Top Three Goals for your Presentation- Paul M Johnstone

Public speaking, presentation skills and presenting with PowerPoint techniques are easy to master and just as easy to get wrong.  Let me know your views on these three easy steps to presenting with PowerPoint. 

True or false

Your PowerPoint presentations are always:-

• Compelling
• Illuminating
• Informative
• Clear, to the point and accepted.

Answer is usually FALSE

Making PowerPoint presentations that are clear, compelling, memorable and even enjoyable is not an art.  Presenting with PowerPoint is a science, and if you follow my top three goals you should get it right every time.  Your presentations will then be clear, enjoyable and memorable.  No more death by PowerPoint or people snoozing through your presentations.  These three goals work because they are based on the way we as humans absorb information, then use it.

First of all you must connect with your audience.   Top error for so many presenters, as they think just because they’re presenting every one else has to listen.   Well people especially business people need to be engaged, then they’ll listen. 

Secondly, your presentations need to be directed at the audience and hold their attention.  I once sat through a presentation on sources of finance, where a lady next to me wrote her ‘To Do’ list during it.  The presenter failed to connect with that lady and the rest of the audience judging by their body language.

Finally you should promote understanding and memory. Now this can be tricky for many business presenters, simply because they expect the audience to take on board everything they tell them.  Both of us know that is not correct.  A piece of jargon entering the vocabulary is edutainment.  This is where an educational message is wrapped up in an entertaining way.

By simply understanding just how people take on information, your presentations will change for the better.  Better for your audience, after all it’s the audience we are presenting for.  Better for your message clarity, it will be easier for the audience to understand it. Better for long term retention, your audience will retain information longer.

You may have guessed by now that these three principals shift the emphasis away from you the presenter, to the important people, the audience.   As a presenter you should be the medium not the message.  Entertainers are different as they are building their brand.  You want to get your message across in a way that is clear, simple and to the point. 

Keep checking back for more detailed insight into these three goals in the coming week.

Comments and feedback pleas! Feel free to comment on this or any of my earlier Blogs. You guys keep me on track and help me improve.

About the Author

Paul M Johnstone is a Professional Communicator, Speaker, Executive Coach and PowerPoint Guru!  He works with companies, organisations and individuals, helping them improve their communication skills.  Paul helps people want to speak and present more effectively, to improve their personal and professional success. He can be reached at +44 (0)7711 324362or through his website at http://www.pmjohnstone.co.uk/

©Paul M Johnstone

The eye’s have it- Or do they? Paul M Johnstone

At a police and local authority seminar recently, where the topic was police and business crime.  The local MP decided it would be a right and proper place to promote the direct election of police commissioners.  This got him a less than warm welcome from the audience.

What made it worse for him was the way he used his eyes when speaking to us.  At no time when he was selling his idea did he look any of the audience in the eye.  He looked at their faces, out of the window (a lot) and looked for inspiration on the floor.  But not once did he look anyone in the eye.

In a western society we associate looking someone in the eye with truth, veracity, honesty.  When you don’t look your audience in their eyes you loose so much as a presenter or speaker.  You have to work so much harder to win the audience over a second time. It’s best if you don’t fall into that trap to start with.  There are some great techniques to insure you achieve this first time round.

Firstly one I call ‘Lock Jaw’.  Lock Jaw is where you lock your jaw unless you are making eye contact with a member of your audience.  A simple thing to do once you have practiced it – you become good an you will see people actively reacting to your connection.

Second: Your body language tells the audience a lot about you.  The politician I mentioned earlier folded his arms every time he was about to use the phrase ‘elected police commissioner’.  This was almost always followed by time spent looking at the floor or out of the window.

Third: When you find yourself in-front of an audience you don’t know, smile.  This simple, natural act of smiling breaks barriers, and helps people who don’t know each other connect.  Look as humans we are friendly towards each other. A smile is a great way to introduce yourself to people who don’t know you.

Follow these three steps every time you present and you will not end up like the MP who looked and sounded false. 

If you’d like to improve your public speaking and presentation skills – get in touch! Feel free to comment if this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question Paul will try to help!

Comments and feedback pleas! Feel free to comment on this or any of my earlier Blogs. You guys keep me on track and help me improve.

About the Author

Paul M Johnstone is a Professional Communicator, Speaker, Executive Coach and PowerPoint Guru!  He works with companies, organisations and individuals, helping them improve their communication skills.  Paul helps people want to speak and present more effectively, to improve their personal and professional success. He can be reached at +44 (0)7711 324362or through his website at http://www.pmjohnstone.co.uk/

©Paul M Johnstone