21 Presentations

Develop a High Impact Presentation

By: Robert J. Weese, B2B Sales Connections 

A study conducted by IBM found that the employees who were the best speakers and presenters also got the most promotions. Almost anyone can deliver a presentation. Very few people can deliver a high-impact presentation that moves the audience to act.

Multiple studies have concluded that  “presentation and speaking” skills are one of the best predictors of a person’s success.  It impacts your ability to get hired and promoted and yet schools and businesses usually neglect this topic in their career development programs.

If you had the opportunity to learn a skill that could mean a better career, higher income and more opportunities would you spend time developing that skill?  I’m pretty sure your answer is YES.

Join a Toastmasters Club or find a course on public speaking and get started on your own path to success.

In the below video workshop you will learn not only how to structure your presentations, but also how to become a high-impact presenter.

How To Develop And Deliver A HIGH IMPACT Presentation (Handout)

4 Key Components

1. Preparation

   The introduction is where you set the hook to capture their attention. We then follow the introduction with 2-3 main points or ideas that are supported with evidence and stories. The goal is to provide proof that your hypothesis is correct.

   In the body of your presentation, one of the simplest methods of developing your content is to use a storyline framework. This is where you address the pain, problems or challenges that are impacting your audience. Make sure you focus on  2 or 3 key ideas, so you don’t start building a shopping list of topics, resulting in too much content.

   Always provide your audience with a vision. Let them get a glimpse of what’s on the other side of the problem.  Incorporate your hard evidence, data and stories to prove your idea will work.

   The conclusion is where it’s important to paint a picture for the audience. If you don’t give them something concrete to focus on, they will develop their own ideas and it may not be what you are hoping for. Once you have shared your ideas, provided the evidence, and told a relevant supporting story(s), you need to review the expected “outcomes”  and how implementing your solution or idea will be a win for the audience or your team. 

2. Organization

   • Start with Audience Key Outcomes
   • Introduction, Set the Hook
   • Point #1
     • Topic
     • Proof
   • Point #2
     • Topic
     • Proof
   • Point #3
     • Topic Proof
   • Conclusion -> Call to Action

3. Writing

   It is often best to start developing your presentation by writing your conclusion and then building the body of evidence towards the end.

   Once you have your presentation framework built you can then write your introduction and look for a strong method of capturing the interest and attention of your audience.

   Most professional presenters will tell you they spend 1 hour preparing for every 1 minute of delivery. That’s how they make it look easy.

   When you’re preparing for your next presentation and want to figure out how much preparation time you need, use the 10X FORMULA. It states for  every minute you are going to be presenting you need to spend at least 10 times as much time preparing

   That doesn’t include creating the content or developing the visuals, that’s just preparing to speak.  It may seem like a lot of work but it’s the only way to go from good to great

4. Presenting

   Getting your ideas across means you mustn’t only focus on what you say, how you say it can be just as important. Warton Business School Research showed that when people were trying to persuade others, they modulated their voice by changing the volume and changing the variation in their volume in a way that made them sound more confident. And because they seemed more confident in what they were saying, that confidence led to greater persuasion.

   People with rough, weak, or strained voices tend to be labelled as negative, weak or tense.  While people with strong voices are described as successful, sociable and smart. In order to reduce your fear and anxiety first visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine that your voice is loud and clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping when you are finished, it will boost your confidence.

   It’s important to understand that people want you to succeed. The audience wants you to be interesting, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.

Using Gestures

Descriptive Gestures – indicate position, location, or anything tactical. For instance, use your hands to specify several objects.  You could point to a location.  Gestures can also be used to show the shape or size of an object.

Emphatic Gestures – are used to underscore strong emotions such as placing your hand on your heart, bowing and shaking your head, wiping an imaginary tear from your eye. These gestures are very effective when they are part of the stories you’re telling.

Prompting Gestures – designed to get a response from the audience.  You could ask for a show of hands, or signal for everyone to all stand-up or sit down.  Prompting gestures are all about action and engagement

Types of Presentations

• Inform
• Persuade
  • Logical decision-makers are looking for evidence to support your thesis.
  • Emotional decision-makers need stories and antidotes before they will support your ideas.
• Entertain

Scripting

You don’t need to write a script for your presentation. Instead, many professional speakers develop a “keyword” outline. This means you select important keywords and phrases that will be used in your notes to keep you on track.

When presenting you can quickly glance at the keyword outline, and it will show you the order of the main points you are addressing and what stories or evidence you need to present next keep the presentation flowing smoothly.

Presenter’s Blueprint

by Liz West, BeWellSpoken

Tell them what you are going to tell them. Clearly state your reason for this presentation, your statement of purposes. “Today I’m going to talk to you about what and I will show you how because why”

Tell them. Did you provide 1-3 important ideas? Did you use simple and easy-to-read imagery to add clarity?

Tell them what you told them. Repeat the intention of your presentation/talk. End the story/conversation.

Presentation Checklist

• Who is your audience?
• Did you make it easy for them?
• Did you tell a story?
• Where will you leave space/silence?
• Are you speaking conversationally?