onabersa.info

In my preceding article “9 Secrets To Better Beginnings Of Any Presentation”, I wrote about the importance of presentation beginnings and best ways to capture the audience’s attention, as opening is one of the most crucial elements of a powerful presentation. In this article I would focus on how to practise the openers with a 5 point test that could be applied to get into the actual presentation.

Effective presenters know that the beginning part of a presentation should take between 5 and 10% of the allotted presentation time. For one hour presentation, this is between three and six minutes. It is only 30 to 60 seconds for a 10 minute presentation. Although one should spend not more than 10% of the delivery time on the beginning of presentation, over half of the preparation time may be spent on honing and crafting for opening. The hardest thing a presenter is required to do is to START. When you want to travel, the hardest part is to just go ahead and go. But once you start, everything follows. Once the beginning is set, it becomes easier to jump start the presentation and get audience attention almost immediately.

Test whether your presentation opener has the following statements:

1. Impact Statement

An Impact Statement is a brief narrative summarizing the outcome of your presentation which creates strong support to proceed further. To create an impact with your presentation, the audience have to get the message. That means they have to be able to hear it and understand it. And to do that, first they must listen. So the very first step in this whole process is to gain their attention and then keep it, so that they listen, hear what the presenter say, understand it, and then they can be influenced by it which is, after all, the essence of impact.

2. Statement that arouse curiosity or suspense

Best way to arouse curiosity is by hiding or obscuring or veiling or hinting but never revealing. An example statement: “We are close to being able to file hyper-linked legal documents on CD-Roms. Only one thing stands in the way and that is my topic today.”

3. Statement through Question

If you want to persuade the audience to use Copy right legislation, starting the presentation with a question might do the trick. ” Is there anyone here who has not violated the copyright law ? “. Here you are making a statement that your topic is all about copyright law.

4.Statement about startling statistics

A startling statistic can be great opener. ” According to a national survey reported in the Wall Street Journal 82% of respondents say they access pornography on the Net at work “.

5. Societal norm statement

If your presentation subject is “Helping Children Learn to Work”, your opening statement could be”Are We Losing our Societal Norms About Work ? With children becoming more sedentary due to study routines, entertainment options and the like, it is more important than ever to teach the value of work. We parents face the challenge of needing to create opportunities to work rather than just having them.”

Finally make sure to establish credibility upfront with the following ABCD checklist:

-Attract audience straight away with a statement at the beginning of presentation

-Begin to deal with ingredients of your presentation after your initial statement.

-Come out punching. Get to the point with right statement. Your audience expect nothing less.

-Drive rest of your presentation with sub-statements.

Follow this 5 point test and check list for your next presentation and if none apply then it is better to reschedule that next presentation until you are able to create a dynamic opening.

About The Author:

The world economy is in a state of extreme tension and competition. The current times are such that all companies expect their employees to prove their efficiency by exhibiting impeccable interpersonal skills and confident public speaking. Doing good work is no longer the only criterion that makes someone successful in their job. Making presentations is also an integral part of excelling in today’s corporate environment. These presentations go a long way in determining the understanding of the individual regarding the topic at hand.

Many people are fearful of making presentations as they wonder if they will be able to pull them off. Also, they are not sure of being able to cover the entire content and prepare a presentation that meets industry standards. Presenting the content in front of many people is another aspect which sends shivers down the spine of persons who have not made a presentation before. The following tips are sure to assist an individual considerably when they are out to make a PowerPoint Presentation.

1. Understand that the presentation is a means to complement your program; your program does not revolve around it.
2. Always remember to take back up of your presentation on a disc to ensure that the content is not lost and can be retrieved in spite of a computer crash.
3. While using handouts, it is always advisable to carry an original copy of the presentation. In cases where the handouts fall short, these copies prove to be saviors.
4. Experts suggest that the person presenting on PowerPoint should always position himself in a lighted area. This ensures that the audience can see the face of the presenter even while the lights have been put off in order to make the screen clearly visible. Not being able to see the presenter adversely affects the efficiency of the presentation.
5. Usually, the final slide of the presentation always contains the contact information of the presenter. It helps to put this slide up while the question-answer session with the audience is on. This tip helps immensely because this way, the details of the presenter is visible to the audience for the longest possible time. The audience is given enough time to take note of the name, email address and phone number of the presenter.

People who keep all the above points in mind while making a presentation can be sure of coming up with a presentation that meets the highest standards of quality and professionalism.

During March Madness sports fans affectionately refer to the NCAA Basketball tournament as “bracketology”. It’s a 65 team playoff, over 18 days, single elimination (winner keeps going, loser goes home)…one ultimate winner. I think it’s the best event in sports.
In negotiation, we sometimes pride ourselves on “thinking on our feet” or “winging it.” Don’t fool yourself. There is a better way. It’s called “bracketizing.”

The best chance for Negotiation success comes from what we call “Aggressive Preparation”. In the Humble Confidence Negotiation Workshop we dive into the 6 Stages of Negotiation Preparation. Stage 5 is what we call “bracketizing” our offers. We prepare and bracket 4 offers:

1) The Best (better than expected)
2) The Realistic (what it should be)
3) The Fallback (acceptable range of backup)
4) The Alamo (don’t go there…call a timeout!)

Bracketizing means we project ahead and determine a range of offers. We gain the discipline of staying within the plan, or “bracket”. We never “wing it” or freelance deals at the table. Never.

Now that’s not to mean we’re rigid or “un-creative”. Not at all. But it does mean we control our emotions and don’t get caught up in the euphoria of deal-completion. Sometimes we just want to be done…be careful not to let your desire to finish drive a sub-par outcome.

Bracketizing is just one stage. There are 5 more in “Aggressive Preparation”. We call it “Aggressive” because you have to drive your team and yourself to embrace the process. And remember, 90% of a successful negotiation happens in this stage, before you even get in the room!