Presentation Skills

10 Tips for Presentation Skills

by Susan Bellows

Step #1: Establish Your Objective & Purpose.

• What do you want the audience to think, feel, or do?
  
  
• What is your purpose?
  
  
  • Inform
  • Advise
  • Persuade
  • Teach
  • Sell
  • Inspire
  • Motivate
  • Entertain

Step #2: Develop Your Say A Few Words (SAFW).

• Statement
  
  
• Amplify
  
  
• For Example
  
  
• Wrap Up

Step #3: Mind Map* to Clarify Your Thoughts.

• Uses left and right parts of your brain.
  
  
• Left = Logic
  
  
• Right = Creative

* Developed by Tony Buzan to improve memory.

Step # 4: Design Your Grabber or Hook.

• Get their attention!
  
  
• Get them out of their apathy or lethargy.
  
  
• TV/MTV -- Entertain me.

Suggestions:

• Do something interactive
• Make a statement.
• Use a prop.
• Use a statistic.
• Use a great quote or story
• Use a definition.
• Thank the audience.
• Reference your speech.
• Ask a rhetorical question.
• Make a reference about the occasion
• Reference a previous speaker.

Step #5: Discover Audience's Pain or Problem.

People do not part with their time, energy, or money
unless they have a pain or a problem.

• Research your audience's pain or problem.
  
  
• Interview via survey, articles, vendors.
  
  
• Use their words (verbatims).

Step #6: Know Your Audience's WIIFM.

• WIIFM = What's In It For Me?
  
  
• Bad News: We're inherently self-centered.
  
  
• Good News: We'll do what you want -- if you appeal to our self-centeredness.
  
  
• Use a WIIFM as your hook.

Step #7: Use Evidence (Proof) To Persuade.

• Statistics/Facts
  
  
• Analogy
  
  
• Authoritative Source/Expert
  
  
• Examples/Case Studies

Step #8: Practice, Practice, Practice.

• Rule of Thumb: 1 hour for every minute.
  
  
• Do a dry run in front of another person.
  
  
• Time your presentation.

Step #9: Relax.

People won't want to listen if you're a stress monster.

First Impressions:

• Appearance (physiology) counts 55%
  
  
• Voice (tonality) counts 37%
  
  
• What you say (words) counts 8%

Step #10:

Rehearse Your "Call to Action."

People will forget most of what you say.

They will, however, remember what you say
if 
your Call to Action is memorable.

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