At a conference I attended last week, I paid close attention to all the presenters and the audience’s reactions. Some of the presenters engaged the audience and clearly captured their attention. Here’s what I noticed about those speakers: They used the word “you” frequently, so the audience knew the content was about them. They had …
Continue reading “Presenting? See what great presenters have in common”
Once again, I didn’t set out to write a blog about presenters while watching an episode of the YouTube talk show Hot Ones. (My previous blog inspired by the show is here.) All I wanted to do was watch the host interview Conan O’Brien as he ate a series of hotter and hotter chicken wings. …
Continue reading “Presenters: Don’t let the audience in on your doubts”
Have you ever made a mistake while presenting? We all have, and it can be unnerving. I still remember my first mistake while giving a presentation, some 20 years or more ago. I was presenting for the first time in my career to people several years my senior. And instead of “everything is flowing smoothly,” …
When presenting, most events and conferences do their best to make sure presenters have everything they need. From lecterns and clickers to lighting and state-of-the-art equipment, if you want it during your presentation, you can usually have it. But not all speakers need or want to use every tool offered when presenting. Recently when I …
Continue reading “Presenting? Just because it’s there doesn’t mean you have to use it”
Marketers and event planners know that the dry run is essential to successful presentations and conferences. Yet, all too often, presenters don’t take the dry run seriously or fail to show up at all. I’ve conducted presentation training and rehearsals for years. While most of the time speakers show up, often they won’t take the …
Continue reading “How to get your presenters to do a true dry run”
As presenters, why do we so often bury the lead? In school, many of us were taught to write using this formula: introduction, body, conclusion. It’s a tried-and-true formula that worked great while we were in school. However, this formula works less well in the business world. Why? Because our audience is busy. They’re bombarded …