Do your presentations or speeches need help? Whether it is a sales call or an auditorium, there is a huge payoff in organizing your presentation. Here are some ideas to rescue your next presentation opportunity:
Ask yourself "What's in it for the audience?"
The listener wants your words to speak to their head or heart. Your information must relate in some way to them, You have the ability to solve a problem, make the listener feel better, or very importantly, to make them laugh. If your presentation is irrelevant the listener will move on mentally to other things.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
Did I say Practice? Reviewing your material ahead of time is important but the real payoff comes when you deliver your presentation ALOUD in front of a mirror or a critique team. You will learn which words or phrases work better for you and which ones trip you no matter how hard you try.
Include stories and comparisons to which the audience can relate.
From age one to 100, people love a good story. The best stories are ones that make a point or lead us through a range of emotions. Keep a notebook of stories to use a reference tool for building your presentations. If you can relate $1,000,000 to a person spending $30 per day for 91 years, listeners may be better able to grasp the magnitude of large numbers.
What ideas or tools have helped you to rescue your presentations?
Comments