Teamwork crucial - even at the lectern - Jim Grey

There's an increasing emphasis on teamwork in business. And in such a team-oriented environment, colleagues must present together as well as they work together.

Speaking on your own can be challenging; speaking as a member of a group can be downright daunting.

Too often, team presentations succumb to the inherent challenge of assimilating multiple personalities, styles and priorities, and crumple into ineffectual, tiresome dog-and-pony shows.

If your team fails, so do you. If it's successful, you benefit.
To be successful, you need to combine with your co-workers to deliver a cohesive, well-integrated presentation that strongly influences others - whether the goal is to win business, recommend a course of action or simply educate.

Here's how to make the principles that bring success to teamwork at the office apply at the lectern:

Pick a leader

There's no way around it: Someone needs to have overall responsibility for your group presentation.

If you're searching for a leader, aim high. The more elevated the organizer's rank, the more profile and resources the project will be given.

The leader ultimately decides on final content, and on who will speak and in what order. Ideally, the leader participates in the presentation itself, kicking it off, introducing fellow presenters, setting the context and then, once other speakers have completed their narrative, wrapping up the collective story with a commanding summarization and call to action.

Keep it simple

Use the classic "power of three" template to organize your presentation under the sections of introduction, body and conclusion.

The most senior speaker almost always handles the introduction and conclusion, providing a nice sense of symmetry, organization and authority to the proceedings.

The body should be divided into three categories, each to be covered by a different speaker. That means a maximum of four presenters for your group presentation; there are precious few exceptions to the rule. Why? The more speakers, the less impact they distribute - and the greater the chances of foul-ups and misunderstandings.

Play to your strengths

Increase your team's prospects of success by providing the more skilled, confident speakers with additional presentation time - but not so much that lesser lights are marginalized.

Protect weaker speakers (and enhance listeners' perception of their routine) by having them introduce a powerful video testimonial, a compelling prop or even a well-crafted PowerPoint slide. Give them good stuff to refer to and you'll raise their game - and their confidence.

When it comes to teamwork, all individual egos must kneel at the service of the greater good. That applies to the senior presenter who can't cut the oratorical mustard. In such a case, the top dog's time needs to be chopped, making for a shorter introduction and conclusion. Sometimes that's not such a bad thing.

Look and act like a team

You might loathe your sycophantic teammate but, in the perception-based universe of group presenting, you must interact as if you vacation together.

That means relating as if you were trusted colleagues with plenty of eye contact, frequent use of first names and, most importantly, when the other speaks, gazing upon the presenter with an unbroken, near-beatific countenance.

Audiences can quickly perceive dissention, however minor, within a team in presentation mode - nothing can undermine a group's credibility faster than a harsh word, or even a cross look, from one colleague to another.

Your listeners would ask: If they can't even give a presentation together, how would they possibly work on our business together?

It's a reasonable question. You're in it together, as a team. So look and act like it.

Rehearse your transitions

The final key to a successful team presentation lies in the transition between speakers, the "hand-off" if you will. Just as the baton in a relay race requires a smooth, certain transfer from runner to runner, so the story in a group narrative needs to be advanced.

Rehearsal, always important, takes on even greater significance in a group initiative. The effective linking of content involves a kind of verbal choreography that comes about only when each presenter has a thorough knowledge of the subject matter covered by the previous speaker - especially their closing paragraphs - and then builds seamlessly on it.

That takes co-operation and a great deal of practice.

Of course, all the presenters should consider themselves understudies and learn the entire group's narrative. You need to be able to fill in, seemingly effortlessly, in the event that one or more of your colleagues can't participate.

It's what teammates do.