I recently attended a "Town Hall" type meeting for a large non profit organization. The purpose was to inform the local volunteers of changes in programs and operations and how those changes would impact the local level. As with any message being delivered, the method of presenting the information is as important as the information itself. As a veteran of many of these meetings over the years I have learned how to articulate issues, frame them from the point of view of the listener and explain the rationale, while empathizing with the audience. It is a difficult skill that takes time to master. The support material and how it is handled also has an impact on the audience acceptance of the information and understanding of the reasons behind the decisions. Too much information and it appears you are trying to bury them with minutia. Too little and it looks like you are hiding something. And one thing I learned is that you can only estimate the level of explanation as the audience members will vary as to how much information is needed. This can be a no win situation, so base it on the largest segment of the audience. Now back to the meeting I attended. I do not plan to talk about the issues as most of those reading this blog have no interest in the specifics. What I would like to talk about is the problems with the delivery of the information and what could be done to improve it. The meeting started on time, a good thing. The opening was handled by a local volunteer, which may seem politically correct, but unless the individual is a competent public speaker, the credibility of the presentation is compromised. In this instance the volunteer, while a nice guy and a great volunteer is not a public speaker. I felt uncomfortable for him which is not the way to open an important meeting. I would suggest to the organization to abandon the politically correct volunteer and simply recognized the important people in the audience and then begin professionally. The support material was a power point presentation that froze with the first video (the second slide). Again a distraction that takes away from the intended impact of the presentation. The first rule of using electronic support is to check it , recheck it and check it again. In addition the presenter had to have someone else advance the slides rather than having a remote clicker. Another distraction that can be easily fixed. Now to the presenter. He was a young energetic individual that is one of the top executives at the organization. He had a very professional appearance which is essential to establish audience credibility. Unfortunately as he began to speak he suffered the age old problem that plagues many neophytes to the speaking field: a case of the uhs, ahs and ands. I stopped counting at 50 in the first few minutes. Talk about a distraction.... This is a difficult habit to break, but practice is essential. The deadly uhs, ahs and ands will kill the impact of the presentation in short time. At the end of the presentation, the session was opened to questions and answers. The presenter stated his personal disclaimer, "I don't know the answers to every question so if I don't I'll get back to you." Seems like a smart thing to do, but in reality you have just told your audience that to get the right answers they should look to someone else. Now I realize everyone can't have the answer to every question, but handle that if such a question comes up. There may be a chance that over the course of the Q and A you do know the answers to each question, but your disclaimer puts doubt in the minds of the audience. In reality the presenter did not have answers to many of the questions and partial answers to many more. If you are sending out someone to represent your organization in a public setting they should be briefed on the probable questions and the appropriate answers. To me I saw the presenter's efforts during the Q & A as a lack of preparation on the part of the organization and the presenter. In essence they are telling me in a backhanded sort of way, that they were expending little energy and interest in informing me of the changes. Not a good way to get me to buy in. Maybe I am just too critical because this I what I do for a living, but I am good at what I do and I expect anyone asking me to spend time listening to them should invest the their time to make it worth my time. Of course in the words of Dennis Miller, " That is just my opinion and I could be wrong." |