presentation-objective-structure-smartalkers-speaking-coach-florida

 

 

A survey on public speaking was conducted by Brownlee & Associates that involved over 3,000 respondents with positions from President, Managing Director, Senior Directors, Employees in Sales, Marketing, R&D, Quality Control, I.T, Doctors, Scientists, and Lawyers. 

The objective was to identify the main causes as to why audience members disconnect and stop paying attention during presentations. 

During a series of weekly blogs, I will highlight a few of the specific areas of disconnect surveyed and offer practical coaching suggestions to help you keep your audience connected. Many of the suggestions provided will come from my book Loud and Clear: How to Prepare and Deliver Effective Business and Technical Presentations.

The results have been divided into two sections; The design of the presentation and the delivery of the presentation. The higher the percentage the more the survey participants felt they would disconnect. Percentages ranged from 72%-99%.

The results of this survey make it clear that when the audience is bothered by areas in the design of the presentation that were done or not done or certain delivery behaviors of the presenter exhibited during the presentation were not executed well, the result will be a disconnection between the audience and the presenter and their presentation which will affect the quality of the communication, the degree of impact and memorability of the activity as well as the achievement of the objectives of the presenter.

 

Topics covered in the previous post: How to make your presentation more interesting and visuals easy to read.

 

DESIGN: Survey results indicated 94% agreed they would disconnect if…The objective of the presentation is unknown or has not been explained to the audience.

My coaching suggestion: After your opening statement which needs to capture your audience’s attention, provide a summary of your presentation to let the audience know what to expect.

 

DESIGN: Survey results indicated 99% agreed they would disconnect if…The presentation clearly does not have a structure.

My coaching suggestion: In most cases, your opening statement should include a roadmap as to the journey you will be taking your audience on. Whether a formal or informal presentation; a keynote or training presentation, your audience will always feel more comfortable knowing what to expect. The key to ensuring your audience doesn’t disconnect from you is to stick to your roadmap. If you need to take a detour, let your audience know and adjust your timing. If you’d like to see an easy way to develop your timing, click here for my blog post #1.

 

For more information on this and other topics on effective public speaking, please contact me at wendy@smartalkers.com or through my website: www.smartalkers.com

Connect with or follow me via LinkedIn, or like my Facebook page.

 

 

supporting-examples-visual-aids-smartalkers-speaking-coach-florida

 

 

A survey on public speaking was conducted by Brownlee & Associates that involved over 3,000 respondents with positions from President, Managing Director, Senior Directors, Employees in Sales, Marketing, R&D, Quality Control, I.T, Doctors, Scientists, and Lawyers. 

The objective was to identify the main causes as to why audience members disconnect and stop paying attention during presentations. 

During a series of weekly blogs, I will highlight a few of the specific areas of disconnect surveyed and offer practical coaching suggestions to help you keep your audience connected. Many of the suggestions provided will come from my book Loud and Clear: How to Prepare and Deliver Effective Business and Technical Presentations.

The results have been divided into two sections; The design of the presentation and the delivery of the presentation. 

The higher the percentage the more the survey participants felt they would disconnect. Percentages ranged from 72%-99%.

The results of this survey make it clear that when the audience is bothered by areas in the design of the presentation that were done or not done or certain delivery behaviors of the presenter exhibited during the presentation were not executed well, the result will be a disconnection between the audience and the presenter and their presentation which will affect the quality of the communication, the degree of impact and memorability of the activity as well as the achievement of the objectives of the presenter.

 

Topic covered in the previous post: How to make sure your presentation isn’t too complicated or technical for your audience.

 

DESIGN: Survey results indicated 85% agreed they would disconnect if…The presenter does not have examples that the audience can relate to.

My coaching suggestion: For every main idea (what’s taught) there must be supporting information or examples (what’s caught). When the main idea is presented and the presenter follows it with phrases like; for example, when you say, “Let me show you”, “Here are statistics to prove this.” the audience will perk up and pay attention. This brings life to your presentation. Otherwise, it becomes nothing but a data dump! Using the Audience Analysis Audit (AAA) found in my book will also keep you on track as to what examples to use based on your research of your audience. To read more about Audience Analysis Audit, click here for the link to blog post #2 of this series.

 

DESIGN: Survey results indicated 91% agreed they would disconnect if…Visual aids are hard to read.

My coaching suggestion:  As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. When possible, use a visual image on your slide instead of words to get your point across. In the event that only words must be used on your visual aid, like PowerPoint, consider my six-pack rule. No more than six words per line and no more than six lines per slide. Make sure your font size will be readable from the back of the room.

 

For more information on this and other topics on effective public speaking, please contact me at wendy@smartalkers.com or through my website: www.smartalkers.com

Connect with or follow me via LinkedIn, or like my Facebook page.

 

 

too-technical-smartalkers-speaking-coach-florida

 

 

A survey on public speaking was conducted by Brownlee & Associates that involved over 3,000 respondents with positions from President, Managing Director, Senior Directors, Employees in Sales, Marketing, R&D, Quality Control, I.T, Doctors, Scientists, and Lawyers. 

The objective was to identify the main causes as to why audience members disconnect and stop paying attention during presentations. 

During a series of weekly blogs, I will highlight a few of the specific areas of disconnect surveyed and offer practical coaching suggestions to help you keep your audience connected. Many of the suggestions provided will come from my book Loud and Clear: How to Prepare and Deliver Effective Business and Technical Presentations.

The results have been divided into two sections; The design of the presentation and the delivery of the presentation. 

The higher the percentage the more the survey participants felt they would disconnect. Percentages ranged from 72%-99%.

The results of this survey make it clear that when the audience is bothered by areas in the design of the presentation that were done or not done or certain delivery behaviors of the presenter exhibited during the presentation were not executed well, the result will be a disconnection between the audience and the presenter and their presentation which will affect the quality of the communication, the degree of impact and memorability of the activity as well as the achievement of the objectives of the presenter.

 

Topic covered in the previous post: How to make sure your presentation isn’t long and stays on time.

 

DESIGN: Survey results indicated that 85% agreed that they would disconnect if… The presentation is complicated with too much detailed information.

My coaching suggestion: Know your audience by conducting an Audience Analysis Audit (AAA). In my book Loud and Clear: How to Prepare and Deliver Effective Business and Technical Presentations we offer a simple audience analysis audit to guarantee your presentation language and delivery will be best suited to your audience.

For example, the following questions are asked in the Audience Analysis Audit (AAA): What is your audience’s level of understanding of the types of information you will be sharing? Technical, Generally Low, Nontechnical, Unknown, Generally high.

And another question: What is their knowledge of the subject? High, Moderate, Limited, None, Unknown. When possible, you will need to research information about your audience ahead of time to determine the answers to these questions in order to craft your presentation in a way that is understandable to your audience.

 

DESIGN: Survey results indicated 76% agreed they would disconnect if…The language used is technical or the presentation is too technical.

My coaching suggestion: Review your research on your Audience Analysis Audit (AAA) mentioned above and make sure the design of your presentation matches the knowledge and understanding of your audience.

 

For more information on this and other topics on effective public speaking, please contact me at: wendy@smartalkers.com or through my website: www.smartalkers.com

Connect with or follow me via LinkedIn or my Facebook page.

 

professional-coaching-tips-post1-smartalkers-speaking-coach-floridav2

 

 

A survey on public speaking was conducted by Brownlee & Associates that involved over 3,000 respondents with positions from President, Managing Director, Senior Directors, Employees in Sales, Marketing, R&D, Quality Control, I.T, Doctors, Scientists, and Lawyers. 

The objective was to identify the main causes as to why audience members disconnect and stop paying attention during presentations. 

During a series of weekly blogs, I will highlight a few of the specific areas of disconnect surveyed and offer practical coaching suggestions to help you keep your audience connected. Many of the suggestions provided will come from my book Loud and Clear: How to Prepare and Deliver Effective Business and Technical Presentations.

The results have been divided into two sections; The design of the presentation and the delivery of the presentation. 

The higher the percentage, the more the survey participants felt they would disconnect. Percentages ranged from 72%-99%.

The results of this survey make it clear that when the audience is bothered by areas in the design of the presentation that was done or was not done or certain delivery behaviors of the presenter exhibited during the presentation were not executed well, the result will be a disconnection between the audience and the presenter and their presentation which will affect the quality of the communication, the degree of impact and memorability of the activity as well as the achievement of the objectives of the presenter.

 

DESIGN: Survey results indicated that 72% agreed that they would disconnect if… The presentation is too long or the presenter does not finish in the time permitted.

My coaching suggestion: Audiences will feel a presentation is too long when the main ideas have been presented along with the supporting information and the presenter continues to ramble on. Think about how you feel when you know it’s time for the presenter to wrap up…and they don’t!  Here’s how to keep your audience from disconnecting from you.

Know your total presentation time. This will include your talking time, Q&A if applicable, and time for other factors such as needing to start late, spend more time in making a point, and other unplanned interruptions.

Remember your talking time does not include your Q&A. Time your rehearsal. You may need to edit when you take into consideration that live presentations will usually take longer than rehearsed presentations. 

In my book Loud and Clear: How to Prepare and Deliver Effective Business and Technical Presentations, an outline is provided that will keep you on track. Begin with the total time at the bottom of the outline and then begin to write in a schedule.

Here’s an example:

Say your presentation is 40 minutes and started at 1:00 pm.

Your outline would look like this:

1 pm Opening

1:05 Main Idea #1 with supporting information

1:15 Main Idea #2 with supporting information

1:25 Main Idea #3 with supporting information

1:35 Closing

1:40 Stop talking

Have a timer in your line of sight to keep tabs on your timing. This way during your live presentation, you’ll be able to easily tell whether you’re keeping to your time limit. If you find yourself falling behind schedule you will need to edit on the fly to stay within your time limit. 

So, the next time you’re in the audience and the presenter is still speaking when the ending time has come and gone, you’ll know how to make sure this will never happen to you.

 

#PresentationSkills  #VirtualPublicSpeaking #PublicSpeakingCoach

 

For more information on this and other topics on effective public speaking, please contact me at wendy@smartalkers.com or through my website: www.smartalkers.com.

Connect or follow me with me via LinkedIn or my Facebook page.