Compliance Blog

I know many compliance officers make presentations.  This might be at credit union conferences, before credit union staff, or before a credit union's board of directors.  In my role at NAFCU, I make a number of presentations each year.  Today, I thought I'd share a few lessons I learned along the way.

1. Have thick skin.  When you make a presentation, you should shoot for perfection.  You won't reach it, though.  I always review attendee feedback when it is available, and there is always at least one person who does not like my presentation.  I bet the same will be true for you.  Someone in the audience, no matter the quality of your talk, will not like it. Perhaps they are having a bad day, don't like the way you dress, or they don't like PowerPoint presentations.  Just be prepared to receive criticism following your talk.   Keep in mind, though, the only way to avoid criticism about your public speaking is to not do it at all.
2. Before you get started.  What organization is asking you to speak? How many attendees do they expect?  What is the composition of expected attendees?  CEOs? Compliance officers?  Board members?  What type of room will you be using? Will they provide the laptop and handouts?  How long is the talk?  Will there be questions and answers?  How will expenses be handled? If the conference is advertising your presentation, how is it being described?   I think you get the idea. The more research you can do upfront, the better prepared you will be.
3. As you prepare your presentation.  Now that you know your topic and audience, prepare it with them in mind. Always ask yourself these questions: What does my audience need to know?  Why are they here?  Do research into the topic to find frequently asked questions concerning the subject matter.  And track the issue you will address up until the day you deliver it.  Attendees expect you to be the expert, so be prepared for tough questions.
4. The presentation itself.  Here are a few thoughts about the presentation.  Keep the moving parts to a minimum.  Animated or moving text and bullet points that appear one at a time are fine, as long as you are prepared for the animations and transitions.  For too many times I've seen a presenter appear to be shocked when something happened on the presentation. Also, while it might be tempting to dust off an old presentation, be careful!  Be sure to look through it closely to remove old material.  Plus, people tend to practice less when they are using something they've done before.  That's a trap if I've ever seen one.  Also, keep in mind your timing.  If you have 45 minutes, do not prepare 75 slides.  You are setting yourself up to be running through slides like an Olympic sprinter toward the end of your presentation.  Don't put too much information on one slide.  My rule of thumb is no more than 20 words on a slide. And try using a font size of at least 40 when possible. Otherwise, attendees at the back of the room will be squinting, and they'll hold you responsible.  I like to include a "contact information" slide at the end of each presentation. It has my phone number and email address.   This helps attendees and prevents you from running through 100 business cards. 
5. Practice.  Look through your presentation.  On each slide and for each bullet, ask yourself this: What am I trying to say about this point?  What questions may I receive?  And if you aren't sure about a bullet point, do research and practice until you are comfortable.
6. On game day.  Visit your presentation room.  How big is it?  How is it configured?  If no one is around, mic yourself up and do some sound checks.   Make sure you have water available. Always arrive a wee bit early.  During a conference, speakers tend to finish early.  Also, you can sit in the back and gauge the temperature of the audience.
7. When you talk.  Hopefully, you've prepared.  But here are some thoughts.  Use a microphone.  Even if you have a great voice, you may not know the acoustic dead spots in the room.  In addition, attendees may have hearing problems.  Even if you ask "Can everyone hear me?," they may be too self-conscious to tell you to speak up.  And here's the big tip: Always repeat any question you receive from the audience.  The number one complaint I've heard at conferences stems from speakers who do not do this.  Hit your timing.  Going over or under your time allotment is a huge issue for conference planners.  
8. Have fun and be yourself!  This may be the key thing.  You have to be yourself and you must have fun.  Should you be funny and crack jokes?  It depends. Is that your personality? They key thing is to let the talk reflect your personality. (Unless your personality is insulting or sexist.  But I think you get the idea.) I attend conferences, and I don't care if the speaker is funny, speaks with an English accent or even uses a PowerPoint presentation.  I want useful information that I can take back with me. Also, have fun.  If you are not excited to make your presentation, the audience will pick that up.  And here's a thought: if you aren't excited, how can you expect the audience to be excited?

Have a great weekend, everyone!