Actually, that should be ‘Phil’s Practical Principle – Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Presentations.’ I do love alliteration.
Let’s narrow the topic to workplace presentations – team or company updates, customer updates, sales pitches, etc. And let’s assume that you are initiating the presentation, rather than responding to an instruction from management to deliver one. We can cover that topic next time. Here are best practices for successful planning:
Here’s one of my favorite rants about a practice I Don’t Get – memorizing a presentation.
Here’s a summary of my thoughts responding to a reporter’s question about what makes an effective speech:
A client recently asked for some advice about a common practice with handouts. He noted that presenters often give audience members hard copies of their slides so they can take notes or use as a handout. My comments:
Last month’s BookShelf entry author, Tom Hindle, offered a simple and fast refresher of 101 tips for creating and delivering presentations. He really gets it, as this sampling indicates:
Seems hard to believe, but something as small and potentially insignificant as your speaker notes can make the difference between good presenters and great ones in the eyes of your audience. And, after all, their perception is your reality.
‘Making Presentations’, by Tim Hindle, part of the DK Essential Managers series, DK Publishing, NY, 1998. A quick review of 101 tips for creating and delivering presentations … a good simple refresher.
One easy way to become a more engaging audience-centric presenter us to effectively harness your Vocal Power and simply Speak Up! Volume, inflection and rate of speaking combined can significantly impact your audience’s attention, interest in your message … and positive impression of you, the messenger.
One simple way to deal with Presentation Anxiety is to Smile Through the Pain. My good friend Jim Smith, the Executive Happiness Coach here in Cleveland knows a lot about how smiles can impact your happiness. And his current blog discusses the Power of Smiles – https://mail.aol.com/webmail-std/en-us/suite.
Your audience only knows what it sees. That’s why Audience-Centric presenters harness the physical energy of their bodies by standing and delivering with credibility and confidence. Your body can be a great natural visual aid, but it can also show nervousness or lack of confidence very quickly and clearly. So … look the part you’re playing – a confident and credible presenter.