Worst Presentation Ever: Harvard Professor
Imagine the worst presentation ever. Now, read this post to compare. Read on to discover what not to do during your presentation. Learn from the mistakes of this Harvard professor.
He had impressive credentials. He was Harvard educated and a Harvard educator. He’d authored at least 15 books. He was endorsed by Jack Welch and had spoken to business executives around the world. Wow! Sounds impressive! But… he was a lousy speaker. Calling him “lousy” is being kind and polite to him but not to his audience. He certainly wasn’t kind and polite to the audience.
Orchestrate the first and last impressions of your presentation
Spend more time and effort getting your opening and close right.
When creating your opening and close, consider the possibility that they might only remember these two parts. If that was true, would they have received your intended message? If not, revise your opening and close. The body is the detail, the opening and close provide the motivation and the direction.
Two techniques to build rapport with your audience
Build rapport with your audience by demonstrating how you are like them. Imagine if you could be an audience whisperer.
Create and Deliver your Presentation on Purpose
clarify the purpose of your presentation
The Three Most Damaging PowerPoint Mistakes
There are many mistakes that presenters make when using PowerPoint. What’s the most common and easily preventable mistakes? PowerPoint is not evil. It’s simply a slide presentation software that is easy to use and many presenters have used it for decades. Because many presenters have used it so poorly, we have become complacent about poor PowerPoint presentations.
PowerPoint is a tool. Don’t allow the tool to cloud your thinking about how to accomplish your presentation goals. Put the hammer down and think about the purpose and goal of your presentation.
Speak to an Audience of One
Presentation Tips 02: Speak to an Audience of One
Imagine how you might feel when you’re sitting in an audience listening to a speaker and it feels like the speaker is talking directly to you. It seems more like a one-to-one conversation despite the audience present.
Now imagine that you could convey that intimate feeling when you are the speaker.
The secret is to speak as if you’re speaking to one person. Sounds simple yet few speakers have mastered this technique.
Manage and Leverage Your Confidence
It is not about you. It’s about your audience. What did they see, hear, believe and feel? That means that during your presentation you might experience those moments of anxiety – but the audience doesn’t need to know. Confidence starts by becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable.
The Chicken Was Better Than the Luncheon Speaker because…
Instead, he parked himself behind the lectern and boringly read the speech that someone wrote for him. Cleary the speech writer wanted to demonstrate his vocabulary by including several ten-dollar words. That doesn’t enhance comprehension, rapport or trust.
Establish Your Credibility and Build Trust
To persuade your audience to act on your message they must believe you. To be believable you must be both credible and earn their trust. If you don’t have credibility, no one will listen. If you have credibility but your audience does not trust you, they will not believe you.
The Marketing Speaker Didn’t Understand his Purpose
Marketing and selling are on the same continuum. Marketing leads to selling which leads to the sale. And no business survives without the sale.