I’ve been participating in some discussions on the LinkedIn group Expert Witness recently by answering some questions about communication, in particular, about communicating one’s complex expertise to a judge or jury. I also posed the question, “What is your biggest challenge being an expert witness?” The group’s members had a variety of responses with a central theme of getting the jury to understand them. From there, the administrator of the Expert Witness Network blog asked me to write a guest post about expert witness presentations. Here is a snippet from my Expert Witness Network guest post entitled “How to Speak Simple in a Courtroom”: Simplifying Your Testimony One of the first steps to ensure understanding is to remove jargon, acronyms, and high-level vocabulary from your presentation. If you cannot eliminate these elements, then you need to explain them the first time you use them. Simply put, you cannot talk to a
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Many presenters, especially those who are unprepared, have a tendency to read through the presentation or read their slides. This tendency to read happens because the presenter likely waited until the last minute and crammed everything into a small time period. Although ill-advised for presenters to read presentations, there are two important reasons to put down those notes (and stop reading your visual aid’s slides). 1) Lack Engagement – While a presenter’s eyes look at that piece of paper, the audience, who sacrificed a lot to attend, grows frustrated from being ignored. When a presenter utilizes eye contact, the audience feels like they’re in a conversation with the speaker, even in a large auditorium. Good eye contact establishes a relationship with the audience and makes the presenter’s message more compelling. (If you’re new at presenting, it may surprise you that eye contact with your audience will actually help you calm your fears.)
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I can tell you from experience, it is much easier talking to people about animals (since I worked at the zoo for five years) when they knew about animals too. The most difficult challenge I faced doing over a thousand presentations was crafting a presentation about the same animals so that a three-year-old could understand. I realize that isn’t a situation you would often encounter, but that extreme led me to help technical business professionals with presenting and to ultimately simplify their complex messages. The principle is still the same, you cannot assume that your audience knows anything. The perception being the expert in the eyes of others is contingent on your ability to explain complex items in a way that any individual outside of your field understands. If they do not understand what heck you are talking about, then you fail at being an expert. Without the discipline of
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Business professionals usually find themselves in one of two situations, either presentations or prospect meetings, both are important and both center on talking to people. Actually most of life involves people talking to other people. I have said many times that presentations can make or break a company. Presentations work because the audience is getting the experience live and are able to relate to you the speaker. Simple one-on-one conversations are easier, less scary, and are usually the go-to method for gaining business, but they often keep you look like a colleague or equal. So if one option is simpler than the other, then why stress to do the more complicated one. Well, there is a need for both and it will be your responsibility to decide when each is appropriate so you and your team are properly prepared. If you are involved in any business group, chances of you having
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