then in front of increasingly critical test audiences, progressing from your cat to your boss. When you have a well-constructed and sound-tested script in hand and only then, you may create some slides to graft into your script in support of your opening action call and your concluding takeaways, which you commit to memory. Your slides should be limited to the smallest number possible (even zero) and the fewest possible words.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introverts and Presentations
Harnessing Terror
Abstract
There are lots of presenting help books out there, so why should you read this one? If you too are an introvert, then this chapter explains why.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 2. Feared More Than Death
Destroying Some Myths
Abstract
There’s a “survey” quoted by almost all presentation training companies. The gist of it is that when people are asked what they fear most, public speaking is the highest out of all the replies. It’s higher than death, which is number two. This supposedly academic piece of research is used by most trainers to say “At a funeral, would you really rather be in the coffin instead of reading the eulogy?” In fact, I can find no evidence that the survey really exists. There are a lot of these surveys that are regularly trotted out by professional speakers; most are pure invention, but they put some pseudo-academic veracity to a universal truth, usually the result of a dinner conversation made credible.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 3. Your Objective
The First Step
Abstract
I’m assuming you are reading this book because you have a presentation in mind. If you follow my method, it will also set the template to allow you to not just give one great presentation but also follow a path with a set of tools that allow you to shine in the future. Each time you use this process you will build on the time before. The first step on that journey is your presentation that we will work through together—the one that’s on your mind right now. This is the start of the process I use every time I give a presentation. If I am feeling over-confident or, worse, lazy, I occasionally skip a step. It always comes back to haunt me later. So, here is step 1.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 4. Presentation Structure
Building Your Road Map
Abstract
Having established the action your audience should take at the end of your presentation, you now have a destination for your speech. It’s a bit like driving a car; if we simply took the most attractive turn at each junction, we would never reach a chosen destination. You now have a way to structure the presentation that will make your audience feel confident that you know what you’re doing. Because you do.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 5. Writing Your Speech
The Work Can Begin
Abstract
So, now you have it: a concise objective written on a sticky note and stuck where you can’t fail to see it. Now it’s time to write a script.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 6. Refining
Letting It Shine
Abstract
Those great extroverts seem to just pop up on stage and speak fluently, without any preparation. We can do that too, right? Wrong. Let’s take another little diversion.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 7. Presenting Tips
Good to Great
Abstract
Now it’s time to apply those tricks of the trade, in other words, things that ramp up your presentation still further. Incidentally, all those other books written by extroverts—for extroverts—start here. This is about stage techniques that we introverts can apply only after we’ve done the solid foundation work of the previous steps in the process. Let’s take the actions in the sequence they will happen on the big day.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 8. How to Love Technology
Adding Support
Abstract
Now we come to the slides. A lot of people are surprised that slides wait until this far into the process. There’s a reason for this. Among event industry professionals, slides are called, and although that usually means slides, it can mean props, sound effects, video clips, and anything else that isn’t a person at the podium talking.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 9. Primacy and Latency
What the Audience Remembers
Abstract
I mentioned earlier how stressful standing and speaking can be. If you are inexperienced, this will be even more stressful. There’s a great temptation to sip a little of that free wine that’s being handed around beforehand. You know, just to relax a bit.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 10. Prepare for Performance
Stage Presence
Abstract
When I first ask speakers to start by writing a script, most of them do not believe this is a way to work, nor do they believe they will be able to remember the text. After all, they are not actors. However, I hope you’ve found that the frequent repetition you’ve done means you really do know your words pretty well. The good news, of course, is that you’ll have the script on the podium, so although you can remember the words, you don’t need to.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 11. Time to Shine
Let It Flow
Abstract
On the big day, your objective is to walk to the podium in a confident manner. You will be nervous, but that’s how it is.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 12. The Aftermath
No One Asked for This
Abstract
It’s all over, it went better than you hoped, and there’s a list of 20 things you’d do better next time. You are offered a drink and accept gratefully; several people want to talk to you. You need a strategy for handling all this.
Richard Tierney
Chapter 13. The Last-Minute Panic
Emergency Preparation
Abstract
It’s 9 p.m., and you’ve arrived at the hotel. The conference starts tomorrow at 8:30 in the morning. You have a note from the event producer asking you to visit the conference room at 7 a.m. Up to now you’ve been too busy to give your presentation a moment’s thought. Now there’s a sick feeling in your stomach, and the mini bar looks inviting.
Richard Tierney
Appendix A. Case Study
JCN Software
Abstract
I waited in the boardroom for Barry. I was given the nice cups and posh snacks, which were all indications of status, as was his keeping me waiting for 15 minutes. He walked in talking on his phone and waved to me, pouring himself coffee while carrying on the conversation.
Richard Tierney
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
The Introverted Presenter
Author
Richard Tierney
Copyright Year
2015
Publisher
Apress
Electronic ISBN
978-1-4842-1088-8
Print ISBN
978-1-4842-1089-5
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-1088-8