Presentations

Before the presentation:

1. DO: Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice always makes a perfect presentation.

2. DO: Dress to impress. This shows respect for your audience. Why not? It is always more pleasant to
watch and listen to someone who takes their speaking and presentation seriously.

3. DO: Get to know your audience before the presentation. Meet at least one or two people from the audience before the presentation. Then bring up their names during the presentation to build rapport with the audience.

4. DO: Understand who your audience is ahead of time. Are you talking to a group of bankers or government officials? Any breaking news lately about their organization? What is their pain? What are they looking for? What kind of expectations do they have for you?

5. DO: Check your equipment. Check any microphone, laptop, projectors, etc. Make sure they all work.

6. DO: Empty your pockets. No one wants to hear your keys or anything else making noise while you are presenting.

7. DO: Turn your cell phone off or put it on silent.

8. DO: Take care of your hair. Make sure no hair will drop in your face.

9. DO: Bring your business cards.

10. DON’T: Try not to eat right before a presentation. You never know about the food.

11. DON’T: Don’t be late! Arrive at least 15 – 30 minutes before you are supposed to present. Give yourself plenty of time to settle in and get your thoughts together.

When you first begin the presentation:
12. DO: Introduce yourself. Don’t assume anything. Depending on time allowed, give a 30 second to 5 minute introduction of yourself.

13. DO: Ask questions. Asking the audience questions is a great way to make sure they are awake and keeping them feeling involved from the start.

14. DO: Tell a personal story. This is simple and effective way to help your audience to get to know you. Make them your friends.

15. DO: Tell them what you are going to tell them. Give them a quick introduction on the objective of your presentation and what are they going to learn or understand by the end of your presentation.

16. DON’T: Don’t try to make jokes if you are not good at it. This can be very dangerous!

During the presentation:
17. DO: Eye contact. Your firm eye contact will convey your confidence. Act like you own the room. Do not glance around the room too fast. Spend at least three to five seconds on each person. Each person wants to feel that you are only talking to them.

18. DO: Smile. Act like you are having a great time! Better yet, have a great time!

19. DO: Speak up. If don’t have a microphone, project your voice a bit louder than you might think to make sure the back of the room can hear you. It’s good to ask the people in the back of the room to make sure they can hear you; it’s a nice courtesy and also helps them feel included.

20. DON’T: Watch your posture. Stand up straight. Don’t walk around too much or do any non-purposeful movements. Unnecessary movements can distract your audience.

21. DO: Use the right words. Try not to use too many acronyms or terms that few people may understand. Connect with your audience and explain in simple terms where possible.

22. DON’T: Be careful with your hands. Again, move your arms and hands purposefully. If you don’t need to use them, just rest them at your sides. Don’t put your hands in your pockets.

23. DO: Rhythm. Pace your speech to a steady rhythm. Not too fast or too slow. Make sure everyone can hear you clearly.

24. DO: Show your excitement about the topic. Increase your voice volume and/or slow down your speech when you are presenting important points.

25. DO: Show your emotion when needed. Slow down when you are trying to present an important point.

Ending the presentation:

26. DO: Conclude by repeating your main points you covered during the presentation.

27.DO: Conclude with a quote. Audiences always remember a good quote.

28.DO: Conclude with a story. Audiences always remember a nice story.

29.DO: Conclude with a call to action. Tell your audience what they should do next after your presentation.

30.DO: If you have a question and answer session, before you answer the question, repeat the question asked by your audience to make sure everyone can hear the question. This keeps everyone involved through the end.

31. DO: Thank the audience. Show them your appreciation. Show them you want to be there.

After the presentation:
32. DO: Continue the relationship. Follow up with your audience either through a phone call, e-mail, or regular mail.

33. DO: Plan to spend at least 30 minutes after the conclusion if time allows at the venue. This will enable you to further connect with your audience. You’ll be surprised at the number of people who will want to talk with you after you’ve delivered an effective presentation.

thanks edith yeung

Storytelling and Motivation by Dr. Richard Borough

MOTIVATING OTHERS, NOT. INSPIRING OTHERS, YES

Motivating others, this you cannot do because people motivate themselves. But if you are a manager of employees, you must have motivated people on your team.

As a manager it’s your main job to turn raw talent into performance that’s aligned with your mission and the vision of where you want to go. By the way, this is the same job as that of a football coach.

But how do you make it possible for the motivation that lies fast asleep, deep in the hearts of the people you manage, to spring forth? You do that by telling a good story—an inspirational story that encourages people to saddle up and take all forms of the most appropriate action possible. For while it is true that you cannot motivate another person, you can inspire them, this you can certainly do.

Inspire well and your people will motivate themselves.

Have you read any of J. K. Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books or seen the movies? Is Harry Potter a real person? Are any of those stories true? No. But people love them anyway, don’t they. Harry Potter doesn’t exist, none of the people in the stories exist, the whole story is made up, yet we want to believe, so we buy the books and go to the movies. The story is wonderful. The story gets us to take action.

Thousands of people of all ages camped all night outside bookstores everywhere waiting to buy the final Potter book last week. 10 million copies of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” were sold in the first 24 hours. That’s 6,944 books per minute. And that book is 600 pages long. Very big time motivation brought on by big time inspiration.

Turns out that those who manage people most successfully, better than anyone else, do not actually talk about or demonstrate the benefits that will accrue to those who do their bidding. That’s not what they do. Instead, they tell a story. Employees demand that you do just that, they insist that you paint vivid story pictures that they want to believe. This is their chief demand of you.

Storytelling, of course, is one of the oldest, most powerful modes of communication. President Ronald Reagan was a masterful storyteller, and many other politicians have used stories to gain votes and win elections. Savvy people are now adding storytelling to their toolkits to “sell” anything from organizational goals and priorities to employees, to goods, products and services to customers.

Researchers have found that storytelling is far more convincing to an audience than rational arguments, statistics, or facts. In her book “Corporate Legends and Lore: The Power of Storytelling as a Management Tool,” Peg Neuhauser outlines the results of a study with MBA students that demonstrate the power of a story. MBA students are very much orientated by statistics. Neuhauser divided her statistically oriented students into three groups. The first group was given only statistics related to the potential success of a new winery. The second group was given statistics and a story. The third group received only the story. The story ended with: “And my father would be so proud to sip this wine.” A majority of students in the third group believed that the winery would be successful, while in the other two groups the skeptics predominated. The story, not the statistics, sold the winery.

Next time you hear someone say, “Let me tell you a story,” watch out. You may be about to support an idea, enlist in a cause, or buy something.

It’s a simple concept. A story makes a topic much more real to the audience, more so than the most rational persuasion, because it reframes the argument being put forth by the story teller in an easy-to-grasp format anyone can relate to. When it becomes necessary to influence people, a story frame is always more effective than a rational, linear argument, provided the story answers the audience’s question, “What’s in this for me?”

Great stories overcome resistance to change, to try new things, or to buy.

Managers and football coaches make taking action more palatable by telling stories that celebrate the past while simultaneously demonstrating the need for change. Stories help people understand the need to follow directions and to do things in the right way. And even failure makes a good story when it is positioned to focus on the learning experience derived from it.

Now you may not be able to inspire your employees like J. K. Rowling inspired her readers and movie goers or like Vince Lombardi or Bill Walsh inspired their football players. But you can inspire your audience. And your inspirational activities can result in the sudden appearance of motivation on the part of your audience members. Then they’ll do all they can to take appropriate action that benefits both them and you too.

Like football coaches to their players, your good stories will bridge the gap between what you want people to do for you—and what, because they discover their own motivation—they will do for you.

So what exactly is a really good story? What characteristics must a story have in order to inspire and encourage the emergence and manifestation of motivation in other people?

Here’s what we know. A good story is interesting, it’s compelling and hard to ignore, it’s fascinating to some degree, it promises something people want to believe, it’s about things people can relate to their personal experiences and/or to their hopes and wishes, and it may offer hope of a better future. And truly great stories don’t appeal to logic, but they often appeal to emotions and senses.

Most of all, great stories agree with our world view. The best stories don’t teach people anything new. Instead, the best stories agree with what the audience already believes and that makes the members of the audience feel smart and secure as it reminds them of how right they were in the first place.

Threats don’t work for long. Bribes don’t work for long either. Only a good story brings people to the place of self-motivation for the long haul and that’s what you need, long term motivation and the loyalty that comes with it.

Your story ought to lay out a vision of a desirable future, ought to talk about goals and communicate how together your team will reach them. Your story ought to educate and mobilize people to go with you into the future better place.

Want to manage your people better? Tell better stories. And tell them often. Neat huh!