The
strangest analogy I’ve heard was from a former colleague of mine who, after
presenting to the CEO for the very first time, left the office looking rather
pale. On asking her how it went, she replied by saying, “Well, I’m not too
sure. You see, it started off well; he was smiling, attentive, and very polite,
but it felt like I was meeting with my gynecologist in that I would soon be
leaving the room feeling a little violated.”
Sometimes,
a good way to learn is through knowing the mistakes others have made before
you. With that in mind, here are my top 10 presentation tips from both my
personal and professional experience.
1.
Don’t “sit on the fence”
There
really is nothing more annoying than listening to someone drone on and on for
20 minutes, drowning you in data and facts, when it’s perfectly clear that they
aren’t committed to the topic in terms of making it clear where they stand on
it. Take a position, stand by it, and make it clear which side of the fence you
are on.
Don’t sit
on the fence. Otherwise, you really will get some seriously painful splinters.
2. Lose
the attitude
All day
long, your boss deals with people who are trying to look good,
impress them, or simply suck up to them in some way. It’s not very attractive,
and even though it’s the essence of many business presentations, the really
good leaders find it tiresome — they don’t need their egos stroked. What your
boss wants from you, more than anything, is to see the real you; so tell it as
you see it.
Don’t give
the “corporate spokesperson” speech. Let them see the real you; that means
losing the jargon too.
3. Skip
the small talk
Your boss
doesn’t have time for small talk, so make sure you get straight to the point.
Don’t be like a comedian and save the punchline for the end. Deliver your key
message straight away and do so with impact.
4. Don’t
just present
I really
don’t know anyone who actually enjoys the process of being presented to. Most
people don’t have the time, attention span, or patience to simply sit there
listening to someone read bullet-point slides.
Craft a
conversation instead. Get them really thinking. Ask them
questions. Help them to use their imagination. If appropriate,
challenge their perspective — don’t just accept theirs because they are the
boss.
5.
Surprise them
I can
promise you that for every 10 presentations your boss endures in a week, all 10
of them will be very similar to each other in most respects. You have an
amazing opportunity to inspire, enlighten, and engage your boss, so please
don’t waste it.
Tell them
powerful stories, use props or provocative slides, make them curious, make them
laugh. In short, be creative, dare to be different, and surprise them in
some way.
6. Help
them to feel something
Most
business presentations are really boring.
Don’t
just talk, but try to really connect with them emotionally by asking
yourself “what do you want them to feel?”.
7. Don’t
make them read
The very
last thing your boss wants to do is to read your slides or report while you are
talking at them.
It’s not
a presentation or conversation if they are forced to read. It’s simply you
making them read and they won’t thank you for it.
The spoken
word elicits a far greater effect than the written word. It’s your job to
breathe life into your report, update, or idea, and you will never achieve that
by simply making them read it.
8.
Make them look good
It’s
human nature for each of us to want to look good and to impress our audience
when presenting; that self-imposed pressure is often the greatest cause of
anxiety many professionals experience.
When all
you can think about is how well you must perform and how much your reputation
is at stake, you are making it all about you rather than your audience.
Focus
instead on how you can help your boss and how you can make their life, job,
department, or company better and stronger.
9. Be
playful
Remember when
we were small children and we asked our parents if we could go outside to play
with our friends? Often, one of the first responses you would hear is “Yes, but
play nicely.”
When it
comes to presenting, playing nicely doesn’t mean fooling around or making
jokes. It just means not taking yourself so seriously, lightening up, relaxing
a little, smiling, and having a sense of humor.
Your boss
really is human too, so “play nicely” with them.
10. Get
out of your head
That
doesn’t mean smoking or consuming some mind-altering substance before you
present — it means being in the room rather than in your own head.
Many
professionals make the mistake of not quietening the noise in their minds
before they present to the boss. They enter the room with their minds furiously
popping thoughts around like a popcorn maker.
“I hope
they don’t ask me a question I can’t answer.”
“I bet
I’ll mess this up.”
“I wish
I’d done more research on this.”
“What if
they don’t agree?”
Staying
in your head like this serves no useful purpose to either you or your boss.
Your job
is to be completely present in the room as you speak. That’s the only way you
will connect with your audience. You can achieve that by simply taking a couple
of minutes to focus on your breathing, meditating to calm the noise in
your head, and pausing and smiling before you speak.
Have you
made any of these or other mistakes that we could all learn from? If so, please
feel free to share them in the comments.....
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