Showing posts with label Business presentations Conference presentations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business presentations Conference presentations. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
PRESENTATION SKILLS - SIMPLE NUMBERS TO IMPROVE YOUR MESSAGES
A good way to remember and apply principles of effective presentations is to connect them to numbers.
For example, you should always have 1 major idea that you leave with your audience. A good way to do this while preparing is to ask yourself and then answer this question... “What one action do I want my audience to apply as a result of this presentation?”
You may have other ideas you want the audience to remember, but thinking of one action you want them to take will help you focus on what is really important.
Include 2 appeals in a persuasive presentation: logical and emotional. One without the other will limit your impact on your audience. To appeal to their emotions, tell a story. Make them feel what you are talking about. To appeal to their intellect, include a relevant statistic or testimony of an expert on the topic you are advocating.
In organizing any part of your presentation, think of doing so in 3's. The human mind responds well to the number three. This number is a part of our culture. Three little pigs, Goldilocks and the three bears. Three blind mice. “Ready, aim, fire.” We have morning, noon, and night. There is strike three in baseball, not strike four, etc.
Having three main points is a good idea, and if you have several slides or statistics, think about organizing them in groups of three. Usually three pieces of evidence are enough to make your case.
Practicing your presentation 3 times is comfortable for most people. More than three and you might lose interest and/or memorize parts of the presentation, taking away from the spontaneity you should seek.
If you are creating a list on a slide, the “5 by 5 rule” is a good model to follow–no more than five lines on a slide and 5 words on a line. That helps you choose a font that everyone can see and the slide looks clean and not “busy.” More importantly, each line will act as a prompt to keep you and your audiences on track. This is much better than reading lots of text at the audience (like most presenters do), which detracts from the person presenting. And, typically audiences can read and digest information much better than when a presenter lectures at them. For those who lecture at their audiences, it is far more effective to simply email the presentation slides with too much content to the audience!
Pay attention to your 6th sense as you speak. Intuitively you may think of an example, or a reference to some current event that fits your content. Some people's best ideas come to them as they speak. Don’t fear to include this thought because you did not practice that material. Go with your sixth sense, your intuition, and you may add one of your best ideas in the presentation. This is always worth the risk because a small amount of risk can result in great outcomes!
When answering questions from your audience, keep your answers as concise as possible. You may be able to answer with a “yes” or “no,” but even if it is an open-ended question, practice limiting your answer to 30 seconds. If an answer is longer, the audience members who have no interest in that answer will quickly stop listening. Perhaps volunteer to talk to that person in more detail after the presentation, but remember the number 30 when answering questions - that’s seconds, not minutes!
Patrick Rothfuss said, “I am no poet. I do not love words for the sake of words. I love words for what they can accomplish. Similarly, I am no arithmetician. Numbers that speak only of numbers are of little interest to me.” However, if your number relates to a speaking principle that will make you a more effective speaker, then numbers do matter!
Posted in
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by effectivecommunication.com.au
Thursday, August 13, 2015
DOES YOUR PITCH PRESENTATION CONTAIN THIS QUESTION TO GIVE YOU THE WINNING EDGE?
If you’re involved in a competitive
business pitch, in addition to knowing the prospect very well and planning your
pitch presentation, there is a key question you and your pitch team should be
repeatedly asking yourselves, during the understanding, planning and staging
process.
The
question is... ‘What
Else Could We Do?’
(WECWD). This simply means, what else could we do, that our competitors won’t do, to win this piece of business.
Small
behaviours, little things that you could do, can be the difference that
separates you from others on the short list. Many times the client is
unsure about whom to give the business to. Many times there is no obvious
choice.
Through
repeatedly asking WECWD you’ll come up with ideas that can tip the business your way.
Some of the ideas won’t be useful – but through the repetitive WECWD process, your mind and
the minds of your pitch team will unearth a stream of ideas.
The
repetitive process is the key. Don’t ask the question just once or twice – keep asking it over and over.
Persist, even when you think you’ve exhausted all possibilities.
A story
from the 1990’s
illustrates the power of a small idea, identified through the WECWD process, that
helped win a large piece of business.
In 1995,
a competitive pitch was won by a firm. The firm’s director asked the client
why his firm won the business. The customer said something along the following
lines.
“There
wasn’t any
real difference between you and your competitors. You each seemed equally
capable of delivering the work. However, when you emailed us your PowerPoint
slides before your pitch-day presentation, we were impressed with your
technical expertise. That was the deciding factor.”
Through
the WECWD questioning process, this small action emerged, and was the reason
the firm won the business. At that point in time emailing PowerPoint slides was viewed
as novel and technologically savvy.
An
important point to
note about the story is this. The other firms on the short list could have
easily sent their PowerPoint slides to the prospect. But they didn’t think of doing it. Perhaps
they didn’t
persist in asking the WECWD.
Your call
to action towards applying this advice is... In the next seven days try out
this WECWD questioning process prior to a meeting with a potential prospect.
Ask yourself, "What else could we do to make this presentation have more
impact / be more relevant / be more positively memorable etc. Notice the numerous ideas your
mind generates for you.
All the best with your next pitch presentation!
Posted in
Business presentations Conference presentations,
Business presentations Conference presentations Facilitating meetings
by effectivecommunication.com.au
