Anyone who’s seen The Apprentice has witnessed the cringeworthy car crash TV of an underprepared presentation.
It’s obvious to everyone in the room that they have no idea what they are trying to say, the audience they’re trying to reach, and how to communicate with them.
The presenters ‘uhm’ and ‘erm’ as they stall trying to remember the point they were trying to make.
They talk over each other and interject during disjointed slides they are reading out not adding anything of value.
And any follow up questions reveal how shallow the surface level knowledge of their topic is in embarrassing clarity.
Make it stop. Someone, anyone, please… just make it stop.
For the love of PowerPoint, don’t inflict these kinds of presentations on your audience.
First Impressions
Your audience judges how charismatic you are within the first five seconds of your presentation.
That’s a scary statistic, isn’t it? Five seconds? Doesn’t seem fair.
How can you train something as abstract as charisma?
Well, Daley Habits has some tips for you to do just that.
Charisma comes from confidence and boosts your credibility.
And your credibility increases your connection to your audience.
Three keys to genuine confidence are experience, preparation and passion.
Real world experience in any subject gives you the sort of confidence your audience can immediately pick up on. It comes out in what you say, how you say it, and the way you deliver it.
Preparation is the essential research, groundwork, and practice you cannot skip if you want to deliver it properly.
Passion. Have you ever found yourself swept up in something being explained to you because of the energy of its delivery? It doesn’t even need to be something of personal interest to you. Passion is infectious. It’s engaging. It captures attention.
But wait, I hear you cry. These aren’t tips. These are just outrageously insightful points of genuine value.
OK, fair enough.
Here are seven tips from our Present with Power Bootcamp module.
The Magnificent Seven
1. Know your audience
Before you say a word or put pen to paper, know exactly who you are speaking to. Dig deeper than just names and positions. Find out exactly why what you are saying speaks directly to them. Create a presentation that really resonates.
Cutting this part of the process short leads to a rudderless presentation that lacks a clearly defined purpose to tie it all together.
You have to understand your audience.
2. Know your presentation inside out
Practice your presentation out loud before it is delivered. You should never be caught off guard by the next slide or by trying to remember the point you’re making.
We’ve all seen presentations like this. They’re not pretty.
3. Test your tech
Arrive early and get yourself set up. Apologising as you scramble to correct tech issues saps the energy from the room and creates unnecessary stress you don’t need.
4. Connect with your audience immediately
If you’ve arrived early and are confident in your setup, you are free to welcome your audience as they arrive and influence the energy of the room before the presentation even begins.
A calm, smiling presenter who clearly has the time to say hello to everybody is a much different first impression than a someone rushing to get things ready.
5. Tell a story
Never underestimate the power of a good, relevant, and impactful story in your presentation. Stories are our best teachers.
6. Cut as many filler words as possible
The odd “uhm” and the occasional “erm” mid speech is sometimes unavoidable during important presentations, especially when you’re nervous. But too many create a sense in the room of you being underprepared, lacking in confidence, and undermine belief in what you’re saying.
7. Make it a discussion
A presentation is not a lecture. Engage your audience and get them involved with Q&A’s and interactive elements.
It gives you a chance to make sure what you’ve said has landed and raises the sort of questions you’ll need to improve it next time.
And these are just a few of what we have to offer on this module.
Wait, there’s more?
You better believe it.
Avoid awkward presentations people wish they could watch through their fingers.
Glide through your next presentation knowing you’ve put in the work.
And train the kind of charismatic delivery that slays those first five seconds like a withering Lord Sugar one-liner.
An in-house Daley Habits Bootcamp draws on decades of real-world experience to motivate your workforce, improve communication, and deliver change.
We equip you and your teams with the skills you need to master being more effective and drive your business forward.
Get in touch at www.daleyhub.com to find out how today.