By Liz Radzick of Manifest Consulting

In my last article I talked about how women can undermine their credibility when presenting by being so serious that they look like an “Angry Teacher.” This is a problematic situation to resolve because what works for men doesn’t always translate well for women at the front of the room. For example, in one study on the subject of smiley-ness,  pictures of unsmiling women were decoded as a sign of unhappiness while pictures of unsmiling men were seen as a sign of dominance. So then we should smile a lot, right?  Here’s the catch: too much smiling makes us appear unauthoritative and subservient. So what’s a gal to do when presenting to hit the right note?

Match Emotion to Subject

I will often hear a presenter say “The first quarter results are up 30%” and I will ask them “Is that good news or bad news?” They will usually look incredulous and say “Good news, of course!” The problem was that from the way they said it, I couldn’t tell the difference!  I encourage my clients to actually decide on an emotion for each slide or section of their presentation in advance so that they can practice communicating the emotion vocally AND visually  e.g. Slide 1 – Enthusiastic Slide 2 – Concerned Slide 3 – Frustrated Slide 4 – Proud etc. You can then choose strategically where a smile, or a furrowed brow, or raised eyebrows would help emphasize a point. Cammie Dunaway, Executive VP of Sales and Marketing at Nintendo’s E3 2009 press conference made  the mistake or being serious, sober and statistical for a gaming company launch – an event that gave her licence to be enthusiastic and more on the playful side.

Philosophical Professor vs Angry Teacher

One of the tips I often give to both men and women is to adopt a more philosophical tone when delivering a presentation. The vocal intonation that you would use for pondering “I wonder what would happen if…” is the kind of feeling I’m suggesting. Keep it light, not preachy. Alternate this tone with moments of conviction/passion and you will come across as more neutral and detached, thus preventing your audience from feeling like they are on the receiving end of a hard-sell or a scolding.

No Hand Jive

Waving an index finger or pointing can be perceived negatively by both male and female audience members. And using your hands too much when you talk can be distracting and reduce the impact of what you are saying. The Fix:  Practice presenting while holding a yellow pages or something equal in size and weight at navel level. Feel the heaviness at your centre and plant your feet firmly on the floor about 1’ apart. Then repeat without the phone book keeping your hands at waist level either clasped, or holding fingers lightly (watch Entertainment Tonight or The Weather Network for how on-air hosts do this). Now you are grounded and your hands are ready to gesture when needed.

Feel free to smile as much as you want when your audience applauds your passionate delivery – you deserve it!

Want to get some hands on presenting experience and coaching from Liz -Check out our Boot Camp this Fall