Welcome to Q4 heat!!!

I truly believe that if PowerPoint were to charge a premium per slide in Q4, Microsoft revenues would definitely double. Q4 is PRESENTATION SEASON!! If you work in marketing, you’re pitching for a budget hoping for approval. If you’re in HR, you have loads of initiatives for next year that you wish would appeal to upper management. If you’re in sales, this major account who is going to make you reach your target is one presentation away. And if you’re a department manager, you will need to leverage your 2018 department achievements during the cycle meeting. I have been in most of these situations and I bet that, like me at the time, when faced with the task of preparing a presentation your first step would be to prepare your slides. Don’t fall for that like I did!

As we get bombarded every day with fully loaded slides I stop to think: “Can we still call them visual aids, or have we become human aids for our slides?” Should the slides be the stars of the show? As an attendee I don’t want to spend 15 minutes (not more hopefully) watching someone reading from the screen.

If you want to achieve your objectives through presentations, I can assure you there is more to it than the visual aids. Allow me to ask you some questions:

1. How well do you know your audience’s background, needs, aspirations, and key triggers? How is your presentation going to focus on these aspects?
2. What is your understanding of the relationship dynamics among your attendees? Would anything you say ignite a war you don’t want to be part of?
3. If you were to say only ten words, what would they be? If three of them are what you want your audience to remember, choose them.
4. What is your call for action? What do you want the attendees to do once you finish?
5. How would you keep your audience fully engaged throughout your presentation? And how would you know whether they are engaged or not?
6. How would you develop an attractive opening and closing for your presentation?

These and many other questions essential for success are answered, and key presentation techniques are practiced in our upcoming program, Presentation Design and Delivery. Join us to become the master of the stage.

Remember, you ARE the presentation!

Written by: Rabih Rizk, Management Consultant with Smart