Presentations Training:
Presentation Skills - Making Sure That You Don't Lose 'em at the Turn

Sneak into a business meeting or a presentation of any kind and observe the audience. If the person on stage has excellent presentation skills, the audience will be held in rapt attention, possibly leaning forward and waiting for the next salient point to be given and expounded on. They are bright-eyed and possibly flushed faced, as if they have just finished having a great laugh. Or, they are almost holding their breath, waiting for the punch line to be delivered to whatever amusing set-up the presenter is leading them to.

You should know that as a presenter you are taking the people in front of you on a journey that they may not have wanted to go on in the first place but at the end are glad they did. Your goal is to get most of the people you are looking at to the same place without losing anyone at the first turn in the presentation. Excellent presentation skills are like the road map, the presentation is the journey, and you, my friend, are the driver.

Everyone who has had to speak in front of two strangers, twenty, a hundred of them, knows the old adage that you ease them into the conversation with a joke. It is like the bait that you are using to lure them in; the golden ticket you wave that promises more fun and adventure for the rest of the journey. Knowing that to be true, keep in mind that you can lose your audience, if you don't present your joke tastefully!

Make sure that you consider the tone of the message you will be presenting, the type of people who will make up the majority of your audience and what your message is going to accomplish. Making a joke about the economy just before the president of a company comes up to tell everyone that they are losing their job is in poor taste. So is making a rather blue joke, to a room full of nuns. Know the underlying message and know your audience. Remember the analogy of the destination: Make sure that you know where you are going and who you will be taking with you along the way.

Another thought to keep in mind while working on your presentation is the way that you come across, no matter what your lips are saying. A crowd of people come out of an auditorium all with the same comment-the presenter seemed nice enough but gee, what a creepy guy. Talk about an oxymoron. So, either the people thought you were a nice guy but a little creepy or the general consensus is that you are creepy but the people are too nice to just say that outright. Make sure that the message you are conveying with your facial expressions and body language is directly related to the message you are speaking out loud.

Practice keeping your presentation flowing.

Set a time for the speech, setting aside a few minutes for questions or comments unless you are expressly asked not to do so. Time the speech several times, making sure that you hold for applause or laughter at the relevant spots (whether you get these validations for real, will depend on your presentation expertise when you are on stage) and then look at the final time. Are you over or under the estimated time by very much? If you are, do you think that your estimation was the cause or do you think you need to work on delivery? Practice your presentation several times, making sure that you pay careful attention to the way you sound. If you sound like you are rushing things, then slow down. If you sound like you have just been tranquilized, then pick up the pace. The key is a nice even flow, and smooth travel so that your passengers travel in first class, all the way and look forward to the next trip they get to take with you and your presentation.

Source: David Folkman link

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