From our Guest Contributor from the US
by Tom Antion: to get more detailed material from contributors like Tom
click here
RESEARCH YOUR AUDIENCE
It amazes me how some speakers will show up for a speaking
engagement and really not know anything about the audience they
are speaking to. Many speakers just get lazy and feel that their
message is so important.
PRACTICE
The only way to look polished while speaking is to practice. This
is one skill you cannot delegate to anyone else. It is you that
is on stage with the microphone and it is you who will look
either great or terrible. You are sadly mistaken and egotistical
if you think the Powerpoint slides that either you or someone
else created will make you a dynamic speaker.
TAKE CARE OF HECKLERS
This is my famous asterisk technique I use to make sure hecklers
don't interrupt my presentation. I get people in the group to
identify potential trouble makers BEFORE I get to the event. I
phone these people and interview them to give them the attention
they are craving.
USE EMOTIONAL LANGUAGE
Boring old facts rarely move people to action. Learning to use
words that evoke emotions in people will make a much greater
impact when you speak. There are many emotions you can trigger in
the audience just by your choice of words. Happiness, anger,
sadness, nostalgia are just a few. You must pick the words that would mean something to
your audience.
REVEAL YOURSELF
Some people have trouble implementing this idea because they like
to remain aloof and private. This will hurt their chances of
making a good connection with people in the audience.
USE PROPS
A prop is worth a thousand words. People can really anchor a
thought in their minds when it is connected to an object that
relates to the point you are trying to make.
USE HUMOR
Even Shakespeare used humor in the middle of the tragedies he
wrote. Humor is a powerful and effective tool that gives the
audience's mind a chance to breath in the face of heavy material.
It also makes you more likable and fun to listen to. Humor is
also much more likely to make your information more memorable.
MOVE 'EM TO ACTION
If you are going to bother taking up people's time to speak to
them, don't you think it would be a good idea to get them to do
something positive because of your presentation? Even if they do
something negative, it's still better than doing nothing because
they will at least get a chance to learn something from their
mistake.
BRING SOLUTIONS
One of the best ways to make sure the audience loves you is to
bring solutions to their problems. If you have done a thorough
job of researching your audience, you already know what their
problems are. It's your job to bring ideas for them to try.
PAY ATTENTION TO LOGISTICS
All the best preparation, practice and audience research could be
ruined if you forget to pay attention to all the details
surrounding a presentation. You want to know what is happening
before you speak, and what is happening after you speak.
For all those business people who care about how effectively they present their company, its products and services as well as themselves
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Presentation Skills Top Tips
This is an extract from the Inspirational Seminars Ltd web site on "Top10 tips" about making presentations in public or to a group. Please request the full article by clicking here
1 Why Am I Giving This Presentation?
This might sound simple but is not as simple as it seems. Many people when faced with having to give a presentation grab their laptop and march off to ‘do’ their presentation. It’s one that they have done many times before and they plan to ‘do’ it in the same way they have always done it.
They have overlooked that although it is the same presentation the audience is different! Every presentation needs to be tweaked for different audiences otherwise you will find yourself putting the emphasis on the wrong things. For example, one of the main reasons for buying a product or service in the business world, is saving money. If you don’t know why you are giving the presentation beforehand you might not know that this audience doesn’t care so much about saving money as much as they care about reliability and a good service. So ask yourself ‘what do I want my audience to do or feel or say after they have listened to my presentation?’
2 Get Ready
Try to write your presentation yourself. Do your slides later not now. Imagine you are standing in front of your audience, what do you want to say and how will you say it? Think it through and write it down as you would like to say it. This will show you the complete picture and help you bridge any gaps in the logic of your argument. Plus it begins the process of helping you to remember. From this you can create your ‘speaker notes’ as well as relevant slides.
Get to know as much as you can about your audience: who’s going to be there, what they want to know, how much do they know already and so on. Then try to get to the venue before your audience (even if it’s your client’s premises) so you can set up and be happy that all equipment is working ok. This also gives you much more control as you will be the one welcoming everyone as they enter the room!
3 Talk To People
4 Believe What You Say
5 Like Your Audience
6 Speak Up
7 Look ‘em in the eye
8 Control Yourself
9 Open and Shut…
…properly. “Today I want to talk to you about…” is not a good opening so don’t use it. Think of something like “when we met last month, you were kind enough to tell us of your requirements…” See how much better that is?
And when you close, avoid finishing with “any questions?” Listen to what this type of closing says to your audience: “I have not prepared a really memorable close so I shall resort to a bad finish with this real wimp of a question”. So don’t use it. Instead look for something like: “let’s remind ourselves of the benefits to you…” And then itemise them.
10 Wag your own tail
Tails do not wag dogs, dogs wag tails. If you let PowerPoint take over from you to such an extent that you couldn’t do your presentation without it, I am afraid it is a case of the tail wagging the dog. In Tip 2, I suggested you should write your presentation as you would like to say it. If you do this you will find it much easier to create slides.
Here are the rules: If you can show the real thing – do. If you can’t but can show a model – do. If you can’t then show a picture and if it is not possible, then by all means use word but make them few and interesting.
This is a cut down version, so click here to get the full version and receive our regular and informative newsletter
1 Why Am I Giving This Presentation?
This might sound simple but is not as simple as it seems. Many people when faced with having to give a presentation grab their laptop and march off to ‘do’ their presentation. It’s one that they have done many times before and they plan to ‘do’ it in the same way they have always done it.
They have overlooked that although it is the same presentation the audience is different! Every presentation needs to be tweaked for different audiences otherwise you will find yourself putting the emphasis on the wrong things. For example, one of the main reasons for buying a product or service in the business world, is saving money. If you don’t know why you are giving the presentation beforehand you might not know that this audience doesn’t care so much about saving money as much as they care about reliability and a good service. So ask yourself ‘what do I want my audience to do or feel or say after they have listened to my presentation?’
2 Get Ready
Try to write your presentation yourself. Do your slides later not now. Imagine you are standing in front of your audience, what do you want to say and how will you say it? Think it through and write it down as you would like to say it. This will show you the complete picture and help you bridge any gaps in the logic of your argument. Plus it begins the process of helping you to remember. From this you can create your ‘speaker notes’ as well as relevant slides.
Get to know as much as you can about your audience: who’s going to be there, what they want to know, how much do they know already and so on. Then try to get to the venue before your audience (even if it’s your client’s premises) so you can set up and be happy that all equipment is working ok. This also gives you much more control as you will be the one welcoming everyone as they enter the room!
3 Talk To People
4 Believe What You Say
5 Like Your Audience
6 Speak Up
7 Look ‘em in the eye
8 Control Yourself
9 Open and Shut…
…properly. “Today I want to talk to you about…” is not a good opening so don’t use it. Think of something like “when we met last month, you were kind enough to tell us of your requirements…” See how much better that is?
And when you close, avoid finishing with “any questions?” Listen to what this type of closing says to your audience: “I have not prepared a really memorable close so I shall resort to a bad finish with this real wimp of a question”. So don’t use it. Instead look for something like: “let’s remind ourselves of the benefits to you…” And then itemise them.
10 Wag your own tail
Tails do not wag dogs, dogs wag tails. If you let PowerPoint take over from you to such an extent that you couldn’t do your presentation without it, I am afraid it is a case of the tail wagging the dog. In Tip 2, I suggested you should write your presentation as you would like to say it. If you do this you will find it much easier to create slides.
Here are the rules: If you can show the real thing – do. If you can’t but can show a model – do. If you can’t then show a picture and if it is not possible, then by all means use word but make them few and interesting.
This is a cut down version, so click here to get the full version and receive our regular and informative newsletter
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