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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!

Recently I have been looking at a couple of free on-line alternatives to Powerpoint for producing attractive and effective visual aids to support a presentation.   There are now a whole host  and how many will survive  only time will tell.  Thankfully  this morning I found a great post that gives you links to 13 great looking alternatives.

So far I have only really played with Sliderocket and I have to say I really like it.   If you have tried any of the others, how about posting a comment here and sharing your experience with your fellow presenters.

I read a great post today from Coachlisab on what to do at the end of a presentation and how we shouldn’t be too self critical.   I also noticed a comment from one of Lisa’s readers saying this was not so easy to do in practice.   So many people seem to be programmed to only look at what didn’t go well.   I’ve seen some great presentations where, after it was all over, the presenter could only talk about the fact that they forgot to mention one piece of information tell one little story.

I am not saying that we need to put on the rose tinted glasses and ignore our mistakes (although maybe that might not be such a bad idea to try and redress the balance for some people I have coached.)   What I am saying is that we do a balanced analysis of our performance.

Here’s a thought.  Next time you complete a presentation,  Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle.   At the top of one column right the words “Things I did well”   and at the top of the other “Things I could improve on”

Now take a moment to review your performance making sure that you give at least equal attention to both columns and aim to write more things in the did well column than the could improve on column.   be objective, and remember that what you write down doesn’t need to be a major thing.

• if you actually showed up for the presentation despite your nerves, that’s a positive!
• If you got to the end without drying up, that’s a positive.
• if you communicated more than half of your main messages that’s a positive.
• If somebody congratulated you at the end, that’s a positive

In terms of the “Things to improve” column I recommend that you limit it to a maximum of three things you could possibly do better.  Pick the ones you think would make the biggest impact.

Now finally, look at the positives again and ponder which of those strengths can help you the improve the most if you do more of them?

Be an equal opportunities employer of your own behaviour and learn to deliberately notice what went well as well as what could be improved on.   It’s only being fair!

Why is it that so many business presentations are dry, dull and innefective? Well it could be the presenter’s delivery style or it could be the tedious and wordy powerpoint slides they insist on using but I think there is an even more dangerous principle at work here.

I think that most business presenters think that emotions are left at the door when one walks into the office. People want facts right? Disspassionate, rational arguements supported by lots of data right?

NO! No! No!
It is impossible for us to check our emotions in at the door. Human beings are by definition emotional and therefore no matter how logical we like to think we are, emotions are at the heart of our decision making strategies. If you want to “motivate” your audience to do something as a result of your presentation then you have to engage their “emotional brain”.as well as their logical and analytical side.

Sometimes these emotions will be positive and you can have them imagine what it will feel like when they are experiencing the benefits of your recommended course of action.

And, as I have commented before in earlier posts, sometimes you need to arouse negative emotions such as fear or discomfort. “Imagine what will happen to the company if we don’t adapt to the recent technological changes sweeping our specialism?” “Will we still have a business in two years time if we don’t act now?”

So, realting all this to your own presentations in the future. Think how great you will feel when you can clearly see that your audience are following your arguments and you can tell from the smiles on their faces and the nooding heads, that they are ready and indeed eager to implement your suggestions as soon as they get back to their desks.

Of course you could just keep on doing things the way you have always done them, relying on cold hard facts to do the job on their own. But can you afford the failure rate that such a one sided strategy will inevitably bring? Sure it will work sometimes but is that really good enough in todays tough business climate? Only you can make the call.

I heard my good friend Jim Culverwell use the phrase “pitching beyond the room” last night whilst discussing his approach at networking meetings like BNI and Peer Group Learning.  I loved the phrase  because it sums up a truth that most people who network seem to completely ignore and I had to share it with you.

Many people join networking groups because they just want to sell to the other people in the room.  The challenge is that most groups are full of other people in the same position and in truth, few either need or can afford your services.   So should you give up on networking?  Absolutely not.   What you need to do is remember one simple fact.

Understand that everyone in the room has a huge  network of their own consisting of friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, clients, ex colleagues, social club members, sporting partners and almost certainly some of those people would love what you do and could afford to pay for it if they knew what you did and how you could help them.   In order to capitalise on this inescapable truth , you need to design your pitch to  be attractive to those people who are not in the room but who are connected to those that are.   You also need to help your audience to make the connection in their heads between you and their friend, colleague or client.

How can you do this?  Well one classic way is to verbally paint a picture of the type of person you would like to connect with.  For example I might ask the audience to think of anybody who they know has recently been promoted to a position where they have to stand up on their hind legs and speak in public.   Perhaps they have a friend or neighbour who has been complaining to them about how uncomfortable they feel having to fulfil this new responsibility.   If they have someone like that in mind then II ask them if perhaps they would do both of us a favour by simply making an introduction.   Think of the goodwill that helping a  colleague or client will bring you and all you need to do is put me in touch with them.

So that’s what I mean by pitching outside the room.   Firstly you need to make the mindset shift and realise that the people in the room are not your prospects however they can become your gateway to the type of people you really want to connect with.

Secondly you need to structure your presentation so that you help them to identify potential people who might genuinely benefit from what you do.   It’s all just common sense really but I see people ignoring it every day and I know that their short sightedness and inflexibility is costing them dearly!

Thanks Jim for the timely reminder

Have you ever had the need to jump to a live website whilst in the middle of a Powerpoint presentation?   It is possible by inserting a hyperling to the site you want, within a slide or image.   The problem is that doing so results in you having to come out of Powerpoint and into your web browser and then you have to close the web browser to return to Powerpoint.

There is however a much easier and neater way.   Checkout the liveweb add in for powerpoint

All you need to do is download the appropriate version of this clever little visual basic add in and it will allow you to display a live website within a powerpoint slide.    I just tried it out and it works a treat!

My thanks go to Jerry Kidd and his excellent makeuseof.com blog for drawing this great little tool to my attention.

This video clip serves four purposes for students of presentation and public speaking skills:

1. It demonstrates the value of a clearly structured message
2. It shows how things like eye contact, body language and vocal variety engage the audience
3. It shows how simple visual aids with well chosen images add to the presentation
4. It contains a valuable message that we all should learn and take heed of.

Enjoy

I have had a slow puncture in one of the rear tyres of my car for a few weeks now. I kept noticing it but I kept putting off going to the tyre depot and getting it fixed. I thought I couldn’t afford the time or the money right now so all I did was pump it up every so often when i filled up with fuel. However on Monday I noticed it was almost flat again and I made the decision to go to the depot and get it fixed.

The fitter examined the tyre and told me the bad news. They wouldn’t be able to repair it because the tyre was critically damaged as a result of my driving on it when it was almost flat! So instead of a low cost puncture repair, I had to shell out a lot more for a complete new tyre!

Now you may we wondering what all this has to do with presenting and influencing. Well read on..

If you are in the sales or presentation game, you know that part of your job is to persuade your audience to take action. Now that action may be to buy your product or service, give approval for your marketing plan or implement a new way of working.

This is not easy at the best of times because the majority of people are conservative by nature and they tend to feel comfortable sticking with what they know rather than trying something new.

Couple this hesitancy with an economic downturn and fear of recession and your job is all the more difficult - but it isn’t impossible.

You have to tip the scales and find a way of showing your audience that the cost of not implementing your recommendations, costly though they may be, is nothing compared to what they will have to pay if they sit on the fence!

Hopefully you can now see the point of my tyre story. If I had realised how much my hesitation about fixing the tyre was going to cost me, I’d have had the puncture repaired when I first spotted it and saved myself a lot of money. As a presenter or influencer it’s your job to help your audience see the cost of inaction relative to the cost of action. This process can really kick a cautious audience into action. Go on try it out for yourself and let me know how you get on.

I have just returned from a camping holiday in Dorset and whilst away I had the delight of lighting and then tending a camp fire every evening.   As I was gazing into the embers one evening it suddenly struck me that there are a number of similarities between lighting a camp fire and developing someone’s presentation or public speaking confidence.

As anyone who has tried to light a fire will know it is not always an easy job.   If the sticks are to thick or too damp, it is difficult to get the fire to take hold.   One has to look for a glowing ember and then feed and nurture it so that it glows brighter and brighter until it eventually bursts into flame.

Bringing out the confidence to speak in front of an audience requires the same approach.  Constructive criticism at too early a stage can have the same effect as putting damp wood on the fire - it puts it out!  Positive reinforcement and praise, on the other hand, fans the embers and causes them to glow brighter.

As a public speaking and presentation skills trainer I have often had to spend time undoing all the “good work” done by others who sought to help by telling their colleagues what they were doing wrong.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that there is a place for constructive criticism but not in the early stages of the novice speakers career.

Why not tell me what you think