According to a Gallup poll, 40% of Americans have a fear of speaking in public, regardless of the occasion or the audience size. While for one part of population this detail may not be so important, it is crucial for business people, and those pursuing their careers. Being able to make a well-constructed and confident presentation in front of a group of colleagues or clients will instantly make you a valuable member of the team. The good news is that no one is born with presentation skills – they are learned over time.
Benefits of a Good Presentation
A good presenter needs to be organized and confident. By developing your presentation skills, you can boost your confidence in the first place, and then learn how to better organize your materials. As a good presenter, you have an advantage over your colleagues who are less versed in public speaking or avoid it altogether. Your confidence will not get unnoticed by your superiors, and although those who are experts in their field of work also get praises, the real appreciation comes from ability to present your work and ideas clearly and confidently.
Where Presentation Skills Kick in?
Having great presentation skills may help you get a higher position in circumstances like interviews, as both the interviewer and interviewee, as well as face to face or conference meetings. Meeting new people in your professional environment is as important as getting to know ones you already met. In addition to speaking to your colleagues and staff, a good presenter is able to deliver a gleaming presentation to clients, either selling a product or detailing a technical topic.
Key Points of Presenting
Your audience is there because they want to get something from your presentation. They are the most important part of it. Your presentation is successful only if it meets the audience expectations and maybe even goes over the top a bit. Your presentation needs to be planned accordingly. Taking a presentation skills course will help you adapt the presentation structure to the audience so they can absorb the information you are trying to convey. The safest technique is to adopt a pattern that is easy to follow.
Prepare for Inconveniences
When Steve Jobs was presenting the first iPod in 2001, the clicker that he used to operate the PowerPoint slides failed to respond. After trying to activate it for a few seconds, he started telling a story how he and Steve Wozniak once made a TV signal jammer in Wozniak’s college dorm, which they used to annoy students who were trying to watch Star Trek. After his tech team resolved the issue, Jobs continued the presentation in a perfect beat. Such an ability to turn an inconvenience into a comic relief comes only from excessive preparation and hours of rehearsal.
Successful business people have one thing in common – sharp presentation skills. The ability to express your ideas in a striking and confident way can help you structure your thoughts, connect with people on higher levels and influence their ideas, decisions and actions.
