Impactful Presentations

In my 20+ years of professional life, I have sat through, listened to probably hundreds of business presentations. More often than not, I have been bored, felt indifferent, unimpressed, and unfortunately in some cases even felt sorry for the speaker for doing such a poor job. However, in some exceptional cases, I felt excited, engaged, enthusiastic and even proud of the speaker for doing such a good job (even if I didn't know the speaker personally).

I may not remember WHAT WAS SAID, but I definitely remember HOW I FELT and that is what at the end of the day stays and sticks with you...the feeling
 
Have you ever thought of how you come across in presentations? I do...I often try to see myself through the eyes and ears of my audience. And while in the early days of my professional life (and actually until quite recently) presenting in large meetings or public events was something I greatly feared - with my heart racing and adrenaline pumping - I have come to appreciate the art of presenting and decided I might as well enjoy it! I wanted to make those few minutes I had in front of my audience impactful and meaningful. No more wasting anyone's time.

I want to walk away feeling excited and accomplished and my audience feeling elevated.

TRUE FACT: You can find endless tips 'n tricks, trainings, videos etc on how to perfect your presentation skills. If I were to offer my personalised tips and questions to ask yourself for designing and delivering impactful presentations, I would land the following 7 things for you to think about:
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1. Would you be impressed with your slides? Did you ‘WOW’ yourself when reviewing your slides?

2. Your audience has attended hundreds of presentations in ther business lifetime. How can your presentation be memorable? How can you stand out?

3. Have you ever taken the time to hear & watch yourself present? Where are you looking, what are your hands doing? Is your voice engaging? Do you stammer? Do you say too much of ‘eehhh’…?? Are you impressed with yourself or are you just complacently ok?

4. Have you tried presenting your slides in the form of a STORY?? Does the ‘story’ have a flow? Are you connecting all the dots?

5. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE…I mean REALLY understand your audience. WHO are they? WHAT interest do they have in what you have to say? What LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING do they have of your topic? What do you want them to do with the information you give them?

6. If your audience were to remember only 2 things after your presentation, what would you want those to be?

7. ENJOY your presentation. Enthusiasm is contagious 
 
No rocket science, nothing too philosophical, but grounded and concise. I hope these helps.
 
For anyone wanting a second pair of eyes or an audience for a private viewing, please reach out to me for support! Happy to help