Archive for January, 2010

I recently heard a speaker comment on his earlier attempts at public speaking. He said “My presentation was so bad, if I wasn’t giving it, I would have walked out myself.” Now, most audiences don’t walk out, they just tune out. They mentally check out.

So, what can you do to produce a better outcome? Two areas that most professionals need work on are:

1. Planning. Don’t skip this vital stage. Don’t copy/paste from an old presentation and fool yourself that you are planning. You’re just being lazy. Discipline yourself to use the Clean Sheet Thinking method of pre-planning your presentations. It takes just thirty minutes to get a high level game plan together. Thirty minutes will make you much more laser focused.
2. Practice. I mean live rehearsals, not flipping through your slides nodding your head that you recognize the content. Diligent practice will turn you from a reluctant or average presenter into a strong, confident, powerful presenter. Ask a group of peers or trusted advisors to sit in on your practice session and give you focused feedback. Alternatively, hire an executive presentation coach to critique and coach your presentation delivery. This will help you mitigate risks with high stakes presentations.

Read about other common presentation pitfalls. Don’t be lazy or unaware. Get motivated about your next presentation!