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Greetings!
Happy Holidays! Considering that many people make year-end and new-year presentations, I thought I would make a play on the 12 Days of Christmas and offer Twelve Tips for Successful Presentations. I hope you find this helpful - it certainly beats any investment advice I could possibly offer during this stressful crisis we are experiencing.
My best wishes to you for a wonderful Holiday Season and a healthy, happy, prosperous New Year!
Warm Regards,
Jane Sanders | |
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TWELVE TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL PRESENTATIONS
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From Preparation to Delivery
...by Jane Sanders
Would you like to improve your confidence and reduce anxiety during presentations? Do a better job of maintaining your audience's attention? More effectively influence them to respond as you desire?
Everyone in business benefits from powerful presentation skills, whether for one-on-one situations or for staff meetings, sales pitches, community events, project updates, board meetings, or church events. The following are some tips to help you improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your presentations.
I. Analyze the requirements. Do some homework in advance. This will help you focus on the task at hand and pull your attention away from your piled-high in-box. Write the answer to these questions: Who or what group requested the presentation? Why was it requested? Who is the audience? How many people? What are their positions, duties? What is important to them? What are their needs? What might keep them from responding as you wish? What is their knowledge of your topic?
You will need to do a little research to get this information, and don't worry if you can't get it all, just learn as much as you can. The answers will help you prepare more thoroughly and effectively. For example, wouldn't you like to know if your audience just experienced pay cuts or layoffs? This would tell you where to step lightly, perhaps not to ask for donations that day, and express empathy.
What is the date? What else is going on then? How long is your presentation? Will others be presenting too? Where in the agenda does your presentation fall? What resources are available to help you prepare - the Internet, an assistant, the library, company files? Where will your presentation be, and what resources will be needed in terms of equipment, refreshments, and room set-up?
2. Determine your objectives. What is the end result you want to achieve? The more specific you can be with this objective, the better. Complete this sentence: Because of my presentation, my audience will....
Some examples include: sell (or buy) more product, buy my service, approve my budget request, join the local industry association, communicate more effectively with the opposite sex, understand our company finances, etc. Remember, with any presentation, you are ALWAYS selling and performing!
3. Prepare your introduction. GRAB ATTENTION!! Hit them fast and hard. This is your chance to pull the audience into the program and persuade them to listen to you. Do something a little out of the ordinary. They are expecting you to say, "Good morning, thank you for being here." Don't, it's boring! Several opening ideas come to mind. Find a quote that relates to your topic. Open with a startling statement, some shocking information. For example, a teacher presenting to students about driving safety could start with a statistic, of course using accurate numbers, "620,000 lives were lost last year, unnecessarily, because of unfastened seat belts." Wham!
An eye-opening demonstration is very effective also. A sheriff's deputy once walked to the front of the room, plopped a cardboard box on a table, and without saying a word, started pulling weapons out and dropping them on the table with a heavy clunk. You could have heard a pin drop in that room. His objective? To persuade the audience to become active in the neighborhood watch program.Another way to open is to ask the audience three questions. Notice the way I started this article. I usually start my GenderSmart® Communication program using the same technique. Tell a short story that communicates one of the messages you want to convey. Use humor, just be careful. Feel free to use a joke, just make sure it's funny, non-offensive, politically correct (or at least not blatantly incorrect), and relative to the content of your presentation. Alternatively, your stories, quotes, and questions can be funny too
Create rapport during your introduction by smiling and looking people in the eye. Maybe start with a short story about an experience with their organization or the occasion. Communicate to them why they should listen. Outline the content and outline what you are going to tell them. Explain your purpose for being there.
By the way, I always prepare my opening last, after I have finished the rest of my presentation. By then I have a solid and cellular grasp of my material and the initial effect and impact I want to have on my audience.
Click here to read the additional Presentation Points
Click here to read more Jane Sanders' Articles |
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GenderSmart Tips |
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Gender-Related Speaking Tips?
Of course! Here are a few:
- Avoid sports analogies.
- Be sure to use quotes and other examples from both male and female sources.
- Dress professionally and not at all provocatively.
- Smile.
- Use self-effacing humor or humor about your gender only (unless you teach gender differences like I do).
- Always speak about the opposite sex with respect unless a gentle teasing comment is completely in context, and even then, beware.
- Try to use quotes or other examples and stories that demonstrate your understanding of and/or respect for both genders.
- Be aware many people in your audience, both men and women, are working parents and therefore potentially stressed, exhausted, and watching the clock.
- And have fun! Adults are just kids in big bodies.
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Quotes Of The Month |
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"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."
Dorothy Nevill, writer
"I will not change my horse with any that treads but on four pasterns...When I bestride him, I am a hawk. He trots the air, the earth sings when he touches it, the basest horn of his hoofs is more musical than the pipe of Hermes...When bestride him I soar, I am a hawk."
William Shakespeare |
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You are welcome to reprint any part of this newsletter as long as
you include "By Jane Sanders, GenderSmart® Solutions, 877-343-2150, http://www.janesanders.com."
Contact Information
Phone: 310-589-2212 Toll-Free: 877-343-2150
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