Top 10 list to a Successsful Presentation

[Dryfork Tech Geek]

1. Know 3 keys to a successful presentation

• Purpose: Know what your purpose is in giving your presentation. Is it to inform? To persuade? To entertain?
• Audience: Who is your audience? What is their interest in your presentation? Are they decision makers?
• Logistics: These are things that have to be organized. You should know how much time you have to speak, what time of day it will be and how the room will be set up, and what kind of computer projector you will have.

2. Pay attention to timing and KNOW your material

Plan, prepare and practice to fill 75 per cent of the allotted time you're given to speak. If you end early, no one will mind, but ending late is poor planning. If you expect audience involvement, plan on speaking for 50 per cent of the time and using 25 per cent for audience participation.

3. Keep it relevant

When preparing your presentation, consider the ‘must know’, ‘should know’ and ‘could know’. Limit your presentation material according to your allotted time and the audience’s interest.

4. Push emotional buttons

Include stories, anecdotes, analogies and metaphors to reinforce the key points of your presentation. You’ll have more impact than by just using pure data. Using 3D content help understanding and has an emotional impact.

5. Use Bullet points to create user-friendly notes for yourself.

Never read paragraphs of information of your pages or slides. Make the text easy to read. Keep your pages clean, easy to read. If you know your material well you will not have to read off the slides. Use 3D content to reinforce the must-, should- and could-know information.

6. Practice out loud, and say it differently each time

As management guru Peter Drucker says, 'Spontaneity is an infinite number of rehearsed possibilities.' Follow the example of great presentation masters, and practice.

7. Channel your adrenaline into enthusiasm

Stage fright is a negative term for excitement. No football manager tells his team to be calm just before kick off. Instead, control the physical symptoms of stage fright by breathing deeply from your diaphragm and by going through your presentation in your head imagining a positive outcome. Being well prepared will boost your confidence.

8. Deliver with passion

It's amazing how catchy enthusiasm is. If your voice is expressive and your gestures animated, you will appear confident and passionate. Use 3D content to help you audience really understand why you are so excited.

9. Think ahead about all the questions you might be asked

The question-and-answer part of the presentation may be more important than the actual presentation -- particularly the questions that could throw you. Remember to paraphrase the questions before answering them and take into account the questioner’s reasons for asking. When answering, keep looking around the audience – others may have had the same question. Treat all questions and questioners with respect.

10. Remember it’s about the audience

Avoid appearing too cocky or unprepared. As long as you stay focused on the audience, in preparation and delivery and during the Q&A session, you should be successful. NEVER say that you only had a short time to prepare and that you not as prepared as you should be. If you do this your audience will immediately want to be somewhere else and you and your presentation will loose all credibility.

[Bill Nordgren]

Never read paragraphs of information of your pages or slides.

Number 1 reason people fail in a presentation. KNOW YOUR MATERIAL.

Bill