Guest blogger Mark Jeffies – Strategic Communications & Soft Skills Expert

Former Merrill Lynch stockbroker Mark Jeffries has become a trusted adviser and communications consultant to many global blue chip corporations, professional services organizations and law firms. Whether coaching high-level executives, taking team members through Pitch Skills or delivering his popular keynote, Jeffries’ services are in continuous demand.

I have just spent the last three weeks hosting and speaking at events in 8 Cities across 3 countries. At those events I also had the opportunity to see an array of other corporate speakers. That “experience” has inspired me to put together some instant “quick-fix” ideas on quickly and easily improving the “corporate presentation”. There’s so much more – but if you have a presentation to give over the next few weeks, check out these three essential guidelines to either add to your success or at least stop you from being “evaluation score”condemned by an audience!!

Timing:

Nobody will ever come up to you after your presentation and say, “I wish you had gone on for longer”. No matter the level, intellect or industry – all audiences have “other things to do”, so your presentation should never take their time without very good reason. Every minute that audience gives to you, you need to make worthwhile. All too often, I see people delivering a speech across 40 minutes that only needed 20. So, be honest with yourself and with your audience – with only 20 minutes worth of truly valuable insight and content, you should only take 20 minutes of people’s time! If you really want to win on timing – end it early. When an audience has an expectation of, say 30 minutes and you end after, say 25 minutes, it’s seen as a great and unexpected ‘gift of time’!!

LIFE by Powerpoint:

We’ve all heard the phrase “Death by Powerpoint”, and most of us have suffered its effects. This happens for only one reason “WORDS ON A SLIDE”. It’s just like “SNAKES ON A PLANE” – They are unwelcome, inadvisable and can lead to an early death!! Too many people use their powerpoint slide deck as a script. it is NOT a script, it should simply be an illustration of your ideas. Show graphics, charts, images, screengrabs and infograms. The second you start showing paragraphs of words two important things happen: Your audience starts to reading and, as a result, stop listening! If you want to give them words to read, simply present them with a handout and sit yourself down! Use PowerPoint or keynote or prezi as simply an illustration of your wonderful message.

Pace down/Punch up:

When I used to host TV shows in the UK, I was trained to speak in a certain style. I was told that an On-Air voice should sound interesting, passionate and compelling. The reason? Well, if you sounded like you were interested in what was being discussed, hopefully the viewers would be convinced and stay on your channel. The same is fundamentally true in your presentation. Do you SOUND interesting? Forget the content for a second – what is your tone like? Does your voice have a rhythm and melody that, when heard, is both easy and compelling? Are you speaking too fast (Clue: yes) – slow down and give yourself time to articulate! The best way to test yourself out is to record yourself on any audio device discussing your topic. Listen back to it (yeah, I know, it’s not easy). Would you want to listen to yourself?? If not, add some animation – some punch – to your voice and win over that audience!!

It has been shown over and over again that those people who can command an audience always rise quickly to the top – make sure that person is you!!