A few notes of planning for an hour long presentation; an unexpected tangent; questions you hadn’t prepared for…these are a few of many presenters’ least favourite things. But if we’re well prepared and confident in our selves, they can all lead to more fulfilling, interesting and successful presentations and pitches.
Improving your ‘winging it’ skills will help you to be more natural and fluid in your presentations. And by improving your skills, you will help your audiences to get more out of the time you’re on stage. Because although preparation is key to a great presentation, flexibility is more important for delivering a session your audience will value.
Step 1: know your audience
A successful presentation gives the audience what they want. If you don’t know your audience you could end up giving a presentation they aren’t interested in. this might lead to interruptions and requests for information you don’t have.
Knowing your audience will allow you to anticipate their questions and concerns, answer them in your presentation, or have an answer prepared for when they ask a question. Often times, winging it isn’t actually making something up on the fly – it’s being prepared for lots of possibilities.
Step 2: know your stuff
Have you ever seen a presenter plough right on, ignoring all of the signals their captive audience are giving to show they’re not interested?
Presenters are often afraid to venture beyond the script they’ve prepared, because they might display their ignorance. Make your research wide and varied so that you always know more than you include in your actual presentation.
Think through the ideas you’re sharing – look for weaknesses and holes in your arguments. If you know all of the possible negative or sceptical things a person might say about your idea, you’ll have a prepared response if they do.
Step 3: Know your material
Presenters are often required to wing-it because an unexpected event requires them to change the structure of the presentation. If you’re clear about the structure and key message of your presentation, you’ll be able to take another approach and still provide all of the information.
If you rely on your slides to prompt you, diversions like these could derail your whole presentation. Some argue that you have to present something six times before you truly understand it.
Step 4: learn to say “no”, and “I don’t know”
In discussing your ideas, you will probably raise questions in your audience that don’t directly relate to your presentation. In the interests of the audience as a whole, it is often better not to address those issues at the time.
First, consider whether following that idea would be valuable to everybody present. If not, politely offer to discuss the matter after your presentation.
There will inevitably be times when you’re asked a question you don’t know the answer to. The worst thing you can do in this situation is try to cover up your ignorance. Say you don’t know, and discuss ways that you could all find out – “I’ll investigate that and send you an email” or, “the answer to that question is covered on xxx [webpage, supporting document, document, book], but I don’t know it off the top of my head”.
How can I get better at ‘winging it’ in presentations?
‘Winging it’ is the ability to deal with the unexpected. When you’re presenting, it’s being able to get your message across even if you can’t give the presentation you’d planned. Be confident in your knowledge, and sure of your content and you’ll be fine.
