Persuasive Presenting

Recently I was co-presenting a workshop on Business Communication along with my wife and business partner, Sandee, and it involved participants coming forward and making a presentation in front of the class while being videotaped. It struck me how self conscious we all are when making presentations. So much so that we focus on our mannerisms, speech and delivering the content while forgetting that we are in the business of persuasion.

A business presentation is usually a persuasive argument. You are trying to persuade the audience to believe in your point of view. Therefore your focus should be on the audience not on yourself or your PowerPoint slides. You should be looking at them for cues of attention and understanding. And the audience recognizing that you are speaking to them will increase their listening to your presentation.

I therefore thought I would share a few points that I have learned along the way that helps me be a more persuasive business presenter.

Prepare before you Speak
Before making the presentation, present it to yourself in front of the mirror until you are confident you have a full grasp of what you are planning to say, how you will use it to persuade your audience and how you will counter opposition to your ideas.

Use your Own Style
Speak from who you are, don’t pretend to be someone else. You don’t have to be Barak Obama to get your audience to listen. People want to hear what you really believe — there’s power in honesty. It’s not what you say, but how you say it, and how they hear it that counts. Over 65% of communication is in the non verbals and voice intonation with content being only 35%. Powerful speaking comes in many styles, and even a quiet-spoken introvert can learn to make himself heard.

The goal is not perfection, but persuasion.

Tell a Story
A story is one of the easiest and best ways to make a point. Recently I gave a one day workshop and later in conducting a performance review with my audience, I was surprised to learn, that the number one thing that the audience remembered was a story I told in passing, to make a point. People love stories, and it makes them know you are real. Stories stay with us forever.

Practice, practice, practice 
The best performing athletes at the recently concluded Olympic games all credited their success to the long hours of practice. It is said that world class players probably spend about 30 hours of field practice and film-watching for every 60-minutes of the game. Practice allows them to learn from their mistakes and perform better.

You will be more comfortable in making your presentation by time spent practicing. Arriving early to visit the site, testing the equipment and visualizing the audience can increase your comfort level.

Use Power Point as an aid
PowerPoint, is a useful tool it is not the presentation. You are the presentation. Far too often I see presenters stand and face the screen and present with only a casual glance back at the audience. Start and end your talk with a blank screen, so the focus is on what you are saying. The letter “B” on your keyboard blanks the screen.

- Start with a short story — something emotional, controversial or visual that makes an impact.

- Keep text to a minimum. Don’t read from your slides.

- Less is more. make fewer points per slide.

Make visual contact with individuals in the audience. If you connect with one, chances are you’ll be connecting with them all.

Good luck and persuasive presenting.