Top presentation tip - use an interesting image in your first slide, and let discussion (or even the objectives of the presentation) come from it! Watch this video to learn more...
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Present Like a Pro
Jump right in to your presentation content! Normally that means cutting out your first 10%. Watch this video to learn more!
A TOP presentation tip: Dessert first! Satisfy what your audience wants early on in your presentation. Watch this video to learn more…
A TOP TIP for your next presentation to ensure the audience isn’t just looking at your powerpoint, they are actually listening to your wisdom.
Ask yourself “IS IT NECESSARY?” when designing your next presentation. Watch this video to learn more about this top presentation tip and let me know what you think!
Next time you're watching a presentation, think what YOU are like as an audience member. Don't only evaluate the speaker, evaluate your level of engagement, the energy you are giving them. It's a two way show and you will get out of it what you put in! Watch this video to learn more.
Watch this video to learn how to get your audience engaged, before you even start speaking!
Did you know? I am qualified as a CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) recognising speaking excellence – an honor which less than 600 people in the world hold! If you need:
💬 a presenter who the audience can connect with quickly in order to engage them with the topic, the theme, and the reason for being together
💬 a presentation that is informative, interactive and will leave a lasting impression
💬 the audience to come away with skills, concepts, and action items that can be used immediately
...let’s have a virtual coffee to discuss how I can support you. I can't wait to chat: kevin@kevinoc.com
Here are my top tips for when you find yourself in an interview style presentation, for example on a podcast. Don't be part of the group On and On Anon! Watch to learn more.
Give people your take on the information in your presentations. Remember, YOU are the expert and YOUR TAKE is what people really want to hear. Watch this video to learn more.
Next time you invite someone to update your team, interview them instead of asking them to come with a presentation. They will like it better (no formal prep) and you and your team will be able to ask questions that get to the heart of what is needed. This works great with quality and safety data, financial information, construction updates, and finding the mood of some of the staff.
A recommendation: get rid of the tables and bring the chairs up close to you and the one you are interviewing. This creates a sense of community and intimacy and helps support the one being interviewed…distance of any sort (as well as tables!) creates spectators instead of participators. Try it. Take the risk a few times and see what happens.
Give people your take on the information in your presentations. Remember, YOU are the expert and YOUR TAKE is what people really want to hear. Watch this video to learn more.
Do you live and work on a vertical level with those ‘above’ and others ‘below’? Some marriages are like that. Some corporate teams operate like that too.
The one on ‘top’ as somehow superior to the others. Some even relish this superiority. Those ‘below’ understand that this set up is meant for obedience and conformity, to be careful, stay in line, don’t rock the boat.
Other teams operate on a horizontal level: with each person being respected as ‘social equals’ who are contributing to the whole. Not all are the ‘same’ but all are contributing with cooperation and respect.
How is it where you live? Where you work? In your country? In your family of origin?
What I find interesting about the vertical set up is that the real power belongs to those below: if they move, guess who falls?!
Think about the words you add unnecessarily into your vocabulary. In this video I talk about how ‘HI GUYS’ didn’t go down very well. Be aware of words you’re using that may rub your audience up the wrong way and try something else instead…for example, simply using the person’s name.
BE CAREFUL with humour in presentations…especially with sarcasm. Humor is instantly not funny when it hurts someone or embarrasses them. The best humor actually comes from the audience themselves. Learn more in this video!
When preparing your presentation, think about what information the AUDIENCE NEEDS and how they are going to use it. It shouldn’t just be what you want to say. Make sure you truly understand the essence of your presentation and can deliver it less than 3 minutes. Then hey presto... you have a powerful opening or closing!
Do you use powerpoint? Remember it will look different on the big screen to how it looks on your computer screen. Organize the visualization of yours slides for those who are visually impaired, and ensure it’s simple enough that you can capture it for these people. Also consider people who are hearing impaired - always use a microphone. It makes you stronger and ensures you are the centre of attention, which is why they invited you there – you’re the expert! Watch this video to learn more...
Take 3 MINUTES to learn the rule of 3 and your next presentation will be THE BEST YET! It focuses your answer, helps you to understand exactly what you’re going to say and most importantly makes the audience remember what you said. And not only does it work for presentations, you can use it for wedding toasts, speaking to a stranger in an elevator, talking to your kids…
Watch this video and give it a try. Let me know what you think.
How much jargon has slipped into your day to day work and even your presentations? ADR, JAHCO, NQF, PAYOR MIX, HIPAA, RAPPS, TIPS, CHIRP, MOB, HOPD...
Great presenters simplify and illuminate as not everyone in the audience knows what all those letters are! So, consider this: spell it out, say the words, explain in lay terms what the term is and what it means. What is its importance for this presentation? For THIS presentation!
In most cases, the audience doesn't know the most important part of your presentation which is ‘your take’ on the topic, the data, the 'thing' that they came to hear about. They all have a number of boxes in their heads and your content (or jargon!) is ready to go into one of those boxes with a self-assured “Oh, I know what that means!” Make sure that your take on things has no prepared box. Be different enough so they have to roam from box to box and they cannot dismiss what you say with “Oh I know that!” Instead they have to respond with “Uh, I never heard it presented that way before!”
STOP reading from your slides when presenting! If you do, the audience will wish they could get that hour of their lives back again. Simplify your slide deck using the archive technique described in this video, then TEACH the slides, don’t read the slides!
Here’s an idea to take your presentations to the next level. I call it, ‘The Larry King’! Try interviewing a person of prominence in the audience. Their ‘prominence’ is simply because they are the one being interviewed, not that they are a bigwig! Spend 15 minutes asking unrehearsed questions about their career, then let the audience get involved and ask their burning questions too! The answers are always fascinating (especially if you ask what they wanted to be when they were a little kid!) Meanwhile there is actually something else, something powerful, going on in the minds of the audience as well. Watch the video to find out what! Give it go…what’s the worst that could happen!