Oooh weee! I can’t wait to tell you about this lesson, it’s big and it’s important!
In engineering there is a phase called “Design Freeze.” “Design freeze” means that no further changes to the design. It is a cut off point for the engineers, because if they continue to change the design past a certain date, the product will not be on time for the manufacturing phase.
Likewise, in speaking and presenting, there is “Presentation Design Freeze.” It is the universal belief that you can’t or should not change your presentation beyond a certain point – especially the night before the due date. Basically, you can’t makeover your presentation at the last minute.
In this article, however, we’re going to challenge this cherished belief and show you how to successfully do a last minute presentation makeover.
A while ago I was in Tucson, Arizona visiting friends. The sister of one of my friends, Miyonna Jones, was going to be the guest speaker of the morning worship service at Grace Temple Missionary Baptist Church. She was going to speak at 8:30 am on Sunday morning. The first time I met her was on Saturday afternoon, the day before her presentation.
During the course of conversation, it came up that I was a professional speaker and presentation coach. She asked me to look over her speech and give her some pointers. I agreed but because of my schedule, we were not able to get together until 10:00 PM Saturday evening. I said to myself, “I’m going to give her a simple evaluation. Tell her that she did great and make one or two recommendations for improvement. After that, I’m going to call it a night.”
Caution: Before you read any further – Set your Biases aside
Before I continue with the lesson, I want to point out that this is not a lesson about religion. It is about presentations and public speaking. The example takes place in a religious context. I recognize that I have readers from all over the world; you have different languages, cultures and beliefs. I’m not attempting to convert or offend anyone. My purpose here is to teach you several powerful lessons about presentations skills and public speaking. Specifically, how you can create a Last Minute Presentation Makeover. And if you’ll temporarily set aside any religious biases, you’ll receive several ideas that you can apply immediately to improve your public speaking ability and influence. Have you set your biases aside? Yes. We will now resume the story.
Miyonna began her speech by reading nine (9) verses from the King James Version of the bible: 1 Peter 2:1-9. I’m going to assume not everyone reading this article is a Christian. This passage is lengthy and the King James Version is the original version. It is also a version that requires interpretation for contemporary audiences. There are many versions of the bible; on my computer, I have 153 versions in 45 languages. Personally, I need simplest version possible – YouTube. Back to the story.
Miyonna read more verses…and then more. I’m racing through my bible, flipping pages, attempting to keep up with the verses she is citing. Never mind focusing on the meaning. By the time she was done, she had cited over 29 verses from the King James Version of the bible. There were no personal stories; few explanations or interpretations. Honestly, I did not understand a thing that she said. I was confused.
“Ed, what do you think?” Miyonna asked me, energetically and enthusiastically.
My mouth said, “That was good. I’m sure the congregation will be blessed with this message,” but my pessimistic inside voice, let’s name it ‘Crabby’, said, “You’d better pray they have YouTube!”
Thankfully my optimistic inside voice, let’s name it ‘Opie’, kicked in, “Help her out, Ed. You can do this.”
Crabby: “Ed. Don’t do it. Don’t you coach this woman this late at night! It’s less than 8 hours before her presentation. Remember Presentation Design Freeze? It’s the law. You can’t makeover a presentation at the last minute!”
Opie: “Ed, She needs your help. If not here, then where? If not now, then when? If not you, then who?”
Crabby: “Ed, it’s not you! She is not a professional speaker, a client, nor a Toastmaster! Leave this woman alone! She is a civilian.”
“Miyonna, let me ask you a question. What is your KFD? That is, what do you want people to know feel or do once you are done talking?”
She replied, “I want them to do two things:
- Tell their testimony. I want them to tell their story of how God helped them. You see, every individual has their own special story of how God called them out of the darkness into the light. It is a story that only they can tell.
- I also want to turn around the negative expression, ‘You do you and I’ll do me.’ I want to put a positive spin on it. I want people to ‘Do You, God’s Way’.”
“Miyonna, where is your testimony? Where is your story? What is an example of you “Doing You God’s way?” I questioned.
Looking down she answered, “I’m too embarrassed to tell one of my stories.”
“Miyonna, if you hide behind these bible verses, do you think that people will get your two messages?”
Silently she shook her head no.
“You need to give your testimony and show the congregation what it means to ‘Do You, God’s way’. If you are willing to tell your testimony and ‘do you God’s way’, I’m willing to help you no matter how long it takes.” I continued.
She said yes to that proposition.
Crabby: “Oh heck no! (This is not what he really said) We’re not going to get any sleep.”
The first thing Miyonna and I agreed on was that there were two messages she wanted to get across to her audience:
- Tell your Testimony
- Do you, God’s Way
We decided that we would use these two messages as foundational phrases. According to Craig Valentine, a foundational phase has the following characteristics:
- It’s memorable. It quickly encapsulates important thoughts that you and the audience need to remember.
- It should be fewer than 10 words.
- It should be rhythmic or musical (i.e. Tell Your Testimony), because music is never forgotten.
- It should be you-focused. For example, “Tell Your Testimony” or “Do you, God’s way.”
Both ‘Tell Your Testimony’ and ‘Do You, God’s Way’ met the criteria of a foundational phrase.
Next we needed a testimonial story. Miyonna came up with a personal testimonial that she was willing to share.
Miyona’s Premise: you can struggle without God’s help or with God’s help. Here is an example of struggling with God’s help.
About a year ago, my husband and I were worried about how we were going to pay the rent. We were $300 short. We were late and it was due NOW. I was praying to the Lord for His help but our options were limited.
As adults, we did not want to borrow the money from my parents, again. I knew they would help us, if we asked, but we wanted to solve this problem on our own.
I was on the phone with my husband discussing this problem when he said, ”Honey, I’m going to have to call you back. Somebody just hit our car.”
I was devastated and thinking, “if it’s not one thing, it’s another.” We were late on our rent and now we were going to have a new bill with our car.
When my husband got home he said, “We did not call the police and we did not call the insurance company.”
My mouth said, “That’s fine,” however, this is not what I was thinking!
He continued, “We exchanged information. She wanted to avoid the police and the insurance company. She told me to get an estimate and she would pay us cash.”
He got the estimate for the damage and it was estimated at $300 dollars. From this little scratch. The woman was true to her word and we still have this scratch on our car to this day.
This is an example of telling my testimony of struggling with God. God helped us when we needed it the most.
Another point I want to make is that it is not always easy to Tell your Testimony. Frankly, I was hesitant to tell my story. Who wants to tell a story of being late with your rent? But today there is someone here who needs to hear this story and be encouraged that they can get through their problems with God’s help.
Wow! Did Miyonna Tell her Testimony? She told a story of how being faithful to God helped her out. She told a story that only she could tell and it gave others hope. First message – DONE!
Next we had to define what it means to ‘Do You God’s Way’. We created a video from her rehearsal of this point. She was able to see and hear what she was saying and how it did or did not convey her message. Through this process of rehearsing, watching and listening to the rehearsal, and repeating, Miyonna crafted the message that she would deliver to the congregation. Second message – DONE!
Together, Miyonna and I were able to create a last minute presentation makeover in just a few hours. Let’s analyze what worked.
- She had a Clear Purpose. She knew her KFD. That is, she knew clearly what she wanted the audience to Know, Feel or Do.
- Tell Their Testimony
- Do You, God’s Way
If you have a clear purpose, it makes it easier for you to create a last minute presentation makeover.
- She told a Personal Story: The $300 rent story
- It tied tightly to her purpose.
- It was easy to remember, since it had happened to her, all she had to do was relive it.
- It was conversational.
- She told it in her own words.
- The only coaching I gave her was to make it short and use dialogue wherever possible. That is, tell us about the conversations between you and your husband.
- She was Coachable. I used to work for a computer franchisor. Over 90% of our dealers were successful because they followed a proven process of success. The failed franchisees shared a common trait, they strayed from the proven path of success. They insisted on doing it their way. To quote Miyonna and Dr. Phil, “How’s that working for you?” I have a proven process that works every time and Miyonna followed it faithfully. (Pun intended)
- Miyonna Knew Her Material. She knew her stories, verses and messages.
- She had a Script. We operated from a handwritten outline with key words.
- Rehearsal.
- I had her practice without stopping. I wanted her to have the experience of what it would be like when she got on stage. There would be no stopping and starting once she got up in front of her audience. With each rehearsal she became more familiar and confident with the material.
- Also, each rehearsal was back to back. That is, there was very little coaching, other than addressing any glaring errors or mistakes. The next rehearsal began within minutes of the previous rehearsal.
- I made her stand. She would be standing behind a podium. Practice as you play.
- We recorded each rehearsal on video. She knew exactly what the presentation would look and sound like. The only thing missing was the audience.
- Call & Response: This is a form of audience participation popular in African American churches. The speaker instructs the congregation to repeat a phrase or word they want them to remember. The audience repeats the phrase. Use your foundational phrases. For example, “Tell your neighbor to Tell your Testimony”. With each Call & Response, Miyonna became more confident.
- Know Your Audience: I was the audience. In this type of church, it is common for the worshippers to answer back to the speaker out loud with an emotional reaction such as ‘Hallelujah!’ ‘Preach’ or ‘umm huh’. Miyonna knew this would happen. When it actually happened in church, she was prepared. She paused, allowed the reaction, and in some cases laughter, and moved on with her presentation.
Summary
Let’s review the process of the Last Minute Makeover:
- Know your Purpose or Your KFD
- Know Your Material
- Know Your Stories
- Know Your Audience
- Have a Script
- Practice like you Play: Rehearse multiple times without stopping
- Use presentation tools such as Call & Response and Foundational Phrases
- Be coachable
- Get a Coach – you can’t do this alone. Here are the four benefits that a successful presentation coach provides:
- Proven Presentation Structure. I have a process that works every time. Miyonna had all the pieces for a success presentation.
- Clarity of Message. I helped her arrange them in logical order that made the message clear rather than diluted and confused.
- Speed. Because of their experience, they can save you time.
- Wisdom. I’ve coached thousands of people for over a decade. If you have to do a Last Minute Presentation Makeover, avoid stress and plan for success by having a reliable coach available to you. In the book ‘Outliers‘, Malcolm Gladwell cited the 10,000 hour rule: ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert — in anything. There just happened to be a world class coach available. Miyonna was lucky, or maybe there was a higher power involved.
Don’t rely on luck. Make sure there is a world class coach available for you the next time you need a last minute presentation makeover.
