Welcome
I have now been running the public Effective Business
Presentation Skills courses for just over 2 years. So Happy Birthday to
the course.
Over the two years, hundreds of people have
participated and I have listened to many fascinating presentations. I
would like to thank all the delegates, who have made running the course
so interesting. I couldn't have done it without you, as they say.
For those of you who have not attended a course I
thought I would share some feedback that I have received, see Feedback
below.
The A to Z of Effective Presentations article is "P
for Preparation, Practise and Performing". There seem to be a lot of "P"s
relevant to Presenting so I have saved Pace, Pauses, Powerful Phrases
and Pointers for the next issue.
Yours
sincerely,
Graham Young
+44 1276 502257
Upcoming Courses
First, a quick plug for the public courses I am
running:
- Effective Business Presentations Fri 11th April
in Basingstoke
- Effective Business Presentations Wed 30th April
in Oxford
- Effective Business Presentations Fri 9th May in
Heathrow
- Effective Business Presentations Wed 21st May in
Reading
- Effective Business Presentations Wed 4th June in
Guildford
By attending one of these courses you can discover how
to structure and deliver an effective business presentation. This is not
just training on how to speak in public. It is concise, fact laden
training on how to give a presentation that will make your voice heard
and your objectives fulfilled.
If you have already attended one of my courses and you
found it educational, enjoyable and effective why not forward this by
email to a colleague or encourage them to book on one of these courses.
For more information or to book click
here.
Feedback
As I have now been running the Presentation Skills
training in it's current form for two years now, I thought it would be
interesting to look at some of the feedback I have received.
Overall almost 2/3 rds of the delegates have rated the
course as "5 out of 5", with the other 1/3 rating it "4 out of 5".
However, it is getting even better. Across all the courses I ran in the
first quarter of this year, 79% of participants rated it as "5 out of 5"
overall.
I won't bore you with any more statistics but if you would like to
see some of the comments people have made take a look at my website
here.
The A to Z of Effective Presentations
In previous newsletters, which you can access
here, I have covered A to
O , so
now it is the letter “P”. In this issue "P" stands for Preparation /
Practise / Performance.
P is for Preparation
Preparation is the key to success. Knowing what you
are going to talk about, knowing whom you are talking to, knowing what
they are interested in, and knowing how you will perform. All this
knowing comes from preparation.
If there is one single golden rule of presenting, it
is:
Preparation Preparation Preparation
The more preparation you do, the more you think about
your presentation, invariably, the better it will be. You cannot
rehearse too much, or know too much about you audience or the subject.
Being well prepared is one of the best ways to conquer
nerves.
Preparation beats trepidation every
time.
Knowing what the slides are and having seen someone
else give a presentation, is not the same as giving it yourself. If you
have a corporate presentation to give, where you did not write the
slides, one of the biggest pit falls is to think you can give the
presentation, just because you know the subject and have seen someone
else do it.
You need to make the presentation your own. Think up
your own introduction, your own anecdotes and your own humorous asides.
The slides after all are not the presentation; they are just the visual
aids. Even using a 'standard' set of company presentation slides, you
still need to create the presentation in you own head.
While you are preparing, think what the three worst
questions you could be asked would be. Then work out convincing answers
to these three questions. Having prepared answers for the three worst
questions will bolster your confidence and if they are asked, you will
know what to say.
Remember:
Poor Preparation Produces Perfectly
Pathetic Presentations
I believe it was Mark Twain who said "My best
impromptu speeches always take 3 weeks to prepare."
P is for Practise
One of the key aspects of preparation is practising
your presentation. When you practise your presentation, you should say
it aloud not just in your head. One trick I have used many times in the
past is to give the presentation while I am driving to the location. You
are alone in the car and these days with hands free mobiles nobody even
worries when they see someone talking to themselves in a car. So switch
off the radio or the CD and give your presentation aloud. This is a
great way to make sure you know what you are going to say and how you
are going to say it, before the event. Do not just go over it in your
head, it does not have nearly the same effect.
When you practise, make a note of the timings. It is a
good idea to mark every third or forth cue card with the time you expect
to start that part of your presentation. That way you have a guide as to
how you are going time wise.
With the widespread availability of home video
cameras, an ideal way to practise is to film yourself giving the
presentation. You will learn a lot about what your audience will see and
hear by watching the video. Do not cheat when you practise! There is
often a temptation to skip over sections of a presentation, because you
think you already know that part of the talk. Maybe you are re-using a
section from a previous presentation. Maybe it is a bit where you are
hoping to gain some audience interaction. My advice is to rehearse the
presentation in its entirety rather than make assumptions.
P is for Performance
When you are giving a presentation, think of it as giving a performance,
after all that is exactly what you are doing. Giving a business
presentation is like giving a soliloquy from a great play. Actors do not
just say their words, they put feeling into it, they act out their part
and that is what you should be doing when you are giving your
presentation. Great presenters convey their message with emotion not
just words.
I will carry on the P's in the next issue of Markets
View with Pace, Pauses, Powerful Phrases and Pointers
Improve
Your Presentations I hope you
have found this newsletter useful and interesting. You can learn a lot
more about how to structure and give an Effective Business Presentation,
by:
- Attending a Young Markets Effective
Presentations Skills training course
- Reading my ebook "The A to Z of
Effective Business Presentations" which you can download from my
website today.
- Taking my on-line course which is
just one of the many sales related training modules at
www.salesgurushaz.com
Please feel free to forward this on
to your friends and colleagues. If you have received this second
hand and would like your own personal copy of future issues, please
click to
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