The Art of Communicating Effectively

On Preparing for a Presentation:

Start with the Last Slide! That's right, when you are ready to create your presentation, forget the details for a minute, forget the presentation's organization, instead:
Write out your conclusion or summary slide first!

The Basic Rules of Good Presentations:

KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid
Rehearsing the Presentation
Don't memorize
Use your notes very sparingly
Dress for success
Pace yourself - don't go too fast, or too slow
Creating Support Materials

Fear of giving presentation:
Solution: If you are that nervous going into a presentation, one old technique we've heard before: Get out there, look around, close your eyes for a moment, and picture the people in the front row, either naked or in their underwear.

Controlling your Audience, not your computer:
-Face your audience
-Observe them
-Make eye contact

Enthusiasm -- Absolutely nothing will help your presentation more than communicating your passion and confidence

The Power of Language:

The words you select will dramatically impact your audiences reaction -- to both your ideas and your effectiveness as a presenter.
Your word processor has a thesaurus -- learn to use it -- effectively. Use "power" and "command" words to get your audiences attention and to give the impression of confidence and competence.
A few examples: Instead of "I think you will agree" try "I am certain you will agree" I hope you will consider vs. I recommend you to consider.
Address your audience in second person. "You" is a very powerful word, generally audiences react much better to being addressed as "you" than in the third person as they. "As a participant, you will benefit" vs. Participants will benefit.

Not only should you put a thesaurus to work to find "better" words with more impact, but also to prevent excessive use of the same word over and over again. (Throughout this web site we have suffered from excessive use of the words need, requirement, and solution, even with the thesaurus, we enjoyed little relief, but still we probably reduced the use of "need" be 50%. Other than that, "requirement" and "requisite" make a more powerful impact.

Humor
The right amount of humor - used judiciously, can go a long way to build rapport with your audience, and keep your audience interested and attentive.

As a rule, don't tell jokes for their own sake, drop in your humor where it fits, relating to a point, or a break between sections. Small amounts of humor or a irreverent comment from time to time can go a long way to liven a presentation. Remember, a sleeping audience remembers little.

Don't push your luck! Rehearsing your presentation in front of real people is a great way to test the "acceptability" of your humor.

Quotations
Appropriate quotations can make a noticeable impact on your audience. It's not always possible to find quotes that are directly relevant to your presentation, but it is often easy to find a series of quotes that complement or promote concepts that are part of your presentation.
One presenter I know, in the Multi-level marketing business, likes to put a series of quotes from computer "visionaries" including Thomas Watson (IBM), Ken Olson (DEC), Bill Gates (Microsoft)...in his presentations.

These quotes go back many years:

->Thomas Watson (former Chairman of IBM, didn't think computers would ever be popular.
->Ken Olson (founder and former president o DEC) couldn't figure out why anyone would want a computer at home.
->Bill Gates thought that 640K of memory would be enough for everyone.

With the less than stellar credibility much of multi-level marketing is perceived to have, these quotes which are all "way off the mark" provide a cautionary tale that tells you that perceptions are not always right.
Better still, after the first couple of quotes, the audience is "looking" for more -- they are having an impact on the audience.
Bottom line: Make your Quotations relevant -- and interesting!

What is the difference between your audience and an elephant? The elephant never forgets -- the audience occasionally remembers!

Five things to do when you are done

-Thank them!
-Make materials available
-Make yourself available
-Provide them with a method of reaching you
-Get feedback -- Find out what they thought of you, what they learned, what they were hoping to learn but didn't, how you can improve your presentation, how to improve your communication skills.