When Speaking, Beware of "Thin Ice Syndrome."

Working recently with someone in the freight business, I was sharing the importance of knowing your limits when delivering a presentation. "You need to limit your message to a few key points," I said. "Otherwise, you'll overload your audience."

“We call that the ‘thin-ice syndrome’ at our company,” he said.

He told me that the “thin-ice syndrome” is when a truck driver attempts to deliver goods in bad weather or under poor road conditions despite advice to the contrary.   Apparently this behavior doesn’t work any better in transferring goods than it does in transferring thoughts.  You have to recognize the constraints of your delivery mechanism or you can lose the package altogether.

 

We see participants struggle with this every day in our communication skills training. They do a data dump when giving a presentation.

 

Just as truckers must recognize the hazards associated with bad weather,  to be succesful as a speaker, you have to recognize the limits of the medium. Delivering a presentation is a great way to communicate a few key points, tell stories related to those points, and show how you feel about your topic. It is not a great way to share everything you know. Why?  Because listening isn’t easy and your audience is more likely to remember a few points that you’ve hammered home than an exhaustive list of details.

So what can you do if you want to tell all? Encourage your audience to ask questions all through your talk and take time to stop and answer them. That way you’ll make sure to give them the information that is most important to them while keeping your presentation focused and memorable. 

So whether you are driving a truck or delivering a speech, be aware of the thin ice.  If you ignore it, you may end up all wet.

Formerly Director of The Weather Channel Companies award- winning Learning and Development initiative, Jan McKenzie spent the last 19 years developing leadership at every level in corporate America. She has coached and developed executive teams at companies such as Engauge Interactive and worked with institutions such as Eckerd College, Gallup, Franklin-Covey and Ken Blanchard to create and implement company-wide change initiatives. Additionally, she has over 10 years of experience partnering with executives to develop sales and sales leaders at TWC.  She can be reached at 404-266-0888 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.