(This month, we continue our popular year-long series, ‘Do Your Presentations Suck? with a closer look at your presentation’s Introduction. Enjoy!)
Your Introduction might suck if you don’t Start Strong – if it doesn’t quickly build rapport, establish credibility, stress audience-centric value and let them know what’s coming. And it might really suck if you start by talking about yourself or telling a joke.
(We continue our popular year-long ‘Do Your Presentations Suck? series this month with a deep dive into your presentation’s Main Point. So, buckle up for another fast ride.)
Last month’s year-long ‘Do Your Presentations Suck? series overview garnered curious and enthusiastic reader reaction. That’s great. So, we start off this deep dive into Best Practices with a look at Audience Focus.
A business reporter recently about the term ‘Motivational Speaker’. I really enjoyed sharing this load of steaming rant. Hope you do too:
Team-Delivered Presentations (TDPs) are still common in the workplace today, especially with higher-end sales pitches or senior executive project updates. Some are effective, efficient and engaging messages. But, unfortunately, too many become ‘Dog & Pony Shows from Hell‘. What pushes them over the edge is poor planning and preparation, just as with other facets of workplace presentations.
Creating Audience-Centered Presentations can be a key to your career success in the job you have … or the job you want. And adding some new, different or better tools to your Workplace Presenter Tool Kits is simple … but not necessarily easy.
Let’s assume you’ve just created some Best-in-Class slides – the right number with the right content and the right design – to support your message and add value to the audience experience. Great … now it’s time for you to Use Them Wisely!
I recently engaged in a lively LinkedIn Presentation group discussion about whether or not presenters should use slides. Here’s a summary of my comments, based on years of coaching executives, for you workplace presenters with similar concerns.
Looks like last month’s piece on handling audience questions generated a lot of interest, especially about the two smart alternatives I indicated would be in this month’s issue of ‘Communicate Confidently!’ So … here you go.
What’s your point? Really – what’s the key message you’ll be delivering that you want the audience to understand, remember and agree with after the presentation? Your Main Point (MP) is the essence of your message, boiled down to one concise, specific, positive sentence. You should be able to write it on the back of your business card.