Giving a great presentation/training is no less than putting up a great performance. Mind you, in no way does this mean you should acquire a fake personality for a presentation! You can lose your credibility if you do that. Your presenter persona should be an accentuated version of your true self. More positive, more energetic, more creative, more friendly, more in control of your emotions and definitely more animated! A little bit of drama never hurt anyone!
Presenting the ideas or team building through a presentation is a part of every job role. So if you wondering how to improve your executive presentation skills, here are 5 areas of your presentation, focusing on which will improve your skill as a presenter almost immediately!!!
Keep the focus -
- Most executive presentation skills training sessions begin with learning how to structure your presentation for maximum focus.
- Don’t keep the people guessing what the session is about, outline the objectives right at the beginning.
- Clearly state WIIFM (What’s in it for me) from the point of view of your listeners. Is the HR Outsourcing presentation you are giving, for information sake or for idea generation? Tell them how they will benefit for it.
- Use appropriate diagrams, graphs, charts etc. to clarify difficult points. Do not solely rely on your verbal descriptions.
- Make a clear plan with time lines for the session, so you do not loose focus or direction.
- Limit unrelated discussions during the presentation by committing some extra time for those topic after the session is over (commit only if enough people are interested)
Manage your speech –
- Clarify right at the beginning of the session which language is preferable for the audience (in case of bilingual audience)
- Check with the participants sitting in the farthest corner if you are clearly audible.
- Keep your voice loud enough so it doesn’t sound weak, but low enough so it doesn’t sound too bossy. Video yourself to understand the correct volume for your voice (usually 7-8 decibels is accepted as optimum level).
- You are a presenter but not a NEWS presenter! People will connect almost immediately with you if you show emotions in your voice. Use inflections and changes in pitch to add meaning to your words. Vary your volume and pace to get people interested. Record yourself to verify how well you are doing.
- Speak a little slower than you speak in normal circumstances. Pace your speech so that each word is separately audible.
Master your energy -
- A presenter who does not exude energy fails to inspire the audience. Be the powerhouse of the group, even if you have to fake it!
- Keep the energy quotient high in participants by involving them in activities and discussions.
- Body should move naturally. Fidgeting does not qualify as energetic body language!
- You do not have to move around the room to get attention. Use your energy well by creating magic in the area you feel comfortable in. Just make sure your comfort zone is not too close to one of the participants.
Use your eyes well -
- Keep eye contact with participants. Try to make eye contact with as many people as possible, but do not make it like a robot. Keep it natural. By that I mean between 1 to 5 seconds, never just for fraction of a second.
- Do not write on the board, read notes or slides while speaking, this not only breaks the eye contact, it reflect poorly on your preparation.
- When someone asks a question, start and finish your answer looking at him/her. But do not maintain the eye contact throughout. Look at other people while answering the question.
Prepare…prepare…prepare-
- I can’t say this enough. Never go in for a training unprepared!
- Prepare an outline of the training or small notes, the size of a visiting card. So you can take help if you get stuck. Write just the keywords in bold letter on those for quick reading.
- Learn small pieces by heart which should not be improvised. For e.g. some statistics, theme for visualization exercise etc. But that’s it! Practice what you are going to say, but do not learn verbatim.
Take out your video camera and record yourself presenting. Play it back to evaluate yourself, if possible take feedback from your friends and colleagues. Improving executive presentation skills is a matter of more practice. Just remember you are presenting on a topic to make new connections and contacts with people who are interested in the same topic, and you’ll be fine. And remember to pause and breathe. What may seem like a looooooong pause to you is usually just 2-3 seconds!!!
