This is the first in a series of presentation posts taken from the 52 tips I provide in my book. I thought I would offer some more examples and insights into how you might apply them.
And just to mess with my fellow nerds, I plan to cover them in random order.
And just to mess with my fellow nerds, I plan to cover them in random order.
You can't expect every presentation to be filled with laughs or poignant moments or cartoons or even videos. A presentation can't be all talk or all entertainment. If you have too much of a good thing, like all pecans in your snack mix, it gets boring.
What you want in the perfect presentation is a little bit of everything. You want variety. So you sprinkle in a little bit of humor, some pathos, some basset hound puppies (or is that just me?), and some new ideas, actions steps and hopefully tools that your audience can put to work. You might choose to be more conceptual in nature when you are delivering a keynote presentation, but you still have to deliver the right mix of entertainment and new ideas if you want people to be wowed by your message, your delivery, and your incredible stage presence.
You have to not only use different emotions, you must vary your energy, speed, and the inflection of your voice. And be sure to add plenty of pauses. The pauses, like those no count peanuts in your expensive can of mixed nuts, help your audience appreciate the good stuff (the cashews) even more.
Who's hungry?? Yikes!
So here's the main thing. Start off with a punch. Find an impactful opener. It might be humor, or a video, or a pithy quote. Fill in with some meaty content in the form of great images (don't you even think about having slides with a bunch of bullet points and text on them) and then wind up with a big bang. And if you can have a great high energy song (something like "Up Against the Wall you Redneck Mother") to start your talk that is the best (for you and your audience.)
For me, the subject at hand usually leads to some kind of funny image, play on words, or animal that I can work through the entire presentation.
But you need to find something that works for you.
Here's an example.
I used Elvis Presley's song "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog" to open my keynote presentation at Accountex 2016, called "Being the Basset Hound".
There's a picture and a video of Elvis singing his song to a basset hound while wearing a tux. My message was about being true to yourself and in that video, Elvis was forced to tone down his hip movements and sing to a dog. You can see the embarrassment on both of their faces (Elvis' and especially the basset hound). Message? You can't be your best self if you aren't being your authentic self - hip actions and all.
The presentation started with the Elvis thing, included some videos showing bassets wagging their tails in sequence, and ended with videos comparing different brand messages from a car company.
My last point was an assignment for the audience - you want them to do something with your message right?
I wanted the accountants in my audience to DELIVER EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE which means:
•Insights not balances
•Conversation not reconciliation
•Timely is often better than perfect
•Make THEM feel smart
How might this presentation tip apply in your world?
What you want in the perfect presentation is a little bit of everything. You want variety. So you sprinkle in a little bit of humor, some pathos, some basset hound puppies (or is that just me?), and some new ideas, actions steps and hopefully tools that your audience can put to work. You might choose to be more conceptual in nature when you are delivering a keynote presentation, but you still have to deliver the right mix of entertainment and new ideas if you want people to be wowed by your message, your delivery, and your incredible stage presence.
You have to not only use different emotions, you must vary your energy, speed, and the inflection of your voice. And be sure to add plenty of pauses. The pauses, like those no count peanuts in your expensive can of mixed nuts, help your audience appreciate the good stuff (the cashews) even more.
Who's hungry?? Yikes!
So here's the main thing. Start off with a punch. Find an impactful opener. It might be humor, or a video, or a pithy quote. Fill in with some meaty content in the form of great images (don't you even think about having slides with a bunch of bullet points and text on them) and then wind up with a big bang. And if you can have a great high energy song (something like "Up Against the Wall you Redneck Mother") to start your talk that is the best (for you and your audience.)
For me, the subject at hand usually leads to some kind of funny image, play on words, or animal that I can work through the entire presentation.
But you need to find something that works for you.
Here's an example.
I used Elvis Presley's song "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog" to open my keynote presentation at Accountex 2016, called "Being the Basset Hound".
There's a picture and a video of Elvis singing his song to a basset hound while wearing a tux. My message was about being true to yourself and in that video, Elvis was forced to tone down his hip movements and sing to a dog. You can see the embarrassment on both of their faces (Elvis' and especially the basset hound). Message? You can't be your best self if you aren't being your authentic self - hip actions and all.
The presentation started with the Elvis thing, included some videos showing bassets wagging their tails in sequence, and ended with videos comparing different brand messages from a car company.
My last point was an assignment for the audience - you want them to do something with your message right?
I wanted the accountants in my audience to DELIVER EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE which means:
•Insights not balances
•Conversation not reconciliation
•Timely is often better than perfect
•Make THEM feel smart
How might this presentation tip apply in your world?
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