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HOW TO PACK A PUNCH IN YOUR PRESENTATIONS.....

Written by: Leigh Farnell

Article Overview: Everyone in management or sales needs to do presentations at some point in their career. Even worse, everyone in management and sales have had to endure boring, monotonous, uninteresting, 'death by PowerPoint' experiences too.. This article helps equip you with tools and strategies to be kind to your audience, not bore them, have fun and deliver a presentation that has punch and power.

HOW TO PACK A PUNCH IN YOUR PRESENTATIONS.....




HOW TO PACK A PUNCH IN YOUR PRESENTATIONS.....

"Keep it short, sharp, punchy and visual ......"

- Leigh Farnell

All of us know what its like to listen to a boring, uninspired, monotone, ‘living dead’ trainer or manager who just loves the sound of their own voice.....

It's not a pleasant experience.. and even worse, its not so good for the adult learning experience either....

We may have had nightmares dreaming people might be saying these kinds of things about us.....

"Oh no, not another training from them again...?

"We've just had lunch....if they go through those 50 PowerPoint slides one more time I'll be off in the Land of Nod....

"With presentation skills like that, they should be a sleep therapist....insomnia would be a thing of the past...

HOW TO KEEP THEM AWAKE... AND GET A GREAT MESSAGE ACROSS..


If you’re a trainer, seminar leader or adult educator you are in a very powerful position.

You can make a fantastic difference to personal and organisational performance.

Either way you will influence people. You may as well influence them to be more empowered, powerful, resourceful and productive.

Take time to check the following points....


KEEP IT SHORT

"It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn..." - Robert Southey (1774-1843)

Don't take 60 minutes and bore people to death if you can take 30 minutes and leave them inspired.

Abraham Lincoln's historic Gettysburg address only took about two minutes.... It doesn't have to be long to have punch...

In writing a speech or presentation, have 5 to 7 key points at the most. The brain can't remember more than that anyway...

Stories, examples and humour help punctuate and add life to any presentation. Design them in to the presentation to highlight each of your key points.

Always remember you can overload a person’s brain with facts, figures and technical detail....

You might think all that data is the best thing since sliced bread... but your prospect or audience may not.... Watch their eyes and body language ... If their eyes glaze over.....you've gone too long....

As Shakespeare once put it.." Brevity is the soul of wit.."

KEEP IT SHARP

Sharp means YOU being sharp. You looking sharp in your clothing and presentation. What are you saying before you even open your mouth ?

Sharp means YOU being alert, awake, interested, energetic.

If you're not inspired by what you're presenting, how can you expect your audience to be inspired by listening to it ?

Get yourself into a positive, excited mood before you take your entrance.

I remember early in my career watching Alan Pease (The Body Language speaker) warm up for a speech to 800 people. He was jogging on the spot and shadow boxing like a prize fighter before the big bout..

Now you might say "that's a bit over the top..." There's method in his madness...people loved his presentation and he's one of Australia's most highly paid and sought after speakers and trainers....

Training is a physical, mental, social and emotional experience.

Warming up all those dimensions helps you deliver your sharpest best.

SHARP SENTENCES IMPACT

Have a short, sharp key sentence you repeat at intervals throughout your presentation.. This has been a well used and highly effective technique right throughout history... take advantage of it.... if you want top results...

" I have a dream.." "now is the time.." " we can never be satisfied" ..... Martin Luther King
" It's time......" Gough Whitlam 1972 campaign..Bill Clinton 1993 campaign
" If I can do it, you can do it.."
" You will save time and money.."
“Evolution not revolution”
“Think different about your thinking”
“Re-invent your invention”

KEEP IT PUNCHY

Research shows that over 90% of the message you put across is not in what you say..but how you say it.....So take just as much time preparing the HOW as you do the WHAT.
Record yourself on audio (or even better video) tape..... you might be surprised....

Add some punch to your presentation by practising using your voice in different ways.

Practice being excited, being quiet and soft, being angry, being frustrated.... This will add a whole new dimension to your delivery..

Chunk your presentation in key points..... Move from point to point.... reviewing at each stage of the way..

" So, point one was keep it short..... point two was keep it sharp. Point three was keep it punchy.. now let's move onto point four.....and this is a particularly important point....so make a note of it if you will....."


KEEP IT VISUAL

Most people need to SEE what you're talking about to GET IT...

A master communicator must be a master at painting pictures in the minds of his or her audience, be it a sales presentation or a sermon...

Here are some tips:

* Use overhead transparencies or PowerPoint slides - with a picture and very few words on
* Tell short, sharp stories with a POINT to them
* Use words like " imagine this if you will.." " recall the last time you.." " picture this.."
* Be descriptive using these terms " it looks like..." "it sounds like.." " it feels like.."
* Draw a picture, flow chart, plan or diagramme of what you're talking about...
* Use a flip chart and or whiteboard..
* Use analogies and metaphors from nature...."like a garden growing.." "like a tree falling.."
* Use analogies and metaphors from home too … raising a family, talking to teenagers, talking to your partner, going on holidays. By communicating using a ‘common reality’ basis you have far more power than overly technical or academic references only a few in the group relate to.

All of your key points should be demonstrated in a visual manner by using examples.

Preferably in two or three different ways from the list above.... to ensure people get it... Not just at a conscious, but more importantly, subconscious level..... and that’s by telling stories..

Of course there are many other factors to consider too.....

Like practice, make mistakes, correct, practice ... make mistakes, correct, practice etc. etc....

But just as in the boxing ring, if you want your presentation to pack a punch, then set your sights, do your preparation, and put your heart into it.....

" Friends, Australians, Countrymen...... lend me your ears....
I have come to help you profit more
and struggle less.....
It is a time for change..
We shall fight them on the shopfloor,
on the beaches, and in the boardrooms...
It is a time for change..
A time for profit, a time to struggle less.....
We shall fight the dual enemies -
waste and complacency wherever we find them...
It shall be a long, torrid battle
but we shall never surrender......
for it is a time for change
and we shall profit more....
and we shall all win...
and in a thousand years they will write of us
"This was their finest hour.."

- OK… so I’ll keep practicing…

KEEP IT INTERACTIVE

People learn with their bodies. They learn by doing.

Plan your training as a series of exercises or interactive experiences.

Map out the exercises, discussion questions, games, role plays or experiences first.

When I am planning a session, I draw up a blank page with a line down the middle.

On one side I write the heading CONTENT, and on the other side I write the heading PROCESS.

I want to make sure that people ‘get it’ with an experience.

Whether it be use of a blindfold walk with a partner or a balloon exercise or making of a paper aeroplane or discussing a question in pairs or in a team or any one of hundreds of other experiences.

Think Experience first before you fly headlong into ‘what you want to say..’

KEEP IT FUN

People love having fun.

Remember, you are working with human beings first, then workers or employees.

Share your own fears, stories, experiences, triumphs, learning’s and lessons from YOUR Road.

You are not there to regurgitate facts and figures or other people’s stories. Share your own and you will share yourself.

In sharing yourself, you connect with your fellow human beings.

When you connect at the human level, you connect in a way where you have real impact on their lives and their outcomes.

AND SO IN CONCLUSION

These are by no means everything there is to know about training adults. But at the same time, if you practice these few skills, you will be way and above the average trainer.

Sign up to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Innocent Audiences.

Be a member who is committed to making adult education an enjoyable, productive experience rather than a punishment.

In these times of ongoing change, the more adults in your organisation who sign up to lifelong learning and development, the better it is for everyone.

Keep it short, sharp, visual and punchy and they’ll keep asking you back for more.

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