The other day on the 60 Second Online University blog, Ann Pruitt wrote an excellent post about presentation skills. She should know what makes a great presenter — she’s been doing it professionally for 20+ years.

My favorite tip below is to finish strong. I remember wrapping up a day-long paid seminar by having my partner say “So, where did we come up short in today’s seminar? What did we miss?” I kid you not, those were his actual words. I wanted to crawl under a table.

This photo has absolutely nothing to do with "presentation tips for marketers," but all our other photos made even less sense than this one does.

In any case, here’s what Ann wrote. It’s a great post and we’d love to hear if you have any additional presentation tips:

Presenting the value of your company and its services is an extremely important part of promoting for growth. Yet presentation skills are one of those things many tend to ignore – until you find yourself standing in the front of the conference room with a laser pointer in your hand.

Here are some tips for keeping the presentation presentable:

1. Target Your Audience: It’s an age-old axiom, and it rings true in oral presentations even more than in written presentations: Know Thy Audience. You’ll need to think on your feet, so anticipate ahead of time what questions your audience will have and have answers ready or already built in to the presentation. Don’t get too technical (or not technical enough) for the audience’s knowledge.

2. Target Your Objectives: Be sure you know the purpose of the presentation. Do you want to review so you can plan for the future, or are you asking a client to buy? Everything included in the presentation should move you toward the objective. Avoid fluff. That being said, balance the no fluff with having too much intensity.

3. Focus on the Audience, not You: It’s all about them. Make them feel part of the presentation, focus on their needs and their experiences. Share your experiences only as they directly relate to solving the audience’s needs. Remind them often how this presentation will benefit them. Ask them if they need more detail.

4. Have a Theme: Your presentation has more umph if it has a main idea that runs throughout. Keep the objectives in mind, and use a look, a color, an attitude, and a title that tie the whole thing together. The presentation is more consistent, and more memorable that way.

5. Have an Agenda: Adults need to know what’s up. It helps keep the information in a structure so it’s easier to grasp, and helps us anticipate the time allotted for concentration. Use a handout for the agenda, and refer to it often. Be very clear as the presentation moves on from one topic to the next. Let the audience know how long the presentation will be, and over-estimate rather than under. A presentation that runs over loses the audience. A presentation that runs just under appears more organized and professional.

6. Be Creative: Use visually appealing graphics, papers, or décor. Involve the audience by having them tell YOU the answers, or having them come and point to the graphics on the screen. (Be sure these techniques are contributing to the presentation, not just in there for fluff.) Use a tree stick as a pointer. (“Remember, stick with me!”) Keep the energy up on longer presentation with games or short quizzes that reinforce what they’ve learned. Do NOT attempt anything that makes you feel terribly uncomfortable. You’ll appear hokey and foolish if you can’t pull it off with confidence.

7. Finish Strong: Review the main points, and then hit the audience with what you want them to walk away with. What is it you want them to do? Also, perhaps a small gift that emphasizes the point, or a saying that they can remember will make this presentation stand out.

8. Dismiss Them When You’re Done – but Not Before: My personal pet peeve is presenters that say, “And that’s it for our presentation. Oh! Let me tell you one more thing….” Guess what? You lost ‘em at “that’s it.” You can say, “And now let’s open it to questions.” When all questions are answered, and indeed, all information has been delivered, then tell the audience the presentation is concluded. “So all questions are answered, and you know to present your parking ticket at the front desk for validation on the way out, so I’d like to thank you for your attention today. This concludes our presentation.” You can never get their attention back.

9. Have fun: The prep for the presentation should be the work. The presentation itself should be fun. After all, you are the knowledge expert. If you’ve gathered everything above, and practiced, you’ll be fine. That being said, there’s nothing worse than that sinking feeling when the audience asks a question out of left field that you did not anticipate. Just say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out and get back to you.” Avoid faking your way through it. It puts a damper on the fun when your audience sees through you and you’ve lost your credibility. Get those customers on your side using these hints to give a professional presentation with lots of zing. You appear more confident and professional, as does your company.

Let us know what other presentation hints (or disasters) you’ve got.

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009, 5:47 am   |   General Marketing, Uncategorized  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback