Your presentations skills are just as important as the information you
are presenting. This guide will help you prepare for a presentation and
polish your speaking skills for a successful pitch.
- Keep the focus
- Most executive presentation skills training sessions begin with learning how to structure your presentation for maximum focus.
- Don’t keep the people guessing what the session is about, outline the objectives right at the beginning.
- Clearly state WIIFM (What’s in it for me) from the point of view of your listeners. Is the presentation you are giving, for information sake or for idea generation? Tell them how they will benefit for it.
- Use appropriate diagrams, graphs, charts etc. to clarify difficult points. Do not solely rely on your verbal descriptions.
- Make a clear plan with time lines for the session, so you do not loose focus or direction.
- Limit unrelated discussions during the presentation by committing some extra time for those topic after the session is over (commit only if enough people are interested)
- Manage your speech
- Clarify right at the beginning of the session which language is preferable for the audience (in case of bilingual audience)
- Check with the participants sitting in the farthest corner if you are clearly audible.
- Keep your voice loud enough so it doesn’t sound weak, but low
enough so it doesn’t sound too bossy. Video yourself to understand the
correct volume for your voice (usually 7-8 decibels is accepted as optimum level).
- You are a presenter but not a NEWS
presenter! People will connect almost immediately with you if you show
emotions in your voice. Use inflections and changes in pitch to add
meaning to your words. Vary your volume and pace to get people
interested. Record yourself to verify how well you are doing.
- Speak a little slower than you speak in normal circumstances. Pace your speech so that each word is separately audible.
- Master your energy
- A presenter who does not exude energy fails to inspire the
audience. Be the powerhouse of the group, even if you have to fake it!
- Keep the energy quotient high in participants by involving them in activities and discussions.
- Body should move naturally. Fidgeting does not qualify as energetic body language!
- You do not have to move around the room to get attention. Use your
energy well by creating magic in the area you feel comfortable in. Just
make sure your comfort zone is not too close to one of the
participants.
- Use your eyes well
- Keep eye contact with participants. Try to make eye contact
with as many people as possible, but do not make it like a robot. Keep
it natural. By that I mean between 1 to 5 seconds, never just for
fraction of a second.
- Do not write on the board, read notes or slides while speaking, this not only breaks the eye contact, it reflect poorly on your preparation.
- When someone asks a question, start and finish your answer looking at him/her. But do not maintain the eye contact throughout. Look at other people while answering the question.
- Prepare…prepare…prepare
- I can’t say this enough. Never go in for a training unprepared!
- Prepare an outline of the training or small notes, the size of a visiting card. So you can take help if you get stuck. Write just the keywords in bold letter on those for quick reading.
- Learn small pieces by heart which should not be improvised. For e.g. some statistics, theme for visualization exercise etc. But that’s it! Practice what you are going to say, but do not learn verbatim.
Take out your video camera and record yourself presenting. Play it back
to evaluate yourself, if possible take feedback from your friends and
colleagues. Improving executive presentation skills is a matter of more
practice. Just remember you are presenting on a topic to make new
connections and contacts with people who are interested in the same
topic, and you’ll be fine. And remember to pause and breathe. What may
seem like a long pause to you is usually just 2-3 seconds .
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