As government ministers tell us there is no need to panic, queues develop at filling stations in Scotland. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7367488.stm
In fairness there is a particular problem for politicians in the matter of trust but for anyone speaking to an audience trust is vital. Work too obviously to persuade the audience to trust you and many will respond by digging in their heels and looking for the catch.
In business as in the rest of life trust is earned, so the public speaker must take care to speak honestly not attempting to use sleight of hand. After all we will generally be speaking to people we wish to preserve a relationship with; colleagues, customers, bankers, board members.
If we have a name for telling it like it is, even when that does not appear to be for our short-term advantage, we can expect a better response when we advise, ‘don’t panic’.
Techniques for building trust tend to concentrate on eye contact and appropriate body language and for good reason, we respond on a sub conscious level to these prompts and these responses help us decide who we are going to trust.
http://skillpresentations.com
MG
Friday, 25 April 2008
Monday, 14 April 2008
Debrief
It may sound a bit on the side of Le Carre but a debrief session is essential in developing your presentation skills, especially after a successful event; after all it’s good to know what you are doing right so you can do it again.
How would you define a successful presentation?
You might be concerned with your audience’s responses, were they appropriate to the material presented? Did they nod at the right bits, were there signs of notes being taken, were they relieved when you finished or enthusiastic in asking follow up questions?
If the response wasn’t what you hoped for, don’t blame the audience; look at your material, consider the way you presented the information, try to work out what that audience needed from you.
There will be times when you are sent to speak to an unreceptive audience or there is a mismatch between your topic and the people present, nonetheless it is your job to speak to the audience you have, not the one you think you should have.
Check out identifying the elements of a successful presentation at skillpresentations.com.
P.S. if they didn’t laugh at your jokes it is probably because they are not funny.
How would you define a successful presentation?
You might be concerned with your audience’s responses, were they appropriate to the material presented? Did they nod at the right bits, were there signs of notes being taken, were they relieved when you finished or enthusiastic in asking follow up questions?
If the response wasn’t what you hoped for, don’t blame the audience; look at your material, consider the way you presented the information, try to work out what that audience needed from you.
There will be times when you are sent to speak to an unreceptive audience or there is a mismatch between your topic and the people present, nonetheless it is your job to speak to the audience you have, not the one you think you should have.
Check out identifying the elements of a successful presentation at skillpresentations.com.
P.S. if they didn’t laugh at your jokes it is probably because they are not funny.
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