A little while ago I pulled into my local gas station very early one morning to fill up on the way to deliver leadership training. Despite still being dark, there were a lot of people at the station for an early morning, and because I was on a tight time frame, I was fortunate enough to be able to park by end pump that was closest to the road so I wouldn’t be held up by other vehicles. I jumped out of my car is, and stood by the hose as it pumped gas into my car so that I could hang it up as soon as my tank was filled and pay for it as quickly as I could to get back on the road. As I walked across the forecourt to go and pay for my gas I spotted, for the first time in my life, a customer smoking next to his vehicle. He was obviously with a crew of other guys, standing next to a double cab truck with concreting gear on the back of it. And as I walked past him I said, “Mate - I really strongly want to suggest that you don’t smoke on the forecourt because it’s dangerous for yourself and everyone else!” He stared at me blankly as if I had spoken in a foreign language to him. And his response- with maximum contempt, just to blow smoke in my face! Now 6am was too early in the morning for a fight for me, but…

And this is where I finish the story in my presentation skills presentation, explaining that because of time we need to move on to other content. Not surprisingly, I’ve had people involuntarily exclaim “No!!”, and others have demonstrable looks of pain on the face. Why is it so frustrating and even distressing for a story like this to be stopped or suspended before conclusion, regardless of how climactic the point of pause is?

This presentation is aimed at people in the workplace or could, and especially should, not only give themselves permission to tell more stories but should vigorously pursue the inclusion of more stories to achieve the kind of chemical investment that my audiences experience when I tell engaging stories. This content is particularly useful for those people who:

• Are leading teams
• Require funding, or are fundraising
• Need to sell the benefits of a product or service to customers or clients
• Ultimately need to shift people’s thinking to achieve a desired outcome

This presentation content is based on my book “Outstanding Presenters Speak for Themselves- a Certified Speaking Professional Reveals the 10 Essential Elements to Winning Presentations”, and covers content such as:

• Anchoring to the “Why” before you work out the “How”
• Just because you have a great story, doesn’t make you a great storyteller
• The first and last impressions of presentations with punch
• Five ways to transition from “Talking Head” to “Audience Interaction”
• Slide show Do’s and Don’ts- why do experts still get this wrong?
• And the use of objects and props in presentations- not just kids’ play

Although this is a presentation presentation, the content can easily be ‘workshopped’ even with large audiences.
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As with all of my presentations, I customize this presentation to the specific industry or professional realm that I’m speaking to. I do this by initially consulting the client to understand the needs of the audience. I then solicit the names of senior leaders and those closer to the front line to conduct interviews to ascertain pain points and specific challenges. This provides invaluable information for me to customize my presentation specifically to the audience in question and in doing so I’ll make at least 25 references specifically to their world in any 60-minute presentation.

And one thing I can guarantee with all of my presentations that no coroner will ever provide a ruling of “Death by PowerPoint!” I have my audiences laughing, on their feet, interacting with each other, and have audience members on stage with me doing live demonstrations! And all of this mixed in with thought-provoking, and riveting stories that keep the audience engaged the entire time!

“Present Like a Pro!” is also available as a workshop from three hours to three days. Contact me now to talk further!

Outstanding Presenters Speak for Themselves - 10 Essential Elements To Winning Presentations!

This free chapter (5) from the book “Outstanding Presenters Speak for Themselves- 10 Essential Elements To Winning Presentations!” focuses on the subject of choosing, crafting, and delivering stories in an unforgettable fashion. It emphasizes the fact that a great story can be poorly told and conversely a relatively mundane story can be delivered in an extremely engaging manner, making it memorable years after the telling.