10 Presentation Tips to Guarantee Your Next Talk is a Success
10X Business Letter
San Diego, Ca
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Dear 10X Business Builder,
I recently did a 2-hour presentation training for a phenomenal group called The Dead Chiropractors Society with Dr. Bill Demoss and it was fantastic.
Because we got a lot of great feedback from the attendees, I decided to share with you 10 simple speaking strategies I used that helped me achieve a high level of success during this event. Here they are:
1. Early bird gets the worm: Arrive early and set up the room
Always, always, always arrive early to your speaking events. You want to be super comfortable with the room where you are going to speak. Here is a quick list of 10 things I do before every speaking gig:
- Make sure the room has the right temperature
- Make sure the audio and visual are working
- Make sure there is no noise around the meeting space (if there is a lot of noise, you will have to find a solution)
- Set up the chairs in the proper way (making sure the audience will be facing me, not the window)
- Remove anything from the stage that previous speakers may have left
- Create space for you to walk during your presentation
- Connect with the person who is introducing you and pre-frame your introduction (If you have not done so previously)
- Fill the room with “love and transformational energy”. I do this through breathing exercises before my talks where I literally fill up the room with this awesome energy
- Have plenty of room temperature water to drink
- Know the flow of the meeting making sure you know exactly what will happen before and after your talk. You should learn this further in advance but sometimes people want to change the agenda last minute and you must be prepared for it
2. Connect with people before the event
Because you arrived early and you are not stressed out like most inexperienced speakers are, now you have time to connect with people. I like to learn “why” they are there. So after I build up rapport with the attendees, I like to ask questions like:
“In the context of _____________________________ (your topic), what is the one thing what you would like to learn or improve in order to take your business (or life) to the next level?”
“I am curious, why have you decided to come here this evening? What are you expecting to get out of this presentation?”
“How can I help you at the highest level this evening?”
The cool thing about connecting with people before your talk is that not only will you learn about their outcomes so you can address them during your talk, but you will also meet really great people. For example, when I arrived early, not only did I record a special interview with Dr. Bill Demoss, but I got to know youtube sensation Dr. John Bergman.
3. Create a personalized opening slide
You want to send a message to your audience even before you start speaking. For example, you want to make sure your opening slide does the following:
Tells the audience what the presentation is about (e.g. The Chiro Advocate title)
Shows the audience that your talk was designed for them (I used the DCS logo, that was the group I was speaking for)
Brands your company (InfluenceOlogy logo)
4. Have Fun
Look, if you are not having a lot of fun before, during and after your speaking gigs, do not speak. I am serious, life it is too short.
The majority of speakers are “so stressed out” that they forget to enjoy the experience. If you are not having fun, your audience will not have fun!!!
5. Create a worksheet for your presentation
Most presenters do not do this because they are “too busy”, they don’t plan, or they simply do not understand why they should.
The reasons you should create a presentation worksheet:
- Helps your audience to learn more
- Helps you introduce the law of commitment and consistency
- Helps you engage your audience during your talk
- Makes your presentation more professional
- Allows you to speak without slides (powerpoint and keynote)
- Adds credibility (you can place a testimonial at the bottom of your worksheet)
- Increases the overall value of your talk
BTW, I am so committed to this process that I even bring pens for the audience. No excuses, everybody will engage, write and learn something during our talks
6. Use pauses strategically
William Shakespeare said, “I stand in pause where I shall first begin.”
After someone introduces me I acknowledge him or her by giving a hug (yes, I am a hugger), walk towards the center of the stage, pause for a few seconds, connect to the audience, I look at them, smile, send them some love and THEN I start speaking.
Usually my opening pauses last 3 to 5 seconds. Pauses are really powerful, as matter of fact I created an entire series on it. (Pause series)
7. Open body language
As you may already know, you “cannot NOT communicate”, in another words, you are always sending a message to your audience. During my presentation, I incorporate very specific body language to send a message to my audience. For example, in the beginning of my talk I use the “placater” position to communicate openness and vulnerability. (We cover a lot of body language tricks during our Influencing From The Front program)
8. Engage the audience
Please write this down: Your job as an Influencer is to manage the energy of the room. The way you manage the energy of your audience is by engaging them throughout your presentation.
During our Influencing From The Front program we teach several different ways to engage an audience.
Here are 10 quick, simple and easy ways to do it.
- Inspire your audience to stand up
- Inspire your audience to raise their hand
- Inspire your audience to “write this down”
- Inspire your audience to repeat some specific words out loud
- Inspire your audience to complete sentences. For example, you can say. Life is good…life is_______ (they will say good)
- Inspire your audience to send you a question on social media (facebook, twitter, etc) during a break so you can address it later on
- Inspire your audience to find a solution for a puzzle that you created as the beginning of your talk
- Ask a lot of questions during your presentation
- Inspire your audience to work with the person next to them
- Show them a video and ask their feedback
9. “Think outside the Power Point”: Eliminate or reduce your number of slides.
I have been speaking professionally for over 10 years now. During the 6 years I was speaking for Tony Robbins Companies, I never used powerpoint (I did not even know how to use it). Once I left the Tony Robbins Companies, I started doing Power Point and Keynote presentations and I spent WAY TOO MUCH time on the slides and not on the presentation. (have you ever done that?)
I think slides have their time and place (e.g. webinars or longer training formats like a 2 -3 day event, technical presentations, etc), but in my experience, the less slides you use, the more impact and influence you will have. Can you image Martin Luther King reading from a slide “I have a dream…” No you can’t.
During this presentation (Dead Chiropractic Society) I had just ONE slide (the opening slide that you saw earlier, that was IT). Unfortunately, most presentation coaches will tell you to use slides because they suck at presenting without them (they may be great designers, but NOT influencers).
Here is what I tell my clients… In my experience, the most powerful presenters speak without slides (or very few slides). That is not only my opinion, for example, Jeff Bezos, CEO of the giant online retailer Amazon, prohibited all his employees from using powerpoint. I know, this is a subject that needs more explanation and I promise to write later about this. When to use and when not to use slides (we do not have enough time today). Here is the picture of me speaking at this event without slides (I spoke 2 hours without any visual props, just me ).
PS: 90 % of the professionals who present at the Influencing From The Front event on Sunday do not use slides
10. Use a client testimonial
As I mentioned previously, during this 2-hour presentation I did not use slides (except for my opening slide).
One of the reasons I had a opening slide was because at the end of my presentation I wanted to show a video testimonial of one of our clients, and I wanted to have the projector connected to make the transition easier.
So here is what I did:
1. I had my opening slide up before I was introduced
2. Once I started speaking I advanced the opening slide to a “black slide” (you can also press the “B” key on your keyboard and your screen will go black)
3. I spoke for 2 hours without slides, just having the audience use the worksheet I passed out in advance
4. At the end of my presentation I advanced the black slide and showed this video testimonial
Roberto Monaco
The 10X Business Letter
Co-Founder, Influenceology
P.S. If you enjoyed this post and would like to take your presentation skills to the next level, check out our online “Delivery Module” to learn even more on how to look and sound good while presenting.