10 Tips For Your Next Presentation

7/29/2019 10 Tips For Your Next Presentation

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10 TIPSFOR YOUR NEXT PRESENTATION

BY BRENT MANKE


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So youre getting ready or your next presentation! Awesome! I hopeyoure excited to get up there and share your talk.

Whenever you have the chance to give a presentation, you have a unique

opportunity to connect with and win your audience over. Whether youre

a rookie presenter or a seasoned veteran, its always a great idea to think

about how to improve your skills to make a bigger impact on your audi-

ence.

Id like to share a ew insights that have helped me as Ive learned the art

o the presentation. I hope these will help you become a more eective

presenter and make a bigger impact on your audience.

Tanks or bringing me along or the ride.

LETS BEgIN!


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TURN YOUR

COMPUTER

OFF

one


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Whats the rst thing you do when you start preparing or a presentation?

For many o us, the rst thing we do is open up PowerPoint, Keynote,

or Prezi and start assembling our imagery. While these programs can be

helpul in laying out and organizing our content, theyre not good placeto start.

Te frst thing to do is defne the message we want to communicate.

Te problem with using visuals as our starting point is that when start

with the howo our presentation we lack the clarity o thought to remem-ber the whatthat were communicating. Our tunnel vision will lead usastray later down the road.

By looking at your talk objectively you can determine the best course to

take beore getting into the details o delivering your message.

What i slides arent even the best way to communicate your message? I

youre speaking to a small group, it might be best to scrap the slides and

share in a more inormal, personal way. Or you might rather bring in aprop to underline a key metaphor in your talk.

Beore jumping into the looko your presentation, spend some timeo the grid to ocus on your message. Garr Reynolds, author o Pre-

sentation Zen, suggests that presenters start prepping by shutting down

their computer, turning o the iPhone, and grabbing a blank notepad or

whiteboard.


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Heres what to do once youve hit the OFF button:

1. Spend some ocused time thinking about your audience and the main

point you want them to understand. Your presentation isnt about you,

its about your audience and the action you want them to take. Consid-er your audiences possible objections and ormulate an action plan or

them.

2. Get input rom other people who are amiliar with your audiences situa-

tion.

3. Write down as many ideas as you can. Fill your empty page or whiteboard

with stories, images and examples that will support your main point. Bywriting down your ideas in a non-linear way, new connections will begin

to emerge, helping you develop the progression o your talk.

4. Begin organizing your talk, sketching out various visuals that your want

to include.

5. urn ON your presentation sotware and begin arranging your slides and

notes.

While imagery may play a huge part in your presentation, when we start

with howwere going to present, we can overlook the most important ques-tions owhatwere going to present.


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FOCUS

ON THE

HERO

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When you step up to give your presentation, youll be tempted to think

that your presentation is all about you. Dont be ooled, its not. Even

though you have the mic, and the spotlight is on you while youre sharing

your thoughts, youre not not the hero o your talk.

Your audience is the hero.

Your audience is the good guy in this story. But just like any good sto-

ry, our hero needs a mentor, a voice o wisdom, to guide and encourage

them on their journey. Your audience is Batman, youre Alred. Tey are

Frodo, youre Gandal (without the magical powers, o course). You get

the idea. Youre a coach, a guide, a voice o wisdom helping the hero, your

audience along their journey.

With every point you make, ask the question: why is this important to

my audience? Whats in it or them? I youre only making this presenta-

tion or your own benet, your audience will smell it on you.

What would your talk sound like i, instead o ocusing onyourgreatideas and points, your talk was centered around your audiences needs or

their success and growth?

When your talk is ocused on helping your audience, they will immedi-

ately be more engaged in what you have to say, and more willing to buy

in.


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CAPTURE

INSIgHTS

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Have you ever had those those little Gobstopper candies? Te un o

Gobstoppers is that as you suck on them (dont chew!), the colour layer

slowly dissolves to reveal another colour below. In the same way, as you

give the ideas or your upcoming presentation and your audiences unique

situation time to soak, new layers and angles will come to the surace.

When youre getting ready or a presentation, youll oten nd that the

perect metaphor or sell line will come to you when you least expect it.

Your mind doesnt stop working at 5:00. It will continue to process ideas

as you talk to other people and go about your day.

Make a habit o recording your ideas in a central place where you can

review them later. Some people carry a small notebook or index cards. I

you want to record your notes digitally, Evernote is a great way to sync

notes between all your devices and tag them or easy reerence down the

road. Te important thing is that your notes are within reach and in a

place where you wont orget about them later.

Personally, I nd that my mind is most active when my body is active.

Ater going or a jog, my mind will be a urry o ideas and insights. I try

to take a ew minutes while Im cooling down to record these ideas oruture reerence. Especially i an idea is so obvious, Id never orget it, I

write it down so that I dont regret it later.

Make a habit o recording your thoughts in the days leading up to your

talk to make sure your most brilliant insights become part o your presen-

tation.


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BEWARE THE

CURSE OF

KNOWLEDgE

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Weve all allen prey to it beore. Youre trying to setup a meeting with

someone, and say, See you at 8, but they show up at 8AM instead o

8PM.

Youve just been beat by the Curse o Knowledge.

Coined by the Heath brothers in their book, Made to Stick, the Curse

o Knowledge is one o the major obstacles to eective communication,

and is important to take into account or your presen-

tation. Te term reers to the difculty we all encounter

when we try to communicate an idea that we understand

to listeners who are not yet acquainted with the idea.

Te Curse o Knowledge rears its ugly head particularly

when were the expert in a particular eld. Even though

it eels good to be the expert and rattle ancy words and

acronyms, we need to consider what our message will

sound like to someone who doesnt have the same knowl-

edge we do.

Conquering the Curse is oten as simple as asking ourselves questionslike, How will my audience understand this technical language? or,

Will he understand my romance movie reerences? As much as you

might love your sports metaphors, i your audience doesnt ollow sports,

you should probably consider nding a dierent metaphor.

What curse-killing-question can you ask to help communicate eectively

to your audience?

Once we know something, we nd

it hard to imagine what it was like

not to know it. Our knowledge has

cursed us. And it becomes di-cult or us to share our knowledge

with others, because we cant readily

re-create our listeners state o mind.

Chip Heath & Dan Heath


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SPEAK THE

LEARNINg

LANgUAgES

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When you present, your hope is always to connect with every person in the

room. o do so, its important to consider how the dierent people learn and

process inormation best.

Were not all wired the same. While it would be great i everyone learned the

same way you do, the act is that you will speak to a lot o people that are verydierent than you. Tis gets more complicated when you talk to a diverse group.

As we talked about earlier, its important that the hero (thats your audience!)

understands what youre trying to say in a language she will understand.

Here are our basic learning styles that you can keep in mind when youre

making your presentation. While this isnt a comprehensive list, nor the

only way to categorize various ways o processing inormation, Ive ound

this helpul when engaging a diverse audience. By making some simplechanges to your presentation you can draw everyone in the room into

what you have to share.

1. Who learners are concerned about the relational side o what youre

talking about. More than stats and gures, these learners care about how

people are aected, the relationships involved, and about you as an indi-

vidual. o engage who people, tell stories and let your audience get toknow you as a person.

2. What learners are more analytical and are concerned with stats and g-

ures. Precision is important to these learners. Saying, Facebook has, like,

billions o users, wont y. Youll earn what learners trust i you can

say, In 2012, Facebook topped 1 billion users. o engage your what

listener, make sure the stats and quotes you use are solid and precise.


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3. How learners arent as enthralled by abstract concepts and theo-

ries, they want to give the theories legs through concrete action steps

and application. During your presentation, theyll be asking the ques-

tion, What do I do with this? o engage a how person, make sure

you introduce concrete action steps or responding to the ideas youre

presenting.

4. What i learners are dreamers who get excited about the uture. Teir

minds are the most stimulated when given the opportunity to imagine

new possibilities and create the uture based on the ideas youre present-

ing. o engage a what i person, invite them to dream about what

could happen as a result o what youre telling them.

As you make an eort to connect with these various learning styles, it

might eel a bit unnatural and clunky at rst. Just like learning a new lan-

guage, it will become more comortable as you make a habit o connect-

ing with these various kinds o people in your presentations.

Imagine (this is or you, what i olks) i you could really engage with

each and every person that walked into your presentation! I you consid-

er these various learning styles when youre preparing your talk, youll bewell on your way to winning over each o your listeners.


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AVOID

DEATH-BY-

POWERPOINT

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Since the invention o PowerPoint and other presentation sotware (and

beore that, overhead projectors), our schools and businesses have been

plagued by a epidemic called death-by-Powerpoint. Youve probably

witnessed those talks where the presenter spends an hour with their back

turned to the audience, ipping through slides packed with bullet points,

reading the slides verbatim. As you were sitting there checking Facebook,you may have wondered, Why are we even here? Couldnt he just send us

his notes in an email instead o making us all sit here?

When we use PowerPoint as a teleprompter and merely try to get through

a bunch o dry bullet points, weve missed the point o what a presenta-

tion really is.

Te purpose o a presentation is to make a personal connection withyou, the presenter.

Youre standing up ront because we want to hear whatyou have to say.Your message is best conveyed through inection, eye contact, stories,

and natural body gestures, all o which get lost when you rely too heavily

on the slides behind you.

I the projector broke 5 minutes beore you were to give your next pre-

sentation, would you still be able to deliver your presentation with con-

dence? While visuals can be a great aid in conveying a message, your

slides are NO your presentation! YOU are the most important asset to

persuading your audience.


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Here are a couple things you can do to make a strong connection with

your audience during your next presentation:

1. Keep the lights on.When youre setting up the room, make sure

that theres enough light or you and your audience to see each other.

I you have to dim the house lights or the sake o your slides, whatyoure inadvertently communicating is that the projector is the more

important than you.

2. Create a handout. I you have a lot o detailed inormation that

needs to be read, put it all in a handout to be passed out later. Use

your precious presentation time to persuade your audience using eye

contact, stories and selectively chosen stats and quotes.

3. Simpliy your slides. Te text and images on the screen should be

able to be read and comprehended at a glance, so that your audience

can glance at them, then turn their attention back to what youre say-

ing. More on this later.

4. urn on Presenter Notes. PowerPoint and Keynote have a present-

er mode in which you can add presenter notes that display on your

computer screen while the projector displays only the slides you wantyour audience to see. You can also use printed-out and handwritten

notes or your own reerence.


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TAKE THE

gLANCE

TEST

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One common problem that plagues many presentations is overcrowded

imagery, bullet lists and ne print, all intended to help prove your point.

Rather than clariying what youre saying, this abundance o visual inor-

mation becomes a distraction as your audience battles between listening

to what youre saying and reading all the text on the screen behind you.

Your audience cant ocus on two inputs simultaneously. Teyll either

be reading your slides or listening to that really important story youre

telling, not both. Each visual should support you, the presenter, and not

compete or the attention o your audience.

Billboards on the highway are eective when drivers can take in the

message at just a glance, reading them while keeping their ocus on other

things, such as keeping their car on the road.

I your slides were billboards on the highway, would drivers be able to

read the message in a quick glance while driving 100km/h, or would

they be causing accidents?

Seth Godin suggests implementing the 6-word rule: No more than

six words on a slide. EVER. I you need more, try splitting the idea into

to separate slides. Teres no limit to the number o slides you use, and

limiting the amount o inormation thats on the slide at any given time

while help your audience capture the message on the screen quickly, then

direct their attention quickly back to you, the presenter.

Te glance test will help your audience stay ocused during your presenta-

tion and clariy your message.


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BREATHE

eiht


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Ahaaaaaahhhhhhhh.

I standing in ront o a room ull o people is intimidating to you, pay

attention to your breathing beore and throughout your presentation.

When I rst started giving presentations, I elt the need to ll my timewith talking. Te sound o silence scared me more than anything. In

my nervous excitement to get on with my presentation, Id orget to

breathe as I quickly moved rom point to point. Learning to appreciate

slience and taking time to breathe deeply helped me eel more comort-

able and natural in ront o my audiences.

Good musicians know that when playing music, the notes they dont play

are as important as the notes they do play. Its the space in between notesthat give the notes their punch and create rhythm. I music contains no

silent spaces, it would just be one long noise.

Here are a ew ways to incorporate silence in your next presentation:

1. Give your audience a chance to digest the things youve just said. Tey

need to breathe too! I you ask your audience a question, they may need

a ew seconds o silence beore answering. Giving them time to process is

OK, and lets them know you care about what they have to say.

2. ry adding a pregnant pause beore you make a key point. Tis creates

suspense and makes your listeners lean orward in anticipation o what

youre about to say.

3. Instead o saying um while you collect your thoughts or think o the


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next point you were going to make, try simply being silent. It might eel

awkward, but dont worry, your audience wont run away! Eliminating fller will

also keep yoursel rom sounding unproessional as you present.

4. Focus on breathing deeply throughout your presentation to help deliver

more oxygen to your brain, which will help you think clearly.

Ahaaaaaahhhhhhhh.

In your upcoming presentation, take a deep breath beore you get started,

and learn to be comortable with periods o silence. Youll eel better, and

so will your audience!


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SAY YES

nine


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I you want to get better at giving presentations, you simply need to pres-

ent. Oten. Standing up in ront o a variety o audiences, speaking on a

variety o topics or various lengths o time will help you grow aster than

anything else.

When I rst decided that I wanted to become a better presenter, someonetold me to speak every chance I got, and I took their advice. I decided

to turn o my do I really want to speak on that topic to those people?

lter and jump at every opportunity I had to speak. As a result, I had the

opportunity speak on a large variety o subjects, in everything rom small

classrooms to large auditoriums, to every age and ethnic demograph-

ic. Giving regular presentations taught me a lot about preparation and

helped me eel comortable in ront o a range o audiences. Ater each

presentation Id get eedback rom a mentor or trusted peer and makemental notes or changes I would implement in my next presentation.

I you want to be become a better presenter, just say YES to the next op-

portunity to give a presentation!


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LEARN

FROM THE

BEST

ten


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Several years ago I visited New Orleans or a ew days. During my time I

had the opportunity to see parts o the French Quarter.

While we were checking out the streets, local riends told entertaining

stories o the history o the city which brought the streets and buildings

to lie. We saw other tours being given, and as a presenter, I became asci-nated with the art o giving a tour. Tese tour guides role was to tell a

compelling story to bring buildings and history - both potentially boring

topics - to lie or their audiences. I was able to glean wisdom or my pre-

sentations by listening to the delivery o these stories told in these streets.

I you want to grow as a presenter, inspiration is everywhere.

Tere is much to be learned about presenting and telling great stories bystudying lms, V shows, stand-up comedy, radio, music and theatre. I

you take note o how stories are told and think about how this applies to

your presentations, you will become a better presenter.

Tere are also many presentations available online that can teach us a lot

about what works and doesnt work when giving a talk.

I youre looking or some presentation-ocused resources, here are a ew

places to start:


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ED

ED is a nonprot devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Te two an-

nual conerences, as well as a host o independent events around the

world, eature captivating talks by leaders rom a broad range o elds.

Videos o the best o these talks are made available or ree.

ted.com

Presentation Zen by Garr ReynoldsAs an American living in Japan, Garr Reynolds uses the simple zen

aesthetic as a metaphor or creating great presentations. Presentation

Zen includes priceless insights or preparing and delivering top-notch

presentations. Also nd great resources at the Presentation Zen blog.

presentationzen.com

Resonateby Nancy DuarteFounder o the presentation design rm Duarte, Nancy Duarte shares

wisdom gained rom designing thousands o presentations or some o

the worlds greatest presenters. In this book she analyzes the greatest

speeches in history and shows how you can crat a story that moves

your audiences.

duarte.com/books

Speaker Deck

Looking or some slide design inspiration? Check out this site lled

with design-saavy slidedecks.

speakerdeck.com
http://ted.com/http://presentationzen.com/http://duarte.com/bookshttp://speakerdeck.com/http://speakerdeck.com/http://duarte.com/bookshttp://presentationzen.com/http://ted.com/


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1 TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER First gure out what youre going to say.

2 FOCUS ON THE HEROYoure not the star o your presentation, your audience is.

3 CAPTURE INSIgHTS Ideas come when youd least expect it. Pay attention.

4 BEWARE THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDgEWhere is your audience coming rom?

5 SPEAK TO FOUR LEARNINg STYLES Connect with everyone in the room.

6 AVOID DEATH-BY-POWERPOINTYour visuals should merely support you.

7 TAKE THE gLANCE TEST Make your slides simple, like highway billboards.

8 BREATHE Relax and make good use o silence.

9 SAY YES Present oten.

10 LEARN FROM THE BEST Inspiration is everywhere.

RECAP


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Tanks to Mike, Allan, Nick, Scott, Chris B, ylor, Stean, Kent, Chris F

and Anna or their valuable input in putting this together.

New York photo courtesy o annis Wiebe.

Notebook and New Orleans photos by yours truly.

Stock photos rom Photos.com.

Fonts used: Adobe Garamond Pro and Duke.

Find more helup tips and resources at brentmanke.com.

THANKS!
http://brentmanke.com/http://brentmanke.com/

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10 Tips For Your Next Presentation