By Eric Bergman

There is no question that it can be daunting to present to senior management teams or decision-makers, even for the most seasoned HR professional. However, communicating effectively potentially represents a double benefit.

First, when ideas are communicated effectively, the HR professional gets the opportunity to talk to everyone at once to gain approval for programs, budgets or other initiatives. If the audience takes action on the recommendations made, it’s much more efficient to have one conversation with the group than separate conversations with each decision-maker individually.

Second, effective presenters set themselves apart, thereby strengthening the stature of their department and potentially enhancing their own career. Let’s face it, all things being equal, the HR professional who communicates most effectively is the one who enjoys the greatest range of options in the future.

What Makes An Effective Presentation?
So what makes an effective presentation? And how can HR professionals apply concepts of effectiveness to set themselves apart?

Before understanding what works, it’s worthwhile to take a step back to determine what doesn’t. And that can be stated in four simple words: the standard PowerPoint presentation.

There are credible estimates that suggest more than 40 million PowerPoint presentations are delivered daily. But you might be surprised to learn that there is no research to support the use of that much PowerPoint, let alone any at all.

Indeed, an article on the Microsoft Office website says that “no one really knows for sure what works, when, with whom, how, or why. Hundreds of millions of people are projecting their messages to live audiences and, as far as we can tell, practically no one has studied the results.”

Indeed, there is evidence to suggest that slide-driven presentations are the least effective method of communicating. “Today we use technology such as PowerPoint because we can, not because it results in improvements,” says John Sweller, Ph.D., emeritus professor of education at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. “I feel the evidence is overwhelming that the way in which we currently organize presentations is ineffective and inappropriate.”

Professor Sweller is one of the world’s leading experts in cognitive science—how the human mind processes information to learn and understand—and his research is absolutely clear. When humans try to read and listen at the same time, they actually understand and retain less than if they do either one separately. Working memory becomes overloaded. Members of the audience can’t keep up, so they give up.  

Unfortunately, reading and listening at the same time virtually describes the modern presentation. If you’re asking decision-makers (or any audience) to do both, is this a risk you’re willing to take when you get the opportunity to present your ideas?

Enhancing Your Effectiveness
Fortunately, it’s quite simple to enhance your effectiveness as a presenter and communicator. All it takes is five steps:

1. Put the audience first
2. Structure the conversation
3. Minimize visual aids
4. Convey your message & personality
5. Answer questions throughout

Putting the audience first means finding the point at which what you can tell them precisely matches what they need to understand. Think of this process as two circles. One circle—by far the larger one—represents what you can potentially tell the audience. The other—significantly smaller by comparison—represents what they need to understand.

The “sweet spot” for any presentation is the extremely small point at which these two circles intersect. Focus your presentation content on this intersecting area.

By structuring a conversation, not a presentation, you’re boiling your entire presentation down to six to eight sentences. This enhances your critical thinking skills and helps clarify your ideas. Build up from there to fill the available time. But always remember that if your ideas aren’t clear in the shorter format, they will never be clear in the longer one.

Minimize your visual aids by imagining that you only get four or five slides for your actual presentation (assuming you need any slides at all and you’re not using other visual tools like videos, whiteboards, flip charts, handouts or other props). If you’re not willing to donate twenty-five dollars to your favorite charity for every slide over the minimum, you need to seriously question including it.

Each of us conveys our message and personality every day of our lives in relaxed conversation. By extension, relaxed conversation is therefore our best possible communication style. Have a conversation with decision-makers, or any audience. This builds trust and enables them to put your ideas into meaningful context.

Finally, encourage and answer questions from the audience throughout all presentations. But keep your answers short—in fact, painfully short for you. Research into informed consent demonstrates a link between the number of questions per unit of time and better decision-making. As an added benefit, this helps manage nervousness because you’re having a conversation, not delivering a presentation.

Five Steps to Enhance Communication
The advantage to these five steps is that they can be applied to every presentation, not just those delivered to decision-makers. Even if a document is sent in advance (whether a word processing document or a presentation deck), this process can be applied to the actual presentation to improve effectiveness.

Put their needs first. Structure a conversation. Minimize visual aids. Present your message and personality. And answer questions throughout.

Five simple steps that will set you apart and get the results you seek from any presentation you deliver.

Eric Bergman, BPA, ABC, APR, MC, has been a professional communicator for more than 30 years. His latest book, Five Steps to Conquer ‘Death by PowerPoint’, is available from Amazon. To download a free workbook that has models to help presenters, please visit www.fivestepstoconquer.com.