Keeping Presentations Simple
When it comes to presentations often times we think more is better. This is not the case. By sticking to a simple outline you will have much greater success with your audience. May I suggest a few ideas that I found in a book called Made to Stick? This book contains a simple outline that keeps your ideas and presentations quick and to the point. Remember most audiences will forget what you presented to them within 10 minutes after especially if you bombard them with too much stuff, but the feeling can stay forever. Here is the outline
1. Simple: Strip the idea to its core and bring out the most important concept of your presentation. They call it “finding the core.”
2. Unexpected: Do something that the audience does not expect. Get creative and think of a special way you can get the audiences attention.
3. Emotional: Get their emotions involved any way possible. Tony Robbins is great at doing this. We all love to be inspired! Know what your audience is going through and cater to their needs. Put yourself in their shoes. Your audience has given you an open ear so you need to make it worth their time. (Let me add a quick note about swearing. Profanity is a huge turn off when presenting. I have seen a lot of great speakers use bad language to get the audience to laugh. Donald Trump does this, and it kills him.) A good smile and a great story will get you a lot farther.
4. Stories: A great way to get your audience’s emotions turning is to tell good stories. Unexpected stories. Stories that relate to your audience. I personally like to tell personal stories to let the audience know that I am human and relate to their circumstance.
There you have it. The next time you are writing, presenting, or selling use this simple outline and you will get the success you are looking for
YDRAW