Imagine yourself in this situation. You have to
impress your boss, co-workers and clients in a marketing presentation scheduled
for tomorrow morning. You have less than 24 hours in hand to do what you must.
Now the main question is how you do it. It
doesn't matter that you are an introvert and extrovert; you can learn marketing
presentation skills in less than 24 hours. You will come across as a
professional and no one will ever know that you had to struggle with these
four-steps.
1) Set Your Audience's Expectations.
In communication, 85% is non-verbal. This means
that your body language that is the way you look, you stand, you move and the
gestures you make each send out strong messages. You would like to keep an open
shoulder posture to welcome your audience. Set goals and expectations for your
audience. Remind them of the benefits they will receive from your presentation.
It's like I am going to show you where the water is and a bottle of water looks
like this when you are thirsty. When they expect more and you deliver less, you
have a disappointed audience. When they expect less and you deliver more, you
have an ecstatic audience.
2) Time Your Presentation.
Create your presentation depending on the time
allotted to you. If you have 30 minutes, you can only highlight the key points.
If you have 90 minutes, you can take your audience on a journey, from the
beginning to the end with reasoning, ups and downs as well as past to present.
Time is precious these days. When your audience takes time out of their
schedule to hear what have to say, you better have something important or
serious to say. Always leave time for questions and answers. Because you don't
want them to interrupt when you are presenting, you want them to pay attention
to what you say. Start on time. Try to end on time. Show that you respect the
other's time.
3) Organize Your Presentation Visually.
Do your best to organize your presentation
materials visually. Include a map, a flowchart, a diagram, an infographic, a
few graphs and a few tables. Use them to show patterns, trends and key points.
Make these visual materials easy to read with a bold font, by highlighting or
using arrows and colors. Organize your ideas, information and graphics
logically along a common thread. Keep your audience engaged.
4) Speak Slowly and Clearly.
When you speak slowly, you speak clearly. Your audience can understand you much more than when you mumble or rush through what you are saying. Read your presentation aloud a few times to rehearse the lines. Have body gestures to showcase what you mean. Pointing up means "up", pointing down means "down or drop" while pointing to them means speaking to "you". Choose simple words instead of long and complicated words.
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