Ace Your Presentations

If you'd rather schedule a root canal than speak in front of an audience, you're in good company. Sir Winston Churchill, a master of oratory, is known to have said, "There are only a few things in life from which I derive intense pleasure--speaking is not one of them! " Still, Churchill overcame a lisp and the lack of a university education to lead England for nine crucial years. Your own goals may not include leading a nation at war, but if you are going to do some public speaking you will want the full attention of your audience. You will need to earn their confidence to get your points across so they learn what you intend them to. To do this, you must take the time to prepare your presentation. GIVE 'EM WHAT THEY WANT First, make sure you know your audience. Learn who the decision makers are. What are their needs and concerns? Their hot buttons? Find out what motivates them and how they make decisions. When possible, ask someone who will be present about what the important topics and concerns are. Let your contact know your goal is to make the presentation as informative as possible. Find out what your audience already thinks about the topic. For example, if your talk is about building a personal financial planning practice, experts may let you know that CPAs are concerned about potential liability exposure. Determine the common ground you share with your audience. If you are a CPA in practice speaking to managing partners, share war stories. Appeal to their intelligence and emotions--you will have to reach both to make your presentation work. Know your purpose. Choose the burning issue, the key point. What do you want the audience to do or think after they have listened to you? Integrate your purpose with what you know the audience needs to ensure your theme is on target. State your strategic ideas and support them. MAP IT OUT When you prepare your presentation, remember to divide your time into three blocks of 20%, 70% and 10%. Use the first segment of your presentation as an introduction that will grab your audience's attention. Preview your presentation's highlights in order. If you have not been introduced, introduce yourself and explain how your credentials make you an expert on your subject. Open strong! Use a question, a statistic or a quotation from someone your audience recognizes and respects. You can make a promise or a prediction, or offer a relevant anecdote to enliven your message. * Use 70% of your time on the main body of the presentation. Always split this segment into distinct parts (the problems experienced by lack of staff, the recommendation to hire new staff, the positive results you anticipate); put these parts into logical order and offer convincing support for each. * Leave 10% of the time for your conclusion. Support your purpose with a new idea--don't repeat yourself--and tell your audience what to do to make it happen. Use the three-part rule as a general guide, whether your presentation is 10 minutes or one hour long. If you can choose the amount of time you have, keep the presentation short and to the point. Take to heart the wisdom of Mark Twain: "A sermon loses its power after 20 minutes. " BE PREPARED If you plan to use visual aids, such as a Power Point presentation, keep them simple. Ask yourself how your visuals support or strengthen your purpose. Don't use slides that simply repeat what you are saying. A picture or graphic works vastly better than a visual composed of text. As an anonymous orator aptly said, "A presentation is not an essay on its hind legs. " * Keep in mind the 6 x 6 rule. No more than six words across or six lines down for slides or Power Point presentations! You don't want your audience to be reading too much information while you are speaking. * Don't overdo. Consider the hapless manager who arrived for his presentation for the CEO with two bags full of transparencies. …