How To Make Your Presentations Shine Part I of II

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Here is part one of a two part article on making presentations shine. I will post part two next week.

When first asked to give a presentation, workshop, or training session, your first thoughts are always; “How do I reach these people?” “How do I make my presentation really stand out, really shine?” “How do I make an impression on them?” “How can I make sure they really learn what I am trying to teach them?”

In this article I will help you learn how to make your presentation stand out and how you will be able to help those you are presenting to really learn from it.

Three Times a Charm
The first thing I always tell speakers or trainers is, “Tell them what you are about to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you just told them.” Repetition is how people learn. Repetition is how sales are made. Do not expect your group will retain everything you tell them unless you repeat it at least three times.

Be Prepared
You cannot just wing it and expect your presentation will be a good one, even if you know your topic very well. You need to at the very least have an outline of what you are going to cover and how you are going to present it.

Make it Personal
At some point in your presentation insert a story that is related to your topics. A great story about your own experience or even one based on someone influential like Thomas Edison, Abe Lincoln, or others in a field related to your topic can really get people’s attention.

Build A Strong Foundation!

Here are four key steps to take when first sitting down to plan any presentation. Consider them to be your foundational steps. In all presentations, you should first:

1. Define the Basics. prime topics or items you want the people who hear your presentation to learn or take home with them. You should choose no more than ten basic things that you want them to learn. They cannot remember or learn much more than that in just one session or presentation.

2. Include Metaphors and Analogies. Try to define analogies or metaphors that your group will be able to understand when describing your topics to them. An example would be if I were teaching about how to promote your website, I might want to teach them to use all the ways available to them to get more website traffic. I can say, “Not using every method available to you for getting even a little bit more traffic is like saying, No Thanks, I Already Have A Dollar. People identify with analogies and learn by association. They will remember the analogy and associate it with what you wanted them to learn.

3. Use humor! I have said it before and I will say it again: fun works in learning! I may not be the most objective person since I sell training cartoons for a living, but I truly believe that no matter whether the topic is dry and boring or highly charged, humor will break up the monotony , liven up the discussion or even diffuse a tense situation. There is always a place for some light-hearted respite in any training program.

4. Create your outline on paper. Trying to just “think” about what you are going to do and say is not enough. You need to write an outline that you can refer to. This will keep you on track so you can finish your presentation in the time allowed. It is very easy to get sidetracked and if you cannot finish the presentation, then it is a waste of time. In next week's article, I'll include a sample outline to help you get started.

I hope part one of this article is helpful to you in preparing a training session or presentation that stands above the crowd. Next week we'll cover the sample outline and the tips and tricks to ensure you are confident, prepared, and ready to engage your learners.