Presenters and actors have something in common. No, not performing. On the contrary, presenters should present naturally—be conversational with audiences—rather than attempt to act.
The common factor is that both positions require delivering the same information multiple times to multiple audiences. In the theatre, on Broadway or Off-Broadway, that means eight or more performances a week. In business, a salesperson may have to present a new product to many different groups of customers; a human resources manager may have to explain the new company benefits plan to dozens of small groups of employees; in financing, a CEO and CFO may have to deliver their pitch to multiple investors or venture capital firms.
The challenge is to keep your presentation fresh. In part, this is a matter of energy and focus. When you have to make the same points for the third, or tenth, or fiftieth time, it’s hard to feel the same sense of enthusiasm and excitement as the first time. But if you go into autopilot, your presentation comes across as “canned.” As a result, the audience is uninvolved, unmoved, and unconvinced.
Theatre people have a solution, so in honor of World Theatre Day, let’s examine “the illusion of the first time.” This phrase originated with William Gillette (1853–1937), an American actor whose claim to fame was his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, a role he played more than 1,300 times.
No presenter is ever going to tell the same story 1,300 times, but road warriors who do multiple iterations of their pitch face the challenge of keeping each of those iterations fresh. Fortunately, as a business presenter, you enjoy a freedom that stage actors don’t have: you can reshape your script and give every presentation a new dose. Does this mean that you have to change your content every time? Not at all. You can use the same core material and customize it with one of these three External Linkages.
Direct Reference
Every time you engage with a person, say their name.
Connect with members of your audience by addressing them by name. In small in-person settings, you are likely to have an informal chat before you begin during which time you can familiarize yourself with each of the individual’s names. In large in-person presentations, participants wear nametags. In virtual presentations, the virtual platform technology embeds each person’s name at the bottom of their image.
Mutual Reference
Connect your company with your audience’s company.
Refer to a person, a company, or an organization that has connections to you and your audience. Think of this as a tasteful form of name-dropping. If you are pitching your services to Company A, you could describe the work you did for Company B, which has a close business alliance with Company A; or the work you did for Company C, whose CEO sits on the board of Company A.
Contemporize
There is nothing fresher than a “Use by” date of today.
Refer to an event that is happening on the same day as your presentation. Find current events that affect the sector or vertical of your audience—ideally events that occur on the very same day—and reference them. Did Congress pass a new bill? Link to how the legislation will affect the industry. Did the stock market take a sudden nosedive or make a remarkable rally? Mention it and link to how it might affect your audience.
Deliver each and every iteration of every presentation as if your audience is hearing it for the first time. Make your eightieth iteration as fresh as the first. You can use the same techniques to customize a one-time-only presentation, as well as every presentation you ever give to every audience. Create the illusion of the first time every time.