Presentations must have some type of order so the presenter has an order in which to speak and the audience has an order to follow. There are many types of order, while I worked at the zoo doing animal presentations a common order was from head to tail, I would commonly use what I refer to as a circular order from head to back to tail to feet and belly and back to head. My volunteers who were oftentimes new to presenting at all would skip the step of organizing the information and they would oftentimes get stumped and not know what to say next. Being stumped leaves large awkward holes in the presentation. There are many different ways to organize your presentations depending on what you will be talking about. There is chronological order in which you discuss events from the past to the current and then future. Spacial
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Most people would feel naked and stripped if they were not accompanied by a visual aid of some kind. The truth is that there are times when visual aids are not necessary and other times when the equipment fails and you will have to move to plan B without it. If you have put enough thought, preparation, and strategy into it before then you should not have to rely on or freak out without visual aid. Visual aids are supposed to be a support to your presentation not the featured star. If you have prepared for your presentation thoroughly and truly know your information inside and out then you will be able to have a meaningful speaking engagement even without the use of supplementary aids.
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The day of the presentation you will want to make sure that you have a great frame of mind, are confident and ready and that you look the part. It is still important to know where you are going and arrive early to check out the room, make sure your equipment works, check out the seating arrangement, lights, room temperature, and ventilation are to your liking. Once you are certain that all is in a state of readiness, you can take the extra time to mingle with the audience arriving. Meeting the audience is important because you are meeting friendly faces to get you through your presentation, establishes a comfortable atmosphere, it helps wield the audience into a responsive whole, gives you the opportunity to observe the mood, it allows you to gather and arrange your introduction, establishes individuals who are rooting for your success rather than an overwhelming mass
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For the majority of Americans, first impressions are everything and presentations are just like job interviews when it comes to appearance. You have worked hard preparing for and rehearsing your presentation and you want your appearance to be of the same high caliber. Spend time choosing and preparing your attire, your audience will be the first to judge you and half won’t care, but the half who do will think you a joke. Think about your overly casual college professors, you know that they know what they are talking about, but you question the information because of the attire. The rule of thumb in preparation is to over dress, you could always loose a jacket or tie if you arrive and feel it’s too much. Choose accessories such as ties and for ladies, jewelry that are complimentary and not a distraction such as noisy bracelets or earrings far too big
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We talked a little about attitude in past blogs, what about the attitude you are emitting without knowing it? The accidental attitude is far more dangerous because you don’t know that that’s the vibe you are giving off. If you are any distance away from people you will have to raise your voice a little. If you are a naturally loud person, too much volume can make it seem like you are yelling and angry. Gestures are important and should be used wisely to enhance your message and demonstrate what you are explaining. If you unknowingly are using karate chop hands or are making a chopping gesture during your presentation you could make your audience feel uncomfortable and defensive. If your most comfortable stance includes your hands folded upon your chest you could be closing yourself down and giving the audience the cold shoulder leaving your audience feeling defensive. It
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Sometimes when I tell people that I’m a presentation coach, they assume I only work with people that present on a large stage to hundreds of people. This is a classic misconception because every interaction we have with clients and prospects counts as a presentation. If a pitch is needed to get the contract, that’s a presentation even when it’s to a small room of people. If a client needs an update on a project, that’s a presentation. If a prospect calls for information, that’s a presentation. At a networking, you have a 10 seconds to capture interest, another presentation. From this perspective we can easily see that each interaction we have with others is a different type of presentation. Are the people handling these presentations for your company prepared to present? Remember, many prospects don’t go past the initial call to your office for more information. Learn more with
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Happy New Year! It is 2013 already and time for a new start and of course time to plan and commit to New Year’s resolutions. Why not make a promise to work on your speaking skills? It is a challenge in itself to face the fear and just do it. Being a good speaker is truly a benefit, not only in business, but in daily life as well. Presentations can help your business by connecting the audience to you and your topic. Being a presenter is like being an honorary teacher and the benefit is you leave the audience better than when they came in. Every person is a speaker, not necessarily a presenter – we all speak every day. People spend majority of their lives talking to people and if we are not physically talking then we are watching others talk. Humans are social creatures and since so much
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Throughout the month of December, we have been discussing the different types of intelligences that make people who they are. The following two intelligence’s are considered personal intelligences and are supplementary intelligences to the ones discussed earlier in the month. Interpersonal Intelligence The interpersonal intelligence are the people who understand and easily interact with others as well as empathize and understand motivations and goals. They are able to sense emotions and relate to the thoughts and feelings of others. They usually have many friends and easily pick up street smarts and are able to be taught through group activities, seminars, and dialogs. People of this intelligence are easily able to use the telephone, audio conferencing, and e-mail. Peoples who are part of this intelligence are great organizers and turn out to be teachers, facilitators, therapists, politicians, and sales people. Intrapersonal Intelligence Not to be confused with its interpersonal, people who
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Throughout December, I am discussing different intelligence types. Musical Intelligence This is the first of the arts intelligence that are sensitive to sounds and rhythms everywhere. They generally study better when there is music or noise in the background, but are easily taught when lessons are spoken rhythmically. They are the composers and musicians of the world and they generally grow up remembering melodies and singing and banging on everything. People dominant in this intelligence usually gravitate more to the music industry including composers, recording engineers, musicians, or DJ’s. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence This is the second arts intelligence and they are usually the people that cannot sit still because they use their body movements to learn. Since they are always in motion they have a keen sense of body awareness and they make gestures to emphasize. They learn best by participating in role playing, hands-on learning, and other physical activity and
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Throughout the month of December, I will be discussing the different types of intelligences that make people who they are and how they learn more effectively. Linguistic/Verbal This intelligence is primarily a school intelligence and listed first as it is one of the most dominant intelligences. This group of people loves to use words and they think in words, which leaves them with a highly developed auditory or verbal skill set. They generally like activities that incorporate words such as reading, poetry, word games, telling stories. The verbal group is easily taught by getting them to say and see words and they thrive with lecture, computers, tape recorders, and other multimedia. These learners usually end up in careers such as authors, journalists, comedians, lawyers, teachers, and presenters. They are easily able to listen, speak, write, explain, and teach. Logical/Mathematical This is the second major school intelligence and they are great
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