Presentation Skills
I had the opportunity to view three excellent presentations at the NSA/Colorado chapter meeting on Saturday, September 9th. All three presenters did an excellent job of connecting with the audience and giving them information that they could use immediately. There are common traits of great presentations that I want to high lite here:
1. The speakers did not warm up on their opening-they got right into their material and immediately captured the audiences attention. The first 20 seconds of an opening can really set the tone for your presentation so it’s always worth the effort to make it fresh and compelling to your audience.
2. They used stories that were universal to any audience that anchored their key points. Your audiences love to hear personal stories of yours and how or what you learned from those experiences to help you overcome obstacles and achieve success from the experience. Even if you are a CEO of an organization-your audience will relate and appreciate stories that are yours and anchor a key point you are making.
3. All three presenters used generous amounts of humor to poke fun at themselves and anchor key points.
4. They kept on topic and stuck to the allotted time they were given. By sticking to your topic your audience will leave with the key points you sere making. Those who tend to wander off topic can leave an audience with a feeling of “we liked the presentation, but don’t really remember any specific points.”
5. All the speakers engaged the audience and were able to make a great connection because of the interactivity.
6. Handouts were effectively used and yes, the one PowerPoint presentation did support and enhance the presentation!
Steve Mertz
Great Presenters are Fun to Watch!