Learning from the leaders

If the pre-election televised political debates have revealed anything, it’s that, despite new forms of spreading messages like Twitter and YouTube, there is no single more powerful way of communicating than standing before an audience.

Most accountants won’t have to deal with a presentation as intense as a battle in front of millions for the keys to Number 10, but there are lessons to be learned from the debates that could help you at your next presentation, whether presenting to your firm, to clients or to contacts.

Politicians and accountants have two things in common: both are very knowledgeable and need to appreciate the details in very complex areas. However, accountants need to learn, just as politicians are acutely aware, that just because you are interested in the small details, that doesn’t mean the audience will be too.

Accountants often bombard their audience with masses of complex information, facts and figures, tables and graphs. This can lead to your audience feeling overwhelmed, switching off and learning very little. Just like Cameron, Clegg and Brown, the focus for a presentation ought to be imparting the information that your audience actually needs and wants to hear. What they really want to know is what it will mean for them.

The TV debates also revealed how important delivery can be. Accountancy topics can be complicated. Accountants sometimes assume that in order to be understood better, they must speak slowly. Unfortunately, all this does is turn your voice into a tiresome monotone. The right speed of delivery is your normal pace, with your head held high.

Lastly, what is really important is where and for how long you pause: some politicians (and the new deputy PM Nick Clegg in particular) are masterful at this. The speaker normally fears silence. A silent room, full of faces staring back is a terrifying prospect. And so often the speaker delivers a fast flowing stream of noise. But the speaker must learn that it is not only acceptable, but utterly essential to pause. Pause adds emphasis.

This coupled with plenty of eye contact with the audience shows conviction in what you say and allows people to think about what you have said. And, if they think about it, they’ll remember it.

Jack Downton is the managing director of The Influence Business.