A set of five short videos, each accompanied by an exercise, that breaks down impactful presentation skills into their most fundamental components
​
Just work your way through all five and learn "what" it takes to speak with impact.
​
1. Impactful Structure
A speaker, any speaker, should provoke thought at the outset and throughout their presentation
Then why do so many fail?
It's not for lack of content … or their knowledge, it's generally because of the way they structured their content.
Well intended … knowledgeable presenters lose their audience when they open their presentation with an agenda, background information to set the stage, then follow up with reams of research, an introduction of the team … and so on.
Well intended … yes … impactful … no!
Watch this video to get a good sense of how a well structured presentation can be impactful beginning, middle and end.
EXERCISE: Now, give it a quick try yourself. Take any presentation you’ve delivered recently, or one you’re preparing to deliver and structure it with the Pyramid in mind. Notice the difference?
2. Compelling Delivery
Our relaxed conversational style is our best speaking style. Why? Because we do it everyday. If we weren’t good at it, we probably wouldn’t have many friends who would want to hang out with us or colleagues who would want to work with us. I’m sure you have lots of both.
Then… why is it when we present in front of an audience, we seem to think we’ve got to be somebody we’re not, perfect… speak in complete sentences… to commas and periods. Isn’t that what the audience wants? The answer is… NO!
They want the real you, and even if they’re seeing you for the first time, in front of the room, they know if you’re being authentic or not.
When your adrenaline is pumping, while you’re presenting, how do you remain authentic?
Watch this video to get a good sense of how President Obama does it.
EXERCISE: Now, give it a quick try yourself. Take the first few minutes of a presentation, deliver it as if you were President Obama. It’s not that difficult is it?
3. Masterful Notes
You’re presenting your material. You know it… inside and out. Then why is it so difficult to stay on message? Have you ever delivered a presentation, sat down… only to realize you forgot to mention something that was really important?
Or you’re in the middle of a presentation, you’ve delivered the second in a series of three important points, but you can’t remember the third, and you start to ramble?
Watch this video to see how easy it is to stay on message when you’ve got the right tools.
EXERCISE: Take the presentation you’ve used in the first two lessons of this series and using the guidelines, craft them into Masterful notes. It’s not quite as easy as it looks, but it’s well worth the effort.
4. Commanding Eye Contact
Masterful Notes are great you say, but how can I maintain strong eye contact with my audience when I’m using notes? I’m glad you asked.
Watch this video to see how maintain 80 to 90% eye contact with your audience while using Masterful notes.
EXERCISE: Now, take the Masterful notes you crafted in yesterday’s session and practice the delivery technique you learned in today’s lesson.
Even better, videotape yourself so you can get a good look at it later. It’s a skill that takes a little getting used to but persevere and you’ll soon find your rhythm.
5. Being Remarkable
Are great speakers perfect? In a word… NO! Great speakers aren’t perfect. Instead, they’re remarkable. Their audience remembers them and what they said for weeks, months even years. We’re all moved to action by remarkable speakers.
Within this Pro Tips series, you have the foundation to becoming a remarkable speaker, no matter what the event, no matter who the audience.
-
Impactful Structure
-
Compelling Delivery
-
Masterful Notes
-
Commanding Eye Contact
I hope you found this short series enjoyable and worthwhile. If you want to share any thoughts, please give me a shout.
If you’re looking for more help, please email me at bkuntz@black-isle.com or call me at 1.647.220.1702