Tag: presentation survival

Preparation: The Secret Weapon to Presentation Survival

presentation

presentation survival

presentation tips

presentation tools

Rick Enrico

SlideGenius

the walking dead

tips and tricks

Nov 02, 2015

Preparation is the foundation of any successful presentation. While some presenters may rely on improvisation, thorough preparation can significantly increase your confidence, reduce anxiety, and ensure that your message is clear and impactful.

Here’s how preparation can be your secret weapon for presentation survival:

1. Know Your Material Inside and Out

One of the biggest sources of presentation anxiety is uncertainty about your material. By thoroughly understanding your content, you’ll feel more confident and prepared to handle any questions or challenges that arise.

Why It’s Important:

  • Builds Confidence: Knowing your material inside and out allows you to speak naturally and confidently without relying too heavily on notes.
  • Improves Delivery: When you’re well-prepared, you can focus on engaging with your audience rather than worrying about forgetting key points.

How to Do It:

  • Break your content into key sections and rehearse each section individually.
  • Familiarize yourself with the data, stories, or case studies you’ll be discussing.

2. Anticipate Audience Questions

A key part of preparation is thinking ahead to the questions your audience might ask. Anticipating questions allows you to prepare thoughtful answers and address concerns proactively during your presentation.

Why It’s Important:

  • Reduces Uncertainty: Anticipating potential questions ensures that you won’t be caught off guard by audience inquiries.
  • Demonstrates Expertise: Being able to confidently answer audience questions shows that you’re knowledgeable and well-prepared.

How to Do It:

  • Consider your audience’s perspective and think about what questions they might have based on your content.
  • Prepare responses for both common questions and challenging ones.

3. Rehearse with a Timer

Time management is critical for a successful presentation. Practicing with a timer allows you to ensure that you stay within your allotted time and pace yourself appropriately.

Why It’s Important:

  • Prevents Overruns: Rehearsing with a timer ensures that you stay on track and don’t run over your time limit.
  • Helps You Find Your Rhythm: Timing yourself helps you establish a comfortable pace and avoid rushing through important sections.

How to Do It:

  • Time each section of your presentation and adjust as necessary to ensure you cover all key points within the allotted time.
  • Aim to finish a few minutes early to leave room for audience questions.

4. Test Your Technology

Technical difficulties can derail even the best-prepared presentation. Make sure to test all of your equipment ahead of time to ensure that everything runs smoothly on the day of your presentation.

Why It’s Important:

  • Prevents Technical Issues: Testing your equipment in advance ensures that there are no last-minute surprises or malfunctions.
  • Boosts Confidence: Knowing that your technology is working properly gives you one less thing to worry about during the presentation.

How to Do It:

  • Test your projector, microphone, laptop, and any other equipment you’ll be using.
  • If you’re presenting virtually, test your internet connection and ensure that your slides and media files load correctly.

5. Practice in Front of an Audience

Practicing your presentation in front of a friend, colleague, or mentor allows you to receive feedback on your delivery, body language, and content. This can help you identify areas for improvement and boost your confidence.

Why It’s Important:

  • Provides Feedback: Practicing in front of an audience helps you identify any weak points in your presentation.
  • Builds Confidence: Presenting in front of someone beforehand helps reduce anxiety about speaking in front of a larger group.

How to Do It:

  • Ask for feedback on your pacing, clarity, and engagement with the audience.
  • Practice responding to questions or comments to simulate a real Q&A session.

Final Thoughts

Thorough preparation is the key to surviving and thriving during a presentation. By knowing your material, anticipating audience questions, practicing with a timer, testing your technology, and rehearsing in front of an audience, you’ll set yourself up for success. Remember, preparation is the secret weapon that can make all the difference in delivering a polished and confident presentation.

3 Fool-Proof Ways to Master the Art of Presentation Survival

apocalypse

dystopian

PowerPoint apocalypse

presentation apocalypse

presentation survival

Rick Enrico

SlideGenius

the walking dead

zombies

Oct 21, 2015

When you’re delivering a presentation in the boardroom or stage, you don’t want your audience to start zoning out and giving you zombie-like stares.

They may look docile, but the minute you finish, these people could end up swarming to the door, eager to leave.

That outbreak is the last thing you want to cause as a presenter.

How do you go about avoiding it?

A visually compelling PowerPoint that highlights your strengths is a great way to keep them engaged, but making one is never easy.

The best ones are usually made with teamwork and relevant information about your offers.

Let’s take a look at how we can avoid a zombie-audience outbreak:

1. Know Your Team

You may know your audience from the inside-out, but do you know your teammates?
You may know your audience from the inside-out, but do you know your teammates?

Each member of your team will always have a specialty (Michaelson & Michaelson 2010, 23).

One of them might know where to get the best information for your deck’s content, while another might be good at writing your script.

Learning to work well with your colleagues will save you loads of headaches and save your energy when it’s time to present

2. Know Your Tools

It's not owning the tools that makes you good. It's how you wield them that will keep you a cut above the rest.
It’s not owning the tools that makes you good. It’s how you wield them that will keep you a cut above the rest.

A highly visual deck makes great impressions, but knowing the other tools and your presentation area are equally important factors.

Simple things like testing out your screens, projectors, and your lapel microphones can save your presentation from technical difficulties later on.

Make sure your deck is formatted to run on the screen you’ll be using for the boardroom. You’ll avoid projecting misplaced graphics because of working with in wrong screen resolution.

3. Know Your Moves

Now that you know who and what you're working with, it's time to put your skills to use.
Now that you know who and what you’re working with, it’s time to put your skills to use.

Presentation techniques are another thing to master.

Nothing induces a mass zombie-like look faster than a person standing still and droning on during the whole pitch.

To master your moves, you need to look into two things: your body language and your speaking style.

Are you the type of presenter who likes to tell stories? Or will you take the time to know your audience?

Whichever style you prefer, always remember to employ appropriate body gestures and avoid slouching.

Putting on a professional look and a lively persona is one of your most effective weapons against zombifying your own audience.

One Last Thing: Teamwork Always Works!

You could survive the apocalypse alone... but working together with others will make the experience so much easier.
You could survive the apocalypse alone… but working together with others will make the experience so much easier.

It’s hard to survive a presentation that makes you or your audience looking like the walking dead.

In these situations, working as a team will always get you through.

By working together with your sales and marketing teams, you’ll be able to get the info you need to make your presentation as comprehensive as you can.

Mastering your tools will prevent any technical delays that can bore your audience.

Honing your presenter’s techniques can keep everyone’s eyes on you and focused on what you have to say.

Who knows? By following this guide, you might even prevent yourself from looking like a zombie when you step into the boardroom.

 

References

Michaelson, G., and Steven Michaelson. Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers: 50 Strategic Rules Updated for Today’s Business. 2nd ed. Avon, Mass.: Adams Media. 2010.