Ten years ago, my film company bid on a major production for the National Park Service. Our approach was creatively exciting – excellent, according to a handful who read the written proposal for the $400,000 contract. I went to Washington to sell the concept to a five-man board – and lost!

Why? My friend on that board told me, “Bert, you looked nervous. You didn’t look confident. They just couldn’t believe you could handle the project.” That was when I decided to do something about my presentation abilities.

What I proceeded to learn paid off for me then and pays off now for the thousands of sales and management executives we train throughout the world. Today, Decker Communications uses full-color videotape in our workshops, but 10 years ago, I began with a $50 audio-cassette record. I taped the very next presentation I made to a manufacturing company in the Midwest.

Listening to myself on the way back to the airport was pure torture. For the first time, I heard hundreds of “uh’s” and “um’s” in my speech. I sounded nervous and distracted, as if I didn’t know what I was talking about. So my first priority was to clean up those nonwords and let pauses happen where they should. Then I saw myself for the first time on videotape. After speaking to about a hundred people, I watched the replay to analyze what aspects worked well and what mannerisms detracted from the impact. What I found about myself that day, others are finding today through in-depth workshops and videotape coaching. In fact, there aren’t any mistakes anyone else can make that I haven’t made myself.

Here are some communication cripplers we find most common in both sales and management presenters, whose success, like mine, depends on how they come across to others.

Poor eye communication. Failure to maintain positive eye contact is the number one saboteur of confidence. You don’t look confident when your eyes are darting rapidly around, unable to fix steadily on one person. But that’s what most presenters do. Forget the advice to “scan your audience.” It doesn’t work. Talk and look at people as if you’re in a conversation, with a steady gaze and an interested look on your face. Learn how to focus on one person at a time, for three to six seconds, as you do in a conversation. This will help you to appear (and feel) more confident.

Careless posture, careless dress. It’s impossible to see ourselves as others see us without film or video. I always thought I had good posture until I saw myself with a slight shoulder hunch and an occasional tendency to place my weight on one hip. What felt casual to me came across as sloppy to people looking at me. My energy wasn’t being directed forward and out. You can dramatically enhance your visual impact on your audience by assuming the “Ready Position” (see box “Stand up and be Counted”).

The same principle applies to how you dress. What looks okay in a mirror doesn’t always look first-rate standing in real life.

Nonwords. I’ve already mentioned my own difficulties with “uh’s” and “um’s”. Sales presenters whose speech is riddled with these lose a lot of credibility. Some people say “okay” or “now” or “good” to excess. Since these habits are mostly unconscious, you need some help to increase your awareness. Ask your spouse, a friend or a colleague to repeat your own first name aloud each time you express one of your nonwords. This consistent feedback will help you overcome the negative habit.

Many people who have a lot of nonwords are also afraid to pause in a presentation before groups. Two seconds of silence feels like 10 years to the inexperienced speaker.

Talking at, rather than with. Many times a strange shift of focus seems to happen to us as we stand up to speak: We turn our attention inward. Instead of becoming friends who pay attention to their audience, we become mere transmitters of a prepared script.

I’ve seen this in many sales and marketing managers. Being yourself on your feet is one of the hardest challenges in the world. In our workshops, through video playback, we can show people how they are not being themselves and what they can do to enhance their own natural abilities.

They learn what makes them effective and build on that. They get rid of what isn’t right bit by bit and become increasingly comfortable, confident and alert when they communicate with their audiences.

You can remind yourself to approach your audience with three basics in mind:

1. Know exactly to whom you’re talking.

2. Know what concerns them.

3. Personalize your information.

This is similar to “benefit selling,” and it’s actually what we do when we have a one-on-one meeting with somebody. Take the same principles and expand them for a group presentation. Use individual names, if you can. Refer to Bob Smith and Sam Jones as you speak. Let them know you’re up-to-date on their company, their industry and their marketplace. And tailor the features of your product or service to their specific needs.

Incidentally, whether you are talking about a product feature or a managerial idea, remember that number one point: “Know exactly to whom you’re talking.” If you keep looking at a flip chart, a view-graph screen, or play with the pencils you’re selling, you’ve missed the boat. You’re talking to people and they’re buying you before they buy the product. We still call visual aids “visual aids,” not visual masters. They service you.

This only touches the surface of presentation skills. It’s important to remember that nobody is born a good speaker, they build themselves. Neither John nor Robert Kennedy started out as persuasive statesmen. Ronald Reagan spent years on the road speaking for G.E. before he ever campaigned for a public office. Politicians today get better the same way I got better, and the way thousands of sales executives are getting better – through extensive videotape playback and in-depth coaching, followed by practice, practice, practice.

Remember, what you don’t know CAN hurt you in business presentations. It cost me $400,000 to find that out.

Stand up and be counted

Here is how not to stand:

1. The “Fig Leaf” – hands folded in front of you

2. The “Pocket Thruster” – hands in your pockets

3. The “Dreaded Jangler” – one hand playing with coins

4. The “Stern Father” – arms folded across chest

5. “Prince Phillip” – arms folded behind your back

How should you stand in front of your audience?

Your goal is to show that you are ready, comfortable, confident and energized. The “Ready Position” consists of keeping your feet approximately one foot apart (to insure proper balance). Also, keep your knees loose and balance your weight slightly forward.

Imagine a tennis player waiting for the serve, a skier cushioning the slope with slightly bent knees, or picture yourself riding a bus with your knees loose, absorbing the shocks.

Remember that 75 percent of your body’s weight is above your hips. Rigid knees will cause your upper body (arms and shoulders) to tense up, thus absorbing energies that should be put into your presentation.

No matter what his or her subject, the relaxed person is always perceived as confident and received more favorably by the audience.