An Excellent Presentation Is A Presentation Worth Doing
I've been thinking quite a lot about the presentation lately. Training to present is something worth injected into the whole sales training program.
I've heard someone said the other day that, "Life is a series of presentation."
I think it was Tony Jeary who said it. Some people also noted that Tony, when he's presenting, somewhat resembles the late Zig Ziglar.
But the thing is, the kind of presentation that I need to make is quite distinct from the one I used to or the one I'm familiar with. The main distinction is the technical nature of each presentation.
Despite the technical nature of my presentation, I believe that the basic structure of a presentation is still intact...
...it still has a beginning, middle, and ending [click here for a winning presentation framework].
How Do I Usually Begin
Other suggestions that I have not tried out yet:
1) Start with a video clip
2) Start with an audio recording
3) Start with a drama/story
4) Start with a demo
5) Start with an animation/picture
6) Start with a combination of the above
For my most recent presentation, I started with a quick intro of who I was representing and introduced the objectives of my talk.
On the screen (actually a TV screen), the slide (official company template) showed the subject of my talk...
...no picture, nothing, just printed words.
(At this point, I just remembered to check into how to present with PowerPoint slide and I recalled reading someone said that, "A speech is not to inform. It's too short for that purpose. It's to inspire action.")
And I also remember that "success leaves a clue."
I was searching my memory database for one or more most memorable intro I did for various talks at multiple venues, but I seem not to find any that fit into the "impactful" category.
Everything comes back...average. Well, at least I know how the standard looks like. I can consciously decide to tweak the way I usually did my intro and make it "memorable."
That is easy to do...
I believe my challenge is in the material I was provided with. If I want to make any change to it, I have to get higher authority approval. That's good for the company because it can protect the company from making false allegations and get into legal action. That's not quite good for the presenter because it limits the presenter to what's available only.
But quietly, I customize the given slides if I feel I need to...
What's In The Middle?
Yeah. My kind of audience likes to see data. At least I thought most of them as data. I've never, actually, take the time to ask them about it. I just assume it. I believe my company understands it too.
When presenting the body of a presentation filled with pie charts, bar charts, and graphs, the performance can easily cross over to "data dump"...
...and sincerely, I hate data dump.
If I don't like it that much, I can guess that my prospects won't like it as much as I do either.
So, the data dump is not smart.
But the thing is, with all the data that material has, which data is considered relevant to prospect?
How to know this?
I mean, can I pause during my presentation and ask:
"Is this data relevant to your practice?"
Now, such a question sounds naive and honest, but it can also implicate that I did not do enough homework. The latter is often happen because, what I usually do when I was given a slot for a presentation, is to rehearse my material until I become familiar with it.
Clearly, this needs to be improved.
I need to devise a better presentation's preparation.
Rehearsing presentation materials is far from sufficient.
Let me take my latest presentation, for example...
The speaker I tried to follow, had a set of the logical and transparent framework that he worked with.
He introduced himself...he sets the objectives...he presents his facts, evidence, and supporting materials...he concluded concisely.
The material I was given, did not have all that.
There was no clear presentation flow, no indication for beginning, middle or end of the presentation, and most importantly, the objectives are missing!
There was no objective for the presentation...
But since I was following "best practice" for a presentation, I set my own objectives, and everything flows from there. I linked every piece of evidence back to my target.
And everything makes total sense...
"Structure," said De Bono, "is like a glass. You're not free to choose the form of the glass, but you're free to drink from any water source and enjoy your drink."
That's the essence of structure.
And that's the purpose of the body of a presentation: to support the main premise/objective set out in the opening.
One expert I read (probably on Forbes), said that there are a few basic structures you can follow based on the objective.
For example:
To inspire people to action, use the "problem-solution" structure. To state your stand, use the "residue" structure.
And so on...
The point is:
Use a different structure for a different objective.
Most of my presentations are about presenting facts and figures for prospects to consider before making their decision.
Well, actually, they suppose to sway their decision to favor ours and not the competitors.
Perhaps, the main objective is to win their favor, then to inspire them to act (no wonder I was having a tough time presenting. There's different objective and structure here).
The Best Way To Sum It Up
Bringing my presentation to a close is not as easy as it sounds. I often close with whatever written on the last slide. I know that someone told me, by the end of any presentation, tell them what you've told them...
...a pretty simple, straightforward rule to follow.
But I don't recall the number of a presentation I close that way.
Maybe I tried that for my latest presentation.
Yeah, I believe I tried...
Closing supposed to be the time, to sum up, what I've discussed up to that point.
But most slides for the presentation were not arranged that way.
They were just a series of data after data.
Phew!
Looks like I bite more than I can chew right now.
To keep my mouth from full and perhaps, to keep me from chocking, I need to rearrange how I present my slides and how I can stick to a structure.
I'm not going to write a conclusion for this article.
Not just yet.
Perhaps one day I conclude it when I've done learning how to deliver an excellent presentation.
Group Sells Presentation: Lessons From Yesterday's Presentation
I had a blast with yesterday's Group Sells Presentation, so much so that I've decided to record here its valuable lessons for future reference.
You know what they say, "Build upon strength."
Yesterday's group was practitioners in a private hospital setting.
Well, they're not actually a private hospital but a combination of General Practitioner (GP) chain clinics. The core specialty is actually maternity (O& G).
Yesterday's subject was managing diabetes with OHA - oral hypoglycaemic agents.
I assume that not all of them have the experience of using OHA to treat their patients because they mostly use insulin to treat GDM patients.
OK. I'll stop with this jargon and abbreviation here.
I'll try it.
My preparation for the talk begins a day before.
I remember listening to a speaker whom I admire before I went to review the slides. I always got pump up every time I watched the speaker presents. I believe his presentation is really brilliant!
So, I used that to kick me off.
It works every time...
I open the slides.
There were about 34 of them.
I went through them one by one, at a swift pace, to get the feeling of the whole presentation. I let that feeling rearrange how my performance will take off. Then I switched to doing something else.
I hooked up to the Net. I launched YouTube, and I searched for the subject I will be talking about.
Well, you can find almost everything on YouTube these days.
It's pretty amazing what people are willing to share on the World Wide Web. I got a few hundreds of video results. I click the first one that I feel most relevant.
The whole idea behind this is to "overwhelm" me with the data and concept on the subject.
Based on some behavioral scientist research, presented by Geoffrey Dudley in Double Your Learning Power, this method helps to boost learning. I confess that this method calms my nerve. I feel more confident with more materials that I review.
I finally come to a video presentation taken from a seminar on my subject.
It was done in India and the presenter, I gather, is an expert clinician and endocrinologist. She really has outstanding case studies and treatment concepts to share. I absorb all that I can within that limited period.
Then I went to bed (it was nearly 1.00AM when I view the video)...
When I finished my morning routine the very next day, I opened the slides presentation and ran through it once again.
This time, I bounce back and forth while making my round.
I just let my subconscious arrange how the presentation will unfold. I could feel the overall structure, but there's nothing concrete about it.
After that, when I feel like I've reviewed enough, I shut everything down and went to dress up for the occasion. I called my colleagues out, and we went for lunch.
My presentation took place after lunch.
When I arrive, I can see that everything was set up - from a projector to refreshment. I asked for the seminar room direction and headed there. I opened the door, and everything was as I expected.
The participants were arranged in a classroom style. It was a small, less than 10 people, group. I had enough space to move around, and the best thing was, I did not need a microphone to amplify my voice.
My natural voice was sufficient.
Participants started to come in 15 minutes after that.
They were handed a brochure, notepad, and pen. I waited for another 10 minutes before I start with the talk.
It was one of the best half-an-hour I've ever spend giving a talk.
The audience was super interactive, which by the way, one of the most critical ingredients in giving a talk.
You can gauge how much they buy into your message during the interaction.
So, interaction is essential...
I remain open with question and answer during the presentation.
Some presenters prefer to keep to the very end for Q& A. I let the audience determine how they want it. Yesterday's was one of those days the Q& A happened freely.
I enjoyed it. The audience enjoyed it. That's all that matters.
Take home message for my next presentation (and perhaps yours too):
1) Kick off with something that motivates your to talk, something that mentally prepared you for it.
2) Overwhelm yourself with the key concepts, data, and ideas for the subjects.
3) Always be interactive.
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