Seven Strategies for effective presentations

Many speakers make presentations that are poorly designed , poorly

delivered & poorly received.

‘ The Seven Strategies discussed below ,

help presenters to develop high order skills in content, organizations
& delivery of effective presentations ‘ .
 It was a great presentation, Unfortunately, it was the wrong audience !
- Brad Mc Rae

1) KNOW THY AUDIENCE

Just because you have worked in the same organization for years, it is wrong
to make unwarranted assumption that you know your audience.
Following eight techniques help you “know thy audience”

1. Pre-session Surveys
2. Face-to-face Interviews
3. Telephonic Interviews
4. Case Studies
5. Worksite Visits
6. Job Shadowing
7. Annual & / or other published reports
8. Websites & Internet Research
 It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech !
- Mark Twain

2) PREPARE OUTSTANDING CONTENT

No delivery skills can save a presentation that has a poor content. Good
presenters develop good content too. Following six steps help
prepare outstanding content :

1. Speak From A Strong Point- Of -View

2 Craft Titles that the Audience Would Crawl Over Glass to Hear
3 Create Impactful Beginnings & Endings.
4 Find The Perfect Quote.
5 Develop The Perfect Illustrative Story.
6 Create Your Content Advisory Board.
 A place for everything & everything in its place !
- Samuel Smiles

3) USE SUPERIOR ORGANIZATION

No amount of outstanding content or effective delivery skills can save a poorly organized presentation. Therefore it is
important to focus on developing superior organization.

Following four techniques helps you develop Superior Organization :

 Using the different organizational structures :

1, Chronological -- Chronological presentations are organized by time &

progress beginning to end.

2, Geographical -- Geographical presentations use geographical place to tell

a story.

3, Metaphorical -- Metaphorical presentations uses something that is well-known &

understood to help the attendees understand something that is less
well-known & understood.

4, Mixed Structures --Mixed Structures uses various combinations of the above discussed
methods.
 Speeches are like babies: Easy to conceive, hard to deliver !
- Pat O’ Malley

4) DEVELOP DYNAMIC DELIVERY

Many presenters over prepare on content & under prepare delivery while
others have little content but great delivery.
Following 13 techniques help in developing a dyanmic
delivery :

1. Avoid hackneyed openings

2. Use powerful language
3. Make your presentation flow
4. Add suspense to your story-telling
5. Use props to add impact to your presentations
6. Use drama to enhance your presentation
7. Use the pause that brings applause.
 5) MAKE IT MEMORABLE , ACTIONABLE, &
TRANSFERABLE
A common weakness of many presentations is that a month, a week, or even a day
after the presentation, no one remembers what it was about.

MAKE IT MEMORABLE
Below are 7 memory-retention techniques that can make ant presentation
memorable :

1. Repetition & restatement

2. Increase audience attentiveness
3. Use of memory aids & mnemonics devices
4. Using Stories
5. Defining Moments
6. Using Metaphors
7. Use of Music & Games
 MAKE IT ACTIONABLE
To turn your audience’s good intentions into concrete, tangible,
& actionable steps, four proven techniques are presented
below:

1. Developing an action plan

2. Setting SMART goals.
3. Developing a specific follow-through form
4. Scheduling a follow-up class
 MAKE IT TRANSFERNABLE
There is a growing recognition of a “transferable problem” in an organisational training…It is estimated
that while Americans industries annually spend up to $100 billion on training & development, not
more than 10 % of these expenditure actually result in transfer to the job .
─ Timothy Baldwin

Methods to Increase Transfer of Training :

1. Using Role-playing
2. Using Virtual VCR
3. Telephone & / or e-mail follow-up
4. E-dialogues
5. Continuous-learning or mastermind groups.
6. Writing a letter to manager / supervisor
7. Learning contracts with the learner’s manager / supervisor.
There are two kinds of speakers: those that are nervous & those that are liars !
- Mark Twain

6) MANAGE YOUSELF

PEAK PERFORMANCE CURVE

Zone of
PEAK
PERFORMANCE

The RUST The

OUT BURNOUT
JOB PRESSURE
 The Zone of PEAK PERFORMANCE is where we do our best work. It is
analogous to running a marathon where some people just don’t have the energy
or motivation to train enough. They may start the race, bute they are too rusted
our to finish.
 At the opposite extreme is the BURNOUTS who have over trained & overtaxed
their bodies, so that when it is time ti statr the race, they are sidelined.
Therefore a better place is to be in the Zone of PEAK
PERFORMANCE

To remain in the Zone of PEAK PERFORMANCE , it is important that you as a

presenter :

Make appropriate attributions

Monitor / change your self-talk
Perfect perfectionism
Increase your self of control
Change nervous energy into focused presentation power.
 The future belongs to those who prepare for it !
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

7) TOTAL QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

 The last important step is Total Quality Improvement.
Following five steps help you ensure that you keep a
check on Total Quality Improvement :

1. Test Early, Test Often :

The purpose here is to get an overview of the
presentation to determine what should be in it as well as
what should not.
2. Simulate the setting & audience as closely as possible :
Here presenter can think of practicing with an audience
that will be similar to your actual audience as possible.
3. Conduct Dry Runs :
3. Conduct Dry Runs :

Dry runs are practice sessions which occur in a variety of

sessions. They will give you time you need to make necessary
corrections.

4. Test on Mixed Audience :

Different types of audience will see & hear different things. So it

is important to test audience.