610.409.2522
dani@mac4comm.com
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
  • Who We Work With
  • Blog
  • How to Reach Us

Think you know the No-Brainers for Presenting to your Leaders and Peers? Think Again.

October 28, 2016Lori Rohrbach

Closeup of a lecturer speaking to a group of business people

First impressions matter. And when you’ve been invited to present to a crowd of leaders or peers trying to convey an important company message, strategy or initiative, they really matter.  Your speaking “performance” is often judged within the first 30 seconds of your presentation, and your competency, knowledge and authority on the subject—well they are evaluated in less than a minute. Sounds intimidating? So what’s a presenter to do?

You might think these five reminders are “no-brainers” when it comes to presenting within your own organization, but so many presenters pay little attention to these must-dos.

1) Prepare well. Know your audience, know your subject and anticipate the questions your audience will ask in advance. Everyone focuses their time and energy on creating their slides; consider putting just as much energy into the talk track for the story you are telling.

2) “Tell” your story.  Don’t distract your audience with cluttered, overly engineered graphics and wordy slides. Challenge yourself: if your slide deck contains 15 slides for a 30 minute presentation, consider cutting half of them.  Spend more time telling the story with fewer slides. Help your audience focus on you and the story you are telling.

Keep it simple: simple slides, simple stories that are meaningful to your audience and a simple, dynamic presentation style that leaves your audience wanting to know more. Stories are told through examples. These are success stories, challenges overcome, opportunities taken or missed, pitfalls and disasters. Your audience wants to learn from your success, but they really want to avoid those epic fails—so air the dirty laundry.  Remember, any speaker can relay the facts and details; great speakers tell the stories behind them.

3) Don’t underestimate the delivery: Let’s face it, your audience will never be as excited about your presentation as you are, so be dynamic, infuse humor (or at least periodic smiles; no one wants to be bored into submission by a monotone speaker who presents like they’d rather be somewhere else), let your audience relate to you (give them a reason to sit up, put away their phone or tablet and listen to you).

4) Dress up your slides. You wouldn’t think of wearing your tattered old sweatpants and a dirty t-shirt to make a presentation. Same thing goes for your slides. If you’re using the same old slides to make your point, and they appeared worn and antiquated last year when you presented them, it might be time for a refresh and a bit of spit and polish. Consider giving the slides you absolutely must have a design lift. Hire a design guru to refresh your slides, images and graphics; to embed new images where it makes sense and to ensure your slides meet your internal branding standards.

5) Invite interaction. Gone are the days where the presentation ends with a Q&A, and if time runs out —oh well. If you want an engaged audience, invite them to interject with questions as you tell your story (but be careful to stay on topic as you do so). Stop at key points during your story telling to ask your audience a question (consider polling your audience at the start and end of your presentation; be sure to share the immediate responses by incorporating feedback into your story). Be flexible, and don’t be afraid to go off script to address a key issue or question.

It’s really a no-brainer, when presenting to leaders and peers, “you only get one chance to make a first impression.”

Author: Danielle MacDonald

 

Previous post Think Before You Tweet: (And Other Ways to Protect Your Corporate Reputation On Social Media) Next post The 7 Deadly Sins for Websites

Eight Work-From-Home Etiquette Tips

Eight Work-From-Home Etiquette Tips

 

Whether telecommuting is old hat or something you’ve been forced into as part of the COVID-19 shutdown, here are a few tips to make the experience run smoothly for both employers and employees.

 

Managing expectations

Successful work-from-home strategies always begin with clearly communicated expectations. Make sure your employees have any necessary equipment, tools and resources.  Will they need to track their time? Participate in regularly scheduled meetings? Be available at certain times of day? For employees, know what you’re accountable for and clearly communicate any challenges you’re having.

 

Constant communication

Keep the lines of communication open and be accessible. Check in with employees regularly through apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts and Skype, or even an old-fashioned email or phone call. Be genuinely interested in how they’re doing but don’t overdo it. Foster a feeling of trust by not micromanaging.

 

Nine to five…ish

While having a daily schedule is ideal, it may not always be practical right now. Make sure your people know when you need them to be available and try to offer flexibility at other times. They may be juggling school schedules as well as work schedules and working at “off-shift” times may be necessary. Be mindful of employees in different time zones as well.

 

For employees, try to work when you’re at your best, and not when you’re exhausted by kindergarten playtime and fourth grade math. Make sure people know if you will be unavailable at certain times.

 

Taking a break

Getting up and moving clears the head and helps with creativity and problem-solving. Whether it’s a walk around the block or a break for lunch, make time to get away from your desk throughout the day.

 

Signing off

Working from home does not mean being available 24/7. Set an actual end to the workday if possible. Don’t send and respond to messages at all hours. Sign out of messaging apps and close work programs. Understand and respect these boundaries.

 

Location, location, location

When setting up a home office, think about where you will have the fewest distractions – for yourself and for those who may be seeing you and your background on a video conferencing platform. Try to avoid busy spots that may include semi-clad people walking behind you, barking dogs and kids vying for your attention.

 

Conferencing and calls

Be clear about whether you expect people to turn on their cameras during meetings. If so, be clear about how they should be dressed. During calls, mute your phone when you’re not talking to avoid background noise. Headphones can also help with call quality. When speaking, pause frequently so others can participate in the conversation.

 

Social engagement

It’s ok for managers and employees to have some down time together, which may help ward off feelings of isolation. Keep up your normal level of interaction, perhaps with a virtual coffee break or happy hour. Managers should set the tone for how casual to be. Let employees choose what they would like to share, and never pry into areas that were off-limits before.

 

 

Author: Erin Alderfer

HomeWho We AreWhat We DoWho We Work WithBlogHow to Reach Us
Copyright © 2016 MAC4 Communications, LLC.