Presentation tips for each Communication Style

Each communication style wants to receive information in their way – included are tips on reaching each of those styles in one presentation.

The challenge is to do the things you are not so comfortable with and that wouldn’t necessarily work for your style.

Following up on the other article about how to present information to the different True Colors, this time I am going to give you some specific techniques to present that information.

Orange Communication Style
People with a strong Orange component need summary information, best presented with color, animation, and a fun reveal.

So if you are a Gold this is money for you – I know unless your second color is orange you have never even considered adding sound or animations to your presentations – and you wonder why they call your presentations boring behind your back, and tune right out two seconds in.

Remember, this is not about you. It is about your audience‘s communication style.

So create a graph, and make sure the colors are bright, and attractive, not bland and boring. Spend time and learn to use the animations in a creative way.

Gold Communication Style

People with a strong Gold value need the details, all of the details even if they can’t express why they need them. So give them to them.

If in your head you are thinking I can prepare a summary and that will be good enough you are wrong – they want to draw their own conclusion – they want the conclusion at the end. An executive summary is a spoiler for their communication style.

So take the time to explain where you got the data, how you know it is accurate, and find a way to show the data so that they can pick up the trends.

• Warning Orange, Green, Blue – this data does not need to be in your PowerPoint – it can be and should be in a separate handout.

Those that leave data handout on the table when the meeting is over don’t need it or want it, and every gold will walk out with it tucked under their arm

Green Communication Style

Your Greens need to see the big picture, so you need to show it to them. You can’t dive into things – they need the context of the big picture. Answer the why question.

If you leave it out, they will be disengaged or will spend all the time trying to integrate it into their big map of how things should be.

Start with the overview, show them a trend, and explain that based upon this trend in the data, we are to dive deeper into this area to see if we can figure out what is/was happening.

• Warning Golds –Start with the large context and work it down until you have a smaller focus.

Blue Communication Style

True Color Green’s Sending a Birthday Card to the Blue’s

The Blues in your audience will want to know how it affects people positively, and negatively and what you plan to do about it.

• Warning Greens – yes you need this in your presentation – add it to your big picture = impact on people. 

Bottom-line business is about people, the people you work with, and the people your company interacts with customers, suppliers, and employees. Every decision you make in business can be distilled down to its impact on people, and blues want to create and maintain harmony in the business.

If you fail to include how you expect it to impact people and how you are prepared to deal with those factors you have offended your blues and they have checked out.

They will not be in your corner regarding endorsing you or your presentation, no matter how much data you have.

To wrap this up, start with the big picture, make sure it is colorful – find a way to make it interesting and exciting, work your way down by making the greens think, the golds look at the data, and the blues consider the implications on people, lead the greens to the same conclusion as you.

Even your weekly update can be tuned up to include these communication style tips.

Until next time, keep Discovering your Natural Abilities.

P.S. If you are in Ontario, check out our workshops at TrueColorsWorkshop.com