Body language consists of several different elements:

• Posture: how you stand
• Facial expressions: whether you’re smiling or frowning, or just looking like a deer in the headlights
• Eye contact: if you’re looking at people in the audience without ignoring any part of the room
• Gestures: what you’re doing with your hands
• Movement: what you’re doing with your body (are you nervously pacing, or doing a little dance with your feet?)
• Voice – how you project, how fast you’re talking, how much you enunciate, how you vary your voice

Your body language should tell the same story as your words. So when you’re trying to develop and demonstrate confidence, your body should help you rather than undermine that. And the first step is to become aware of your body language.

For example, I had one client who was completely unaware that as he presented, he rolled his sleeves up and down. So I said to him at the end of a presentation, “Do you know what you’re doing with your hands?” and he said, “No.” And I said, “Look at your sleeves. One’s up and one’s down!” And he said, “Did I do that?” My response was, “Yes, you did. And until we can fix this, wear short sleeves.”

Sometimes you’re so worried about what you’re going to say or you’re so nervous that you don’t realize that you are sending a message that undercuts your authority. If you’re in front of an audience and you don’t make eye contact, and you’re not sure what to do with your hands and your voice is really soft, you are not conveying confidence.

And if your words are fine, but your body language isn’t, the audience gets confused, and they must just believe the body language, “Well, you know, she said X but she didn’t sound too sure of herself, so I’m not sure we need to go with that.”

Once you become aware of it, you can work on improving it while still keeping it natural and unstilted. Think of body language as a means to communicate your message, rather than an end in itself.

So the next time that you have to present, make sure your body language tells the same story and doesn’t undermine your message.

This is the moment most presenters dread – you ask if anyone has any questions and pretty much everyone puts their hands up. On one hand you’re flattered because obviously people are interested but on the other hand you’re scared stiff because you don’t know what people are going to ask, whether you’ll know the answer or if you’ll look incompetent and lose the sale.

Here are some simple tips to follow that can get you through the tough situations:

Handling Questions

• Take control of the process and tell the Customers when they can ask questions – at the end of the presentation or at particular points during the presentation. Decide what will work best for you.

• Prepare in advance – think of the questions that will probably come up and prepare your answers in advance. Having analysed the Customer, you should have some idea now what the typical objections will be so have answers ready to tackle these

• Listen to the full question – do not interrupt half way through and assume you know what they’re going to ask

• ‘Listen’ to the body language – is it defensive, what cues can you pick up from how they are asking the question or the gestures they are making?

• Think about your own body language – whilst you may feel defensive when someone asks a question, keep your gestures open – arms at your side, direct eye contact, smile, lean forward

Answering Questions

• Repeat the question back to ensure you have understood

• If you don’t know the answer….. TELL THEM. Do not try and muddle your way through the answer or make something up, your body language will give you away and someone else may know the actual answer and you will lose all credibility.

• If you don’t know the answer, open it up to the group and see if anyone else knows. This is known as Boomerang – where you boomerang the question back to the group. If you’re not good at ‘thinking on your feet’ this can also give you a chance to think about the answer. Answer it by saying, “Great question! What do the rest of the group think? Would anyone like to share their thoughts?”

• If you don’t know and no one else knows either, have a ‘Parking Lot’ for the questions (could be a flipchart on the wall or just your notepad) and commit to finding out the answer for them.

• When replying to a question, involve the whole audience – begin eye contact with the questioner, then the other audience members and back to the questioner at the end of the answer.

Dealing with Objections

• Keep calm – you can handle this!

• If things do start to become difficult to handle then politely suggest that the conversation be taken offline. Depending on the objection, some of your answers could be:

o “You have made a very valid point and I want to discuss this further. Can I suggest we take this offline and have a more focused conversation after the presentation?”

o “Thank you, that is a great point/question and I’d like to involve my colleague / Manager of that department / my CEO in answering your concern. Let me take that away and I’ll arrange a separate meeting later this week where we can discuss further. What’s your availability?”

• If you feel someone is deliberately trying to challenge you, then you could use humour. BE VERY CAREFUL though as it can come across as sarcasm and you may appear defensive

• Do not deflect the criticism or blame another colleague – it will seem your Company is not working as a team or communicating well. Even if an objection is not based on anything you have done, accept the feedback on behalf of your Company in an appropriate manner.

• Do not agree with or join in any maligning of the Company – your job is to represent the business and you must safeguard its name and reputation – be professional at all times.

• Be conscious of your body language and facial expressions – keep your gestures open and your face neutral. Avoid eye-rolling, frowns and smirking, this will only antagonise the objectioner!

• Be attentive whilst the objection is being made – actively listen with head nods and direct eye contact. If the other audience members become restless, manage them and ask them to be quiet (respectfully, of course!). Do be conscious of the group through and if the objection is taking a lot of time or the person is being argumentative then take control and suggest taking it off-line (see previous examples).

Some other things to consider if you’re put on the spot:

• Nonverbal cues can help restore order and make you appear calm…. Even if you’re not!

o Strong eye contact

o Upright posture

o Unwavering focus

• The more animated your ‘opponent’ becomes, the calmer you should be

• Keep vocal inflection to a minimum, talk neutrally

• Keep focused on the key messages you want to deliver – if you get a difficult question, repeat your main point and do not waffle, keep to the areas you are comfortable talking about.