Seven Strategies for effective presentations

Many speakers make presentations that are poorly designed , poorly delivered & poorly received.

‘ The Seven Strategies discussed below , help presenters to develop high order skills in content, organizations & delivery of effective presentations ‘ .

It was a great presentation, Unfortunately, it was the wrong audience ! - Brad Mc Rae

1 ) KNOW THY AUDIENCE

Just because you have worked in the same organization for years, it is wrong to make unwarranted assumption that you know your audience. Following eight techniques help you “know thy audience”

1. Pre-session Surveys2. Face-to-face Interviews3. Telephonic Interviews4. Case Studies5. Worksite Visits6. Job Shadowing7. Annual & / or other published reports8. Websites & Internet Research

It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech !- Mark Twain

2) PREPARE OUTSTANDING CONTENT

No delivery skills can save a presentation that has a poor content. Good presenters develop good content too. Following six steps help

prepare outstanding content :

1. Speak From A Strong Point- Of -View 2 Craft Titles that the Audience Would Crawl Over Glass to Hear3 Create Impactful Beginnings & Endings.4 Find The Perfect Quote.5 Develop The Perfect Illustrative Story.6 Create Your Content Advisory Board.

A place for everything & everything in its place !

- Samuel Smiles

3) USE SUPERIOR ORGANIZATIONNo amount of outstanding content or effective delivery skills can save a poorly organized presentation. Therefore it is

important to focus on developing superior organization.

Following four techniques helps you develop Superior Organization :

Using the different organizational structures :

1, Chronological -- Chronological presentations are organized by time & progress beginning to end.

2, Geographical -- Geographical presentations use geographical place to tell a story.

3, Metaphorical -- Metaphorical presentations uses something that is well-known & understood to help the attendees understand something that is less well-known & understood.

4, Mixed Structures --Mixed Structures uses various combinations of the above discussed methods.

Speeches are like babies: Easy to conceive, hard to deliver !- Pat O’ Malley

4) DEVELOP DYNAMIC DELIVERY Many presenters over prepare on content & under prepare delivery while

others have little content but great delivery.

Following 13 techniques help in developing a dyanmic delivery :

1. Avoid hackneyed openings

2. Use powerful language

3. Make your presentation flow

4. Add suspense to your story-telling

5. Use props to add impact to your presentations

6. Use drama to enhance your presentation

7. Use the pause that brings applause.

5) MAKE IT MEMORABLE , ACTIONABLE, & TRANSFERABLE

A common weakness of many presentations is that a month, a week, or even a day after the presentation, no one remembers what it was about.

MAKE IT MEMORABLEBelow are 7 memory-retention techniques that can make ant presentation

memorable :

1. Repetition & restatement2. Increase audience attentiveness3. Use of memory aids & mnemonics devices4. Using Stories5. Defining Moments6. Using Metaphors7. Use of Music & Games

MAKE IT ACTIONABLETo turn your audience’s good intentions into concrete, tangible,

& actionable steps, four proven techniques are presented below:

1. Developing an action plan

2. Setting SMART goals.

3. Developing a specific follow-through form

4. Scheduling a follow-up class

MAKE IT TRANSFERNABLEThere is a growing recognition of a “transferable problem” in an organisational training…It is estimated

that while Americans industries annually spend up to $100 billion on training & development, not more than 10 % of these expenditure actually result in transfer to the job .

─ Timothy Baldwin

Methods to Increase Transfer of Training :

1. Using Role-playing

2. Using Virtual VCR

3. Telephone & / or e-mail follow-up

4. E-dialogues

5. Continuous-learning or mastermind groups.

6. Writing a letter to manager / supervisor

7. Learning contracts with the learner’s manager / supervisor.

There are two kinds of speakers: those that are nervous & those that are liars !- Mark Twain

6) MANAGE YOUSELF

PEAK PERFORMANCE CURVE

Zone of

PEAK PERFORMANCE

The RUST OUT

The BURNOUT

JOB PRESSURE

The Zone of PEAK PERFORMANCE is where we do our best work. It is analogous to running a marathon where some people just don’t have the energy or motivation to train enough. They may start the race, bute they are too rusted our to finish.

At the opposite extreme is the BURNOUTS who have over trained & overtaxed their bodies, so that when it is time ti statr the race, they are sidelined.

Therefore a better place is to be in the Zone of PEAK PERFORMANCE

To remain in the Zone of PEAK PERFORMANCE , it is important that you as a presenter :

Make appropriate attributionsMonitor / change your self-talkPerfect perfectionismIncrease your self of controlChange nervous energy into focused presentation power.

The future belongs to those who prepare for it !- Ralph Waldo Emerson

7) TOTAL QUALITY IMPROVEMENT The last important step is Total Quality

Improvement. Following five steps help you ensure that you keep a check on Total Quality Improvement :

1. Test Early, Test Often : The purpose here is to get an overview of

the presentation to determine what should be in it as well as what should not.

2. Simulate the setting & audience as closely as possible :

Here presenter can think of practicing with an audience that will be similar to your actual audience as possible.

3. Conduct Dry Runs :

3. Conduct Dry Runs :

Dry runs are practice sessions which occur in a variety of sessions. They will give you time you need to make necessary corrections.

4. Test on Mixed Audience :

Different types of audience will see & hear different things. So it is important to test audience.