My clients learn how to structure, and deliver, a brilliant presentation. They know how to identify their key message; the language they need to use to inspire and persuade; how to use storytelling…They know how important it is not to waste the opportunity.
If you’ve got a presentation coming up, make sure you avoid these Presentation Pitfalls that so many people fall in to.
- The Scattergun Presenter
Are you the type of presenter who wants to cover all their bases? You feel you have so much information you want to share, you’re just going to pull out the plug and let it pour all over the audience. But you’re being unfair on them: you’re giving them the whole lot and making them sift through to find the bits that they need. It’s information overload and achieves nothing. You must decide what you want the audience to DO after they hear you speak, and then identify what they need to HEAR to make them do it. One action; one message.
- The Bullet Point Presenter
Slide after slide of point after point. Bo-ring. If this is you, you might as well just email your slides over to the audience and save everyone a journey. Slides are there to ILLUSTRATE your points, not to MAKE them. Don’t go through your presentation as though you’re reading a shopping list: tell me stories to connect me to your message, making sure they include evidence to back up your point, and inspire me to act.
- The Clock-Watching Presenter
“I’ll just rush through this slide as we’re a bit tight for time…”. If this is you, you need to practise your presentation over and over and, if you’re running over time, edit it until you’re not. If you have time as an issue in the back of your mind, you’ll be racing through your presentation and your audience won’t keep up. Less is more: keep trimming back your talk until you can deliver your key message comfortably in the time you have.
- The Candyfloss Presenter
Candyfloss on a stick looks fabulous when you hand it to your child, but the moment they pull a bit off and put it in their mouth…it melts away to nothing. If you’re a Candyfloss Presenter, you are the most entertaining, charismatic person in the world but there’s no substance to your presentation. The audience comes away having had a lovely time, but the inspiration to act…has melted away. You MUST remember that every presentation has a purpose, and that must drive your content.
- The Keep-‘em Guessing Presenter
This is the presenter who keeps hold of their key message right until the end of the presentation. But don’t fall into this trap of treating it like a punchline: your introduction must set out what you want to happen, and the rest of your presentation gives evidence-based arguments that drive your audience towards that action.
If you want to learn to become a brilliant presenter, learning skills you can use to create and deliver a brilliant presentation EVERY TIME, get in touch.