Deliberate Practice—The Path to Excellent Online Presentations
photo by Hasan Albari
Scholar K. Anders Ericsson was an expert on how people become experts. While there are many elements embedded in his work (see the book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise for an incredible read on how people build skill), they can be simplified to include four primary elements: time, repetition, real-time coaching/feedback, and working on skills outside of your current abilities. (1) If you want to develop yourself to become a world-class cello player, surgeon, or pilot, the recipe for success involves the same elements that Ericsson cited: time invested in practicing your craft, repetition of movements or pieces or procedures, real-time coaching and feedback from a mentor to point out strengths and areas for improvement, and working on skills outside of your current ability level to challenge yourself to work at your edge.
We would assert that presenting online is no different. However, when it comes to public speaking, we find that hierarchy, politics, and power dynamics cloud the process in organizational life. For instance, think of a senior leader in your organization who wants to improve their presentation skills. After their horribly exhausting and poorly-delivered talk, they call and ask, “How did that go?” If you are like some people, you respond with “Great! It was good!” and you leave it there.
The reality is that senior leaders rarely receive unfiltered and honest feedback about how they performed. There is often an element of fear among subordinates, so they are cloistered from honest, unfiltered feedback. While they may improve over time, the rate of improvement could occur so much more quickly if they created an environment that invited real, honest feedback. Without this “safe space for learning,” many of their foibles will remain in the realm of Unconscious Incompetence.
So here are some critical questions as you are embarking upon a journey to improve your skills. Who is your ally or coach in your organization? Do you have an external coach? Who will provide you with unfiltered and authentic feedback? Are you perceived as someone who is open to feedback? Are you seeking it out? Every time you speak, is there something you are actively practicing and focusing on for improvement (e.g., storytelling, limiting space fillers)? If so, is someone in the audience paying close attention to your every move so they can provide feedback? Reflection on each of these questions is critical. If you want to progress through all four states of competence (which we covered in another recent blog post), you need to engage in deliberate practice—it’s as simple as that. We are confident that a lack of deliberate practice is the root of the problem—the real reason we spend an inordinate amount of time sitting through poorly designed, poorly delivered online presentations. Now, think about the damage these presentations do to employee engagement and motivation and the billions of dollars spent that equate to wasted time each year. It’s astonishing, but each of us can be a part of the solution.
Feedback will fuel your progress. If you are open and actively seek it out, you will thrive. If you are closed and afraid of it, you will miss an important opportunity to shine.
References
Ericsson, A., & Pool, R. (2016). Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
We explore this topic and others in our book Captovation: Online Presentations by Design.