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Month: June 2015

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4 Tips to Build Networks After Your Business Presentation

Posted on by Rick E

Tangible results are necessary in enacting your core message. A business presentation is successful when audience members have been converted into clients.

This is where building networks and partnerships come in handy.

Here are four of the simplest ways to network after you pitch:

Initiate Dialog

Most presenters forget that their presentation isn’t a one-way street. It doesn’t end after all the speaker’s personal ideas and opinions have been exhausted. In fact, it’s only just beginning.

A dialogue with the audience is necessary to keep them engaged. Prompt them with questions, or take occasional pauses in your speech to let them think about what you’ve just said.

Open the floor to observations, questions, and concerns. Prepare conversation starters to let your audience know that you’re interested in cultivating professional relationships.

Maintain Visibility

Maintaining a visible image impresses your audience and is vital in making new contacts. Your sincerity must be seen in your actions and heard in your words.

Refrain from checking your watch or phone. These actions show your lack of focus or interest in reaching out to them. Expressing nonverbal cues such as handshakes, smiles, and eye contact also affirm your presence and increase your credibility.

Expressing nonverbal cues such as handshakes, smiles, and eye contact also affirm your presence and increase your credibility.

Pay Attention

Presentations don’t always need to be formal and serious. Step away from the podium and pay more attention to your audience.

According to Forbes contributor, Andrew Vest, one of the ways to effective networking is to never disregard anyone. Everyone in your audience is important in some way, whether they be direct decision makers or people who may have notable connections.

Listen to everything your audience has to say. But don’t just focus on their responses but also on the intent and emotions being reflected. This helps you understand how they perceive you and your message.

Prompt Follow-Up

Fostering partnerships starts with exchanging contact details. However, business cards alone can’t make your business grow.

Develop and use these contacts to thrive for new connections. Maintain the engagement before your speech ends. Set a goal for networking follow-ups.

In doing follow-ups, first determine whom you’ll contact immediately. Then, begin re-introducing yourself and reiterate your goal. Maximize the use of various networking mediums such as SMS, voicemail, and email.

To make it easier to maintain networks right after presentations, LearnVest’s Emma Miller suggests that you treat your connections like friends. This makes it more natural to do.

Conclusion

Effective networking strategies generate new leads and nurture professional relationships. Follow these tips for business growth and professional success.

Looking for high-quality presentations for your business? Give us a call at 1-858-217-5144 or request for a free quote from SlideGenius today.

 

References

“Email Marketing Tips: The Art of Pitching through the Inbox.” SlideGenius, Inc. 2014. Accessed June 29, 2015.
Miller, Emma. “Want More Work Contacts? Try The 80/20 Rule For Unselfish Networking.” Forbes. Accessed June 30, 2015.
Vest, Andrew. “How To Network The Right Way: Eight Tips.” Forbes. Accessed June 29, 2015.

Get the Best Out of Working with Presentation Design Experts

Posted on by Rick E

You may have decided to work with a presentation design expert after realizing that it’ll save you time and money.

However, you can do more than simply leaving your existing collaterals and waiting for the first draft to be finished. Here are ways to get the best out of your decision to outsource your PowerPoint presentation design.

Provide Specific Instructions

Specificity is the key. It’s important to be detailed with what you want from presentation designers. This saves you more time, money and even gets you your desired outcome.

Being specific with your instructions lets designers visualize your idea with greater certainty. They can better give you what you’re looking for, while avoiding what you wouldn’t like.

Consequently, this lessens the amount of time designers have to spend working on your deck, lowering the final amount on your bill.

Know What You Want but Keep an Open Mind

An open mind makes you more receptive to ideas that improve on what you originally wanted.

Design is a long process that involves revisions. In the midst of these revisions, ideas spring out of nowhere. Presentation specialists understand your desire to keep your original vision or message. However, realize the value of an idea you hadn’t previously considered.

The success of the partnership focuses more directly on the results that the final deck can give, and indirectly on how much you stuck to your original vision. Have patience for suggestions, and consider all ideas before outright rejecting them.

Be Straight to the Point with Your Feedback

Remember that these are professionals that you’re working with. They expect that feedback can get harsh, and believe that the show must go on until the job is done.

Don’t be ashamed to be straight to the point with whatever you wish to say. Pulling your punches clouds the conversation, and possibly lead to more revisions. Be clear with which parts you wish to expound on, or which ones you wish to cut down.

This also helps designers point out what you like and what you don’t like, further narrowing down what you’re looking for.

Conclusion

You can’t go wrong with trusting professionals. Don’t just turn your files over and go on a holiday. Any partnership requires a collaborative approach to truly get the best.

Maintaining a healthy communication line with your presentation design expert is ideal when outsourcing your PowerPoints. Still on the fence? Contact us for a free quote!

References

https://www.slidegenius.com/blog/collaborate-powerpoint-designer/

3 Expert Tips on Making Your Ideas PowerPoint-Friendly

Posted on by Rick E

An effective presentation deck simplifies collected data to inform and entertain an audience. Contrary to popular belief, bare and uninspired decks won’t make your ideas stand out.

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Your audiences are people too, and that means that like the rest of us, their attention spans have made a drastic drop in the past few years. Keep them interested with slides that bring your ideas to life.

In order to be called a PowerPoint expert, you need to experience translating ideas into effective visual, statistical, and textual content.

Here are three ways to turn your ideas into effective slide designs:

Why Use Paragraphs When You Can Use Sentences?

Long paragraphs clutter a slide. This is a common symptom of a presenter pressed for time, unable to sort out his thoughts or a lazy presenter who intended to read off of his slides.

We’ve previously discussed the importance of having perceived credibility. By minimizing text, you’ll give the impression of taking your presentations seriously and knowing what you’re doing.

Set clear objectives from the beginning, then retain the minimal amount of words that can still meet these goals.

Translate Numbers into Narratives

Numbers have the power to inform or to distract. A set of slides with many numbers are tiring to understand and are boring to look at. It would be wise not to test your listeners’ patience with a numerical overload.

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Instead of throwing numbers and statistics around, give them meaningful connections that tell a story. Ensure that this story relates properly to your presentation’s message and purpose, or else your flow will get stilted.

Pure numerical data is useless without the relationships and connections that a story can bring. As with text, cut back those numbers and do yourself a big favor.

When Possible, Show Don’t Tell

Pictures can tell a thousand words. You should let them. They’re effective at portraying narratives in shorthand.

Given that most people learn visually, images are helpful tools that can both teach and amuse. They offer a break for the eyes when an arresting image is used. In addition, they complement your message or your deck’s theme.

They also illustrate or demonstrate concepts that can take more than two sentences in written form, making your presentation more streamlined and interesting. Don’t forget to explain it in person when you’re on stage.

Conclusion

Letting your ideas run wild can make fully engaging presentations, but overdoing it can divert attention and cause confusion.

Short and concise sentences, descriptive and narrative representation of numbers, and generous use of images are just three of the most important ways to get your message across. Always take a step back and practice restraint to best translate your ideas to your slides.

Need a deck that can communicate your ideas perfectly? Contact our PowerPoint experts and receive a free quote.

 

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References

“Craft Your Corporate Presentations into a Great Story.” SlideGenius, Inc. May 15, 2015. Accessed June 29, 2015.
“How Long Should a Paragraph Be?” About.com Education. Accessed June 29, 2015.

Creatively Explain Statistical Concepts in Presentations

Posted on by Rick E

Statistics are numerical values that support your presentation’s main idea. While they’re popular in building arguments, they can be boring and confusing to your audience.

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Not everyone can understand a series of statistical data, especially when they’re presented verbally.

Present this information without making your discussion less interesting and less effective. Below are some engaging ways to throw out stats.

Use Graphs and Charts

Your audience members may have different learning preferences. Since most people today are visual learners, using graphs and charts help your listeners comprehend a large numerical data set quickly and easily.

Graphs and charts not only visualize data, they also compress it so that only the most important parts stand out.

These visual representations are best for displaying data analysis such as measurements, trends, or comparisons. Maximize this graphic display of data so your audience remembers your point.

Use Analogies

As renowned authors Chip and Dan Heath have stated in their best-selling book, Made to Stick: “Statistics will, and should, almost always be used to illustrate a relationship. It’s more important for people to remember the relationship than the number.”

These relationships and associations are often present in analogies. Analogies effectively simplify a difficult statistical concept by associating a number with something relatable and concrete.

If a company experiences an increase in sales, it’ll also have a high score in revenue growth, business reputation, and human relations. Analogies are ideal for link building, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Use Infographics

Infographics make great marketing tools. They get the message across in a more concise and appealing manner. They’re also a visual tool that makes the complex understandable.

Of all the tools discussed, infographics are the most effective for both informing and entertaining. They’re also great for comparing and illustrating processes.

Look at sample infographics that visualize a statistical value while summarizing intended messages.

Conclusion

Statistics are great for supporting a point or purpose that you’re sharing with your audience. Always be on the lookout for creative ways for showing them off in your presentation.

Step away from simply verbalizing facts. Instead, present them in a way that stimulates fun learning. While speaking, compare the info you’re discussing with easy-to-digest visual images or situations. People remember relationships more than they memorize random numbers.

For more technical and formal clients, charts and graphs are a simple way of presenting hard data. On the other hand, infographics engage audiences more to talk about information while entertaining your audiences at the same time.

Got a presentation requirement to work on? SlideGenius is pleased to help you. Email us at sales@slidegenius.com and we’ll contact you ASAP.

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References

“Dig into Your Presentation Audience’s Key Learning Styles.” SlideGenius, Inc. May 8, 2015. Accessed June 29, 2015.
Heath, Chip, and Dan Heath. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. New York: Random House, 2007.

Four Ways to Get Great Presentation Ideas from Ad Agencies

Posted on by Rick E

Before making the sales pitch, know what problem your client needs to solve and what their expectations are. This makes it easier to select the best presentation technique and tactic.

First, you need a great presentation idea.

Are you focusing on practicality like Volkswagen? Or, as renowned author, Jim Aitchison, presented, will you capitalize on the advantages of being second like Avis Rent-a-Car?

Are you looking to attack the competition like when 7-Up presented itself as the “uncola”, the opposition of Coca-Cola and Pepsi?

Before starting on your PowerPoint deck, come up with a simple but powerful strategy to guide your presentation ideas.

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1. Know Where You Stand

Are you a startup? An established company with a credible reputation? Are you somewhere in between?

Regardless of your business size, it’s important to identify your position as opposed to the competition. Inc contributing editor, Darren Dahl, suggests that one of the most effective ways to do this is by determining your company’s financial standing.

Once you know how you stand in relation to your competitors, define what you can offer through your corporate presentation. Find out what advantages you have over the competition and capitalize on those in your sales pitch.

2. Know Your Client’s Business

Clients may call on other companies for a briefing or a factory tour. According to ad veteran Luke Sullivan, this builds your credibility because:

  1. You give the impression that you care and want to know more about your clients.
  2. You get to speak to them in their terms and their language.

Talking in their terms makes it easier for clients to understand your pitch.

When consulting your clients, ask them everything you can. Study their PR materials, look at how they do business with their customers, where they stand in the market, etc.

Your winning presentation idea can be found in your client’s business.

3. Know Your Customers

Find out how your customers see you.

Show your clients that you have satisfied the people you’ve done business with before, and they’ll be more easily convinced to invest in your proposal.

If clients can’t give you the information you need, answer the one question they always ask: “what’s in it for me?”

4. Know the Competition

Knowing how your competition does business tells you how they present themselves. Analyzing your competition’s presentation techniques tells you how to counter them in your own pitch.

If your competition banks on their advantages over the rest of the market, emphasize one thing they don’t have. Avis stated that the lines at their car rental counter are shorter than the leading brands’.

Even the fiercest competitor in your industry vertical will have a weakness you can exploit.

The Final Act: Simplify Your Strategy

Once you have the information you need, make your corporate presentation strategy as simple as possible.

You can emphasize the benefits of being the second place market performer, or boast about a pocket-sized device that holds a thousand songs.

As brand communications expert, Carmine Gallo, puts it, you can talk about how your new gadget achieved a comparable market share to the rest of the competition within its initial shipments.

Whatever benefit you choose to emphasize, make your point at the start of your pitch.

Having a great idea and communicating it well isn’t enough. To truly maximize this, you need a professional corporate presentation designer. Take a few minutes to talk to us and start getting the profits you deserve.

 

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References

“Ad Agency Tricks: Outsell Competitors in Sales Presentations.” SlideGenius, Inc. 2015. Accessed June 26, 2015.
Aitchison, J. Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World’s Best Print for Brands in the 21st Century. Singapore; New York: Prentice Hall, 2004.
Dahl, Darren. “How to Evaluate Your Company’s Financial Position.” Inc.com. August 30, 2010. Accessed June 26, 2015.
Gallo, C. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. New York. McGraw-Hill, 2010
“Great PowerPoint Presentations Need Great Main Ideas.” SlideGenius, Inc. 2015. Accessed June 26, 2015.
Sullivan, L. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads (3rd Ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2008.

3 Corporate Presentation Tips: Maximizing Board Room Pitches

Posted on by Rick E

Presenting to executives and other high-powered decision makers can have unbelievably high stakes. Corporate presentations of this significance can be absolutely nerve-wracking. You should expect no less from a possible career or life-changing opportunity.

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Achieving success here isn’t a Herculean task. Use these three tips to become a more confident and effective presenter for when it most counts:

Put the Spotlight on Your Core Message

Executives and board members are busy individuals who have no time to do long conversations. Simplify your presentation and break down your message so that it’s easily digestible.

Keep your discussion on the right track.

Avoid using industry-specific jargon and focus on explaining and expounding on your core message. If you have too much important data that clutters up your deck, put them in an accompanying report or handout.

This doesn’t mean your deck has to be plain and bare. Engage your viewers’ eyes with the right visuals. Despite their status, executives are people too, and would appreciate a good pitch that stands out from the numerous other presentations they encounter daily.

Rely on Evidence and Actual Data

Rhetoric tools are still useful in this situation, but the higher-ups need actionable data based on tangible evidence. You can’t expect them to make high-risk decisions based on unconvincing or misleading information.

This is where research comes in handy. Conduct a thorough and comprehensive study on the subject of your current report. If you can’t do it alone, try mobilizing other departments in your company and ask for help.

At the same time, according to entrepreneur John Rampton, you can also outsource and tap into other references to access the information you need. This may even save you the time and cost.

In terms of deck design, don’t saturate your slides with content. Minimize the amount of text to streamline your corporate presentation. If your data relies on showing numbers, then explain them in visual ways like charts, graphs, and diagrams.

Rehearse the Nerves Away

These are high-stake affairs, so your preparation should correspond to the predicted benefit of succeeding.

Be self-critical of your own presentation, determine possible weaknesses in your arguments and prepare for your audience’s possible concerns. Consider the proper clothing choices to match your purpose and the occasion.

Opt for an attire that’s not too flashy or formal. Go for something that won’t throw your audience off but give them a memorable impression of you.

It’s natural to feel more nervous than usual but you can get rid of your fears with constant practice. Practice breathing techniques and a few warm-up exercises to put you in the right state of mind during your pitch. You’ll want to be at the top of your game in front of this crowd, after all.

Conclusion

Getting through and impressing the big leagues requires an even bigger amount of preparation.

Fortunately, sticking close to your message, relying on hard data, and dedicated practice prove vital in getting the best out of your pitch. Keep these tips in mind for when that big break comes.

For these opportunities, you need to be at your best. Get a corporate presentation deck to match the occasion with SlideGenius. Contact us for a free quote.

 

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References

“Fine-tuning Your Presentation’s Core Message.” SlideGenius, Inc. November 11, 2014. Accessed June 26, 2015.
“Presentation Ideas from Ancient Greece: Explaining Ethos.” SlideGenius, Inc. 2015. Accessed June 26, 2015.
Rampton, John. “How Outsourcing Can Save You Money.” John Chow Dot Com. Accessed June 26, 2015.

An Effective Probing Strategy for Your Sales Presentation

Posted on by Rick E

Lack of probing questions can be one reason why sales proposals are often rejected by clients.

Many presenters forget that throwing open-ended questions such as “How are you doing?” or “What are you up to?” successfully convinces your clients to share the information you need to meet their needs.

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First, build rapport and connect with them to get their attention and establish trust.

Briefly introduce yourself to highlight your presentation’s importance. This compels clients to answer your questions without question.

Why Probing is Important

In sales presentations, your main goal is to persuade your clients to take action.

Study your clients’ objectives and how they should be met. Know their needs and wants to craft an attention-grabbing pitch. Doing so makes them realize that you’ve made thorough research about their company, showing them that you’re just as interested in them as you want them to be interested in your proposal.

More than presenting your products and services’ features, advantages and benefits, make your clients feel that you care about them by meeting their expectations. Satisfying their needs makes them see that you value them above anyone else. This gives them reasons to listen and share their side of the story once you ask them probing questions.

When to Probe

A good sales pitch and ample presentation skills can make an effective sales proposal, but probing is an equally important technique. Your clients look for products and services that satisfy their company’s needs.

Probing is important when relating their needs with what you’re offering. Knowing their concerns prepares you to connect them with your products and services’ benefits, making them think that your idea can achieve their desired outcome.

Start by asking open-ended questions such as, “What are your plans for reaching your objectives for this area?” and “What strategies are you going to implement to make this happen?” to delve into more details.

When you notice that your clients have objections, ask whether they understand what you’re trying to emphasize. This can help clarify some concerns before they make their decision.

How Probing Becomes Effective

Probing encourages your clients to talk more, convincing them to share their thoughts and give you more information that can help you motivate them.

The “who, what, when, where, why and how” questions tell you more about your client’s concerns, letting you better understand their needs by asking:

  • “Who will…”
  • “What, specifically…”
  • “When will…”
  • “Where, exactly…”
  • “Why does…”
  • “How does…”

Know whether you’re asking appropriate questions or not. Be careful not to overdo it by asking more questions than necessary. Going overboard results in data that might not be relevant at all to your proposal, wasting both your time and theirs.

Prepare possible questions to quickly address any issues they might have, preventing them from delaying their decisions.

Conclusion

Applying this sales presentation technique makes clients more likely to approve your proposal. Once they realize how much you’re interested, how much you care about meeting their concerns, and how much you’re helping them achieve their expectations, you’ll convince them that your offering best suits their organization needs.

Knowing what and how to ask makes your sales presentation effective. This is because clients will see that you understand how probing helps satisfy their needs, showing that you’re serious and dedicated about what you do.

Clients are more confident to hire somebody who goes out of their way to give them a satisfying experience. Be the person that your client would never hesitate to go to for solutions to their needs.

SlideGenius can help you make your sales presentation more effective!

 

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References

“21 Powerful, Open-Ended Sales Questions.” RAIN Group. Accessed June 25, 2015.
“Crafting Content: How to Conduct Presentation Research.” SlideGenius, Inc. November 17, 2015. Accessed 25, 2015.
“Probing.” Changing Minds. Accessed June 25, 2015.
“Presentation Tips: 5 Easy Ways to Establish Your Credibility.” SlideGenius, Inc. 2014. Accessed June 25, 2015.

Addressing Needs: Maslow’s Motivational Theory for Presenters

Posted on by Rick E

Ads are everywhere—the average person is exposed to hundreds of advertisements every day, be it television or radio commercials, billboards, transportation, or social media platforms.

However, only a few of them capture our attention. We only remember appealing and interesting ones.

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Human need is the main reason advertisers continuously introduce products to convince consumers to make buying decisions. In turn, this need motivates us to act towards a desired goal.

Since people are longing for things that benefit them, they constantly search for whatever satisfies their needs.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Harold Maslow is an American Psychologist who introduced Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in 1943, a theory which illustrates the five stages of human needs: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, as well as self-actualization.

Self-actualization lies at the top of the pyramid as humanity’s most advanced need. However, to reach it, one must fulfill the pyramid’s first four levels. This pyramid doesn’t only apply to general human needs. Various authors and presenters, like Deanna Sellnow, have theorized on its possible use in presentations.

To successfully engage and motivate your listeners, use Maslow’s Motivational Theory with your business or sales presentations. Focus on how your topic benefits your audience. Remember, it’s all about meeting their needs.

Understand your audience’s current situation before getting their attention to make them interested in your discussion. Once you make them believe that your proposal will help them, they’ll see a need to take action.

First Level: Physiological Needs

This phase concerns basic human needs: food, water, air, sleep, etc.

Analyze your audience before crafting your pitch so you’ll know what to include in your presentation. How will you relate your topic to your audience’s concern?

If your client has a problem related to budget, you can offer cost-effective strategies to address their concerns.

Second Level: Safety Needs

This level talks about your audience’s need for security, health, shelter, resources, etc.

Let them know that their safety and comfort are your top priorities. Use personal stories that show you understand what they’re going through, and reassure them that everything will be all right.

Third Level: Love and Belonging

Since people reject loneliness or exclusion, they constantly look for acceptance and approval.

Encourage your audience to form a small group after giving your presentation. Doing so lets them know their colleagues and to share each other’s ideas about the topic, making them feel involved.

Fourth Level: Esteem

This level involves the need for appreciation and self-respect. People want to feel that they’re valued because it boosts their self-esteem.

To satisfy this need, acknowledge their presence and show them how thankful you are for their time. Do this from time to time during your presentation to make them feel important.

Fifth Level: Self-Actualization

Motivate people by challenging them to take possible action. This feeds on their need to show that they’re capable of accomplishments.

End with a powerful call-to-action slide and statement to convince them that you believe in their potentials.

Conclusion

These five levels motivate your audience to learn from your presentation. Think about how your topic relates to your audience’s concerns to guide you when you start crafting your pitch. This gives you an idea how to meet their needs.

Knowing how to satisfy their physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization needs let you effectively interact with your audience. If they feel like you care about them, then they’ll care about you and what you have to say.

Successfully fulfilling each need encourages your audience to take action as they realize that they’re capable of achieving particular endeavors. This becomes your edge to producing a powerful and effective presentation.

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References

“4 Types of Audience Members You Need to Present For.” SlideGenius, Inc. Accessed June 25, 2015.
“Motivating Listeners.” Boundless. Accessed June 25, 2015.
“Presentation Tips: 5 Quick Steps to Audience Engagement.” SlideGenius, Inc. December 16, 2014. Accessed June 25, 2015.
Sellnow, Deanna D. Confident Public Speaking. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005.

Delivering Great PowerPoint Presentations on Monday Mornings

Posted on by Rick E

When Monday morning comes from around the corner, the sudden rush of work can overwhelm you. After a nice, relaxing weekend, having to attend—or hold—your first meeting for the week can be demotivating.

Have you ever felt this way? Chances are, your audience feels the same way, too.

Don’t let vacation blues hinder you from delivering your message. Make your listeners feel at ease as you warm them up for another busy week.

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Here are some simple tips to help you hold an effective discussion on a Monday morning:

Aim for Simplicity

Being bombarded with heavy visuals and complex figures are big presentation annoyances that you must avoid, especially on Mondays.

It’s like experiencing traffic on your way to work—it makes you feel dead tired and unproductive when you finally reach the office.

You don’t want to be the reason why your audience had a bad start to their week. Make your PowerPoint slides simple and focus more on discussing and fleshing out your key points.

The “less is more” approach can help you a lot in keeping your presentation simple and organized. This also works in making your message more digestible and engaging in the shortest amount of time possible, especially now that people’s attention spans have dropped to 8 seconds, as noted by Cynthia Price of Entrepreneur.

Tidy up your main ideas and outline your points to know what your presentation will be focusing on.

Keep your introduction brief and include only the vital information that complements your topic.

Avoid plugging in large chunks of data and complicated transitions in your PowerPoint slide. Use slide transitions judiciously to increase visual clarity and improve communication.

Make It Personal

Reinforcing a personal relationship with your audience does a great job in countering Monday madness. Establish a connection with them to build surefire audience involvement.

Ask a simple question, like how they spent their weekends. This lets you to begin conversations and connect with your audience on a personal level. This technique helps you move between sections of your presentation, while maintaining everyone’s interest.

Call them by their first names (such as Mr. John or Ms. Joyce instead of Mr. Burns or Ms. Owens) to make them feel they belong in your presentation. This works especially when you want to create a light yet professional public speaking atmosphere.

Improving your verbal and nonverbal cues such as eye contact, hand gestures, and facial expressions also encourage them to welcome your viewpoints and trust what you say.

Your use of language is also another important aspect in developing a fruitful relationship with your audience. Speak the right words at the right moment to keep them interested throughout your speech.

Shift your focus around the room every now and then to involve as many people as possible in your talk.

Vary your hand movements to add emphasis and help describe events. Try to use open gestures like open palms to symbolize gentleness and portray a friendly image.

Practice showing appropriate facial expressions to convey your passion towards the subject and the audience’s concern.

Inject Some Fun

Most people feel lazy on Mondays. It was even voted as the most hated day of the week in The Escapist’s poll: Worst day of the week.

Call it Monday blues or hangovers, but that’s not an excuse to be less productive, especially at work.

When tasked to deliver a pitch to your colleagues or the executives, injecting some fun helps ease the sluggishness and liven up one’s day. According to Lisa Marshall, host and creator of The Pubic Speaker podcast, incorporating humor in your speech creates an immediate connection between you and your audience.

Besides establishing rapport, it also helps you gain attention in the simplest way. To get everything right, begin your presentation with a smile and your audience will definitely smile back. The positivity needs to start with you, so always keep a smiling face to show them you’re delighted in presenting for them.

Making people laugh is one way to make your presentation more memorable. Crack a joke that fits your message, or insert a funny image or video without going overboard and derailing your discussion.

Another creative way of injecting humor is by poking fun at your mistakes or at your most embarrassing stories. This shows your authenticity and makes the audience feel you’re only human, just like them.

Comic elements will convince and entertain your audience.

At the same time, don’t overdo things just to wake the audience up. Your presentation’s humor should always point back to your key points. The substance of your presentation always comes first. After all, it’s what your audience came for.

Conclusion

Even Monday morning PowerPoint presentations can be interesting, as long as you create an effective pitch that hints at great benefits to share, instead of a sleep-inducing one.

Make your presentation simple enough to understand so that they don’t tune out due to heavy technical terms. The simpler it is, the more memorable it becomes for the audience.

Add a personal touch in your speech. Ask them simple questions about their day and addressing them by their first names instead of their last names.

Inject some fun by sharing dose of positive emotions. Making people feel at ease captivates them even after your talk is over.

Unleash these communication efforts within you and liven up your audiences, no matter how much they hate this day.

No matter what day of the week it is, SlideGenius is here to address your concerns.

 

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References

“Involving your audience.” University Leicester. n.d. Accessed May 15, 2015. http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/presentations/involve

Marshall, Lisa. “How to Avoid Making Humor Mistakes in Speeches.” Quick and Dirty Tips. December 25, 2009. Accessed May 15, 2015.  www.quickanddirtytips.com/business-career/public-speaking/how-to-avoid-making-humor-mistakes-in-speeches

Price, Cynthia. “The 8-Second Challenge: Email Marketing for Our Shrinking Attention Span.” Entrepreneur. March 18, 2014. Accessed May 15, 2015. www.entrepreneur.com/article/232266

“What day of the week is the worst one?” The Escapist. n.d. Accessed May 15, 2015. www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.84326-Poll-Worst-day-of-the-week

 

Professional PowerPoints: Dealing with Negative Feedback

Posted on by Rick E

Hearing praises about your work boosts self-esteem and inspires you to be a better speaker.

However, there are times that your professional PowerPoints fall short of your audience’s expectations, exposing you to harsh critiques about your pitch.

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Criticism is hard to handle, especially when it knocks your ego down. But all types of feedback—even negative ones—can help you improve and become a better speaker.

Here’s how to handle negative feedback positively:

Learn from the Negative

Don’t take negative feedback personally. Treat criticism as your door to growth and improvement.

If pictures are developed from negatives, so are you. Stop looking into the rearview mirror, and focus on what lies ahead. Move forward and learn from those mistakes.

Mold the feedback into something constructive, fostering effective change rather than solely concentrating on the critique itself.

Consider the Source

Sometimes, the feedback we get can be taken as hurtful insults and attacks on our person. These nonconstructive comments may be hard to accept at first, but don’t let them deter your progress.

Consider the person criticizing you and understand that they don’t have the same mindset as yours.

Feedback isn’t the same for everyone. Ignore distasteful comments and don’t dwell on it. Also, be aware of whether you’ve offended or angered a client or not.

Read between the lines and ask yourself the following questions:

  • What are they concerned about? What are the key issues?
  • Why are they reacting this way?
  • What did I say that triggered them to give negative feedback?

These will help you digest the comment and understand where your critic is coming from. Always be mindful of how you engage the audience to avoid provoking anyone.

Maintain Professionalism

Taking feedback too personally creates a hurdle between you and your audience.

Keep an objective stance on the issues being raised to save your professional image. Take a few seconds to breathe, evaluate the situation, and avoid reacting outright.

Your audience seeks not only credibility but also a sense of professionalism. Reply to them with kindness and confirm that you are on the same page.

Thank them for sharing their input and create a safe space where both of your arguments can meet.

Conclusion

Letting go of negative emotions in response to hostile feedback is difficult at first, but accepting or rejecting critique is your choice.

Welcome your audiences’ criticism to improve yourself as a person and as a presenter.

Please your audience with a professional PowerPoint design. Contact SlideGenius now and discover how we can help you with your presentation needs.

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References

Donald, Latumahina. “How to Handle Negative Feedback in 6 Simple Steps.” Life Optimizer. Accessed June 24, 2015.
“Presentation Tips: 5 Quick Steps to Audience Engagement.” SlideGenius, Inc. December 16, 2014. Accessed June 24, 2015.

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