Presentation Training Skills

Presentations Skills Training Workshops

Presentations skills training workshops are provided across the country via public open enrollment workshops in all major metropolitan areas and can also be delivered on-site via private training workshops. Our presentation training workshops can be provided as off-the-shelf workshops or training sessions which are ready to be delivered to a diverse audience or can be customized to provide a tailored training and personalized approach workshop based on client needs. All presentations training workshops are limited to a maximum of twelve participants so as to increase workshop effectiveness and provide the individual level of presentation coaching and interaction that is associated with the Presentations Training Skills Workshop Center.

For more information on our presentations skills training workshops please contact us.

Presentation Training Workshop: Fatal Presentation Flaws And How To Fix Them

You know the routine. As soon as you discover you're on the presentation short list you spread the word and get busy compiling content for the big day. You add graphs, charts, illustrations, and text. You ask your marketing department to send you the 16 graphs you like and your team insists on adding a few more they like. You shuffle slides and type in whole sentences, or add numbers and concepts you don't want to forget. You believe your content will separate you from your competitors; you think content is what it's all about. Think again.

Your presentation becomes a repeat of the presenters who preceded you, a mind-numbing slide-show rich in content but missing a memorable message. Is it any wonder that by the end of the day your presentations audience is bored, confused, and fighting sleep? Is it a shocker to learn they can't remember who was who? Or who said what?

After all that blathering in front of all those tedious slides, it's no surprise to find -- at the end of the vendor parade -- that the decision-makers usually look at one another and say something like, "I forget who said what but never mind. Who did you like best?"

A presentation, whether formal or informal, is a performance -- a staged conversation with a beginning, a middle and an end. Your role as lead player is to engage your presentations audience from the very first word and have them follow you through to the happy end. When they do, they consider you a friend. And you win.

To achieve that goal, you must avoid the 7th fatal flaw.

You spend too much time on content.

Instead of spending valuable time on assembling more and more content -- all of which will quickly be forgotten -- focus on your Big Message. Identify the one main idea you want your presentations audience to remember if they forget everything else. When you know what that is, you have your Big Message. Polish it, refine it, and get comfortable saying it conversationally.

Once you have your message, identify no more than three big concepts that support it or prove it or expand on it. Three concepts is about all you can expect any presentations audience to remember, so be sure to choose high-impact ideas and can make the main point of each one clear. Then practice your delivery.

When you present, talk about each concept as you would to a friend. A keyword on the screen will keep you on track and is all you need to support your delivery. Or use a wonderful visual image that captures the idea you want to convey and reminds you where you are going. Then start with the point of that concept and talk about it. You can easily do that; it's your business and it's what you know best. You don't need every word on the screen -- to trip you up and interfere with your conversational delivery.

Of course content is important; it filled your proposal and should be at hand for later reference when you want it. Content goes into reader-friendly handouts that include all the detail -- the charts, graphs and minutiae -- you think your presentations audience may want. Distribute your handouts right before the Q&A so you can refer to them as questions arise.

You've heard of the 10-20-30 rule, and I like it. Here's how it goes.

Show no more than 10 main slides.

Speak for no more than 20 minutes.

Use nothing smaller than a 30 point font size.

Yes, you may add a few support slides here and there. And sometimes you are compelled to speak a little longer. But if you present brilliantly for 20 minutes, you'll have made a powerful impression and can count on a wonderful Q&A. So stick as closely as you can to those rules; they will increase your effectiveness and improve your results.

The good news is that delivering a winning presentation may be as easy as being yourself. Whenever you present, give yourself permission to be real, human and friendly. Convey the warm, likeable person you really are and transform your presentation from a forgettable information dump into a reliable sales tool. You win!

Source: Fern Lebo link

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