What makes a good presentation great? A great presentation connects with your audience, holds their attention, and has the power to delight, inspire, persuade, or inform. Exceptional speakers know how important it is to start every presentation with a compelling opening; this sets the tone for your presentation and provides momentum for everything that follows. It is incredibly difficult to recover your audience if they are checking their email or Facebook feed five minutes into your speech. To keep your audience engaged, you will want to pay close attention to these four aspects of your presentation, from the moment you begin to develop your talk.
1. Is your presentation well structured and organized in a way that you can remember it, and so can everybody else? Polished, but natural is the rule here. Rehearse so that you can deliver your presentation with the confidence of a musician who’s practiced a piece countless times – with a vitality based in proficiency. Remember that it is not worth writing and rehearsing “the perfect speech” if it does not sound like you. Authenticity wins every time.
2. Are you sloppy with your language or do you wield razor-sharp specificity? You probably know the rules here, even if the last English class you took was in high school – employ active verbs rather than passive ones, and vivid and emotive descriptions rather than clichés. Avoid “loose language” such as empty filler words and slang words. Keep your grammar tight if you want to sound intelligent.
3. Do your stories come alive? Are they populated with flesh-and-blood characters that your audience can relate to? The importance of this strategy cannot be underestimated, which is why I emphasize this point so frequently. “Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling” and “Do You Tell Your Own Stories? Why and How to Create Original Stories” are just two articles on my website Fripp.com to help you with your storytelling.
4. Do you cultivate a connection with your audience by employing you-focused language? You must focus on your listeners. What are their needs, challenges, and concerns? Within that context, the “I” quickly fades into the background. Darren LaCroix, my co-presenter in the The Create & Deliver Powerful Presentations Seminar and Get Coached to Speak Champ Camps, shares this article on Fripp.com to help you create and deliver “you-focused” presentations: “Do You Alienate Your Audience? Make a ‘You’ Turn.”
Incorporate these four strategies into your presentations, and you will be on your way to making the transition from good to great.
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Executive Speech Coach and Hall of Fame Keynote Speaker Patricia Fripp is hired by individuals and companies who realize that powerful, persuasive presentation skills give them a competitive edge.
