Thursday 18 April 2013

Derren Brown’s wise words on constructing a presentation – and how not to learn from the likes of Billy Connolly and Eddie Izzard


If I had to pinpoint one simple ‘secret’ to successful presentation it would be this: Know what you are going to say

The trouble is that I could never suggest such a thing – because it appears far too obvious! The fact is, though, that this is the most common way in which people let themselves down when giving a presentation.

I am frequently asked by friends and acquaintances for my opinion of a speech or presentation they have just made.  All too often you can sense they feel disappointed in themselves and my truthful answer is: “You didn’t really know what you were going to say, did you?”.  Their response is usually along the lines of: “No, I’ve been so bus; I didn’t have time to rehearse; I had a look through on the train; etc etc”.  Unless you get really lucky, such lack of preparation – and proper construction - will always show. 

Part of the problem for ill-prepared speakers is that they see top rated stand up
comedians who work in a long form, conversational style – people like Billy Connolly,
Eddie Izzard and Robin Williams - and it appears they are making it up as they go.  In reality, if you go to see any of these people on the second, third or fourth night you will invariably find that the content is remarkably similar, right down to apparent mistakes and interruptions.  If they do ad lib it is a) because they are geniuses at what they do and b) because they have a well defined structure around which to work.  If they see the opportunity for an ad lib – and experienced comedians often have a ‘bank’ of apparent ad libs on which to draw – it is because they know they can risk stepping out of their planned structure because they can easily get back into it.  Furthermore, the planning and plotting that goes into the structure introduces the pacing, the points of emphasis and the subtle cues that make all the difference to the end result.

So should you work from a script?  The short answer is ‘yes’.  I take inspiration from the best magicians and I was privileged to attend the first lecture given to magicians by Derren Brown.  In those pre-TV days he wrote two books of performance advice for magicians.  Again, I am lucky enough to have rare, signed first editions.  Here is what he had to say about scripting:

The key to achieving good spontaneity is very good scripting. The point of scripting is that you know you can go out on a day that you’ve got a terrible cold and you’re feeling terrible, and do your best show.  And on a good day you go out and you do that show, and a hundred adlibs occur to you, they’re great and they form part of the show the next time, they get added to the script. It’s not about killing spontaneity, it’s about setting the framework as best as it can be, to allow you to have the confidence to move into other areas.
                                                                       
The trick, therefore, is to start by planning and plotting your words in fairly fine detail.  Then – practice until you are so familiar and comfortable with the words that they come over as completely natural.  The fact is that if you want your presentation to seem informal and ‘off the cuff’ – while being truly engaging and effective – you need to fake it.  So it needs more preparation time, not less! 


Extracted and adapted from Nick Fitzherbert's book Presentation Magic


Wednesday 3 April 2013

Theo Paphitis highlights the advantages of a Columbo approach to revealing an idea rather than an ‘Agatha’


If you are pitching a big idea – say a creative solution for a PR or advertising campaign, a new piece of packaging, whatever, there are broadly two routes you can take.

The first, whereby you reveal the idea up front and then go into a detailed explanation of how you came up with the concept is sometimes referred to as the ‘Columbo’ approach.  The old TV detective series used to start by showing us the crime, then Lt Columbo arrived and gradually solved what we already knew. 

The alternative is an ‘Agatha’ approach, in which you hold back on the actual revelation while you tell the audience the ins and outs of how you decided on what they are about to see.  That, of course, is the way Agatha Christie constructed her murder mysteries – no one knew who committed the offence until the very last page.

It is important to say that there is no right or wrong way to do this, but experience has taught me that a ‘Columbo’ is usually best.  The main reason is that your audience has something to tangible to focus on and you spend the maximum amount of time discussing what you have come to talk about rather than, effectively, teasing your audience.

There was a good example of this principle in action on a recent edition of the BBC’s Dragon’s Den.  An entrepreneur entered the den with his invention swathed in a big black curtain.  He told the Dragons how much time and money he had invested in the project; he stressed how passionate he was about it; and he outlined various early endorsements he had received.  The Dragons, meanwhile, still had no idea what his invention actually was and Theo Paphitis indicated his frustration, saying: “It had better be good”!  Paphitis subsequently chose not to invest.

You should certainly show excitement for your big idea and a touch of drama can help – as long as you have considered carefully in advance whether this particular audience is likely to be suitably responsive. There is, however, a further fundamental problem with the Agatha approach in that your audience needs to love your idea instantly.  If you have already given it the ‘full sell’ prior to the reveal you will be forced to ‘back pedal’ if required to take on board their objections.  With a Columbo reveal you have the opportunity to woo them gradually, even making them feel they are part of the decision. Then, if all is going well, you can hold back one final gem, maybe announcing it in the classic Columbo style that was later adopted by Steve Jobs: “One more thing…”.  What better way to close the deal? 


         Extracted and adapted from Nick Fitzherbert's book
         'Presentation Magic', published by Marshall Cavendish