Designing a presentation starts with the creative process, which can be messy. PowerPoint is tidy, but should only come in later when preparing a presentation. I love PowerPoint. Maybe you do too? Remember, however, that PowerPoint is a visual aid.
Read More...How to Get Started in The Speaking Business
If you haven’t heard the story of how I launched my speaking career, here’s a snapshot. Read below or enjoy this brief video, recorded at one of my events for speakers, coaches, consultants, and trainers:
Read More...Do Your Presentations Bore The Boardroom?
Learn the Right Way to Prepare a Presentation
When you open your mouth at every stage of your career, you sell yourself, your ideas, your value, and your ability. Fortunately, even if you’re not a born communicator, the ability to deliver a powerful presentation can be learned. I share this story about one intelligent and ambitious MBA:
Mary might have been the smartest in her class, but public speaking wasn’t part of her MBA program. Even with extensive planning and preparation, she made some prevalent mistakes. These mistakes bored them and ultimately lost her audience. When you learn the right way to prepare a presentation, you will save yourself time. You will deliver your presentation knowing that your words will not bore your audience but will hold their attention and get your message heard.
When you improve your public speaking and presentation skills, you increase your confidence and gain a valuable tool in furthering your career goals. If you avoid public speaking at the high cost of your success, why not get the training you need to speak confidently in public?
Can You Relate to Mary the MBA?
If you need help, let’s talk.
“Patricia Fripp is a genius speech coach. Even for seasoned professional speakers.” Tracy Hooper, President, The Confidence Project
“As a seasoned speaker coached by Patricia Fripp has helped me deliver my game-changing message with more power and eloquence. My client testimonials and feedback prove it.” Ron Karr, CSP, Past President, National Speakers Association
“Your coaching, along with FrippVT, helped us land one of our biggest sales ever.” Mike Stryczek, President & CEO, AB&R
“As a speech coach, Patricia Fripp is a miracle worker.” Larraine Segil, Chairman and CEO, Exceptional Women Awardees Foundation.
“I would have paid $3000 for a year of FrippVT.” Mitzi Perdue, Professional Speaker and Author.
Read More...How to Ensure That Your Audience Is Interested
Q: What is the secret of delivering a good presentation?
A: The audience is interested.
Q: How do I know that they will be?
A: If it is interesting, entertaining, and your audience can see themselves in your presentations… your audience will be interested.
Therefore, ask yourself these three questions:
- Who is my audience?
- What is their interest in my subject?
- If they embrace my subject what is the result to them?
In other words, we are often “selling” the result of what we are addressing in our presentation, not the presentation itself. I share more on capturing your audience’s interest in this brief video:
Read More...Want to Know the Secret to Sell Yourself and Your Ideas to Senior Management?
As a Presentation Skills Expert, I’m often asked, “Patricia, how do I report to my senior management without being nervous?” The secret is to be prepared, clear, concise, and to act confident. Now, how do you appear confident when you’re nervous?
First, prepare. Script out exactly what you are going to say, at least the opening of your presentation or conversation. It could be as simple as, “Thank you for the opportunity to update you on our project”, or “The purpose of our meeting is to . . . ” or “As you will remember, at our last meeting, you challenged us to . . .”
Read More...What Do You Really Mean? Specificity Is The Key to Credibility
What Do You Really Mean?
Every day in my role as an executive speech coach and the creator of FrippVT, I always say, “Specificity builds credibility.”
I listen to intelligent engineers, experienced leaders, and true experts in every field and find that too many are sloppy speakers. If you want to build your credibility, listen to what you say.
Here is a simple solution. You need to recognize both your strengths and areas to improve.
You Will Not Improve What You Are Not Aware Of
Record casual conversations and your side of a phone call or when you are leading a meeting. If you are like most of my clients and you will find out how often you use sloppy and not specific language.
Even my most intelligent clients fall into the trap of using the word stuff.
Stuff is rubbish. What do you really mean? At Thanksgiving and Christmas, I will give you a break if you are talking about the turkey.
Of course, in everyday conversation we don’t normally prepare what we’re going to say – so, it can feel natural to be non-specific. However, I guarantee that your important conversations and presentations will be much better if you examine your current speaking habits and then consciously build specificity into your everyday language.
Read More...How to Save Time Preparing Your Presentation
Are You Spending Too Much Time Preparing Your Presentation?
Have you thought, “Wish I could create a great presentation without spending hours on it!”?
Let me show you how to save time when preparing your presentation. Why not speed up your preparation process by learning from someone else’s 30-plus years of experience? After delivering 3,247 presentations in-person and online, coaching hundreds of executives, sales teams, engineers, and high-priced professional speakers, I can guide you through the steps to creating and delivering successful presentations. Not only will you master the basics of the creative process, speech structure, and opening with impact, but you will also develop greater confidence.
Don’t start by immediately jumping into PowerPoint to create your slides.
Read More...How to Make Your Audience Interested in Your Presentation
When you start to put together a presentation, what do you think about? You probably wonder how to make your presentation interesting to your audience.
I recommend that you begin by knowing your audience and understanding not only what they need, but also what they want. They need to have “buy-in” for your topic. This means you will help your audience see why your topic is relevant to them, how it benefits them, or how it can enhance their lives. I share more on capturing your audience’s interest in this brief video:
Let me help you deliver your presentation with knowledge and confidence.
Read More...Why Is Rehearsing Your Presentation So Important?
Bruce Springsteen, Céline Dion, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Winton Marsalis, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Kristin Chenoweth… imagine how any one of these top performers would respond if you asked, “What role has rehearsal played in your career?” Without a doubt, rehearsal is essential to success.
You’ve crafted an amazing presentation. You know that it will grab your audience’s attention and keep it. You’ve incorporated techniques and strategies from trusted advisers, but you’re busy. You feel like you don’t have an extra minute in your day to practice your delivery, so why bother?
Rehearsal is critical to the success of your presentation. I explain why rehearsal is essential and how to work it into your whirlwind life in this brief video. Enjoy!
Read More...What Is The Biggest Mistake Sales Professionals Make?
“Patricia, what is the biggest mistake sales professionals make?” I was recently asked this in an interview. My answer?
Not rehearsing.
I expected to hear, “We lock the presentation team in the board room for a week. We go over our parts, video, and review. Then we bring in at least five different audiences of team members to listen and give their feedback.”
This is what he actually said, “We are lucky if we do a run-though in the back of Sylvia’s car before we walk in.”
Read More...
