In these times of economic instability communications skills are even more important to developing your career or nailing that dream job. In some cases job candidates have to “present” themselves in front of groups of people to prove they can effectively communicate.
The best training session I have seen on effective presentation skills is one that is called ”90 Minutes To Killer Presentation Skills” by Doug Jeffreys. It is the number one presentation skills video on Amazon.com. This DVD is a pre-requisite if you are serious about your career.
Here are a couple of the notes I took from the seminar.
The Rules
- If you work too hard on the stage your doing it wrong
- don’t multitask. Just speak
- If you do it right, then it is win-win benefits for you and the audience
- People only start listening to you when you stop talking
Lock, Talk & Pause
This is the way to eliminate fear and it facilitates communication with your audience. People want to HEAR what you have to say. There is no need to rush through your presentation.
Have someone already picked out that you are comfortable with to begin talking with. Lock Eyes with one person only, talk to them delivering one thought, then pause. Then talk to another person, telling them your thought etc.
How To Organize Your Presentation
Don’t give a list of what you are going to cover at the beginning of your presentation and a summary of what you have covered at the end. You need to start by grabbing attention and end with a “Bang”.
Grabber
- Problem / Opportunity
- Solution / Recommendation
- Evidence
- Benefits
- Call to Action / Next Steps
End with a “Bang”
