Smart Tips to Improve Your Presentation Skills

Improving presentation skills can become a great way for helping you in controlling a business meeting with confidence. It may be quite difficult to learn effective presentation skills. However, after you can successfully develop the skills, you will be easier to control your meeting without hesitation. At this time, this article is going to give you some important tips that will guide you to improve your presentation skills.

The first thing that you have to do is to master the material that you want to include in your presentation. It is suggested by some experts to memorize three of the key points for the nest business meeting. So, if you feel nervous toward your presentation skills, you do not have to worry because you will have some of the key aspects to fall back on.

The second thing that you have to do is to practice your presentation in front of small group of your friends in a way to help you gain a confidence in your presentation skills. It will be very beneficial for cutting out those awkward silences which can occur when the presenter is unprepared.

The third thing that you need to do is to try developing your skills in presentation. It can be done by placing yourself in the public speaking situations outside your workplace. If you want to alleviate your stress of business presentation, having karaoke night would be a fun way to do.

The fourth thing that you can do for improving your presentation skills is to join a sales presentation training program. It can be an effective way for you to build your skills.

Finally, after you are reviewing several tips above, now you can start to improve your skills for having a great presentation. So, you will get your presentation runs well and your audience will be satisfied as well.

How to Convert Telephone Calls into Powerful Presentations

You can multiply your ability to persuade by 400%, whether your audience is 1 or 100. Web-based presentations add a visual element to teleconferences. Instead of just talking to prospects, you can simultaneously show them and tell them. According to a Wharton Business School study, this dual mode communication makes your message up to four times more effective than using just your voice.
Present from your office:

Web-based presentations can be as effective as in-the-same-room presentations, but are free from the costs and frustrations involved in traveling.

Talk to your prospects using your current telephone or–for large groups –a rented bridge line. You and your audience view your visuals using a standard web browser and Internet connection.
You control what’s displayed on your audience’s computer screen! Your screen contains a menu listing available visuals. You control presentation content, pace, and sequence. You can spend as much or as little time as desired on each visual. You can show all of your visuals, or just those needed to respond to attendee concerns or questions.
No limits on audience size:

No audience is too large or too small for a web-based presentation! You can easily and cost-effectively show and tell 1-to-1 as you speak to individual prospects, or you can present to hundreds at a time.
No advance scheduling:

Your visuals are available 24/7. No reservations are required to present. Convert any telephone call into a presentation by inviting your caller to immediately access your online visuals while talking.
More than one set of visuals can be prepared and ready for instant use.
Preparing your visuals:

Use Microsoft PowerPoint(TM) to create your presentation. Presentations can be as simple or complex as desired.
In addition to creating visuals for your “core” presentation, consider creating “contingency” visuals available for showing as needed. This permits you to customize your presentation on the basis of questions from the audience or callers.

You can easily add and edit visuals. This permits you to customize the title or specific visuals with your client’s name or client-specific contents and prices.

After completing your presentation, upload it to the server where your visuals will be available online to you and your clients, prospects, or employees.
Access:

Only those who know the specific location of your presentation on the web will be able to access your visuals. You can communicate the URL during the phone conversation or you can send it to a group via e-mail before an event.

Unless you are also online, visitors will not be able to navigate through your presentation.
Applications:

Any presentation task you would normally accomplish in-person can now be done on the phone and online:

o Demonstrations. Do a better job of describing the benefits of your product or service by showing as well as telling. Interactively walk prospects through the steps you’ll use to help them solve a pressing problem or achieve a desired goal.

o Previews. Increase attendance at teleseminars and live events by previewing the contents and benefits of attending.

o Proposals. Deliver client presentations in an interactive environment. Use your voice to build enthusiasm and address concerns or questions as they arise.

o Continuous contact. Keep in close touch with clients and prospects while helping them make informed purchase decisions and best use of their purchase.

o Training. Keep employees and your sales staff motivated and up to date on your latest products and services.

It’s all about relationships. Web-based presentations are just another way you can put today’s low-cost technology to work building and maintaining close ties with customers and prospects. At low cost, you can communicate with added impact from your office.

Presentation Skills: The Power of the Pause

The pause is a powerful, though underutilized presentation tool.

There are several reasons why pauses are effective in presentations. First, pauses give your audience a chance to think about and absorb what you just said. Pausing also gives you a chance to breathe properly.

Pauses can also help you eliminate “ums” and “ahs” that tend to creep into your presentation when you are not sure what’s coming next. If you replace your “ums” and “ahs” with a pause while you think of what to say next, you will sound more confident and the audience won’t be distracted.

Additionally, pauses convey confidence – powerful people pause. They have so engaged the audience that people are waiting eagerly for their next words.

How long should you pause? Enough that you can catch your breath and the audience can absorb what you’ve just said, but not so long that they will think you’ve forgotten what to say next. Keep in mind that it will feel longer to you than it does to the audience – record yourself so you hear long it sounds.

And if you smile confidently when pausing for a few seconds, the audience will see that it’s just a pause and that you didn’t lose your place. If you do it well, they won’t even be conscious that you’re pausing and it will just be a natural part of your presentation.

The next time that you have to give a presentation, try pausing rather than rushing from one sentence to the next – you’ll become a more powerful and effective presenter.