More of us are back to gathering in person for work than at any time since before the pandemic, especially at larger conferences and gatherings. These gatherings often involve presentations of some form. Yet employee engagement surveys and feedback often shows many of us aren't as good at giving them as we could be.
Presentations are one of the more important and powerful communications channels we use at work. This is especially true now as many companies are undergoing significant change and restructuring.
Over the last few months, I've been doing an increasing amount of training and coaching leaders on how to give effective presentations, including for many of the presenters at this week's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. Presentations are a primary and powerful communications format -- whether given in-person or virtually -- that we often overlook in a time of email, Slack, and Zoom.
So I want to share my secret with you: the best presentations are ones where you're as human as you can be. The less scripted and more personal, the simpler and more confident, you can be...the better.
Of course that comes only as a result of a lot of work and preparation. A failure to prepare means not only that you have lost your audience, but also, likely, you've made it harder for people to find you persuasive and want to hear more from you in the future. Yikes!
The good news: giving an effective presentation requires a lot of preparation -- and not just rehearsing a script. AND...there are some good ways to help you prepare to ensure you speak with confidence, clarity, and authenticity.
Presentation preparation begins with understanding that a presentation is meant to move people to feel or do something differently than they've done before.
Presentations are at their core, emotional.
How else to prepare? A few tips:
Know your audience. Anticipate and understand as well as you can: What are their worries, fears, pain points? What motivates them?
What's the single big idea or purpose you're trying to convey? Write it down in a single sentence.
Lead with you, not your slides. You're the expert people want to hear from. Let the slides be additive, but not your script.
What are the stories you can tell that support your single purpose? Stories motivate and inspire and connect.
Use a call to action. Tell people what you want them to do differently or feel differently.
Conclude well. Don't miss an opportunity to remind people about your key ideas and to leave them with a strong feeling.
Practice. There are lots of ways to practice -- with a timer, with an audience, and different ways to practice turning your script into a plan -- so you come across as more human.
I cover these and more in my workshop The Power of Persuasion: 10 Steps to Effective Presentations and in the coaching work I've been doing. There are a lot of resources out there, and a lot of trainings (many not great) but I've put together some of my best lessons learned into an interactive workshop where you get real time feedback and coaching on top of learning some new skills that maybe you've not had before.
If you're interested to learn more, reach out and let's find a time to chat. I've learned that this is one of the places even the most powerful, successful, and accomplished leaders need some practice, and I am happy to help where I can.
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WHAT I'M READING
Occasionally in these newsletters, I share articles and books that may be of interest. A couple new items you may be interested in:
The Unexpected Power of Random Acts of Kindness. New research shows small gestures matter even more than we may think.
The Dubious Wisdom of Smart Brevity." The Axios founders' new book makes the case for condensed communication in an increasingly complex world. It begs the question whether brief is always better, or whether there's more we should consider.