Superior Presentations 73: While presenting, the most important real estate...

The most important real estate is in the minds of your listeners

To be successful with your presentation you need to get your message into the minds of your audience. You can't force your way into a person's mind. You must present your message in a way that encourages them to invite you in.

Have you ever witnessed a parent lecturing their child while posing this silly question, "How many times do I have to tell you?"

In this case the reason for failure for the message to stick is because the child didn't accept the message. The parent was attempting to force the message in.

Some presenters commit the same crime then blame the audience for not listening.

If you try to force-feed your message to your audience you will fail. Your message and information might be important but if the audience doesn't see it that way your message won't stick.

What can you do to encourage your audience to willingly accept your message into their mind like a welcome guest?

Do some research and thinking to gain a better understanding about your audience.

• Why are they attending this meeting?
• Why might they be interested in your message?
• What perspectives, beliefs and information might they already have about this topic?
• How might their priorities, mindset and emotions block your message?

Examine your message from their point of view.

• What aspects should you emphasize?
• What misconception should you clarify early?
• What experiences or emotion can you leverage?
• How is this relevant to them?

Speak to your audience as a welcome guest.

• Speak in their language using terms and phrases that they fully understand.
• Relate your message to their issues and priorities.
• Find common ground to establish rapport.
• Admit a flaw or potential concern.

The success of your presentation will be determined by the thoughts triggered inside the minds of your listeners because that will determine how they think and feel and most importantly how they act.

To be more successful with your presentations think about that prime real estate and deliver your message as a welcomed guest.


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Life After Death by PowerPoint 2012 by Don McMillan

You can laugh when you watch this - then check your own PowerPoint slides.





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Words and Phrases you use when Speaking to Groups

The words and phrases you use when speaking to groups can build rapport or trigger disconnects. That could be based on different cultural, age, or sex perspectives.

Sometimes the gaff can seem cute. Other times the misspoken phrase might send your audience off on a tangent. They might be wondering what that phrase means. They might be wondering about your credibility if you used such an out-of-date phrase. The point is that they might be wondering many things other than accepting your intended message.

The speaker talked about Crisis Management and how to prepare. He suggested that it was similar to noticing the engine warning light on your car. When you see the trouble light warning you of a problem you should take your car to the gas station to get it checked.

If you don’t understand that last statement, you understand my point.

If you remember taking your car to the gas station for mechanical work then you are probably reminiscing about the 1970’s or earlier.

It was a good analogy. His mistake was in saying that people should take their car to the gas station. It would have worked better if he had said “take your car to a mechanic”.

This audience clearly included many people who would not understand this analogy because they were too young. These were people who go to a gas station to get gas, coffee, snacks and cigarettes. Those last three items weren’t available at the gas station when you took your car there for mechanical work.

Be aware of the analogies, phrases or jargon that you use because these words might alienate, distance or confuse your audience.

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Lousy opening to your presentation

Lousy opening to your presentation

The purpose of your opening is to build interest in your presentation. Your opening is like the opening paragraph of an article or the first chapter in your book. The question it should answer is “Why should the audience listen to your presentation?”

Sometimes we need to experience a bad example to really appreciate the difference. Here is an example of a bad opening---

The speaker said:

Good morning, good afternoon or whatever.

Guess I’m a little jet lagged. Ha.
Glad to be here in Toronto.

I’m the founder of…

We are based in California.
We have offices around the world.

Where’s Robert?

There he is.
He is my local licensee.

We’re running 15 minutes late and I had planned to speak for one hour and fifteen minutes and I plan to use all of that time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The purpose is to build interest in listening to the rest of the presentation. Nothing he said in his opening did that. From that opening one might surmise that this speaker would be a pompous braggart and an inconsiderate boring speaker.

The audience makes those decisions during your opening.

We know what he didn’t do. Let’s dissect his opening to recognize what he did wrong.

 

Paragraph 1: Good morning

That’s cliché and boring. He started speaking at 4:00pm yet he didn’t know the time of day. That demonstrates lack of awareness and disregard for his audience. We don’t care about his alleged jet lag. That was his way of bragging that he travelled to get here. Glad to be in Toronto sounded insincere and it was cliché.

 

Paragraph 2: I’m the founder

The place for that information was in his introduction. It was in the introduction and for some reason he felt that he needed to repeat that. Why? Was he insecure? It seems those things were important to him and perhaps his mother?

 

Paragraph 3: Where’s Robert?

At some point Robert and his relationship might become significant. At this point, who cares?

 

Paragraph 4: 15 Minutes Late

Did he just criticize the organizers? Then he added that he was unwilling to adapt and didn’t care about the audience time expectations. He implied that the time of the audience was unimportant to him. It was more important that he exercise his desire to speak as long as he likes.

 

If you heard this opening -

Would you like this person?

Would you feel interested in his presentation?
Would you want to do business with his company?

 

Check the opening to your presentations. Avoid these mistakes.

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Superior Presentations 72: Build your presentation argument on...

Build on what they already know

When you are introducing a new idea or concept to an audience you will have better success if you build on what they already know.

Teachers often review the key points from the last class to start on familiar ground and build upon it.

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone he related to objects that people are already familiar with. He even showed an image of a mobile phone with a dial. He did that for two reasons: to get a laugh and to demonstrate that the iPhone was simply the advancement of a familiar tool.

Albert Einstein explained his theory about relativity by using the analogy of a man walking on a moving train. People were familiar with train travel so they felt comfortable listening to the rest of his analogy. That analogy clearly explains the relationship between the speed of light, time and space. (It's worth reading)

When molecular scientist Neils Bohr first described the structure of atoms he used the structure of the solar system as a model. The sun represented the nucleus while the planets symbolized orbiting electrons.

The retention of old skills is often likened to "like riding a bicycle".

This is not about talking down to people. It's about connecting with them by starting with familiar territory and mindset then bridging to where you want to take them.

This technique also helps when persuading people to accept a different way of doing things, especially if you want them to abandon the established norm.

You might start your argument by confessing your past belief in the status quo until an accident provoked you to investigate other possibilities. You fought change but finally accepted the new reality. This approach allows the audience to follow your path of discovery without feeling foolish or defensive.

Introducing new ideas? You can't stand on the other side of the chasm and tell people to jump. If you want to move your audience to new ground you must first go to them and lead them across the bridge.

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3 Sales Presentation Openers to Avoid

Guest Post by Kelley Robertson

During the last 17-plus years I have been part of, or watched, hundreds of sales presentations. More recently, I viewed a series of sales demonstrations and all but one of the four sales team opened their presentation the same way.
Here are three openers you need to avoid using when starting a sales presentation.

Social chit-chat

Contrary to popular belief, spending time at the beginning of a sales presentation engaging the prospect in social chit-chat to create rapport is not a good use of time. You may think it’s important but your prospect doesn’t really care. They are busy and want you to get to the point—quickly—so they can get back to work.
There are two exceptions to this rule…
1. If you are doing a presentation for multiple people and you are waiting for people to arrive, it is perfectly acceptable to engage the others in small talk. However, once everyone has shown up, get started immediately.
2. If your prospect engages you in small talk then it makes good business to participate. Otherwise, don’t waste their time–or yours.

Thanking the prospect

Most of the sales presentations I have observed start with the sales person(s) thanking the prospect for the opportunity to present their solution. This behavior diminishes your credibility and puts you in a submissive position. Plus, it doesn’t any add value to the presentation.

Talking about your company

This is perhaps the worst mistake. The vast majority of sales presentations I have seen open with the seller talking about their company.

• How long they have been in business
• The clients they have on their roster
• The awards they have won
• The list goes on

After more than 17 years of working with sales people I still don’t know why sellers think this is an effective way to open a sales presentation.
First impressions are critical. And if you make the wrong impression in the first vital moments of a sales presentation you run the risk of losing that opportunity.

Improve your next sales presentation with my free eBook “58 Ways to Create Compelling Sales Presentations” Download it here: http://bit.ly/Rd0deV

Kelley Robertson is a specialist in sales training.


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Bill Gates - still not a confident public speaker

Just because you are rich doesn't make you a good public speaker.

Bill Gates is one of the richest guys in the world. He is successful. He is a brilliant thinker. Yet he isn't a good public speaker. 

The reason I tell you that is because none of those things gurantee public speaking brilliance. That means that the lack of financial success need not limit your public speaking success.

I watched Bill Gates speak at an event in Toronto about ten years ago. He was cleary uncomfortable about being on stage. He was accompanied by two others on stage while he talked. They all sat on stools. Bill didn't allow any humor about himselt - only about the competion and Windows.

In this video, as Bill Gates speaks to Harvard graduates, he pokes fun at himself. But he reads his speech, which is suprising, because he's telling his personal story. He doesn't need to read it because he lived it. He does demonstrate good pacing and pausing to allow for the laughter.

Bill Gates still isn't comfortable speaking in public but he's getting better.







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Presentations - How do you say it?

Presentations

What is the correct way to say this word?

I’ve hear many people pronounce this word wrong.

It doesn’t sound like:

• Please
• Breeze
• Cheese

  

Presentations sounds more like:

• President
• Press
• Pressure

The word is press-zen-ta-tions



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Amazon offers free Kindle ebook today - 12 Simple Tips for Superior Presentations

You can grab your free copy of this Kindle ebook today and tomorrow - Sept 10 & 11.

A two day special offer from Amazon.

Get your copy of the 12 original tips that launched the Superior Presentations Tips series. It was originally published as Power Presentations Tips.

Get your copy here at Kindle Amazon




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Superior Presentations 71: How many times should you repeat...

 Repeat your key message

If you want your audience to remember your key message, you’ll need to say it at least three times during your presentation.

Your key message is likely summed up in about three to ten words. Average speaking speed is between 110 and 150 words per minute. That means in a five minute presentation about 500 to 700 words were spoken but only ten were critical. Your key message could be lost in that sea of words.

If you only stated your key message once and all your words were equally weighed, there would be at best a 2 percent chance of anyone remembering your key message.

Yes, there are other techniques to emphasize your key message which you should also use. Repeating your key words is the simplest way.

By repeating your key message at least once, you’ve doubled the emphasis and increased the memorability. State your key message three to five times and people will tend to hear it and remember it.

Most of us need to hear a phrase, message or name several times before we remember it. Perhaps you’ve met someone at a meeting and then forgotten their name before the end of the meeting. When you want to commit important information to memory you should probably repeat it several times.

Marketers know this principle. That’s why a 30-second radio or TV ad will mention the product or company name a few times. That’s also why one promotion never seems enough.

You probably remember the key phrase from the famous speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. – I have a dream. It would be difficult to forget because he stated it 11 times during that speech.

Here are three ways for you to use this technique:

Repeat your key message like a refrain, as in “I have a dream”.

Capture the key message within a rhetorical question and then answer using the key words, e.g. why is it important to exercise? It’s important to exercise because…

Use slight variations in the wording so the phrase doesn’t appear overdone. e.g. In this tip,  message, words and phrase have been interchanged.

If there’s one thing for you to remember from this tip, it is: “repeat your key message”.

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Superior Presentations: Listen to this interview with George Torok

George Torok interviewed on Biz Radio Canada about How to Deliver Superior Presentations.

What can you learn from this shy, introverted kid who became a professsional speaker and executive speech coach?


Superor Presentations: George Torok Interview on Biz Radio Canda from George Torok on Vimeo.

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I Have a Dream - 50 years ago

Martin Luther King delivered his memorable "I have a dream" speech 50 years ago in Washington, DC.

It was a well written speach - and what most people don't know is he went off scirpt part way through. In particular - he ad libbed with the "I have a dream" bit.

Watch this video as he reads his speech for about the first 12 minutes - then when he starts talking about his dream - he's not reading anynore. He's improvising.

"I have a dream" is memorable because it's a powerful line and he repeated it several times. But it's not the only line he repeated in this speech. Repetition is a good technique if you want people to remember your message. Don't be shy - repeat the key message.

In this speech Martin also repeated,

• Now is the time...
• We cannot be satistisfied...
• Go back to...
• Let freedom reign...

Read the Carmine Gallo comments in Forbes.


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Pause More - Say Less to Achieve More Drama

In this TED talk, sculptor Reuben Margolin, exhibits his work and his perspective. Notice the extended pauses, short phrases and powerful visuals.


A presentation is about conveying your message. It's not about filling every second with you talking.

Pause more often and longer when you speak.

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Tell a Personal Story and Tell it Well - opportunities will rush up to you

Richard Turere, a 12-year-old Masai boy from Kenya invented a simple yet effective device to keep the lions from eating the family herd of cows that he was charged to watch.

Because of the success of that device he was asked to conquer a bigger fear - to speak in public at a TED event. He was a shy 12-year-old boy asked to speak in front of hundreds of people. English wasn't his first langauge and he was travelling to a distant land for the first time in his life.

Watch this TED video to hear his story and more importantly learn from the story telling techniques that he used very well. You probably need to watch this video more than once because it will be difficult to notice techniques while you are entranced by his story.




What did you notice?

He employed a conversational tone - no preaching or bragging.
He spoke without notes. That's one benefit of telling a personal story. You lived it. You simply need to replay the memories.
He spoke slowy.
He set up the problem and importance quickly.
This was a life and death issue.
He allowed his emotions to show.
He revealed his thoughts, struggles and joy.
He used only a few images that aided his story.
He paused when the audience laughed. 
He smilled.


You can read the story behind this TED talk as told by Chris Anderson, Curator of TED in this article How to Give a Killer Presentation on Havard Business Review.

The article also provides excellent tips on giving a TED talk or business presentation.



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Superior Presentations 70: The top three reasons are...

Build your presentation on three

How can you simplify the structure of your message and make it more powerful?
 

Build your presentation on a foundation of three.

Here are three ways to do that in your presentation:

3 Options

This is an effective way to offer a set of options to your audience. In a sales presentation you might offer the client a choice of Standard, Enhanced and Comprehensive. Some stores offer products that vary in quality - Good, Better and Best.

Three options are enough to allow your listeners to feel in control while not overwhelming them with too many choices. Just imagine how difficult it is to decide when you face a menu of 37 flavors of ice cream.

Give clients three options and they aren't trapped within a yes or no decision. They get to choose a matter of degrees.

3 Steps

When explaining a process or project diagram it into three stages or phases. Each might have several activities within them. By explaining the process in three steps you make it easier for your listeners to grasp the big picture and visualize the direction. Often, they don't need to understand all the details.

Three steps won't feel intimidating to your listener. Describing your plan in three steps will force you to gain a clearer perspective on things.

Top 3 Reasons

This is an effective way to respond to a question. Imagine that you are asked, "Why should I hire you?" "What makes your product so expensive?" "How is your company different from the rest?"

To any of those questions you can respond with, "The top three reasons are..."

Naturally, you respond with your strongest points. That should make a compelling case for you. Three strong points beat five or more mediocre points. This approach demonstrates that you respect your listener's time and that you can prioritize. It also allows you to add more information if needed.

To have more success with your presentation build it on sets of three.

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Superior Presentations 69: Don't Speak at the Audience, Instead...

Speak to One Person at a Time

 

 

If you want to connect with the people in your audience you need to talk to each person one at a time. Each person needs to feel, "The speaker is talking to me!"

How do you accomplish that?

With direct eye contact and the right language.

 

Eye Contact

 

Imagine having lunch with a colleague who is sitting directly across the table from you. Throughout the 45-minute lunch that person never looks at you - not while you are talking or even while that person is talking to you. That person looks at the meal, out the window or at other people in the restaurant. Apparently you don't deserve even a sideways glance. How would you feel?

Now imagine how your audience might feel if you don't look at them. It's not enough to look at them as a group. Instead you must look a person directly in the eyes. As you deliver your presentation don't deliver a speech to the crowd. Instead make it appear that you are having many one-on-one conversations. Deliver a sentence or phrase to one person then connect with another, then another - until each person in the room feels that "The speaker spoke to me." You can enhance the feeling by occasionally smiling at an individual.

You might need to check your notes or your slides occasionally but make it a point to be looking at an individual 80% of the time.

 

Conversational Language

Use language that talks to an individual.

The most important word that helps you establish the one-to-one connection is the word "you". Say, "I'm happy to see you today." "Here's how this will help you." "You might be wondering how this works."

Don't say "you guys". That's trailer trash talk. It's okay when chatting with buddies at the bar but not for a business presentation. In addition it's treating your audience as a mob not individuals.

Construct and deliver every sentence as if you were talking to one person. When you look at a person, imagine that person is the only one you are talking to.

Avoid using these mob words: anybody, everybody and crowd.

How is everybody today? That's bad for two reasons. It lumps the people into a mob. It's also a dumb question because no one can speak for everybody.

Does anybody have a question? That's similar to everybody. It's a mob word and it's a dumb question.

What might you say instead? How are you today? Do you have a question?

Notice the difference.

Don't deliver a speech at your audience. Instead connect with each person by engaging in many one-on-one conversations.

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Fear of Public Speaking: Catherine Zeta-Jones

The fear of public speaking is so common. It has nothing to do with your intelligence, success or wealth. That's why I'm appreciative of celebrities who "out" their fear of public speaking.

Catherine Zeta-Jones recently talked about her phobia of public speaking to the Belfast Telegraph. She joked that she tortures her husband, Michael Douglas before her appearances to get through her anxiety.

I woulld like to know more about the torture or the magic that Michael Douglas performed. Does she scream and cry? Does he sip a brandy while repeating, "Yes dear" ?


The key point for the rest of us is that the fear of public speaking is a normal thing even experienced by the beautiful people. 

There's no one way to deal with speech anxiety. You might work through it on your own or you might work through it with a partner. If that doesn't work - call Michael Douglas.

Read the rest of this story in the Belfast Telegraph.

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Superior Presentations - 12 simple tips to deliver Superior Presentations

This ebook captures the first 12 tips in this series of powerful presentation tips. You can claim your copy on Amazon for less than one dollar. That's less than ten cents a tip. Go and grab your own copy now by clicking here.


Get your ebook here
 

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3 Ways to Have a Real Conversation with your Audience

How can you converse with your audience? In the same way that you have a good conversation with a friend or colleague.

Use these three techniques to converse with your audience:

1. Look at an individual while you are speaking. Move your eyes about the audience so that you speak directly to every individual during your presentation.

2. Talk in a converstional style. Vary your pitch, pace and tone just as you would while conversing with a friend. Reading your speech will kill the conversational tone.

3. Tell short stories and anecdotes - just as you would in a normal conversation.

Do these three things and your presentations will feel fuller, more connected and more convincing.

Stop lecturing. Start having more conversations with your listeners.

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Presentation Tip: It's not About You

Focus your presentation on your audience. What do you want them to do?

Presentation Tip 01 it’s not about you from George Torok

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Superior Presentations 68: Move From Left to Right

Move from Left to Right

 

English and other languages originating from Europe read left to right. That means that these people naturally move their eyes from left to right when reading.

They prefer to absorb information in the same manner.

When you speak before an audience you can use that principle to enhance the acceptance of your message.

First you must realize that it's the audience's perception of left to right and not your on-stage left to right that counts. It's not what you thought you said. It's what they thought you said that is important.

How can you use this principle in your presentation?

Timeline

If you asked these people to draw a timeline of a project they will likely draw it from left to right. The left represents the beginning while the right represents the end or the future.

Here's how you can move while talking about your project or proposal. Talk about the past while standing on the extreme left side of the stage (your right). Stand in the middle of the stage when talking about the present and move to the far right of the audience when describing the desired future.

Instead of walking around you could also simply gesture to your right when talking about the past and to your left when talking about the future. Another variation is to make a quarter turn to your right to talk about the past and a quarter turn to your left to talk about the future or goal.

Objections and Obstacles

You can use the same methods to place problems in the past and solutions in the future. When you acknowledge an obstacle or an audience member raises an objection place them in the past - your right.

Place the strengths, benefits and desired outcomes of your idea or product in the future - your left.

Practice

You are reversing your movements for the benefit of your audience. This is not natural so you will need to rehearse these movements. The benefit to you is that they will be more willing to accept your ideas when they can SEE the progress.

Remember to also look in the direction in which you are gesturing to complete the picture. If you do this well the eyes of the audience will move in the direction you intended. That leverages the internal programming of the brain associated with left to right eye movement.

 

Of course when you present in the Middle East you will need to reverse everything above because they read from right to left.

George Torok

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And now a few words from our sponsors

How to get more visitors to your tradeshow booth

Each conference sponsor had a booth in the tradeshow room and they were invited to the main stage to say a few words. This was an important opportunity that many of the sponsors failed to recognize.

Several sponsors took their turn at the microphone and bored us. They were clearly unprepared. Then one sponsor caught my attention with his first words. I listened to every word he said. As I looked around, it seemed that he had caught the attention of the entire audience.

What did this sponsor do differently that made him stand out?

First read what he said and did and then study my analysis of why it worked so well. I’ve segmented his presentation into four parts and added my headings to illustrate the flow of his presentation.

Opening

He grabbed our attention with his first words, “Have you tried to talk with your kids lately?” Then a short pause. “Some days you might not know whether to reach them via SMS, Facebook or Twitter.”

Benefits

Then he explained what his company did to help organizations better manage communication with their customers especially with the demands of social media.

Introduction

Then he stated his company name and invited people to visit his booth to discuss the issues and their options.

Close

Then he stated his first name and again invited people to see him at his (company name) booth.

Now let’s look into the mechanics of what he did.

Opening

Most speakers make the mistake of stating their name first. That’s a bad way to start for three reasons:

1 The audience usually doesn’t hear the name because they aren’t fully listening yet.

2 If the name is unusual or not enunciated clearly the audiences doesn’t understand it and thus they don’t remember it. Plus they might be annoyed.

3 The speaker’s name isn’t of interest to the audience so the first words don’t grab the attention of the audience and that’s a bad way to start a presentation. Starting with your name also suggests that you are going to talk about you instead of the audience or their interests.

Notice how this sponsor grabbed immediate attention and interest with his first words. Why? Because he was talking about the audience and something personal that they related to. He didn’t start by talking about himself.

Benefits

After he knew he had the attention of the audience he explained what his company did and how it could help the listener. He made it relevant.

Introduction

At this point the audience might be interested to know his companies name. Remember that the purpose of this self introduction is to draw visitors to your tradeshow booth. They don’t need the person’s name. They need to know the company name on the booth. And you need to invite them to visit for a reason. State a clear call to action.

Close

Now you can state your first name because the audience is ready to hear it.. Don’t make it difficult for people by giving too much information too early in the conversation. The real conversation will begin when they stop by your booth. At this time simply state your first name to appear approachable. They don’t need to hear or know your last name. Restate the call to action and end by reinforcing your company name.

To finish nicely, end with a smile and a friendly wave.

Notice the four important stages of your short presentation. If you think that’s too much work just consider how much money you or your company invested as a sponsor.

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