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Need to present
your business, ideas, yourself?
These
tips on effective presentation are based on our experience, our
skills and whatever we can dig up for you. Click on ‘Barb’
if you want to see them in action. At the end of her presentation,
everybody bought (except 2). Almost 100 sets of Business Buffet
in one sale! I’m not going to talk about how to structure a
presentation. You can look to the HARPOON
to do that. I’m giving you the stuff that presentation books
don’t usually cover. If they make sense to you, you can order
the whole booklet on the order page.
1. Confucius said it all. You must INVOLVE your listener in what
you are communicating. They must experience it through as many of
their senses as possible. And DON’T BORE THEM…
2. Have visuals. Talk to the visuals, Make them RELEVANT. And lists
are not visuals.You throw a list of points up and repeat them, you
lost your audience. Use a key word and a relevant visual. Like:
—Time. (picture of clock). Better still, Time—(picture
of clock with hands moving.) Better still: —Time. (Picture
of clock with hands moving and caption “How much of it do you
have left?”, or “If you had more time, what would you
do with it?” or “Time is money. But how MUCH?” Then
the audience is involved and thinking along with you.
3. Repeat things at least three times, in different ways. For example,
use an example after you’ve told them. Then an anecdote which
reinforces what you said. Then tell them a story, “Money is
not really what people are after. They are after the SATISFACTIONS
that they think money will bring. For example: the president of
Prime America sold BILLIONS in life insurance by suggesting that
substantial life insurance with a plan for its use, a structure
of how the recipients should use it, would allow the insured to
CONTROL what happens after he passes on, almost as if he was there.
There’s a story of a man who refused to sell a shopping center
he owned, no matter how much he was offered, and this shopping center
was holding up the development of a whole region. The buyer noticed
that the man was very civic-minded and community-oriented, so the
buyer offered to name the development after the man’s family
in perpetuity: “Robertson Hills,” so his family would
ALWAYS be part of the community. Instant sale. And at a good price.”
First you tell them what you’re going to tell them. Then you
tell them. Then you tell them what you just told them. All in interesting
ways.
4. The meaning of your message is only retained if there is mutual
understanding. What they caught is not necessarily what you threw.
Check if they understand. “Can anybody tell me what would happen
to their lives if they did what I suggested?”
5. Vary your pace and tone of voice. Nothing puts people to sleep
faster than a dull monotone.
6. If you don’t feel confident, REHEARSE, REHEARSE, REHEARSE.
Do it in front of a mirror four or five times, then in front of
anybody who’ll listen. If you can, give it to a group that’s
not important to you. TAPE IT! Play it back, over and over. Then
you can forget about it. You’ll know it, and it’ll sound
like it came from your heart.
7. Tell it from your own point-of-view. Use “I found…I
discovered…I learned…” a lot. Unlike writing, if
you say, “you should…”, you sound pompous and superior.
In writing, of course, you should use “YOU” and not “I”.
Check out ADS and DIRECT
MAIL for some tips on writing style.
8. Make eye contact with individuals around the audience and hold
it for at least five seconds. You’ll soon build a sympathetic
group who feel like they’re being talked TO, no AT, and they’ll
be the ones who lead the applause.
9. SMILE when you present in person or on the phone. The muscles
involved lift your voice and your spirits. DON’T smile when
you are ina negotiation. It tends to look manic.
10. If
you’re not sure how to move, learn to take the most impossible
stance: Stand STILL with you hands hanging loosely at your sides.
GESTURE if it’s natural to you. If you use this pose, which
is DYNAMITE, increase your eye contact group.
11. A good presentation is about TRUST. You have to be believed
to be heard. Don’t pull an Al Gore and make false claims.
12.Ask questions that make people think about their situation. This
is a good time to involve your eye contact people. “What’s
your name? What’s the most significant thing you heard so far
and how will this thing affect your life if you use it?”
13. YOU are the expert on your own presentation! This will give
you confidence. No one knows your presentation better than you do,
so act like the authority you are. Project quiet confidence.
14. BE STILL. Nothing is as stunning as silence. It’s golden.
PAUSE. Let stuff sink in. When you ask a question. WAIT. It takes
unprepared people a while to trust what they’re going to say.
If you’re silent. someone will want to fill the void. As soon
as someone does, usually everybody feels more comfortable talking.
15. Winston Churchill said that a great conversationalist is one
who asks the other person questions about the other person’s
interests, then waits patiently while the other person talks. Often,
you won’t have to ask more than a few questions to set them
off for a long time. Don’t let them go on too long, though.
After all, YOU are the one in the spotlight.
16. Relax. What’s the worst that can happen? Someone will die
during your presentation and no one will EVER forget you! And chances
are you won’t have to give the rest of it, but you’ll
get credit for it anyway. Once you’ve given a few, you’ll
be asked to give them because you seem so sure of yourself. Good
luck.
17. Presenting to a group is mankind’s biggest fear. Everybody
is impressed that you would even attempt it.They will give you the
benefit of the doubt, but only if you DON’T BORE THEM. AND
THAT GOES BACK TO POINT 1.
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