Which is More Important? Content or Delivery?
Which is More Important? Content or Delivery?
When you are preparing for your presentation do you often ask yourself which is more important to focus on? Content or Delivery? If you do, then you’re not alone. Many individuals who start out in their presentation or public speaking journey tend to ask this question.
Before getting to the direct answer we need to first understand in detail of both content and delivery. According to Albert Mehrabian, he discovered that in our communication, 7% is the choice of our words, 38% is the vocal tonality and 55% is our non-verbal communication. What this means is that although what we say is important, how we deliver with the right tone and body language matters a lot as well.
Does this mean that we need to put all 100% focus into our delivery only? Obviously not because that would mean we are more like mimes with a voice without words and that’s not clear communication either. Hence, how can we put in effort for both content and delivery to maximize the impact of our presentation?
1. Develop your Content, and Rewrite!
Before beginning any presentation we need to know what we are presenting in the first place. Pen down your mind map, content flow, structure, and key messages.
Once you’ve got your presentation penned down, go through it and rewrite them. As the saying goes, great stories are not written they are re-written. When you revisit and rewrite your speech you will notice there will be some words, sentences or stories that are what we call as “excess fats” that can be trimmed off. These information if removed will not affect the overall speech clarity and message.
2. Vocalize Your Speech
Once you’ve got an idea of how your speech flows, it is time to vocalize it. There is a huge difference between reading it in your mind, and vocalizing it out loud.
Vocalizing your speech allows you to see if the choice of words fits your speaking style, and it even gives you an idea of where, and when you can improve your tonality, pauses, and more.
3. Insert Your Body Language
Okay! You’ve penned down your presentation, you’ve vocalized your speech and you feel good about the content so far. Now what? Now we insert the body language. As you continue to rehearse your presentation out loud, see how you can add your hand gestures, how you walk on stage, and how you express your emotions with your facial expression.
In this process it is wise to record yourself while you rehearse out loud so that you can watch back the video and see how you can further improve on your delivery skills.
All in all both content and delivery is vital to the success of getting your message across. Hence, do not focus on just one or the other, embed them both into your presentation and your audience will appreciate your speech!
Are you interested in taking your presentation skills to the next level? Click here to find out how.
