How to be an effective Presenter

I read a series of articles by Darren Hardy about “Be a Rock Star Presenter” I enjoy the content, therefore I am sharing it with you.

Success in today’s world comes down to your ability to share your ideas, expand your influence and involve others into a worthy mission or cause. That means you need to learn to present.

By the way, EVERYBODY is a public speaker. Maybe you’re presenting your ideas at an office meeting, interviewing for a new job, or trying to convince your friends which movie should win the Oscar. Whatever the situation, being able to speak effectively in public is essential to success.

A recent survey conducted by Distinction discovered that, of the executives and entrepreneurs surveyed, more than 86 percent said being able to present effectively has a significant impact on their income and success.

According to most studies, people’s No. 1 fear is public speaking. No. 2 is death. Doesn’t that sound insane? People would rather die than speak in public. That means if you go to a funeral, more people would rather climb into the casket than give the eulogy!

First off, let’s put this into proper perspective: No one has ever died giving a bad presentation.

Someone once said: the reason why there is NO reason to be nervous is that people care far less than you think.

Remember this: People are not judging you as much as you think, because they don’t care as much as you think. If some disaster does happen, something explodes or you trip and fall, at least you know you will have more attention from the audience now than in the 30 seconds before. Now you can use that attention to do something good. Certainly, whatever you say next will be remembered. If nothing else your tragedy will give the audience something fun and funny to share. It’s not a big deal, really. The only one making it so is you. It’s all self-imposed fear conjuring. I think knowing this helps enormously.

No More Jitters
You might find it helpful to know that some of the most successful and famous public speakers have the same issues we all have.

• Mark Twain, who made most of his income from speaking, not writing, said, “There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous and those that are liars.”
• Elvis Presley said, “I’ve never gotten over what they call stage fright. I go through it every show.”
• Bono, of U2, claims to get nervous the morning of every one of the thousands of shows he’s performed.
• Thomas Jefferson was so afraid of public speaking that he had some one else read the State of the Union Address. George Washington didn’t like speaking either.
• Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Margaret Thatcher, Barbara Walters, Johnny Carson, Barbara Streisand have all reported fears of public communication.
• Even Aristotle, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, Jack Welch and James Earl Jones… and as we now know, the former King of England, all had stutters and were nervous speakers at one time in their lives.

So, hey, if you are a bit nervous, you are in good company… and there is a great chance you can still be stellar at it.

Who Do You Think You Are, Anyway?
Here’s another tip someone shared with me about being nervous before speaking. If you are nervous that means you are being an egotist—making yourself way too important. Instead you should be making this about the audience. Think about them, their hopes, dreams and ambitions. You are there only to serve them. The spotlight should be on them, not you. When you take the spotlight off yourself and make what you are there for about them, not only does your nervousness go away, but you also empathize and connect with your audience better.

“No one cares about your product; they only care about themselves.”

Principle No. 1:

“What matters to you, doesn’t necessarily matter to them.” Don’t look at your presentation from the viewpoint of what you want to tell them. Instead throw all that out and ask yourself: What do THEY want to hear? What’s important to them? What problems, concerns, worries, frustrations, needs or desires do they have? What is going to give them hope, comfort, security, meaning and be exciting to THEM?

Principle No. 2:

“People don’t remember what you say; they only remember how you make them feel.” Now what you say is important, but it needs to be on point with the ultimate feeling you are trying to lead them to.  Determine what matters to them and how you want them to feel, then craft your ideas into moving stories, analogies and metaphors to give them a memorable experience.