A good way of ensuring your presentation goes well is to actually choreograph your talk so that you use the physical space well. By doing so you can give clues to the audience as to what is going on.

The best thing to do is always start your presentation in the centre of the platform area you have available. This is the most authoritative position and is where you should make your major points, especially your concluding remarks. However, other parts of your speaking area can be used for specific purposes.

For instance, move to your left when you are talking about issues relating to the past and move to the right when you are speaking about the future. Or move to the left when you are talking about one topic and to the right when talking about another. These physical positions signal to the audience what is going on.

Also, move forward when you want to engage with the audience more and move backwards if you are asking them to do some activity or come up with ideas, questions, discussions and so on. Doing that signals it is "over to them".

Good presenters work out in advance how they are going to use their stage area. It makes a significant difference to the way the presentation is viewed by the audience.

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Confidence is a key issue for presenters. Without it, audiences do not engage fully with what you are saying. Indeed, audiences feel nervous if the presenter is not confident. So, you must be confident if you are to get your point across.

Some people are not phased by giving a presentation and they are fully confident. Others (the majority) find it rather daunting to stand up in front of an audience and start talking. One of the factors that differentiates a confident presenter from a nervous one is the amount of practice they have done.

In training sessions at the Presentation Business delegates often say they have little or no practice. The most common belief appears to be that you can "over practice". But that is not the case.

Most people do not practice enough. That dents their confidence considerably. You should practice your presentation so that it feels natural to you and that you do not have to think about what to say. Firstly, practice with your notes several times. Then put the notes to one side and practice without them - though for thr first few times you may need your notes to prompt you. Then go for a full "dress rehearsal" using any slides or other visual aids you have produced. Finally, you need a full rehearsal in the venue in which you will be presenting. This will help you get a feel for the room, the acoustics and so on, boosting your confidence even more.

Practice is essential in removing your nerves and confidence is essential if the audience is to get your message. Otherwise they concentrate on your nervousness and lose what you are saying. The way out of that is plenty of practice.

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Presenters frequently ask "what do I do with my hands?". People appear concerned that they will look foolish if their hands do the wrong thing. As a result they either stand with their hands firmly fixed in front of them, or they put them behind their backs. The result of either of these approaches is to look stiff or unnatural.

The "trick" to what to do with your hands is to forget about them. Let them do whatever they want to do. Your hands know what to do...! In social situations and in normal conversation you will be using your hands in a variety of ways, without thinking about what you are doing with them. In just the same way as you learned language as a toddler, you picked up hand gestures as a means of communication at the same time. Since that time you have used your hands naturally.

As soon as you start worrying about what to do with your hands they don't know how to behave. Concentrating on hand movements, or hand stillness means you won't look normal. Importantly, you will also feel unusual and that will impact upon your confidence. So, let your hands do whatever they want; you will appear more natural to your audience and you will feel more confident.

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Presenters often feel under pressure to put everything they know about their subject into their presentation. As a result they often start with background information, so that the rest of their material can be set in context. The problem with this approach is that you easily lose the attention of your audience.

Research on audiences shows that they are actually full of expectation at the outset of a presentation, waiting to be told what to do. That's right, audiences expect you to give them something to do after the presentation is over. A good presentation is one that ensures the audience has at least one clear action to complete after you have left the platform.

So, how do you ensure you write a presentation that follows this 'rule'? The first thing to do when sitting down to put your presentation together is some audience research. Many presenters only do basic audience research. But to construct an outstanding presentation you need to find out as much detail as you can. In particular you need to know where they are now, on your topic - and where they would like to be. That will give you some clues as to the actions you can suggest in your presentation.

Once you have the desired 'destination' of the audience in mind, you can work out how you can connect your topic to that specific requirement. Start your presentation with a hint of how you are going to achieve this. Your audience will immediately pay attention because you are 'on their wavelength'. In other words, demonstrate right at the beginning of your presentation that you understand your audience, what they desire and how you are going to help them achieve that.

The best presentations are not those which have the greatest applause, nor those which are remarked upon for their wonderful PowerPoint slides. The best presentations are those which the audience act upon afterwards; it's not what you do in the room that is the mark of a good presentation, it's what the audience does after you have left that is important. As a result, the way of writing the best presentation is to focus on what the audience will do, not what you want to say.

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Public speaking ranks right up there with death in terms of the things we are terribly afraid to do. Whether it's the fear of being watched closely by others, or the insecurity and self-conscious feeling of slipping up during the presentation, these six tips will help you give a polished, professional speech that you (and your audience) can be proud of!

1. Know your audience. This is the single best piece of advice for delivering a presentation that really hits home. What are there interests? Their backgrounds? Why are they coming to hear you speak or present? What ideas do you have to share with them? Approaching your speech as more of a 'me-to-you' discussion rather than a full-blown broadcast will make it more manageable (and less stressful) and easier on you.

2. What do you want your audience to do as a result of your speech? What's really at the heart of your presentation? By concentrating on the 'end result' rather than slogging through the beginning, you can create a powerful punch that drives home your message instead of rambling on and losing your audience's interest (or missing the point entirely!)

3. Share a story. In public speaking circles, this is called a 'hook' - something that gets your audience's attention and makes them sit up and listen. Start off by asking questions or sharing an experience you had. People like to be active, rather than passive listeners. By giving them something that they can identify with, you'll find that these people are, in essence - just like you! And that makes giving a presentation a whole lot easier. Just be sure your story has a beginning, a point, and an ending. There's nothing quite as bad as telling a story to an engaged audience and then forgetting why you told it!

4. If you're selling a product, focus on the benefits instead of the features. People would much rather hear WHAT a product can do for them than HOW it does it. Narrow down your product's features until you get to the core of how it solves a problem. If you need help with figuring out the difference between a feature and a benefit, ask yourself 'So What?' For example, if you're selling a vacuum cleaner that has a hypoallergenic filter, put yourself in the customer's shoes and ask yourself 'so what?' The answer would be something like, 'It picks up dust, mold and pet dander. Again, 'so what? Answer, 'You'll feel relief from runny nose and sneezing plus itchy, water eyes.' Now THAT's a benefit!

5. Don't lean too heavily on media to make your message clear. PowerPoint presentations are great for making specific points, but they can be overwhelming - or downright boring. Instead, give your audience something to DO by providing them with fill-in-the-blank flip charts or 'team activities'. These help reinforce and emphasize your message in ways that a computer presentation simply cannot.

6. Above all, make sure your speech ends in a way that reiterates the beginning. Too often, speakers get carried away with the details and leave their audiences asking, 'What was the point of all that?' People naturally digest information in 'chunks', so focus on the big picture rather than all the pieces. If the details are just as important, save it for an after-speech handout that the audience can take with them and read over at their leisure.

If you keep these six tips in mind, you'll not only have an easier time overcoming your fear of public speaking, but you'll have a very appreciative audience who will in turn be more receptive and eager to try your product or service.

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Brilliant Presentations is a brilliant book. It provides you with a complete guide to making great presentations and helps you understand what makes some presenters great and others....well...not so great. The book uses a variety of checklists and useful tips. Anyone who has to make a business presentation will benefit from the solid advice inside this book.



http://www.presentationbiz.com/book/brilliant

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Audiences are predictable; they really want to listen to you because they want to learn something from you, the speaker. So, how can you engage with them so that audiences react positively and in a friendly way?

Here are some tips that can help

1. Speak according to the listeners' interests. It is always a good idea to find out what the crowd you are speaking to is interested in. For example, if you have more teenagers in the crowd, you don't really want to talk about your subject in a way that bores them, like good education. Other aspects to consider would be the local culture, age, sports, religious inclinations, etc. Talk about what’s important to them, something they can easily relate to without a stretch of imagination. If you are making a business presentation solve the problems your audience are likely to face.

2. Praise the audience. Audiences are human too, and each and every one of them has a need to be acknowledged as much as you want to be acknowledged for speaking well in front of them. There is only one requirement for this maxim, that your praise be one hundred percent sincere. Anything less and you'll have resentment in your hands. Be sure to thank them for taking the time to listen to you, as well.

3. Connect with the audience. Find a common thread that makes the audience relate to you, and you'll find that the speech will come through really well. Finding a common thread humanises you and the speech. It makes them want to listen to you because it may in some way be of great benefit to them. Also use eye contact to connect with each person in the room.

4. Have the audience participate. Do quizzes, games, puzzles and so on. Get somebody to come on stage and participate in a demonstration. Ask questions. Get feedback. Encourage them to walk up to the microphone and give you a piece of their mind. The point is to involve the audience, once more, making it more real to them.

5. Less you, more them. Play yourself down. Nobody, especially an audience, likes to be lectured to. This will cause resentment that will last a long time. Never feel that you are above them. The better way to think about your audience would be that you care about their welfare. Think of yourself as their best friend, and more often than not, this will hold you in good stead.

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The other day I was at a talk where the presenter just didn't get their message across. Listening carefully I realised that the content was great - but there as no panache or impact. I realised that the person talking wasn't connecting with their audience. True, they smiles, had eye contact and used gestures well. Their body language was positive and effective. But their whole presentation was lacking; they were not making any impact. Then it struck me - it was their voice. They spoke in a single tone, with no variety in pitch or pace. The presenter had obviously understood you need to be active on the platform, that you need positive body language and that you need appropriate visual aids or props. But what they had forgotten is that in public speaking it is the voice which is the main connector with the audience. Your voice needs to have the same dynamic range and impact as when you are chatting with your friends in social situations. As soon as you start talking as though you are in a formal situation, you lose your audience, no matter what else you do right in your presentation. So treat every presentation as though it were a chat down the pub.

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Eye contact is an essential component of a good presentation. Each member of the audience wants you to make eye contact with them; they feel part of the process if you connect with them through their eyes. However, if you don't make eye contact they will start to drift off from what you are saying. Also if you make plenty of eye contact you confidence will rise, because you will receive the positive feedback from your audience members. But making eye contact is often difficult; so you have to make a conscious effort to do it right at the start of your presentation. During the first couple of minutes establish eye contact with everyone in the room. After a while your confidence will increase and making continued eye contact will be automatic. If you are in a big auditorium you still need to look around the place, as if you were making eye contact with the audience. After all, even if you can't see them, they can see you and want to feel involved.

Labels: body language

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