8 steps to successful business presentations in a short attention span world
I am passionate about Toastmasters having been a member for almost 9 years and served as Chairman of Toastmasters in China helping to form 27 new clubs in a year. It’s a very positive organisation that has helped millions of people become better communicators and leaders.
I am frequently invited to giving speeches and trainings to young leaders. Here is the slidecast from a training focusing on the connection between service and leadership.
One tool I featured in The One Minute Presenter is a slideshow tool that encourages visual presentations. As the highest recall presentations combine mainly visual images with concise content (or taglines), this is a great tool for all business presenters. Visit their site for inspiration on the presentations that have been uploaded under a wide range of topics.
One place to start is “Healthcare Napkins” by Dan Roam, author of “The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition): Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures” , which recently won the best presentation on slideshare. Have a look at the presentation here.
See Dan’s book on Amazon here: The Back of the Napkin (Expanded Edition): Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures
Not many business presenters would consider themselves “actors” or “theatre performers”. But in a world of information overload and audiences with short attention spans, you need an extra edge to keep their interest and deliver your messages with style.
With senior executives called upon frequently to deliver short and sometimes unprepared speeches, a great skill that hones them is improvisation (improv). The ability to create a story, act a scene or just think quick in a humorous way is very challenging. The TV Show “Whose Line is it Anyway” borrowed from a particular brand of improv called Theatresports created by Keith Johnstone (pictured here). The game format made the experience fun and allowed quick changes through activities.
Today, companies are putting their managers through improv training to help them think quick and to improve listening skills. I highly recommend you participate in an improv class. Check out your local theatre or community centre.
Improv links:
For a list of people in improv, see the Applied Improvisation Network.
For a list of Whose Line is it Anyway? game check out wiki here.
Understanding your audience is essential to successful business presentations. Especially if you are presenting to audiences with short attention spans. Digital natives are regarded as having less patience for (traditional) presentations, so what can you do to adapt yourself to your audience?
Well a clue lies in a school in England whose headmaster claim that all teenagers need a lie-in and that classes should start at 11am. The claim is based on the way the teenage body clock is functioning which results in students falling asleep in class. In tests so far memory has improved and received (not surprisingly) good response from the students.
While you may not be faced with a teenage audience, business audiences today are just as distracted and likely to tune out if you cannot capture their attention. If it’s within your control think about the timing of your presentation. Just after lunch most people are sluggish and likely to drift off. Later in the afternoon people’s brains become tired and attention spans drop off. Mid to late mornings usually work well for most audiences. Also, be aware of spacing your content so that you don’t overload your audience with information. Add breaks every 10 minutes or so to allow your message to digest and for a different format of presenting like a video, a story or an activity.
One of the golden rules of presenting is that – at some time in your presenting career – something unexpected is going to happen. Someone will heckle you, the microphone will die, someone will wander across the stage. Whatever it is, your ability to react in a positive way will influence your credibility in the eyes of the audience.
Improvisation is an important skill for all presenters. Born out of the theatre, it is a great way to build creativity, listening and teamwork skills. For a presenter it allows you to smoothly move forward and manage anything unusual that is thrown at you (can help with Q&A sessions too).
Learn about Improv (short for improvisation) at Wiki.
See some great improv resources at Story Robot.
Hello Warwick,
Just a brief note to say that I appreciate receiving your “tips” which I am keeping on file and to which I have referred for a number of ideas.
Thank you for sending them to me.
Have a good October National and Mid-autumn holiday.
Jim
James Stokes-Rees
General Manager
The Royalton Hotel
Shanghai, China
www.royalton.com.cn
“Treat Yourself to Quiet Luxury”
If you haven't heard of terms like "knowledge worker" and "info-preneur", check out wiki!
Today you are paid for what you know. Applied knowledge. One man spends his time on world trips as an advocate for a new business model which he calls, “The New Book Model”. Ideal for knowledge workers, consultants, speakers, and coaches, Dan has a very practical and systematic approach to turning your know-how into a book and a whole host of other products.
If you are writing a blog and wondering how you can turn this into an income stream, you may be interested to learn that you are closer than you think to producing a credibility-boosting high quality book or information product. Dan has presented to thousands of audiences in many lands and always leaves high take-away value.
Professional Speakers of China presents a workshop in Shanghai which is designed to give you the know-how to become a expert in your field.
Dan Poynter – internationally known as the Self Publishing Guru – is coming to Shanghai to deliver a workshop titled, ” Turning Speeches into Books: Writing, Producing & Promoting your Book”.
November 1 2009 1-5pm
Booking: To book your seats, email Professional Speakers of China here.
Other links:
See an online presentation from Dan talking about the new world of e-book publishing.
See Dan’s “bible” on Amazon
Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual, 16th Edition: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (Self Publishing Manual)
A great book on making clear presentations and with the right approach to communicating information to today’s busy and distracted audiences is Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. Garr also runs a fantastic blog here.
Help make boring presentations a thing of the past with this perfect gift! (Okay so maybe I am biased!)
The One Minute Presenter is now available everywhere you can find a computer.
See http://www.oneminutepresenter.com/buy-book for the link and if you want to buy multiple copies for your company, we are offering some great discounts. Your team will appreciate it and your presentations will certaintly benefit!
Have you tried to express yourself in just a few words. It can be difficult especially with complex issues. Today’s best communicators do it well. Obama captured the spirit of a nation with his “Yes, we can change”.
How well can you summarise your thoughts? A good web site for inspiration is “Six Word Stories’ .
Working to made your speech even more concise not only helps the audience understand and retain your messages. It’s fun. Think more like an advertiser. Yes, you can!
