All posts by Carlos Tomas

Business Presentations Faux Pas

 How to bring your business presentations to life

Invariably in conversations people will ask me what is the number one sin when it comes to business presentations.

Of course, through experience we all learn that there are many ways to lose an audience so I have boiled it down to what I feel are the three most important mistakes to avoid whenever doing a business presentation.

business presentations faux pasBeware of narratives that flat-line. When you try to convey too many messages within one presentation your audience may walk away, wondering what your presentation was about. Stick to one primary message and support it with logical arguments.

Compelling narratives need a captivating opening to get everyone on board and embark on the journey with you. This is also where you introduce your main argument.

Now that your audience knows what you’re presentation is about, try and stick to three key points that illustrate the reasoning behind your conclusions. Vary your support material; charts and graphs are fine and dandy but what your audience craves to hear about most are your personal experiences in relation to your topic.

Avoid flash-card slides. Relying on text-heavy slides as Teleprompters or flashcards in your business presentations is, possibly, the fastest way to lose your audience.  They will either read or listen, but not both. And since they all read at different speeds,  always faster than you are able to speak, you as a presenter will come across as being slow.

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Instead use your slides to present images that help to anchor the emotional journey that you wish to navigate them through. This is best accomplished by sticking to one visual theme. If you must use clip art then stick with it throughout the entire presentation. If your preference is photographs then use those, but do not mix the two.

Demonstrate showmanship. At the end of the day you are in show business. Your audience is there to be informed or learn from. To do that they need to be paying attention to what you have to say.

Make sure that your use of visual aids is smooth, easy, and timely. Remember, audience attention fades quickly.

Whether you deliver business presentations on a regular basis, or just occasionally,  take the time to structure your narrative, create slides that punctuate your points, and practice your stage show. You will gain not only the respect of your audience but also the confidence that you can repeat dynamic business presentations each and every time.

Cheers,

Carlos

Communication Skills: The New Currency

One of the best investments that you can make today is to
elevate your communication skills

The higher you climb up your career ladder the more your communication skills influence your ability to continue to move upward.

All the know-how and experience that you acquire are definite assets but unless you can communicate it to your audience you may remain unknown.To be recognized as an expert you need communication skills that set you apart from the crowd.

Communication Skills the New CurrencyEvery time you stand before an audience your improved communications skills will add to your reputation, your credibility, and ultimately, your bottom line. Learn to deliver clear, concise messages backed up with real-life examples and you’ll be perceived as more knowledgeable about the services and products that you represent.

The more effective that your communication skills are,the better you’re able to connect with twenty-first century audiences and in a language that they understand – a language that not only says that “you know”,but also that “you care”.

 

Connect through integrated communication skills. 

Whether you promote, sell, or train the successful outcome of your presentations depends largely on the effectiveness of the three essential channels of communication; verbal, visual and emotional.  Your audiences’ decision to adopt new ideas, proposals,and change are generally emotional in nature.  All verbal and visual elements have to mesh and move in step in order to allow their emotional channels to open up and to remain open.

Openness permits you to connect with your audience. When the audience senses your honesty and conviction they are much more apt to buy into your point of view and accept your value proposition.

 

Compelling narratives have a clear structure.

Your communication skills must include a clearly audible verbal element that’s animated and interesting to listen to. Clearly define your objective and your main message, and then structure your support material in a way that’s easy to follow, as well as easy to deliver.

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Hold your audience spellbound by preparing narratives that fluctuate with dramatic and timely contrasts. Anchor all of your key points with metaphors that are familiar to your audience. Create a narrative that pertains to your audience and they will see your presentation as fresh, pleasurable journey that leads them towards their desired outcome.

 

Visual aids reinforce your message.

Effective communication skills include the ability to select appropriate visual aids. Use visual aids that clarify complex ideas. Do not compete verbally with bullet point-filled slides. Your audience will either read your slides or listen to you but they will never do both. Instead, show them simple images that are quickly processed and designed to create a minimum of distraction.

Keep your audiences focused on what you have to say with timely delivered, visually appealing, and consistently designed images. Develop themes and colours that are consistent with your desired mood so as to prepare your audience emotionally for the message being delivered and to encourage them to stretch their imaginations at appropriate moments.

 

Communication skills is about connecting emotionally. 

Audiences connect to both presenters and other audience members in exactly the same way: emotionally. A skilled delivery guides your audience through a smooth,seamless journey from where they are to the point of decision and then, hopefully, to the point of taking action.

By combining clear story lines, visually appealing images, and heartfelt emotions you will create powerful messages that leave your audience wanting to hear more.  By developing verbal, visual and emotional communication skills you not only prevent misunderstandings but you also go a long way towards achieving greater customer satisfaction, profitability, and forward momentum in your own journey.

 

Cheers, Carlos

Perfect Presentations – Just a Weekend Away

In only two days they transformed slideshows into perfect presentations

As a trainer who is rarely up before the sun this night owl beat the alarm setting by two minutes, waking on a cold Sunday at 6:13 a.m., happy that his beloved wife did not stir. The second day of the Sliding.ca Perfect Presentations Boot Camp lay ahead. Was it going to go as well as the first day?

Possibly the greatest reward for any trainer is to be part of another human being’s self discovery journey; getting to share in the experience of their joy upon reaching a new plateau of knowledge and skill, understanding the battles that laid ahead and having prepared them for the win as each one came along.

As trainers our goal is to teach people how to deliver perfect presentations but we are always mindful that we are but a lamppost along the way of their journey of self-discovery.

Perfect Presentations Boot CampThe first day had been kept to a fairly tight schedule, and even so, the controlled discussions were full of questions and tips so that time just seemed to fly past. Beginning with the SLIDING® process to formulate and develop the key purpose and main message of perfect presentations it was obvious that our participants were eager to learn.

When Gerardo introduced the SLIDING phase of Perfect Presentations our participants (experienced presenters) immediately voiced that this stage of development was they ignored most often.  For them this was also the most difficult part of preparing a presentation.  But this also cost them countless hours in decision making in terms of what to present and what to discard.

One comment I overheard, less than two hours into the Boot Camp was “I’ve already got my money’s worth for this weekend.”

By 5:30 pm we had covered both SLIDING® and Design. We’d had a full day and everyone went home ready for a break and an opportunity to reflect on the day’s events. With so much information to process I had no doubt that perfect presentations would become the subject of everyone’s dreams.

What lay ahead on day two of our Perfect Presentations Boot Camp was Presenting Data and Special Delivery. With so much material to cover by day’s end we hit the road running and got right to work.
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The proof was in the pudding. Two of our participants were newbies to our methods, having never attended any of our workshops. Upon comparing the difference in their performance between before and after their assigned short presentations I was even more thoroughly convinced that our training works wonders.

Oh yes, there were also the beaming smiles of confidence when they stood to address their audience as they applied their new, simple techniques.

“Wow!” I thought, with a little more practice, perfect presentations won’t be far off.

Watching so many succeed at once can be very inspiring, indeed.

Inspired and energized by the weekend’s events I went straight home and drafted an outline and almost completed the slide deck for my own perfect presentation, that same evening.  Can’t wait to present it!

Cheers, Carlos.

(Originally posted on February 1, 2013)