The Presentation Advantage

Dr. Stephen R. Covey with Elizabeth

during his famous LIVE “Big Rocks” Presentation.

Welcome back to week number two of our 3-week BusinessCommunication Series.  In case you missed last week’s session, The Writing Advantage, you can follow this link to read it now. 

Presentations have been a common form of business communication for some time.  We can give a presentation at an internal meeting, on a sales call or even in the class room.  Below are a few points for consideration. 

Meetings - Keep in mind that people are making crucial business decisions based on your information.  Make sure that your point is clear and welcomes input.  If you can provide a handout with key points and place for your notes, this will help them know what to focus on during your time in the front of the room. 

Sales Presentation - A good sales presentation should be interactive with the client.  If you have done a good job analyzing what the client needs, when it’s time to recommend your solution, you can ask questions that are checking their buy in along the way.  Be prepared to adjust on the fly if needed.  Continuing down the path as a talking head in the front of the room and not addressing their concerns will kill your opportunity.

Classroom Facilitation - This is usually reserve for experienced trainers, but even leaders can be put in this position from time to time.  Knowing your content well and connecting with your audience is key!

Regardless of which situation you are in, following these few tips below can help increase your effectiveness.

1.       Design - Taking time to design your presentation is key.  Remeber to "Begin with the End in Mind."  You need to identify the needs of your audience.  What points do you want to make?  What do you want them to do a result after seeing your presentation?

2.       Check point - If your presentation requires equipment, allow adequate time to connect everything and check to make sure everything is working (sound, slides, projector, etc.)

3.       Pictures - A picture is worth …. (you know the rest).  Using a powerful image to make your point is far more effective than writing out the bullet points of your speech

4.       Keep Moving - There is power in stillness … when making your point.  After you do so, keep the content flowing and feel free to move across the room and engage with your entire audience.

5.       Build Up - When you look at a tall building, your eyes typically take you to the top.  Your presentation should do that for your audience.  As you land key points, make sure they are guiding them to the one key takeaway you want them to know.

6.       Close - When it’s time to wrap it up, review your points, restate your purpose and close strong!

These are just a few helpful tips.  If you want to watch some great presentations, I highly recommend a website called www.ted.com.  You will see some amazing presentations and I’m sure you will laugh, learn and become inspired!

If your team needs better presentation skills, I highly recommend our 2-day PresentationAdvantage Program.  This is limited to 12 participants in the classroom.  Participants will bring actual presentations that they are currently working on.  They will draft their presentation and practice segments of it over the 2-day period.  More importantly, our consultants record their sessions for them so they can see their body language, eye movement, connection with audience, etc.  By the end of the 2-days participants have the mind-set, skill-set and tool-set to create effective presentations every time!

I attended this content a few years ago and I know that it made a significant impact on my capability to deliver a quality presentation.  For more information, please request a meeting using our meeting invitation tool on the right side of this page or simply call me at 214-387-9960.

Enabling greatness, one organization at a time,

John Vakidis