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I often get asked for tips to help people who have to deal with more senior people. One of the most common questions in this area is how do I project authority and credibility.

One powerful way to do this is to simply focus on keep your head still when you speak! Sounds crazy I know but it is true and it works. Head stillness is one of a number of key non verbal cues that effect the way we are perceived by others.

if you don’t believe me - take a look at this clip from Dirty Harry and see for yourself.

A few days ago I was running an advanced presentation skills course and when one of my participants gave her first presentation it was clear that she had fallen into the trap of confusing a presentation with an information dump.   Its not that her content was bad, there was just far too much data and as a result it was almost impossible for the audience to tell the wood from the trees. Couple this deluge of data with a series of very wordy bullet point slides and you have a recipe for disaster.

Thankfully, by the end of the workshop she was starting to get the message and had reworked the presentation into a much more impactful and easily digestible package.

So next time you come to write a presentation remember that less is more.   Be kind to your audience, don’t overwhelm them but instead only present relevant key facts thst help you tell the story you want to tell.   You can always put the extra facts in a concise but detailed handout for those people that really must have all the data!

Today is worldwide blog action day and as a supporter of this campaign I want to talk about what we as presenters and communicators can do to help end poverty.     Poverty is a very big problem and an emotive topic. Whilst most of us would agree that it is a bad thing, we may also believe that it is inevitable and that there just isn’t enough wealth, housing or food to go around.

Seems to me though that, whether this is ultimately true or not, we can still take action to reduce poverty at home and abroad.  So I’d like to challenge you to do just one thing today to tackle the issue of poverty.  Maybe just thinking about it is a good start.  Perhaps you might feel the urge to donate a few quid to a charity that works to help eliminate poverty be it at home or abroad.   Maybe you could choose to buy fairtrade products to help ensure that growers in third world countries get a better deal. Maybe you could buy a copy of the Big Issue rather than walking past the seller on the high street.

Remember too that poverty isn’t just about money, its about attention and even love.   Give your loved ones a little bit more TLC today and you will have made a difference!

In several of my previous posts I have talked about the importance of having a clear outcome for your presentation or speech. Today I’d like to take a look at the next step in the design process - finding a
logical flow.

Your audience need to see that there is a path between your starting point and your outcome and they need to see this logic early on or they will switch off!   Nobody wants to listen to a ramble or apparently disconnected set of information that doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.

So what can you do? Well one way is to consider an “off the shelf” template. There are a number of tried and tested story formats from which you can choose the most appropriate one for your message ad audience.  Here are a few of the simplest and most effective ones.

• The Chronological flow:
  This is a simple, past, present and future structure where you start by talking about the history of the organisation, project or approach then move on to talk about the current situation before finally painting a picture of future developments.

• The Pro’s and Cons Analysis:
  This approach harks back to the classic exam essay question  “Compare the pros and cons  of various  options and then recommend the most appropriate one.”

• The Problem/Solution mode:
  In this template you start by identifying an amplifying a problem or issue faced by your audience,  Then you propose a solution and support your recommendation with appropriate evidence.   This model is often used to great effect in TV commercials for cleaning products.   Scene one - “Oh no! you have a sink full of dirty dishes and your wife is due back in five minutes! Scene 2 - “Don’t worry, a quick squirt of  New JIFFO Cleaner and everything will be sparking clean before you know it!” Scene 3 - “Phew I with JIFFO that was so easy”, Husband putting clean and sparking dishes away just as his wife arrives home”

• The Solution First template:
  In this approach you start by outlining the solution to a real problem, challenge or issue facing your audience and then work backwards to explain how you got to this solution. It’s a bit like a murder mystery where the murderer is revealed early on in the drama and the interest lies in the story of how thy came to be in this position

Choosing a template:
If it is not immediately obvious to you which template to use I suggest you start by getting away from the computer and start by jotting down the main ideas in your presentation onto post it notes.   Stick these up on a suitable wall or whiteboard and step back to see the bigger  picture.  What makes sense?  Move them around and read them as if you were a member of your audience?   What order is simplest?   T and clearest from the listeneres perspective? Next ask yourself “What type of story flow will suit this situation
and help me achieve my desired outcome?”

Crafting a great presentation takes a little more time but the results are always worth it!