My top presenting tips

Recently I read an article where English actor/writer/comedian, Neil Mullarkey, revealed his top presenting tips.

Reading Mullarkey’s tips prompted me to come up with my own top presenting tips.

Here they are:

Top (Business) Presenting Tips

Planning

1. Understand your audience – their mind and mood. Ask yourself repeatedly during the planning process, ‘What could I do that my competitors won’t do? Everyone has competitors. Within an organisation your competing for people’s time, attention money, resources, etc.
2. Form a simple key message(s)/Call to action you want the audience to retain and/or act upon, paired optimally with a compelling image, prop or metaphor.
3. Form a compelling, opening hook to listen. A hook needs to link to your key message. Options for hooks include a provocation, or a strong statement, or a brief story. After hearing the hook the audience should be thinking, ‘I’m keen to hear more’.

Delivery

1. Open your presentation with your hook and key message,
2. Use a Open -Middle-Close structure. 80% of what you audience will remember will be your Open and Close. Have your Close in mind before you start speaking. Many speakers can open well but abuse the attention of the audience by with a mediocre Close. Simplicity sells. When in doubt strike it out. If a sentence doesn’t advance the case drop in. The tighter your presentation – the better.
3. Project energy and certainty through your face, body and voice. Energy is 70% of a job. If you don’t have it be nice. People will believe your certainty. They may not know if an idea is good or not but they will believe how certain you are that it is a good idea.
4. Nail the Q&A. A superb presentation can easily come unstuck at Q&A. Have options for handling Q&A, including tough questions/comments.
5. Close with the key message/call to action.

Own the Conversation

Benchmark your preparation and delivery against my tips. How could you adapt and trial my tips for your next presentation? Could you improve your Close?

p.s. Check out this post entitled ‘Seek out loving critics’

#You might want to trial my Confident Personal Communication video learning programme because it will give you practical techniques to ‘Own the Conversation’.