There Is a Perfect Test for Your Speech Or Presentation

Public speaking presentation skills these are soft skills and sometimes you never really know what’s going to work.

You’re on one day you’re off the next time out.

I’m sure you’ve heard that I’ve heard those things and let me tell you that is absolute garbage that is baloney that is complete nonsense.

There’s nothing soft about public speaking your presentation skills.

It is every bit as quantifiable as any aspect of physics mathematics or chemistry.

You can in fact test these things.

If I’m an engineer and I design some bridge I’m going to want to test it before human beings are going over in their cars and collapses to their death.

I can’t just say well let me wing it that day and I had an off day building but no you test your bridge.

If you’re an engineer guess what.

You can test your presentations.

You can test your speeches.

Here’s how to do it take the video that you just made that you’re now confident you look your best and sound your best email that video to two or three people who are similar in mindset to the audience you’re going to be speaking to send it to them and then call them up or text them.

Here’s the thing.

Don’t ask them what they think your friends that your colleagues they’re going to tell you are great you are fine.

Good job very professional.

Completely worthless feedback.

That’s not what we’re after.

You want to ask them what stands out.

What do you remember.

How would you summarize this presentation to a colleague who didn’t hear me.

And here’s what you’re listening for.

Did they tell you the five or fewer ideas the messages you really cared about when you prepared this presentation.

Can they throw them back in your face maybe a different order that’s fine.

Different wording that’s fine but can they in fact remember your messages and talk about them and throw it back.

If they can’t remember your messages guess what you failed.

If you’re using slides ask them what slides they remember.

If they say oh well the slides were really professional guess what.

You just lives were useless.

They can’t remember your slides.

Throw them in the trash can.

You need to find out what stories they remember what messages they remember what slides they remember and do they feel compelled to take the action you wanted them to take when you started this whole process.

So test this now sometimes you could be in an organization office you could test with three or four colleagues at lunchtime or in the morning while people are having coffee test in front of live people get feedback.

We’re not so much concerned about them saying Well you touched your pinky once or you said one people are going to give you a lot of advice.

I would disregard most of it but what you do really want to pay attention to is what do they remember.

Remember the biggest problem most people have when they’re giving a speech or presentation.

It’s not that they freeze have flop sweat and are so scared it’s a disaster and they made a horrible impression.

Biggest problem most people have is they made no impression they stood up dressed professionally.

They went through the presentation smoothly professionally.

Two minutes later no one remembers anything of what they said.

You don’t want to do that.

So that’s why it’s critical to test in advance when Ted picks great speakers quite often the speakers spoke at a TED X first and tested at the material show there was demand it showed people like it showed the audience resonated.

Al Gore before he gave his famous TED talk on global warming gave that speech thousands of time for years before it attracted a huge audience on Ted and then turned into a movie.

So test your presentation on your audience.

A sampling or a subset of your audience in advance because when you see that the speech you’ve prepared and delivered two or three people who didn’t know it was entered in advance can understand it and remember it then when you’re going in to give the real speech it’s virtually impossible to be nervous.

You’re going to have confidence but confidence based on reality.

Confidence based on legitimate proof.

That’s what we’re after.