Welcome
Welcome to the October issue of Markets View. Not much news this
month but I hope you enjoy the articles in the A to Z feature.
The A to Z of Effective Presentations article in this issue is
dedicated to the letter "R".
"R
is for Room, Room Layouts and Rhetorical Questions".
Yours
sincerely,
Graham Young
+44 1276 502257
Upcoming Courses
There have
been a couple of changes to the course calendar toward the end of the
year. Please see below for the revised dates and locations for my
courses during the Autumn:
-
Effective Business Presentations Fri 7th November in
Basingstoke (FULL)
-
Effective Business Presentations Wed 19th November in Reading
-
Advanced Presentation Workshop Wed 3rd December in Guildford
-
Effective Business Presentations Fri 5th December in Guildford
-
Effective Business Presentations Wed 17th December in Heathrow
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 email to a colleague and encourage them to book on one
of these courses.
For 4 or
more people from the same company it may be more economical to run an
in-house course, at your own office, on a day of your choice.
For more
information or to book click
here.
The A to Z of Effective Presentations
In
previous newsletters, which you can access
here,
I have covered A to Q , so now it is the letter "R". In this issue "R"
stands for Room, Room Layouts and Rhetorical Questions.
R is for Room
Presentations take place in all types and sizes of rooms. They may not
even happen in a room at all. The space and the facilities the room
provides can make a huge difference to the effectiveness of any
presentation.
I have 3
simple rules about the room you are using for your presentation.
1.
Arrive early
You should
always arrive early so that you can become accustomed to the room itself
and check it over before your audience arrive.
Arriving
just before you are about to present, means there is no time to fix any
problems that you may find and no time to grow accustomed to your
surroundings.
When you
are one of a series of presenters, it is often best to practise your
entrance. How will you get up to your speaking position? What does it
feel like standing there? Where will I put my notes.
A word of
warning if you are using cue cards or notes, do not leave them on a
lectern, keep them with you. It is all too easy for the previous
speaker or the MC to pick up your notes along with theirs, leaving you
helpless.
Make a
note of where people come in. Will late comers be able to join without
interrupting your flow?
2.
Make it tidy
You should
minimise the number and level of distractions, so that the audience pays
attention to you.
All too
often presentations are made in an internal office room where various
debris has been left behind by the previous occupant, including: writing
on the white board or flipchart, books and papers left on desks or
window sills, pieces of computer equipment that are not currently in
use. All these things work as distractions from your presentation and
should be tidied up before your audience arrive.
Close the
blinds on any windows in the room so that you audience are not
distracted by what is going on outside.
Make sure
everyone can see you and the screen or flipchart (assuming you are using
one). Try sitting in the back row to check that you can read the
content of your slides. While you are there look around the room and
make a note of anything that you can see that you do not need for the
presentation and then remove those items.
3.
Make sure that you know how to operate all the equipment.
Do not
forget to turn off your mobile phone and the screensaver on your
laptop. I remember one seminar I attended which comprised of a
presentation and a demonstration of a computer system. The presentation
went well until it came to the demo. The PC being used for the demo had
a screensaver that could only be unlocked with a password.
Unfortunately, the PC had been borrowed from another member of staff and
nobody in the room knew the password.
Make sure
the pens all work, if you are going to use a flipchart or whiteboard.
To make
sure people can hear you, ask a friend or colleague to sit in the back
row during the presentation, they can then signal to you if your voice
is too quiet.
When you
are using a microphone, make sure you know how to turn it on, and do not
forget to turn it off when you leave the stage. You do not want your
private conversations being broadcast to the whole room.
With
modern projection equipment, you should not need to turn the lights down
for people to see the screen; however, it is always wise to check that
there are no awkward reflections, which might interfere with people's
vision.
When using
PowerPoint, a little known trick is to set the presentation up and then
press 'B'. This turns the screen black so that your first slide is not
displayed until you are ready to begin. Pressing 'B' again turns on the
presentation. Similarly, 'W' will turn the screen white.
R is for Room Layout
The layout
of the room can have a dramatic effect on the level and style of
communication in a meeting. Click
here to read a paper on how to layout the room according to the
style of meeting you are running.
R is for Rhetorical Questions
Following
on from the article in the last newsletter about Handling Questions,
here is another form of questioning that puts you firmly in control.
A
rhetorical question can be a good way of opening a presentation or a
sub-section of a presentation. They have far more impact than a bland
statement and will hopefully get your audience thinking.
'Why should you use xxxx?'
has far
more impact than:
'Using xxxxx can help'
By posing
a rhetorical question your audience have to start thinking about the
answer. Leave a pause after you have asked the question to let it sink
in, before starting to give the answer.
Giving a
talk on Tax Planning, may not sound like the most exciting of topics,
but starting with a question like:
'How much money did you give to the taxman last year? Would you like
to give him less this year?'
is likely to grab people's attention and make them listen to what you
have to say.
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.salestrainingonline.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 here. |
