Posts tagged “Presentation Skills”

When you’ve been asked to give a presentation, it’s natural to be a little nervous. When you’re presenting with the goal of influencing your audience, you may be even more nervous because you may be trying to change someone’s belief or convince them to do what you want them to do. Whether you’re selling a product or service or trying to win someone’s vote, there are specific steps you can take to increase your power to influence.  

• Be knowledgeable – If you want someone to take advice from you, it’s important that you demonstrate that you are an expert on the subject matter at hand. For example, if you are trying to sell a product, you must be able to answer questions about that product. Consumers are happy to turn over complicated matters, like financial planning, or insurance over to someone else to manage, so long as they believe the person is an expert in their field. Be sure to demonstrate your expertise in your presentation.
  

• Give personal examples. People love stories, and stories can be one of the most persuasive tools in your toolbox. When you’re presenting, be sure to tell stories that demonstrate real life. If you’re selling a product, these stories can help convince prospective buyers to go ahead with their decision.
  

• Be trustworthy. If you want to influence people, you must be someone they trust. Demonstrate trustworthiness in everything you do. Don’t exaggerate or embellish details. If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t pretend that you do. Simply tell the person you will do your research and get back to them. Then, keep your word.
  

• Be sincere. If you don’t first believe your own message, you will never convince anyone else to believe it, either. It’s important to examine your own motives for trying to convince others, especially if you harbor any doubts about what you’re saying.
  

With these tips in mind, you should be prepared to give an honest and sincere presentation that influences others on your chosen subject. Be mindful of your audience and your story’s authenticity and be prepared to wow them with your knowledge and your truth.

As professionals, we often take great care in ensuring that the words we use and our tone of voice are professional, and help us to portray the image we deem appropriate with staff and clients. It is just as important, however, to ensure that our body language matches that professional tone and style. When body language is incongruent with speech, those listening to you may have difficulty accepting your sincerity. There are four simple things you can watch for to ensure that your body language presents as positive an image as your speech.

1. Smile. It might seem obvious that it’s important to smile, but smiling does more than make people like you. According to research by Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, when you smile, people are also more likely to remember you. This is important, particularly if you are in a sales or customer service position. Clients are more likely to buy from you if they remember you. In addition, when you smile at someone, they almost always smile back at you. When they return your smile, their brain responds emotionally to those facial movements, creating a positive feeling for them.
2. Maintain eye contact. In Western cultures, people expect eye contact to be maintained about 50-60% of the time during a conversation. In business conversations, less eye contact can send the message that you are hiding something, that you are not trustworthy or that you are not confident.
3. Stand tall and take up space. When you want to give a more powerful and confident image, make yourself a more physically imposing presence. Stand tall with shoulders square, using a wide stance. This signifies power, and may even temporarily increase testosterone levels, which can help you feel more confident.
4. Gesture appropriately. Talking with your hands can make you seem more approachable. In particular, open gestures, such as those that allow the palms of your hands to show, give you credibility. At the same time, beware of nervous gestures, like smoothing your clothes or playing with your hair. These gestures suggest that you lack confidence.

Putting forth your best image is a combination of your appearance, your actions and your speech. When you pay attention to each of these areas, you gain credibility as well as make people feel more comfortable. Each of these habits may take a little practice, but mastering these is well worth the effort to help ensure your body tells the same story as your speech

Visualization- The Lazy Man’s Tool for Success???

When I ask participants in either my sales or presentation skills training programs if they visualize, I often get a blank stare back at me.  I then go on to explain that visualization is a mental practice that can help you achieve more of what you want in your life and prepare you mentally for success.  The great news is that you can do this from anywhere, sitting on your couch or lounging in your backyard.  It requires no accessories or tools.  Whether you are mentally rehearsing your next presentation, your golf swing or asking for a raise, you are setting yourself up with a better chance for success.

Some research shows that mental practice is almost as effective as physical practice and by doing both was more effective than doing each one alone.  Many athletes both novice and seasoned create very detailed mental practices engaging all their senses to enhance their performance.  Tiger Woods has been doing this since his pre-teens.

Jack Nicklaus, World Champion Golfer has said: “I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp in-focus picture of it in my head.”  Muhammad Ali, Heavyweight Champion used different mental practices to enhance his performance in the ring such as: affirmation; mental rehearsal; visualization; self-confirmation; and the most powerful epigram of personal worth ever uttered: “I am the greatest!”

We have learned from brain studies that our thoughts produce the same mental instructions as actions.  We can train our brain through our mental practices.  This can result in increased effectiveness, improved motivation, increased confidence and simply setting yourself up for the expectation of success!

So how can you use this at work?  Great question!

Start by getting very clear about your desired outcome.  Imagine you are looking at a TV screen and you are watching yourself in the future, having already achieved what it is you are wanting to achieve.  Engage as many of your senses as you can.  Notice how you are feeling once you have achieved success.  Notice if there are other people involved, what are they doing and saying?  Practice, practice, practice!  It is good to practice just before going to bed or just when you wake up.

The next time you have an important presentation to deliver, practice it in your mind as well as physically go through your presentation.  You will be amazed at how much more you will be in “flow” and confidence you will feel. 

If you are in sales and have a new client you want to impress.  Of course, you will do your due diligence and thorough research about your potential client, but this time you are going to go one step further.  You are going to step up your sales game and spend some time before the call visualizing how the call will go.  You will see yourself connecting with the prospect and watch in your mind’s eye how you easily and effortlessly you interact with this person.  You will visualize how the call will end and see agreement to your desired outcome.  I recommend doing this several times before an important meeting.

The next time you have to engage in a difficult or challenging conversation, see yourself with the other person working things out so it is a win win for everyone.  By mentally rehearsing in such situations can help calm your nerves and help you stay more present during the actual conversation.

Doing visualization exercises doesn’t guarantee that you will get everything you want but studies have shown that results increase when they are combined with practical practice.

“Ordinary people believe only in the possible.  Extraordinary people visualize not what is possible or probable, but rather what is impossible.  And by visualizing the impossible, they begin to see it as possible.”  ~ Cherie Carter-Scott

Athena Alliance Members – A Closer Look at David Boyce CSP

Since I started the Athena Alliance blogtalk radio show I have had the opportunity to share with our listeners the expertise of our diverse group of trainers, facilitators, coaches and consultants.  Each member has a profile featured on our website and I thought for upcoming blogs I would share with our readers a more personal look at some of our partners and in no particular order.

David Boyce CSP

I first met David when we both worked for an experiential training company.  He was one of the first members of my alliance and continues to delight customers with his legendary customer service, supervisory skills programs and he is also my video grapher for our “Make Your Point” presentation skills program.   He also works with organizations when they need support in creating more effective sales teams.  He was one of the first sales people to achieve the CSP (Certified Sales Professional) designation through the Canadian Professional Sales Association.

David and I share the belief that training can and does make a difference in performance, job satisfaction and bottom line results.  David has a very diverse background and has worked as hands on manager in his past positions, which gives him a deeper understanding of the situations our customers face every day.

David is one of those people who is extremely flexible and very easy to work with.  One of the first customers he worked with as an Alliance Member was a funeral services company.  He was contracted to deliver customer service tips training in Toronto offices.  Originally this client was going to run the program for a select few employees and later decided to have the entire company participate in the training.  I remember calling him one day and he was on his way to the grave diggers to gain a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities so he could design their part of the program to address the areas where the needed the support.  Now that’s dedication!

In addition to facilitating for corporations David is a certified coach, conditioning sports trainer and participates in adventure racing and travel. David lives in Oakville with his wife and teenage son.

To review David’s Profile click here:  www.athenatrainingandconsulting.com/alliance-partners/david-boyce

WOW!!!  What an Alliance!

When I first started the Athena Alliance seven years ago I had no idea what great relationships and wonderful people I would have the privilege of working with.  I often hear from my partners what wonderful customers we have.  I couldn’t agree with them more.  We have been able to support small , mid-size and large organizations with a plethora of various training programs, coaching agreements and Human Resources consulting support.

I can remember the first time I met one of my long standing customers.  She was new in her position and had a mandate to create a learning culture for this mid-size construction company.  Her energy and passion for creating a powerful college was infectious.  Every alliance partner has consistently commented on how fantastic it is to work with her and their employees.  She loved the alliance concept right from the beginning and could see how aligning with me could save her a lot of time and also have trust that the trainers and coaches I introduced her to would be able to deliver the customized solutions she required.

To date she has contracted our alliance partners to provide training in the following areas:

• Leadership (many areas)
• Listening skills
• Power hours
• Empowerment programs for the Admin team
• Priority/time management
• Business writing
• Disc
• Presentation Skills
• Mentoring program
• Outlook

Every year we sit together and discuss what they have accomplished in the past year and what they want to focus on in the coming year.  I then get to work with my partners to make sure she has the partnerships she needs to make it happen.   She is such a delight to work with and we are all grateful for the opportunity to provide the ongoing support for this organization. 

Just one more reason I love what  I do!!!

By
Cindy Stradling CSP, CPC