Most presentations are stressful for the speaker and tedious for the audience. Typical problems:
- Too formal
- Too long
- Talking but not listening
- Humourless
- Focused on the script, not the audience’s reaction
- Too little preparation
- Inappropriate content and images
- Jargon and clichés
- Nerves (often this results in talking too much)
It doesn’t have to be this way. This is why we have developed our new presentation course. It helps people deliver confident, persuasive presentations.
Our presentation training is in two parts: preparation and delivery.
Preparing for your presentation
Articulate has created dozens of presentations for clients including The Design Council, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard. Our preparation training draws on this experience and includes:
- Refining your ideas to focus on what is most important to your audience
- How to structure a presentation properly to tell a compelling story
- Writing clear, concise headlines and bullets
- Advanced PowerPoint skills, such as creating interactive slide decks and templates
- Turning a presentation into an effective ‘leave-behind’ document
- Creating memorable slides with strong visual impact
- Creating simple but effective diagrams
- Finding and using appropriate stock images and clipart
Confident delivery
We work with an RSC-trained director and members of her theatre company for training in how to deliver presentations. (Don’t worry, there’s no psychobabble or role-playing. They have taught these skills to groups as diverse as doctors and PR consultants.) Drawing on proven techniques used by actors, this training covers a range of essential skills, including:
- Creating rapport to increase audience attention and trust
- Overcoming anxiety and self-consciousness with relaxation techniques
- Getting your point across clearly with voice control and articulation exercises
- Improving eye contact and increasing energy levels
- Reading your audience using observation skills and active listening
- Being present and alert – how to avoid becoming a ‘presentation robot’
Attendees get immediate feedback on the day after mock presentations. In addition, we give personalised, written feedback by email to everyone after the event.
For more information see Articulate’s website or contact me.
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Matthew,
Thanks for this. I’m giving a presentation (first time!) this Friday.
Any chance that you have a Power Point presentation that you can share? Or maybe it can be scrubbed of any sensitive info? Be interesting to see your approach.