Delivery Matters

I’ve been flying far too frequently these days.  On the up side, it means reconnecting with family, friends, and clients from around the country.  On the down side, it means listening to the airline safety announcement over and over – to the point where I can recite it verbatim.  Nonetheless, as a presentation coach, I find myself really listening to the safety instructions, wanting to give the flight attendant an audience to which s/he can deliver this most important presentation. 

This morning, I observed a delivery style that occurs far too frequently on airplanes and in many other types of critical presentations. The flight attendant rattled through her information so quickly, I doubt anyone really heard her, to the point of slurring and missing words.  She used no inflection, delivering her monologue in a monotone, devoid of emotion or interest.  Her demonstration of the safety equipment was lackluster at best, disconnected from the speed-speak flow of the words.  I found myself thinking from the perspective of a first time flyer who really needed to know this information.  “Should I put my oxygen mask on first, or should I help the person next to me?  Where are those exits again?  What if the exit door is behind me? Will anything direct me to the nearest exit? What about the unlikely event of a water landing?”  Though I’ve heard the instructions hundreds of times, I know that in the event of an airline incident in which I were called upon to act on those instructions, only the ceaseless repetition of the instructions would enable me to act.  I fly ten or more times each month; I’m betting most of my fellow passengers don’t have the benefit of hearing the message that frequently and may have to rely on the instructions they heard this morning.

How many presentations in our industry do we deliver like this flight attendant?  I believe that in many cases, the most boring content in presentations is often the most important, despite the fact that many audience members have heard it before.  For example, in short-list interviews, I’ve seen project management presentations that had selectors on the edge of their chairs, and I’ve seen similar presentations that put audience members to sleep.  I’ve witnessed safety meetings where team members were engaged and asking questions; I’ve also seen the same content delivered to an audience whose sole interest was getting out on the jobsite vs. hearing the information.  What’s the difference?

The major difference between a great presentation of common content and a bad presentation of the same content lies in delivery.  A great speaker takes the content and personalizes it: There’s nothing more important than delivering this particular message to this audience.  Great speakers know that even the best content is not enough to make a great presentation; great presentations take passionate, appropriate delivery combined with a genuine interest in the audience and audience members’ understanding.

The elements of great delivery are fairly simple; it involves intentionally focusing on how you move, how you look, and how you sound.  How you move has to do with appropriate gestures, eye contact, and body movement.  How you look has to do with relaxed posture, comfortable and appropriate dress, and orientation to other team members.  How you sound has to do with the pace, pitch, volume, and tone of your words.  While we could write a book about each of these elements, the bottom line is that great delivery involves intentionality – making a choice to adjust any one of these elements to fit the needs of the content, the situation, and the audience.

Most importantly, great delivery involves a genuine interest in the audience and audience members’ comprehension of the material.  This interest changes everything.  Being interested in audience member comprehension forces speakers to really look at audience members.  Being interested makes speakers change their voice to communicate interest, concern, or excitement. And, being interested engages team members, audience members, and the speaker in the importance of the content – collectively and individually.

What if this one presentation of the airplane safety information was the time it really mattered?  Would that knowledge change the delivery of the information?  I’d like to think so.  The takeaway for me is this:  Each time we have the opportunity to speak to an audience, we need to deliver the information as if this time it matters. While many of our presentations don’t have potential life or death implications, they are important.  At all times, in all situations, to all audience members, make a choice to speak like what you are saying makes a difference.