PRESENTATIONS: Death be Not Proud

The expression "Death by PowerPoint" is an indictment on us all. We’ve let the visual medium take control of our lives, instead of being what it was designed to be – a visual aid to enhance the presentation.

A presentation is a focused conversation between you and your audience. It takes place when you and your audience have a specific goal in mind (e.g., the buy wants to know whether he/she should buy and the seller wants to provide compelling reasons to buy). If it’s succinct, engaging and powerful it achieves the goal – regardless of what medium are or are not used.

Want to avoid "Death by PowerPoint"? Just take this simple test: who is in control of the conversation? If you have to wait for the next slide to come up to discuss the point, if you need to read all the text on the slide or truly expect the audience to do so, You failed.

Remember the audience wants to hear your story. Visual aids complement what you’re saying – highlighting points, guiding the decision making, providing visual reference points (e..g, charts, diagrams, etc.). But if there were no visual aids you should be able to tell the story anyhow!

People today skim and speed read; it’s rare to find someone who reads every word of a magazine, newspaper or article. So don’t expect them to read every word on slides. Use "bumper sticker" expressions, not full sentences, and people will listen to you to hear the story. Today, people skim-read, so try to keep every point to one line of text. Use charts that let people instantly to grasp the trend, the difference or the range; no-one wants to read tables where they have to figure out the relationship between numbers.

Use powerpoint to deliver your point more powerfully; the audience will love the fact that you cared enough to communicate at their level. And you will be a better presenter, because your focus will be on telling the story, not reading the slides!

LEADERSHIP PRESENCE

Not all leaders have great leadership skills nor a Leader Presence. Yet, it is the later which allows a person to command respect and have the desired impact.

Imagine great leaders like Winston Churchill, FDR, Martin Luther King, and Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Jack Welch. They all have a Leader Presence. They are authentic, in terms of passion and purpose; they are communicators – eloquent in how they use simple yet direct language, and mange their appearance and presentation to connect with their audience. As a result, they can command respect and attention.

While having strong leadership skills is critical to success, it’s the Leader Presence that enable such leaders to influence, inspire, motivate, energize and mobilize people hopefully toward great achievement. For leaders who want to magnify their impact, by connecting with other leaders, it’s the ultimate executive coaching. (See www.leaderpresence.com)

AFFILIATE ANNOUNCEMENT

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