Karen's Musing of the Month - Are You On Your "To Do" List?

Have you dreamed of having a presentation that makes everyone in the room raise their hand and say "yes?"

Here are three tips to remember as you plan your presentation.

1. Always design with the end in mind.  Never decide to do a presentation until you know exactly what you want the audience to do when you say, "thank you for coming."

You should never give a presentation only to "give value and be informative."

First, when you deliver an amazing presentation you should expect that there will be some people in the room who will want to continue to work with you.  You need to make sure they can!

Second, presenting only to "be in service and spread your knowledge with the world" is the fastest way to go broke doing presentations. Trust me - I have first hand experience.  Always have something you can offer.

Do you have an electronic book? How about an advanced class? Maybe you just want to get people on your mailing list. That's a VERY good way to generate future business.

In a 90 minute - 3 hour presentation your final 7 minutes or so should concentrate on building the case for why they need to see more of you. Note: This is NOT the sales pitch!!  And this is NOT where you reveal that all you've given is fluff and to really learn what you promised to teach they have to pay a lot more money!

This is your educational marketing segment where you can show them what specific results they will get when they continue working with you in whatever way you've chosen to offer.

2. Don't be a talking head.

OMG!  How boring is it to sit and listen to someone talk for an hour!  BUT create interaction and exercises and the time will fly by and people won't even realize they've been in your room for two hours! 

Last year I attended a T Harv Ecker seminar and the trainer said something that made me laugh out loud: "All great trainers drink tea!" 

What he meant was that when you design exercises that help your audience teach themselves they'll do all the work and you are simply facilitating the learning. (They work while you drink tea) This is how all great workshops are structured and is a good rule to follow.

Why?

Because the learning is deeper and of higher perceived value when they "discover" the information themselves, rather than you telling them "the answers."

3. Don't Be TMI (Too much information):

Many of my students come to me with the idea that in order to present a class they have to have a mountain of information that takes weeks to plan - and they don't feel they'll have enough information to be valuable enough to the audience.

Every single person I've worked with under estimates their own expertise and over estimates how much information you can fit into a segment.

For 90 minutes to an hour, you really only need to have 2 or 3 important points.  How do you decide which ones to use?  Sit down and brainstorm with yourself.  If you only had this one class and you were never going to see these people again, what 2 or 3 points do they need to know in order to make a change or get a result?

Remember that you can always offer another class or workshop that's longer or more advanced to the students who are most interested in your work/products/services.

These points, I feel, are the most important to consider when planning a presentation. Of course there are more.  Further, just reading this article won't get the workshop designed. You have to set aside time to do that.

And it might be good to get an expert opinion as well as feedback from other people who might have an interest in learning what you have to say.

Good news! 

Due to popular demand, I have created a brand new class to help you plan, create and execute a powerful presentation that not only has your audience saying "wow" but makes them ask, "where do I sign up?"

During this workshop you will learn to create an effective presentation that is:

• easy to deliver
• highly interactive without being "cheesy" or uncomfortable
• fun (for you and your participants)
• makes you money

This class is perfect for you if:

• You like the idea of dong presentations, but don't feel you're good enough - yet
• You're terrified you'll end up looking like this guy: link to funny video
• You know you "should" be doing presentations, you've just never gotten around to it
• You have no idea where to begin

When you're done, you will have the outline for your first presentation, you will learn some basic presentation skills and you will know exactly how to monetize your presentation.

Here's what others have said about the material presented in this workshop:

"Karen made it easy for me to introduce a new service easily and effortlessly. Her workshops are fun!" Joan Kasich, Natural Health Consultant

"If you don't think you can speak in front of a group, this will help you overcome that thinking!"

"It was a great experience to take what I thought I knew how to explain and create a professional and fluid presentation" Carolyn Hegarty, Real Estate Investor

"I learned how to give a great presentation in a short time. I came out of the workshop feeling confident that I can give a very effective presentation."

January is the perfect time time to get started!

When:  New Date! Monday, January 12th, 2008
            12:30 - 3:30pm
Where: The Networking Lounge
            1924 Contra Costa Blvd., Pleasant Hill, CA
Cost:    $47

 I swear that on a cube in outer space somewhere is an empire of people.

On the cube they are indoctrinated into the "dark side" of networking.

They are taught subconsciously to believe that networking is a numbers game and everybody needs their services.

And then, their minds are wiped clean and they are sent out - into our universe - to network!

Their brains are jammed so they cannot be deterred or taught new ideas or techniques.

They are

among

us.

They have three main characteristics:

1. They always have a pocket full of business cards that they give out with the sole purpose of getting yours in return so they can call and/or email you.

2. When you speak to them, their eyes are glazing over because they are trying to figure out how you might need their product (they are not listening to you).

3. They are unable to identify their client as anything other than "people just like you, "anyone," "someone," or "small businesses"

Here's what to do:

1. Don't carry more than 10 business cards. When you run into an "alien  networker," tell them you are out of business cards.  If you choose to take their card, be sure to politely let them know you'll follow up if you're interested or find someone who needs their services. Remember, just because you took the card doesn't mean you are obligated to keep it.

2. After they try to sell you their stuff (or an appointment with them later) ask them to tell you who their dream client would be and who a good strategic alliance for them would be.  You may just know a good connection or someone wh o has been looking for someone who does what they do.

3. Ask for specifics.  For example there are as many definitions of "small businesses" as there are people defining them.  Ask what small business means to them, for example.

Most of these "alien networkers" are not bad people after all. Many have wonderful products or services. This will help you figure out who can help them the most and who knows - maybe you can help them break from the collective and become a "farming rather than hunting" kind of networker - like you!