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Are You A Presentation Karaoke Machine?
By Michelle Howe
As a service provider, one of the best ways to market your business is to
offer free presentations at association meetings. It’s a great way to share
knowledge and build relationships. However, you’ve got to entertain as well
as inform.
While reading the newspaper this morning I noticed a funny cartoon, Real
Life Adventures, by Wise and Aldrich. Two businessmen are talking to each
other and the one says, “It’s a presentation karaoke machine. You can play
an earlier successful presentation and lip-sync to it. And since most
meetings are about the same old thing every time, nobody even knows the
difference.”
It got me thinking about how many pathetic presentations I’ve attended
that did sound like they were coming from a presentation karaoke machine.
The presenter didn’t care whether the audience was “getting it” or not, he
just rambled on with his agenda. It was a waste of time for both the
presenter and the audience.
Make Presentations Two-Way Communication
Presentations can be described as a one-way communication activity. The
participants sit and listen while the expert “presents.” However, it’s this
type of thinking that creates a karaoke presentation.
I prefer to think of presentations as an opportunity to engage my
audience in my topic. Presentations can be a two-way communication activity
if you take the time to make each presentation unique for the group you are
presenting to. No matter what your topic, it can be tweaked to meet the
needs of a specific audience.
For instance, if I am giving a talk on effective business writing
techniques to a group of realtors, I would make sure the examples I use
refer specifically to the writing of realtors. I would find out ahead of
time what realtors consider their main problems when putting together a
business message. From there I would incorporate solutions to these specific
issues in my presentation.
A presentation isn’t effective unless the audience can relate to what you
are saying. They have to bring the information into their world before it
will make sense to them. That’s why it’s so effective to use examples common
to them.
Adults Learn By Doing
Remember, adults learn by doing. Try to include some small, fun activity,
in your presentation to involve your audience. Rather than telling them, let
them experience the excitement of discovery. Arrange one of your main points
to become an exercise for the audience.
The activity doesn’t have to be complicated or take a long time. I often
use a handout where participants fill in the blanks. I encourage
participants to work with the person sitting next to them to try to get the
right answer. Everyone laughs when I read off the answers and we all have a
good time.
Doing this accomplishes two things: you give the audience a break from
your lecturing and you give yourself a break from lecturing. Now you can put
yourself in the role of a facilitator and get some one-on-one interaction
with audience members. It will also cause your evaluations to skyrocket.
Adults get such few opportunities to have fun at work that these activities
are greatly appreciated.
© 2004 Michelle Howe
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?
You have my permission as long as you include the following info:
"Michelle Howe, president of Internet Word Magic, specializes in writing for Web
sites and creating irresistible copy to sell your company’s product or service.
She translates your marketing materials into the language of the Internet for
increased revenue and business success. Visit
www.internetwordmagic.com
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