The Murder Board!  Sounds like something Tony Soprano
might convene, doesn’t it? But, despite the macabre name,
it has nothing to do with  a criminal act and everything to
do with becoming a better public speaker, a more persuasive
business presenter.

The Murder Board is a realistic simulation of the actual
presentation to be made. Colleagues role-play the audience,
asking the type of questions this specific group is likely to
ask. It is intended to be more difficult than the actual
presentation.

If you want to become an effective and persuasive presenter,
this realistic practice session is the most effective shortcut to
speaking excellence. It allows you to make your mistakes when
they don't count, increasing the odds that you will shine when
the actual presentation is made.

The Origin of the Murder Board

The term Murder Board has its origins within the U.S. military,
specifically within the extensive training system of the U.S.
Army. When a person has been selected to be an instructor at an
Army school, he or she must go through a demanding instructor
training program.

Graduation and designation as an instructor is dependent not
on a written test, but successful delivery of a 50 minute class
from the curriculum of the school.

The audience for this crucible can be instructors who have gone
through their own Murder Board, and are determined that this
would-be instructor will experience the same frustration and
humiliation they did. They ask tough, realistic, questions, the
type of questions their students are asking.

At the end of the 50 minute class, the aspiring instructor gets
a thumbs a thumbs up--meaning he or she can now join this band
of brothers and  sisters as an instructor, or a thumbs-down,
meaning another “opportunity” to go through a Murder Board.

Lessons from the Pentagon

This realistic simulation has permeated the military culture. As
an example, when I ran the Defense Intelligence Agency's  (DIA)
briefing team, we had three Murder Boards before the daily
briefing to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The first one was at 5:30 AM, the second at 6:30 AM, the third.
in front of two General officers, one hour later. By the time my
my briefer or I was standing in front of the Chairman, those
intense sessions had provided the right answers to virtually
any conceivable question the Chairman was likely to ask.

Why have a Murder Board?

This painstaking practice session, no less important in a business
presentation with millions of contract dollars at stake, has two
overriding objectives:

1.  Hone delivery skills

2. Anticipate probable questions and objections so succinct,
    accurate answers can be developed.

Many presenters, while accepting the need to sharpen delivery
skills, reject the idea of a Murder Board, confident they can
anticipate the difficult questions likely to be asked, and need
not practice in front of others, especially their peers. These
people may actually be displaying a false bravado to mask their
discomfort at speaking in front of a group, perhaps exposing
their lack of skill in the presentation art.

They are also very mistaken. I have given more than 2000
presentations, and always find it beneficial to conduct a
Murder Board before an important talk. No matter how hard
we try to think of tough questions that may be asked, a little
censor in our mind generally provides only questions to which
we already have answers. We need other minds to assist us.

I am in good company in believing in the need to have such a
practice session in front of others who are role-playing the
audience to be faced. The man who possessed perhaps the greatest
mind of the 20th Century, Albert Einstein, realized that even he
needed help. He once said:

          "What a person does on his own, without being
            stimulated  by the thoughts and experiences of
            others, is even in the best cases rather paltry and
            monotonous."

The Murder Board is the presenter's version of the actor's
dress rehearsal, what lawyers do in preparing a witness to
face cross-examination in a trial, what the flight simulator is
to the pilot.

Just as with the actor, the witness, and the pilot, this
simulation permits the presenter to learn from his/her
mistakes, so that the actual presentation is (1) more responsive
to the informational needs of the audience,(2)  answers are
developed for likely questions to be asked, and (3) overall
speaking  confidence and competence enhanced.

The Murder Board enables you to visualize the presentation
in advance. Not only is proficiency in speaking increased by
such a meticulous practice, so too is self-confidence. Public
speaking ranks high in the pantheon of phobias because of
apprehension that one is going to be embarrassed by not being
able to answer questions from the audience.

If you have been able to anticipate questions, then you can
develop answers ahead of time. Think back to when you were
were in college or graduate school. Your GPA would probably have
been higher if you could have seen the questions before the final
exams. The Murder Board permits the presenter a look at the
audience's probable "exam questions." The only obstacle to
to developing a question-anticipating simulated presentation
is your imagination and willingness to take hard hits in
practice so you can be more effective in the actual presentation.

Seven Steps to a Successful Murder Board

To have a successful and productive Murder Board enabling you
to sharpen your skills and anticipate the difficult questions and
objections, seven steps must be followed, and I teach them in my
executive presentation skills workshop.. The steps are:

1.  Recruiting
2.  Sharing intelligence on the audience
3.  Role-playing by participants
4.  Video-taping and/or audio-taping
5.  Critiquing of presenter's style and knowledge
6.  Recording questions on 3x5 cards
7.  Revising of the presentation

Let’s take a brief look at each step.

1.Recruiting
Recruit people who also make presentations. Why? Because they
will be able to relate to the challenge you face, and because of
the principle of reciprocity. Tell those you wish to have in
your practices session that if they help you now, you’ll help
them when their turn comes. The time they spend with you
will then not be considered an expenditure; it will be viewed as
an investment.

2. Sharing of intelligence on the audience
The people you’ve recruited need every bit of information you
have collected on your audience—attitudes, prejudices, biases,
knowledge of subject, listening style, tendency to interrupt,
etc. If the presentation is within your organization, then the
people you have recruited will have insights into the audience,
and you must elicit this to add to your intelligence data base.

3. Role-playing by participants
Armed with this intelligence, your Murder Board is now ready to
play the parts of key members of your audience. Assign the roles
carefully; if a member of the actual audience is an aggressive
questioner, pick a person with  similar tendencies. You’ll find
that participants will enjoy playing other people, and much
more realistic, tougher questioning will be the result.

4. Video-taping and/or audio-taping
You want to be able to review the results of your Murder Board,
and a video will give you a game film of your performance. You
will be able to assess how you present, including mannerisms
that may be distracting-- gestures, movements, expressions, etc.
You’ll also learn where to cut so you stay within time limits.
Most importantly, you’ll hear your voice as your audience will
hear it. Are you speaking in a monotone? Are you saying “Uh”
and “Y’know?’

5. Critiquing of presenter’s style and knowledge
Before adjourning the Murder Board, ask for a  critique of your
performance and knowledge demonstrated of the subject. Keep the
video-camera and tape recorder rolling during this session.

6.Recording of questions on 3x5 cards
When you review the video tape/audio recording of the  session,
place all the questions asked of you on one side of 3x5 cards,
and the answers you gave on the other sides of the cards. Then
play a version of flash cards. Select a card at random, read the
question, answer it and then turn the card over to see how you
originally answered it. Once you have tweaked and improved
your answers, place them in a more permanent data base. 

7. Revising the presentation
You’ll undoubtedly find that questions from the Murder Board
elicit vital information needed by your audience. You must
include this new information., To avoid dropping out original
data, place a time limit on your Murder Board that is less than
the time you have been allocated for the actual presentation.

Follow the advice in this brief essay, as thousands of executives
attending my workshops have done, and your audiences will think
of you as a silver-tongued orator who can deliver brilliant and 
extemporaneous presentations effortlessly.

Let them think that. You will know that you are drawing on the
"blood, sweat and tears" that went into your Murder Board.