How To Wow Your Audience

How many lifeless presentations have you witnessed in your career? More important, how many lifeless presentations have you given? In the book "You've Got to Be Believed to Be Heard," author Bert Decker says that 44 percent of executives feel business presentations are not only boring, they're unbearable. So how do you give a presentation that "wows" your audience?

Focus on the content

"We have to stop giving the presentation we want to give and start giving the one the audience wants to hear," says Joan Moser, founder of Spoken Impact, a Minneapolis-based firm that creates and fixes presentations.

Start by clearly defining a goal for the presentation, "85 percent of business presentations are ultimately about being persuasive - you're persuading the audience to adopt an idea, consider a new concept or approve a budget," says Moser. Make sure your content is relevant and persuades people to consider new ideas or take action.

If you're using PowerPoint, ask yourself how you're adding value to the presentation. "We've let PowerPoint start doing our presentations for us," says Moser, "and many of us just read the notes we've written on the slides." It's better to know your material, add anecdotes and comments, insert cartoons or photos and bring in a few lighter moments that can win the audience over.

Liven up your delivery
Create a picture in your mind of what a successful presenter looks like. In Spoken Impact's presentation training courses, students watch and analyze videos of effective presenters. "It's amazing the `a-has' people get when they analyze and discuss what other speakers are doing - they start to understand the impact of eye contact, voice, presence and body language," says Moser.

Show enthusiasm and demonstrate energy to engage your audience. If you are simply reciting facts or trying to show how serious and professional you can be as a speaker, you probably won't "wow" anyone.

Rehearse out loud
When you practice your presentation, give it just as you would in front of your audience - use gestures, move around and change your tone. "The biggest error a presenter can make is rehearsing by only going over the presentation in his or her head," explains Moser.

Finally, remember that we can all improve on our presentations. "We'll never eliminate the human element of communication," says Moser. "This is a developmental process for everyone. We are who we are, but we can respond to feedback and find ways to free ourselves and connect with our audiences."

Kelly Burkart is a Twin Cities-based freelance writer.