Wednesday, March 12, 2014

New Book: Develop & Deliver Effective Presentations


Giving a strong speech or presentation, especially in a business setting, may come naturally to some, but it is no easy feat. A new book, Develop and Deliver Effective Presentations: A 10: Step Process to Plan, Practice and Rehearse a Presentation on Any Business Topic, takes us through the process that ensures a presentor will provide a stimulating, persuasive and powerful performance.

It’s written by Natasha Terk, the managing director of Write it Well (www.writeitwell.com), who has penned a number of books regarding communication skills. Her company helps train businesses and their leaders on many aspects of business, from proposal development, delivering effective presentations, to crafting action- producing emails and reports.

Her book is divided into two areas: five steps to develop a great presentation and five steps to deliver it. Natasha states early on in her book that investing time and energy into your presentation skills will make you more impactful over time. She writes:

“It can be tricky to deliver any presentation. Many of us aren’t sure where to begin, how to plan, what we'll say, or how to prepare for the actual presentation day. Effective speakers plan their presentations thoroughly, and then carefully practice how they’ll deliver their ideas. The techniques in this book will show you how to develop a solid presentation plan and then put the plan into practice through effective presentation delivery.”

The five steps one must take to develop an amazing presentation, as noted by Natasha, are the following:

Step 1: Identify Your Audience

Step 2: Identify Your Purpose & Most Important Message

Step 3: Use Notes to Articulate Your Ideas

Step 4: Organize Your Notes

Step 5: Plan An In-Person or Virtual Presentation

She says you must confront the following 10 questions in order to package a great speech:

1.      Who am I speaking to?

2.      Why am I speaking in the first place?

3.      How should I articulate all my ideas?

4.      How do I organize x amount of minutes, or hours, worth of thoughts?

5.      How do I interact with the audience to really involve them in what I’m saying?

6.      What’s the right kind of eye contact?

7.      What are the best ways to use my voice?

8.      How will I look if I move or don’t move as I speak?

9.      How do I answer audience questions?

10.  How do I reach out to people I am engaging with but also keep us all strictly on time?

Certainly there’s a lot that goes into making a great presentation, from content to body language, to the room environment, to the time of day, and to the psychological state of the attendees. You, as the speaker, can only control or influence so much, but there are many factors you can create, change, or diminish. It starts with your attitude.

Confident speakers make good impressions all the time. Why? Because everything they do exudes force -- their voice, their smile, their dress, their eye contact, their energy. They tell jokes, make you think, and touch you emotionally. You feel like he or she knows and understands you.

Natasha’s book shares dozens of common-sense nuggets that we may overlook, forget, or downplay -- but that need to be adopted. She concludes with a seemingly simple but very important idea:

“Don’t lose sight of your main point! And don’t let your audience members walk away without a clear return to the point you prepared them to understand, right from the start. Returning to your key sentence and main point at the end should give you and your listeners a satisfying sense of completion.”




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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Media Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014.

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