This article is a condensed version of Alan Cutler’s ebook in which he explains to inexperienced speakers, trainers and presenters the ‘Ten Ways to WOW Your Audience’.
“I do not object to people looking at their watches when I am speaking. But I strongly object when they start shaking them to make sure they are still going!”
Lord Birkett
OK. You have been working in the company for a few years now and, through hard work and enthusiasm, have risen up the ranks to a responsible middle-management position. You know your job backwards and are confident that you could rise to any challenge.
One day your Chief Executive asks to see you. You know you have kept your nose clean of late so this can only be good news. No doubt he has a job that needs doing and has looked no further than you. A good choice!
He sits you down and, after a little polite chat, he says:
“As you know, our company is looking to develop its services into other sectors and an opportunity has arisen to raise our profile at a national conference. If we can make our name there it could be the best thing that has happened to us in years. I need someone that I can trust to pull this off and I have been keeping an eye on you for some time. I would like you to make a presentation about our company at the conference.”
What would your reaction be? Perhaps:
But it does not have to be so frightening. In fact, it can be immensely stimulating and rewarding. There is no other feeling like standing on a platform in front of people, with them hanging on your every word. You can see by their rapt attention that you have them in the palm of your hand. And afterwards they come up to you and say how much they have enjoyed your presentation.
You don’t believe me! Well, read on and believe how even you could PRESENT LIKE A PRO by applying my Ten Ways to WOW Your Audience
Step 1 – Understand Your Audience
“Some speakers electrify their listeners, others only gas them”
Sidney Smith
The first lesson you must learn is that your presentation must be geared towards your audience’s needs, not yours.
Your audience will respond to your approach, based broadly upon their:
Ask yourself the following questions:
Step 2 – Set Your Objectives
“Men never plan to be failures; they simply fail to plan to be successful”
William A Ward
The key to planning a powerful presentation is to determine its objectives. Again, these should be largely formed with the audience in mind. For example, they may be to:
Step 3 – Structure Your Presentation
“A speech should be like a lady’s dress: long enough to cover the essentials, but short enough to be interesting”
Anon
Have you ever heard anyone complaining that a presentation was too short? No? I bet that you have heard the opposite, though! Your presentation should be structured into three distinct sections:
The opening (5% - 10% of total time) has three main functions:
1.To attract the audience’s attention as a means of starting the presentation on a positive note.
2.To explain the purpose of the presentation
3.To advise the audience of any ground rules
The main body (75% - 85% of total time) should be split into a number of main sections: from three to no more than six. This is where you aim to fulfil your main objectives, be they to pass on information; change attitudes; introduce new concepts; or to entertain.
Each section should be easily identified by the audience as being separate to that which proceeds or follows it. The use of bold visual aids with the title or description of the section (possibly numbered) will assist in differentiating each section.
The conclusion (5% - 10% of total time) is the most important section of the presentation because people tend to remember the last thing they hear.
The four purposes of the conclusion are to:
Step 4 Practice, Practice, Practice
“When other speakers present, we applaud. But when Demosthenes speaks, we arise and go to war!”
The above quotation refers to Demosthenes, a speaker in ancient Greece, who had a stutter, but who practiced his speeches so much, with pebbles in his mouth to counter his stutter, that he became famous for his passion and eloquence.
Do not try to ‘wing it’ - the only way to guarantee a successful presentation is to practice it until it becomes second nature. Doing so:
Step 5 – Arrive Early and Check
“There are risks and costs to a programme of action. But they are far less than the long-range risk and costs of comfortable inaction”
J F Kennedy
It is essential that you arrive in plenty of time in advance of your presentation, not least because it will allow you time to gather your thoughts, have a glass of water and a deep breath, and relax before you take the stage. Better still, visit the venue days in advance, thus allowing you to take any necessary actions or amendments to your plans.
The principle reason for arriving early is to check every aspect appertaining to your presentation. You need to check out the:
Step 6 – Control Your Nerves
“The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public”
Anon
Let’s get one thing straight first: to some degree, everyone has butterflies in the stomach before having to speak to an audience. The key is to have the butterflies flying in formation.
Can you ever remember someone having difficulties when performing or speaking in public? I bet that you felt for him and his discomfort. I bet that you wanted to find some way to help him; to reduce his discomfort. Audiences are not evil; they do not want you to fail. And if things do get a little difficult for you they will want to assist you through it, rather than revel in your discomfort. They will wait patiently; suggest words; tell you that you have missed out a page of notes; or put the transparency on the OHP upside down. After all, it could be them up there having to make the presentation! So put your fears into perspective.
Step 7 – Build Initial Rapport With Your Audience
“A speaker who does not strike oil in ten minutes should stop boring”
Louis Nizer
You have researched your audience (Step 1) so you know a lot about them. Hence, you have all the information you need to build an immediate rapport with them. One-size-fits-all may apply to socks but it does not apply to audiences. You must understand what their ‘hot buttons’ are and be prepared to press them from the outset. The over-riding objective must be to get them on your side.
Try out these ideas to build an initial rapport:
Step 8 – Deliver with a Passion
“We communicate with passion – and passion persuades”
Anita Roddick
Once you have built an initial rapport with your audience, you must maintain it throughout your presentation. People will have come to hear you speak with some preconceptions and expectations. They may initially have been negative but you have worked hard in your initial five to ten minutes to grab the audience’s attention and raise expectations for the remainder of your presentation. It is your job now to meet, or even exceed, their high expectations. You must stand and deliver!
There is nothing more engaging in a speaker than for her to give the impression that she is really enjoying the presentation herself. It may be that she has given that very speech a hundred times but the audience feels and believes that this is the first time and that they are being given special attention. Yes, it is about the professionalism of the delivery, but it is also about the enthusiasm behind the delivery – the passion. Speakers must make their audience believe that they, the speaker, are as interested in, and committed to, the subject as they hope their audience will be.
Step 9 – Tell Them a Story
“Once you get people laughing, they’re listening and you can tell them almost anything”
Herbert Gardner
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