| |
| |
|
Presentation Information |
|
8 Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills
8 Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills 1. Join Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a organization where you will get a chance to work on your impromptu speaking skills, leadership skills, evaluation skills as well as opportunities to practice specific skills in prepare presentations (at your own pace). Clubs typically meet weekly and you can find clubs that meet in the morning, evening, lunchtime to meet your schedule. I highly recommend this! Find a club and attend to learn much more. 2. Consider the Dale Carnegie Course. The Dale Carnegie Course is about much more than speaking, but you will speak in each of the 14 weekly sessions. This workshop is more expensive than Toastmasters but is an excellent program to help with presentation skills, confidence and more. 3. Find opportunities at work. You might have limited opportunities to speak at work, due to the nature of your job, but that doesn't need to keep you from letting people know you desire that chance. Take even opportunities to talk in small meetings as a chance to practice the skills we learned together too! 4. Find opportunities outside of work. Step up in your church or civic group to present some information or be involved in committees or teams that might provide you a chance to hone your skills. 5. Get feedback. Every time you speak ask someone to give you feedback. Ask a trusted friend or colleague to tell you what they saw, heard and observed. Ask one of them to provide you feedback after they are in your audience. 6. Video yourself. You saw the value and power of seeing yourself on tape. Use this tool yourself. Practice a presentation at home and let the camera run - then, watch it and think about what you might do differently to make your message even more powerful. 7. One thing at a time. Choose to work on just one thing at a time. For example, if you want to work on having a stronger WIIFM, make that your major goal for the talk. Pick one thing to especially, consciously work on each time you present. Doing this will help you improve quickly and consciously. Be sure to tell those you are asking for feedback from to look for these key focus areas too! 8. Go Karaoke! A colleague of mine, Jeffrey Gitomer suggests this as a great way to work on your presentation skills. He says that if you can use your skills to get a bunch of uninterested, rowdy (drunk!) people to pay attention to you, you have learned valuable skills that translate to presenting "non-singing" material. I think he is right. ©2004, All Rights Reserved, Kevin Eikenberry. Kevin is the President of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, a learning consulting company that helps their Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. Go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/training/training.asp to learn more about customized training and workshops on Presentation Skills or contact Kevin at toll free 888.LEARNER.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Nonverbal Communication in Business There are five key elements that can make or break your attempt at successful nonverbal communication in business: Eye contact Gestures Movement Posture, and Written communication Let's examine each nonverbal element in turn to see how we can maximise your potential to communicate effectively.. Media Training Tips: Maximising Your Media Moment Media training is a 'must do' professional development program for any serious leader or manager.Media interview training provides you with the skills to effectively deal with the media. Creating Your Presentation Success With a Positive "I CAN" Attitude According to the Lamalle Report on Top Executives of the 1990s, one of the most important factors in determining financial success by those earning over $250,000 is being enthusiastic and having a positive attitude (46%). Apparently, successful people never underestimate the power of positive thinking. Can Stage Presence be Learned? What is stage presence? Can it be learned?There are, undoubtedly, some 'naturals' in this field. The fine Welsh actor Richard Burton, for example, on his debut performance at 16, playing an extra scrubbing steps, was said to distract the audience from the Shakespearean play! Many actors commented on Burton's extraordinary stage presence, in particular his stillness - the audience were drawn to him even when he was apparently doing nothing. Keeping Meetings Productive KEEPING MEETINGS PRODUCTIVE: Whether participants approve or disapprove of an idea, they shouldn't be penalized or given a raise. If you start criticizing people who disapprove, then you're only making your meetings less productive. Using Your Audience to Your Advantage Regardless of what response technique may be convenient in a given situation, one thing is certain for the aware trainer: different techniques will drive you deeper and deeper into the realm of subtlety, which is precisely where the art of using response points belongs. For most trainers, these direct questions will be the best method to determine how well the idea presentation is progressing. Super Preparation - Keys to Getting a Great Start to Every Presentation Super Preparation -Keys to Getting a Great Start to Every Presentation Novice and expert presenters alike have had the experience of feeling a little (or may be a lot) nervous before giving a talk. In working with hundreds of people to help them improve their presentation skills, one consistent theme has emerged: once people get started, assuming things go relatively well, they begin to relax, become more natural, less self conscious, and therefore more effective. Problems with the Lecture Format ALTERNATIVES TO THE LECTURE FORMAT: How often do you use lectures as your sole training technique? Nearly always? Often? It's not unusual for trainers to use the lecture technique exclusively. After all, this is what we have all seen and are familiar with. The Presentation After the Presentation Allowing the audience to ask questions after your presentation is an excellent way to reinforce your message and to continue to sell your ideas. In addition, because listeners can ask for clarification, audience members are less likely to leave your presentation with misconceptions about the concepts you delivered. The Seven Deadly Sins of Presentations Every day, so many tens of thousands of innocent clients and employees are bored to tears by presentations that it ought to be considered a crime against humanity.Are your presentations guilty of the following sins?Illegibility. How to Give a Great Speech As a former owner of a National Speakers Bureau, I have learned from several thousand professional speakers "How to Give a Great Speech." Here are some techniques that I share with my coaching clients who want to become paid professional speakers or business professionals who want to deliver masterful presentations. Shamus Browns Top 5 Sales Presentation Tips When its time to give your next sales presentation, here are my favorite tips for delivering powerful, charismatic, and engaging sales presentations. #1 - PLANT YOUR FEET SQUARELY ON THE FLOOR How you hold your physical body during your sales pitch communicates a tremendous amount of information about you to your audience. A Discussion about Facilitation Skills Interview with Julia Apple-Smith, Manager of Employee Development at Sauer-Danfoss Ames, Iowa about Facilitation Skills:Q: Would you tell me a little bit about the culture at Sauer-Danfoss?Julia: About nine years ago, Dave Pfeifle, President and CEO had a vision for us to change our culture. We, at one time, were part of the Sundstrand Corporation, and as such, over time, had evolved into a company that was fairly autocratic and not very customer focused. Tough Talk: Bad News Delivered the Right Way Communicating Bad News The Right WayIt's the rare executive who actually enjoys speaking before groups of people, even under the best of circumstances. Public speaking routinely ranks highest on people's list of fears. Presentation Pitfalls Series: Top 10 Content Mangement Mistakes Here, David Letterman style, are what I consider to be the Top 10 most common mistakes presenters make when organizing and preparing their content:10) Not setting the stage.An introduction should be more than just "Hello. Give Your Audience Something to Talk About There is an old saying: "The first thing to do when the audience goes to sleep is to prod the speaker." Most presentations are not intense enough. Winning The Big Pitch - The 7 Deadly Sins Of Business Presentations And How To Avoid Them! Are poor presentations costing you business?The ability to deliver a presentation to potential investors or clients is an essential skill for any budding entrepreneur, sales professional or consultant.Whether it's a '15-second elevator pitch' or a more extensive presentation, winning over and persuading audiences is vital in today's competitive capital raising and sales environment. Watch Out For Power Thieves "I'm not an expert on this topic, but . . The Missing Link in Presentation Skills Training Imagine you are the most amazing figure skater who ever lived. When rehearsing in a peaceful, empty rink, you demonstrate the ultimate in athleticism and artistry. Painless Presentations Did the "Painless" part of the title get your attention?Speaking in front of a group ranks with death of a family member and loosing a job when it comes to the emotional toll it takes on some people.If you are one of those folks who look for any excuse not to give a presentation in a meeting, social club or your church take heart.
|
| home | site map | contact us |