CAREER DEVELOPMENT: Powerful Presentation Strategies

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A powerful and clear presentation, passionately presented with a lot of genuine personal feeling is a must! If you are not passionate about the possible outcome, why would you even remotely expect others to be excited?

Keep your presentation simple and clear. NOTE: A confused mind always says “no.” Even if you are presenting on a complex system or subject, never move forward until you are sure that your audience both understands and appreciates the information you are conveying. This is a critical aspect of presenting. The ability to clearly present an idea is as important as the idea itself.

Basic Overview of Powerful Presentations:

Opening: Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
Body: Tell them.
Conclusion: Tell them what you told them
Six simple Tips for a great presentation:

ONE: The purpose of your presentation is to get results; to help people make changes and think or act differently. So start with the end in mind. What do you want people to do as a result of the information you provide them? What do they need to know to do this? What do they need to feel to do this?

TWO: People learn in three ways: Visual (what they can see), Auditory (what they can hear), and Kinesthetic (what they can touch). Try to include all three approaches in your presentation. Most of your audience will be visual and need to “see” what they “hear” from you. So tell your personal visual stories to support your points. When the audience hears and sees your stories they will feel connected to you and the presentation material.

THREE: People have short attention spans. Review your main points before you end your presentation. Don’t give them too much information. Most people only remember one or two concepts – so provide your best one or two ideas that will have the most significance to that particular audience.

FOUR: Be conversational by engaging the audience. Don't lecture the audience. Adults love to learn but don’t like to think they are in school. Be interactive. Remember, the audience that gets involved with your material will learn something they can use immediately. You should want the audience to “own” the material you provided in a meeting or presentation. Ask a few questions as people in the audience often remember the person asking the question and the answer more vividly than you simply providing the material.

FIVE: Use strong openings. Examples: a story, a significant statement, a quotation, a challenging question. You really only have 60 seconds to connect with your audience. Then you must provide a presentation that engages them. Using personal stories and sprinkling your remarks with facts will keep them interested.

SIX: Use Strong Closings. Examples: Provide a summary. (Tell them what you told them) Review the main points, make a statement, and tell an anecdote. Finally challenge them to take some action immediately! in the next 12 to 48 hours, in one week, by the end of the year.

Finally,get feedback. Every presentation has room for improvement. Be sure to solicit feedback from meeting attendees on how the presentation went right for them — and how it went wrong. Was the presentation too long? Were presentation items unclear? Whatever the problems, you can't fix them if you don't know about them. If the presentation was on track, what were the best points made. The object is to fix what’s wrong and keep what’s right. You can simply informally speak with attendees after the presentation to get their input or call them at a later time.

Copyright Information:

You MAY reprint the information contained in this article as long as no portion of the contents are modified and it used “exclusively” within your organization and credit is given to Ingbretsen Consulting. Please contact for republication.

About Ingbretsen Consulting LLC:
Coach and author Roger Ingbretsen is a certified executive coach and organizational developer, providing organizational and career guidance to professionals, managers, supervisors and all individuals looking for "real world" career development and business information. His entrepreneurial approach will help you learn how to plan, lead and succeed in your career. Roger is the creator of the “Leadership Development Coaching Experience©” and author of the personal development reference eBooks, “Plan Your Career Now: The Survival Guide for the American Workplace” and “Master Your Career: Proven Strategies for Career Success©.” To know more and claim dozens of Rogers free articles go to www.ingbretsen.com or call 509 999 7008.

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