Presentation Training Tips:
Follow These Three Keys to Presentation Success
By James A. Baker
Presentations Training Institute.
March 2009
We all know what it is like to listen to a great
presenter. We sit mesmerized as she keeps us on the edge of our
seats with engaging commentary, memorable stories, and catchy
visuals all wrapped up in a relaxed, confident, convincing delivery
style that has us standing and wildly applauding at the end. That is
when we remember that we have a presentation of our own to do next
month and we begin to despair of even being able to keep our
audience awake for the whole thing.
While it is probably a mistake to compare ourselves to those
top-rank (and top-dollar) professional presenters, that doesn’t mean
we can’t learn a few things from them that will prepare us to
deliver a solid, effective presentation of our own when the time
comes. Here are three key principles used by all the top
presentation pros:
1) Do Your Homework
–
You have been invited (in some cases assigned) to deliver a
presentation for a particular reason. Make sure you understand the
goals and the subject matter well enough to hit that target dead
center. Is your goal to inform, to motivate, or some combination of
both? Have you assembled and organized your material so that it will
clearly lead your audience in the direction you want them to go,
without being too technical or dragging on too long? A short list of
key points –
backed up by up by brief supporting data and a few easy-to-read,
clean, memorable visuals and a couple of stories – will be more
effective than pages of confusing statistics and rambling
commentary. Decide what is most important to say, say it clearly and
efficiently, and sit down. It requires more work to put together a
tight, targeted presentation, but it is worth it. It is always
better to leave them asking for more than it is to have them asking
you to stop.
2) Speak to the Needs of Your Audience
– Do you have an
adequate understanding of the needs of your audience? Have you even
thought about this? C-level executives have different needs and
listen for different types of information than rank and file
managers. Top executives want you to get right to the point with
high level information that is accessible and practical. Don’t bog
them down with details; that is someone else’s department. Rank and
file managers want proven solutions they can use now. They don’t
have time to talk in theoretical terms about pie-in-the-sky
theories. On the other hand, IT managers and financial officers
actually require that you dig into the details and give them all the
supporting data you have.
You get the idea. Give some thought to your audience before you
even start preparing your presentation. If necessary, make a few
phone calls and interview those who are close to the group you will
be addressing. Ask them to give you insights into the needs and
concerns of the key players who will be in attendance. Any leverage
you can gain in this area will be very helpful. All your hard work
will be wasted –
or at least ineffective –
if you don’t target your presentation to speak clearly to the needs
and expectations of your audience.
3) Get to the venue early -- This advice has a broad application.
If your presentation is taking place in another city or another
continent, try to arrive at least 24 hours ahead of the time you are
supposed to make your presentation (maybe even more for overseas
events). You want to have plenty of time to relax, refresh and be at
your best. You also want to allow time for your luggage and any
important presentation components to catch up with you. With airline
travel becoming ever more hectic, stressful and unpredictable, leave
yourself plenty of time to recover from unexpected delays and
losses. In most cases, it is wise to ship important materials
several days ahead of time, just to be save.
However, even if your presentation is in your home town
– or maybe even
in your home office building –
get to the venue as early as possible. It is extremely important
that you make sure that all your equipment is in working order, and
that all necessary handouts, manuals or other materials have
arrived. If your computer won’t talk to your projector, or if you
discover at the last minute that your PowerPoint file has been
corrupted, you want to at least have plenty of time to fix the
problem or implement plan B (and allow yourself plenty of time to
regain your composure). After you have assured yourself that
everything is ready to go, you can make excellent use of the
remaining time by mingling with the participants as they arrive.
Sometimes you pick up helpful insights during these brief
conversations that you can use during your presentation.
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