Life is a Journey, and so is learning. It’s human nature to grow, to learn, to become even better at what we do.
I’m about to do that today; jumping on a plane to Germany to facilitate a program of learning for the folks at the UN Climate Change Convention.
I’m super excited and I know I will learn a lot and get even better at what I do (that doesn’t mean I’m not shitting myself:)
And it’s our job to do that, that is, help people get better at what they do (and take as much of the nerves out of it as possible) It’s a wild ride and I love it.
How do you get people to get engaged in your training right from the get-g0.
One of the best things we can do to get that ride going for our participants is get people engaged as early in the presentation or training as we can. Here are some presentation tips on how to start with a spark.
Look at a newspaper – what do they use to hook you in.
A Headline.
That’s what all the pay per click ads you see on the right hand side of google are trying to do.
It’s what the news announcer on TV is drawing you in with.
The same goes for your presentation.
What’s the one big take-away idea from your presentation, what is it that excites you about being there – that should rub off on your audience.
You can do this a number of ways:
- Deliver a story or statement that arouses the audience’s interest.
- Pose a problem or a question that has to be solved or answered
- Describe specific benefits for adopting the a course of action that you set forth in your presentation
- Shock people with an alarming statistic
- Use a stage prop, or some device to make it 3D (think of Steve Jobs putting the Mac Air in an A4 envelope.)
- Use a striking image (you can find great stuff on twistedsifter.com) that illustrates your key message
Main thing is you have to keep the rest of your presentation down to 3 key messages. Answer the question that matters most to the people in the room
Think of an antagonist, some one or something that riles up your group, build up the feeling, paint a vivid picture of how bad this situation or person is. Then talk about the benefits and advantages of the product, service or approach you are presenting.
All the way through, keep using headlines and key points, drill the message home with great images on your slides and in your statements. Make it memorable
And remember, make a strong call to action – what do you want people to do as a result of your presentation?
What else would you do to make your presentation epic?
