Team Building Sydney has worked with over 1000 clients, seeing too many 'Death by Powerpoint' presentations. Here are ideas to help you...
Know the needs of your audience and match your contents to their needs. Know your material
thoroughly. Put what you have to say in a logical sequence. Ensure your speech will be
captivating to your audience as well as worth their time and attention.
Body language is important. Standing, walking or moving about with appropriate hand gesture or
facial expression is preferred to sitting down or standing still with head down and reading from a
prepared speech.
Do not over-dazzle your audience with excessive use of animation, sound clips, or gaudy colors
which are inappropriate for your topic. Do not torture your audience by putting a lengthy
document in tiny print on an overhead and reading it out to them.
Speak with conviction as if you really believe in what you are saying. Persuade your audience
effectively. The material you present orally should have the same ingredients as that which are
required for a written research paper, i.e. a logical progression.
Add humor whenever appropriate and possible. Keep audience interested throughout your entire
presentation. Remember that an interesting speech makes time fly, but a boring speech is always
too long to endure even if the presentation time is the same.
10Rule - This is a slideshow rule offered by Guy Kawasaki. This rule states that a powerpoint
slide should have no more than 10 slides, last no longer than 20 minutes and have no text less
than 30 point font. He says it doesn’t matter whether your idea will revolutionize the world, you
need to spell out the important nuggets in a few minutes minutes, a couple slides and a several
words a slide.
Be Entertaining - Speeches should be entertaining and informative. But unlike an e-mail or
article, people expect some appeal to there emotions. Simply reciting dry facts without any
passion or humor will make people less likely to pay attention.
Slow Down - Nervous and inexperienced speakers tend to talk way to fast. Consciously slow
your speech down and add pauses for emphasis.
Eye Contact - Match eye contact with everyone in the room. I’ve also heard from salespeople
that you shouldn’t focus all your attention on the decision maker since secretaries and assistants
in the room may hold persuasive sway over their boss.
15 Word Summary - Can you summarize your idea in fifteen words? If not, rewrite it and try
again. Speaking is an inefficient medium for communicating information, so know what the
important fifteen words are so they can be repeated. Why are you presenting?
Don’t Read - This one is a no brainer, but somehow Powerpoint makes people think they can get
away with it. If you don’t know your speech without cues, that doesn’t just make you more
distracting. It shows you don’t really understand your message, a huge blow to any confidence
the audience has in you.
Speeches are About Stories - If your presentation is going to be a longer one, explain your
points through short stories, quips and anecdotes. Great speakers know how to use a story to
create an emotional connection between ideas for the audience.
Project Your Voice - Nothing is worse than a speaker you can’t hear. Even in the high-tech
world of microphones and amplifiers, you need to be heard. Projecting your voice doesn’t mean
yelling, rather standing up straight and letting your voice resonate on the air in your lungs rather
than in the throat to produce a clearer sound.
“That’s a Good Question” - You can use statements like, “that’s a really good question,” or “I’m
glad you asked me that,” to buy yourself a few moments to organize your response. Will the other
people in the audience know you are using these filler sentences to reorder your thoughts?
Probably not. And even if they do, it still makes the presentation more smooth than um’s and ah’s
littering your answer.
For more ideas go to http://www.teambuildingaustralia.com.au
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