Powerpoint Presentations and improving your presenting skills can make your next presentation fly!
At the recent Macworld Conference & Expo, Steve again displayed the skills that make him one of the Worlds Best Business Presenters. Here at BusinessMobiles.com we know just how important it is to have the tools available to covey a clear sales message.
While most presenters simply convey “information”, Steve Jobs also inspires his audience. He uses the latest mobile technology and an analysis of his latest presentation pulls out 10 of the top elements that you too can utilise in order to hold sway over your own audience.
1. Set the Story or Theme. "There is something in the air today." And it was with words, Jobs opened the Macworld event. Thus he set the theme and hinted at what was going to be the key product announcement—the launch of the ultrathin MacBook Air laptop. Yes, every presentation definitely needs it’s own theme, however you don’t have to mentioned it right at the start either."Today Apple reinvents the phone." Was used last year about 330 minutes into the speech – the secret is to identify your theme and then make sure that you deliver “this key message” a number of times though out your presentation.
2. Provide a Road Map. Jobs outlined his presentation by saying, "There are four things I want to talk about today. So let's get started…" This provides a clear road map for your audience to follow. Then always let your audience know where they are. For example he said "The iPhone is not standing still. We keep making it better and better and better. That was the second thing I wanted to talk about today. No. 3 is about iTunes." So always make a list and be kind enough to keep your audience informed of your progress.
3. Be Enthusiastic. Steve Jobs always shows his passion for design and he always injects his personality into anything he does. Thus it was that during his presentation, he used words like "amazing," and "cool". Don’t make the common mistake of getting bogged down in the detail and risk putting your audience to sleep. An audience will always respond to your enthusiasm by getting excited too! Inject your personality into the presentation – get excited go crazy!!! Remember the golden rule – Enthusiasm is Contagious!
4. Give those Numbers some “CRUNCH”. Look no matter how big the numbers are they tend to be boring! So try to put them into context for people. For example when Jobs announced that Apple had sold 4 million iPhones to date, he didn't simply leave the number out of context. Instead, he put it in perspective by adding, "That's 20,000 iPhones every day, on average." He also pointed out that Apple's market share equals the share of its top three competitors combined. Remember the figures don't mean a lot until they are placed in to some frame of reference. Always seek to do your best to connect the dots for your listeners.
| there is nobody that does it better than Apple CEO Steve Jobs. |
3. Be Enthusiastic. Steve Jobs always shows his passion for design and he always injects his personality into anything he does. Thus it was that during his presentation, he used words like "amazing," and "cool". Don’t make the common mistake of getting bogged down in the detail and risk putting your audience to sleep. An audience will always respond to your enthusiasm by getting excited too! Inject your personality into the presentation – get excited go crazy!!! Remember the golden rule – Enthusiasm is Contagious!
4. Give those Numbers some “CRUNCH”. Look no matter how big the numbers are they tend to be boring! So try to put them into context for people. For example when Jobs announced that Apple had sold 4 million iPhones to date, he didn't simply leave the number out of context. Instead, he put it in perspective by adding, "That's 20,000 iPhones every day, on average." He also pointed out that Apple's market share equals the share of its top three competitors combined. Remember the figures don't mean a lot until they are placed in to some frame of reference. Always seek to do your best to connect the dots for your listeners.
5. Go for an unforgettable moment. Steve is famous for creating great moments but even he learnt a thing or 2 from Kevin Roberts. In 1987, Roberts was appointed CEO of Pepsi Cola Canada. While at Pepsi, Roberts notably executed a publicity stunt after a keynote speech to a group of Pepsi Canada employees, bottlers, and the media. Roberts had a Coke vending machine rolled onto the stage while he was speaking. As he finished his speech, he reached down, picked up a machine gun, and blasted the Coke machine. Roberts meticulously planned the spectacle, borrowing a gun from a squad of police officers and rigging the vending machine so that he had to fire only one blank to set off a dazzling rat-a-tat-tat." As you can expect… we all still talk about it!. So think it through - What is the one memorable moment of your presentation? Identify it ahead of time, plan and build up to it, then when the time comes blow them away.
6. Give 'em a show. A Jobs presentation always has a beginning a middle and an end. It has highs and lows, themes and transitions. Focus on giving your audience a show instead of simply delivering information. Jobs always includes video clips, demonstrations, and guests that he then shares the stage with. Keep it moving ever changing and vibrant. The golden rule: Enhance presentations by incorporating multimedia, product demonstrations, or giving others the chance to say a few words. This is all now possible in live presentations on your Blackberry Mobile phone
7. Don't sweat the small stuff. Despite your best preparation, something may well go wrong. Jobs was about to show some photographs from a live Web site, and the screen went black while Jobs waited for the image to appear. It never did. Jobs smiled and said, "Well, I guess Flickr isn't serving up the photos today." He then recapped the new features he had just introduced. That's it. It was no big deal. I have seen presenters get flustered over minor glitches. Don't sweat minor mishaps. Have fun. Few will remember a glitch unless you call attention to it.
Try to use some of the techniques we’ve describe above in your next presentation. Then let us know how it goes. You can e-mail us at info@businessmobiles.com with your feedback.
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