Like anything in business, verbal communication requires a strategy to be successful. Understanding your audience and defining your objectives are the first steps in a strategic process. My job—whether I’m coaching as part of a personal-development plan or "event coaching" a team or individual—is to take the mystery out of that process.

Those who are not natural speakers can be taught to speak effectively. It’s a matter of breaking the process into manageable steps and practicing and polishing key skills until they become second nature.

Begin with the basics
In preparing for presentations, too many people begin with PowerPoint^® instead of the basics: audience, message, and response/reaction ("R factor"). I’m often called in too late in the process to be much help—after the presenters have become exhausted from trying to make such a presentation work. I can be most effective at the idea stage, about a month out, when I can help the team or individual with both structure and delivery. This is important because substance and style should be addressed together. PowerPoint is a valuable component but comes later.

If I’m working with a team, I begin by speaking with the team leader to identify the expected outcome of the presentation and the challenges in reaching the audience. Based on those, I provide an outline of things to consider and gaps to address before the first meeting.

The next step is for the team to meet and reach consensus about the R factor. Not everyone has to sing the same song—conveying a sense of diversity, individuality, and variety of expertise is important—but all have to sing from the same choir book. If you’re presenting as a team, you need to BE a team from day one to achieve a seamless, coherent presentation. Including speechwriters and slide designers in the initial meeting helps put everyone on the same page.

We walk through the components of a successful presentation: the headline, roadmap, detailed message, and punch line. Because people remember examples and images rather than numbers and data, I have presenters focus on using anecdotes, case studies, analogies, and examples to bring the content alive.

Dealing with delivery
Early in the preparation process, I assess how people present and pull ideas together. Videotaping is a great tool because it enables individuals to see strengths they can continue to develop as well as where they need improvement.

In cases where executives are having trouble communicating, it’s often a problem with style. Delivery gets in the way of the message because the individual is perceived as remote or, more often, lacking in passion.

Too many business people mistakenly think passion has no place in professionalism. By videotaping and comparing executives talking about personal issues in which they’re emotionally vested versus executives talking about business issues, I can show what a difference it makes when they present with feeling, excitement, and a point of view. If you aren’t fired up about your own message, how are you going to fire up an audience?

I give people several physical techniques to practice that revolve around eye contact. Most people are good one-on-one but have trouble with groups. The objective is not to scan your audience, but to create a series of individual conversations. The sign of a great communicator is when each member of the audience feels there has been a one-on-one connection and the speaker really cares.

A process
My coaching is only effective if I convince the people I’m working with that this is a set of skills and a process to be honed in daily use—something with lasting impact. My advice always is, don’t wait for the board presentation. Look at your weekly calendar in terms of all the communications opportunities it presents: staff meetings, teleconferences, etc. Take the time to plan a communication strategy for each. Remember, every time you communicate it’s a one-on-one conversation.

Depth of bench enables Ayers to match the right coach—specialist or generalist—to your coaching assignment. For more information, contact Joan Caruso, Managing Director of the Organizational Effectiveness Consulting practice at joan.caruso@ayers.com or 212.889.7788.

Ellen Cahill is a consultant in the business of speaking. She uses her background in PR, publishing, sales, and management to help professionals in a variety of fields communicate effectively.