CHAPTER 16

PRESENTATION SKILLS:
EDUCATE, INSPIRE, AND ENTERTAIN

Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.

—NAPOLEON HILL

I know you have seen it happen, at a convention, at a conference, in an office meeting, or even on TV. You have seen people who can mesmerize others with their speaking and presentation skills. From the moment they start to the minute they finish, you are captivated, mesmerized, and in tune with their message. On the flip side, you have also been bored out of your mind and wanted to pull the fire alarm to get out of a meeting or presentation. It dragged on and on, you wanted to sleep, and the presentation sucked the life right out of you.

Charismatic people have excellent communication skills that captive, inspire, and rivet their audience. Whether on the phone, in face-to-face interactions, during group presentations, amid negotiations, and even when texting and emailing, they can articulate their message and make it come alive in your mind. They make you feel as though you’re watching a movie; they have created a mental picture so strong that it feels real. These kinds of presentation skills have been described as energetic, enthusiastic, and emotional. How would you describe your presentation skills?

Have you noticed the dramatic changes that have evolved in presentations, communication, and training over the last 20 years? The focus used to be on education. Many people today are still trying to educate, and they inevitably lose their audiences. The latest research, however, is all about how to grab and keep your audience’s attention. We know that people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. So we can no longer focus simply on educating; we must now entertain and influence. We must keep our audience’s attention. We must be charismatic.

Charismatic people are able to earn and maintain the attention of their audience. You don’t have to dance around or be a stand-up comedian. You do have to make sure your audience follows your message, that your words resonate with them, that they pay attention, and that they understand your message. The moment you lose their attention, you can no longer influence them, and they definitely can’t feel any charisma.

You could have a great product or cause, be a sharp dresser, publish a great brochure, or even have impressive credentials. The reality is, however, that the number-one persuasion tool is you, and a big part of how you present yourself and your charisma is your ability to communicate. Long gone are the days of hoping that people will listen, or of trying to make them listen, or of expecting that the topic will compensate for your weaknesses as a presenter. Nowadays, you have to get inside your audience’s minds, and you’ve got to get there fast. It can take only seconds before people’s minds start to wander and you lose them.

The thing about a charismatic presentation is that the audience is reeled in during the first 30 seconds—the critical time for any presentation. The audience decides whether they are going to listen or snooze. A weak introduction to your presentation is going to lose your audience right away. Learn how to start from the best presenters in the business, but make sure you adapt your presentation to your own style and energy. Be prepared to handle hecklers and those who will ask the tough questions. Learn to connect on a personal and emotional level. Make sure every member of that audience feels as though you are talking directly to him or her. Practice your presentation until it becomes part of you, instead running through a slick PowerPoint or a tired outline. Manage your fear, anxiety, or nervousness so that you can radiate charisma during your presentation.

BLIND SPOT

Being able to talk or create a PowerPoint does not mean you know how to communicate, inspire, and present. Most people feel that they have above-average communication skills and average presentation skills. That’s the blind spot. The reality is that they are lucky to have average communication skills and below-average presentation skills. Sure, you can give a presentation, and no one leaves the room or says anything negative. But did you really have charisma? Did they enjoy being there? Are they going to do what you want them to do? Were they just being polite while they were bored into rigor mortis? Did you influence them to your point of view? Did you influence them to do something? Charismatic people have mastered their presentation skills, yet they are constantly working on them. There is always something to fine-tune, to learn, and to improve.

APPLICATION

Do you know how your audience perceives you? Can you improve in some areas? Are you doing things that turn off or repel your audience? Take a look at this checklist to see whether you are making any of these common communication blunders:

Speaking in a monotone

Avoiding eye contact

Fidgeting and displaying other annoying mannerisms

Using vocal fillers (“uhm,” “uh,” “er’)

Lacking emotion or conviction

Sounding mechanical or rehearsed

Rushing through the presentation

Overloading the audience with too much information

Displaying nervousness or fear

EXAMPLE

No matter which side of the political aisle you sit on, Ronald Reagan will forever be known as The Great Communicator. He radiated passion and conviction, and he always stood for something. He could build a dream people would buy into. He could paint a picture that would get you excited for the future. His message was always simple and to the point. During his presentations, he would connect with most of the audience. During a speech, you would feel his emotion and his enthusiasm. Reagan had the ability to speak directly to one person in an audience of 10,000 and make everyone feel connected. When you watched him speak, it was like he was speaking directly to you.

CHARISMA KEY

Have you ever had a bad case of laliophobia—the fear of public speaking? As common as this problem is, there is hope in that most of our fears are not innate, but learned. This is good news because, if you can learn a fear, you can unlearn it. We normally feel a little nervousness before a presentation. Make sure you find some way to sooth your nerves. The best two ways to do that are to visualize your successful presentation and to be prepared. You may be tempted to win over the audience by revealing that you feel nervous or unprepared (apologizing in advance), but this technique usually backfires. The people in the audience don’t know how you feel or how much you prepared. Why should you tell them what to start looking for? Today, discover why speaking makes you nervous and fix it. Really, what’s the worst thing that could realistically happen during your presentation?

Rate Your Presentation Skills
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