Modern management is about presentations, and there is a thirst for courses on presentation skills. Presentations range from mundane talks, such as “How to Use Your Multimedia Tools”, to the superstar TED-talk model.
In the first type, the focus is more on the design than the presentation. It is certainly important to know how to work the electronics. There is no more pathetic sight than a fumbling speaker who cannot upload or download their material.
At the other end of the scale is the people-focused approach. Indeed, “presentation” is considered too downmarket a word for this kind of training. Instead, it is called something sexy like a “multimedia interface course”.
We have all sat through enough rambling, tedious talks to know that a bad speech can seriously damage your reputation. Equally, we can recall the exhilaration of a sparkling performance, even though the content may have been thin.
But are skills courses what most people need? The assumption is that if you are taught the basics — use of slides, pace of presentation, complexity of story — you will become a competent presenter. But much of the problem is not about skill but fear. Public speaking is the most widespread, and for many, debilitating, phobia. And that needs a therapeutic approach.
A phobia is the fear of fear. It manifests itself in chronic avoidance behaviour. People “cope” by avoiding situations that cause that fear — however debilitating that strategy is itself.
There are three types of therapies for phobias: two behavioural, one psychoanalytic. “Flooding” is the most dramatic. Scared of birds? You get marched trembling into a public area full of pigeons. You learn that you can survive . The fear can be managed, and you are cured! At work, you would be forced to give a speech — with help to control the anxiety, such as deep breathing.
The second approach is desensitization. This is more gradual. You give a presentation to your partner, then to your family, then to your most supportive colleague at work. You learn how to present, and also that you can do it. The focus is on feelings, not skills. This is the favoured method of treatment.
The third method is based on the assumption that there are unhappy memories about public speaking buried deep in the subconscious. The therapist’s job is to uncover the memories behind the fear so it can be dealt with.
In presentation training, there is perhaps too much focus on skills and not enough on anxiety management. That is not to say that everyone will become a star presenter after flooding or desensitization, or even psychoanalysis. But the place to start is the heart, not the head — with feelings, not the formatting of slides.