Some Secrets of Effective Presentations

If you stay focused on your message during your presentations (and while you are preparing for them) you will definitely succeed, but only if you remember that the message comes from you.

Today, we often tend to rely too much on mass media techniques and the use of audiovisuals to reach an audience. At the same time, we neglect some very important intangibles that can spell the difference between success and failure, forgetting that the listeners' attitudes, beliefs and feelings will be reached mainly through trust in the speaker. With this in mind, those involved in business training should ask themselves if they have started taking their ability to "get a message across" for granted and failed to give it the attention and preparation it deserves.

Interacting with the Group
People often have difficulty in grasping new ideas because they need to learn what to extract from them. This tells us that we should always be ready to clarify and elaborate on what we have said, if necessary, and give the question-and-answer period at the end of the session the importance it deserves. Most misun­derstandings arise over confusion about the meaning of a particular term, and key definitions should always be provided to the group.

During the session, a presenter should always look for something worthwhile in the ideas of the participants as they interact, listing any reservations they may have about what was said and pointing out areas of mutual agreement that were uncovered. This allows their acceptance of the message he hopes covey to develop freely and naturally.

Realizing that our gestures and mannerisms form the alphabet of "body language," we normally control our facial expressions and posture, and give attention to our personal grooming as well. While there is a some danger that we may tend to act artificially at times because of this awareness, we can make an effort to be at our best for a presentation and still be totally sincere.