Ten Killer Presentation Techniques

Use these easy to follow techniques to significantly enhance your business presentations

1. Create a sizzling title - You can put together the most fantastic presentation but if nobody turns up or the wrong people are there it will not be a success. Your title needs to grab people’s attention and clearly indicate what the presentation will be about. It is also good to contextualise it. For this presentation the title is “Using 10 killer presentation techniques to significantly enhance your business presentations”. This hopefully grabbed your attention, it specifically states what will be covered and it contextualizes it, as it focuses on helping people in business rather than public speaking in a broader sense.
   
   
2. Design your presentation dynamically - Write down the different topic areas you want to cover on individual post it notes. Then look for main themes and sub themes under them and put the post its up on a wall or large piece of card, grouping them based on this structure. It is a very dynamic way of moving topics around to get the right flow to your presentation. You can chop and change the structure of the presentation easily using this approach.
   
   
3. Memorise your presentation using visual stacks - Create a visual image for each part of your presentation and then link one to another by using connectors. The more bizarre the images and connectors the better you will remember them. For example, if you want to talk about people’s travel preferences and then the sports they play, you could visualise a Boeing 747 with a huge tennis racket coming out of a smashed window on the plane. Once you polish this technique you can do away with having to read cue cards or notes completely and it will bring a higher level of professionalism to your presentation.
   
   
4. Take control and get interaction going early on - Ask people a question at the start and if you don’t get a high level of response (as is typically the case at the start of presentations when people are less inclined to participate) push until you do. An obvious either or question is one way of doing this or an obvious “yes” question. Don’t move on until you have started to get a high level of participation. Get everyone putting their hands up and connect with them up front.
   
   
5. Ensure your presentation is much more than a set of PowerPoint slides - To many people the concept of presentations has become synonymous with PowerPoint. The overuse of slides should be avoided at all costs, as it stops the presenter from engaging with the audience. Even worse are slides that have too many bullet points, too much detail or a dazzling range of build techniques! Think about the public speakers who impress you and what they do to engage people. They don’t typically use PowerPoint.
   
   
6. Confirm the aims and outcomes upfront - People have not come to see you; they have come to hear about the subject of your presentation. You need to make your aims really clear and confirm that they fit with their expectations. It is also important to revisit these at the end of your presentation. As with the title, you can carry out the greatest presentation, but if your aims are not consistent with the aims of the audience it will not be a success.
   
   
7. Use embedded metaphors - This is possibly the most complex technique to use but potentially one of the most effective in raising your presentations to a high level. If anyone has seen comedians like Billie Connolly or Eddie Izzard perform, they use a technique where they start one story, go off at a tangent on another story and then may even go off at another tangent returning further down the line to complete the stories. They are using embedded metaphors. It is hypnotic and is a method that can hold your audience’s attention during a performance or presentation. What you do is to start one related story at the beginning of your presentation and take it to 95% completion. Then link to another related story and again take this to 95% completion. You then link to another story and take this to 95% completion. You then deliver the body of your presentation, but then return at the end to close down all three stories you started, but in reverse order. This is a superb technique but it will take some practice and some good stories.
   
   
8. Include everyone in your audience - People respond to information in different ways and it is important to be mindful of this when preparing your presentation. Some people respond to information in a visual way, some focus more on the auditory aspect of the information and others are more concerned with the feeling. This is important in both preparing your material, but also in the language that you use. You need to make your presentation as inclusive as possible. Also people have a different emphasis in the way they process information. Some want to know the reasons - “Why” people; others are more interested in the facts - “What” people; some are keener to know the practical use - “How” people and finally there are the people who want to expand on the possibilities of the techniques covered - “What If” people. Again try and ensure that all bases are covered within your presentation.
   
   
9. Use the platform effectively - Some people will advise you to stand behind the lectern and deliver your presentation from a fixed position. In my opinion this is not the most engaging way of working with your audience and building a relationship. Although it is not advisable to erratically move around, some structured movement enhances your presentation. You can use certain places on the stage to focus on certain themes or feelings. Maybe deliver your embedded metaphors from a certain place and return there to close them down. Have a place where you go to talk about more confidential or secretive areas. This technique is a form of stage anchoring and is related to NLP. You can also use Satir categories in terms of the stances you use on stage. This originated from Virginia Satir in her work on family therapy. You can basically use stances such as “blamer”, “placatory” and “distracter” stances to enhance your delivery. Bring an element of performance to your presentations.
   
   
10. Handle questions consistently - My first piece of advice here would be to prepare well and build your knowledge beyond the scope of your presentation. It is also important to answer honestly. If you do not know, don’t try and fudge an answer but agree to take it off line and get back to the person. There is also a technique I use called TRACT to structure the way in which questions are handled. Firstly Thank the person for the question, then Repeat the question to ensure you are clear and everyone has heard it, then Answer the question, Confirm with the questioner that you have answered their question and then finally Thank the person again.

Tony Brooks