The Truth About Getting Your Point Across...
And Nothing But The Truth

Part IV:  The Truth About Developing Effective Presentations

|

| | | | |  More...

The Book of Lists reports that when asked of their greatest fear 41% of people responded with public speaking, ranking it as their number one fear. You find out that you have to present to a group of people. Maybe you’re one of those 41% who would rather die than speak to an audience. For some, the fear is so paralyzing that they simply would rather quit their job than stand in front of a group of people.   Some people will always have an insurmountable fear of presenting. Unless their job requires that they do presentations, let them be. Presenting isn’t for everyone and we shouldn’t put people on the spot if they truly hate presenting and it’s not a job requirement.

If it is a job requirement, though, those with a fear of speaking either need to get a new job or they have to overcome their fear.  If you are in the camp that needs to speak in front of a group as part of your job, you can ease some of the pain and become effective at getting your point across through the presentations you deliver. 

This part contains five truths, as follows:

• Truth 17: Give them a reason to listen to you - Your presentation first and foremost has to be compelling and relevant for your audience.  Your job is to capture their intrigue in the first few minutes so they'll want to listen to the rest of your presentation.

• Truth 18: Entertaining an audience breeds effective learning - I'm not talking about juggling or spinning plates on poles; what I am talking about is making your presentation lively and interesting enough to where it is easy to absorb the message. 

• Truth 19: Pictures and graphics are great, but can get really annoying - Visual aids are great when it comes to delivering presentations, but sometimes your pictures and graphics can detract from your message.   Don't let pictures or graphics be an annoyance.

• Truth 20: Relax, the audience is rooting for you - Generally speaking, your audience doesn't want to see you crash and burn right on the stage.  Your audience doesn't want the next hour of their life to be miserable; they want to see you succeed and to feel like they haven't just wasted their time watching you fail.

• Truth 21: Develop content once, use it a thousand times - Developing and delivering great presentations is great, but if you have to spend hours and hours preparing for each presentation you'll burn a lot of unnecessary time.  Recycle your content and enable yourself to give standing-o presentations with a minimum of effort.

 Order The Truth About Getting Your Point Across here.

|

| | | | |  More...

Table of Contents    Previous    Next