If you have ever needed to make a presentation, you will have at some point experienced the fear of making a mess of things, looking foolish, frightened of forgetting what you wanted to say, having a sense of inferiority, or something along those lines.

Why is this? Well, we all feel that we want to make a good impression, to make a difference, to make an impact, and often we put so much pressure on ourselves to perform that we suffer from a greater flow of adrenalin, hence causing ourselves to feel the effects of nervousness.

Some form of nervousness is actually good; it causes you to concentrate on what you are going to say and makes you focus on what would make that good impression. It’s when your nerves get the better of you that causes the problem of excessive fear of under-performance.

Here are six things you can do to control your nerves and perform well when you have to make a presentation:

1)      Practice: The brain can’t tell the difference between an actual occurrence and something that is imagined. If you can practice your presentation many times, when the time comes to do it for real,
you will feel that you have done this many times, and will gain the confidence it can be done for real.

2)      Know your subject well: The more information, facts, illustrations, ideas, concepts and solutions you can get to back up what you are going to say, the safer you will feel with the material. You don’t have to use it all; you just have to know it’s there.

3)      Know your audience well: Who are you speaking to? What do they need to know? How will they take in information? You more you know about them, the easier it will be to make the information come alive.

4)      Know your objective: By being aware of what your message is intended to achieve, the greater the chance of achieving it. Begin with the end in mind, and you’ll create the journey to get there.

5)      Prepare and rehearse: Go through the presentation as often as you need to make it spontaneous. You don’t want to learn it word for word, but you do want to ensure you know the gist of the
presentation before you give it.

6)      Focus on them, not you: Look at the fears I mentioned in the first paragraph. These only occur when you are concentrating on yourself and the impression you are making. Focusing on your audience takes away those pressures, as you are emphasising the message, not your image. Focus on what you want them to go away with, and your nerves will dissipate.

With adequate preparation, an emphasis on the message you want to put across and a clear understanding of your audience, you give yourself the opportunity to control your nerves and make an excellent job of presenting the information.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

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How do you feel when you are to present information, even to people you are familiar with? If you’re like most people, you will suffer from nervous anxiety or, at best, have ‘butterflies’ in the stomach.

Why do we suffer from ‘nerves’ and how can we calm them in a situation where we feel fearful of the actual act or the consequences of it?

Firstly, realise that being nervous is normal, so don’t think that there’s something wrong with you or that you shouldn’t be feeling this way. Some degree of nervous tension is actually a good thing. It gets the adrenalin flowing and prepares your body and mind for action. You can manage an over-nervous reaction by practicing deep breathing. It may not get rid of the nerves but it will help you to manage them, as you introduce more oxygen into the body.

Why do we get nervous? Well, your body cannot distinguish very well between different types of danger. Your mind prompts the body to interpret the presentation as a dangerous situation, which builds anxiety and, possibly, fear.

Why would it do this? It’s because you are preparing for either fight or flight, which is our reptillian brain’s normal reaction to danger. If you get wounded in a fight, for example, it’s probably better not to have food in the stomach. So the natural reaction is to get rid of it. That’s why you naturally feel sick when you perceive dangerous situatioins.

You can see that your perception of a situation plays a big part in keeping these physical reactions under control. So the most important step is to manage your perception of the occasion, making sure you see the audience as being people who need your information, guidance, knowledge, expertise, experience and leadership.

How can you build confidence when you are feeling nervous? Here are some tips:

1) Take long, deep breaths. This allows your diaphragm to let out air as you are saying each word and stops your vocal chords from tightening up, causing your voice to sound squeaky and taught.

2) Control your hands. Try to relax them and let them act naturally for you. If in doubt, let them hang loosely in front of you.

3) Give good eye contact. People will recognise how you feel from your body language. Good eye-contact makes you look confident and in control. If you find this difficult, look at people’s foreheads…from a distance it will look as if you are looking them straight in the eye.

4) Talk normally and don’t rush it. People will not be able to take in the meaning if you rush, and will cease to listen actively to you. They will switch off, because it will take too much effort to understand you.

5) Remember the fear is only there because you want to impress. If you put the emphasis on what your audience needs to know, you take the emphasis off yourself. Keep them in mind and you will gradually forget your own nerves.

Nerves are a natural reminder that we can always improve in our presentation of information. Learn to control them and you should see improvements quickly in the way your presentations are perceived.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

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A business case sets out the reasons why a particular course of action will benefit the business, how it will provide that benefit and at what cost.

Your business case should be made either in value-added terms (how much extra you will get over the cost of implementing it) or on the basis of return of investment (the cost of implementation is justified by the financila returns you will recieve, like increased productivity)

Here are some ways you can enhance the value of the business case you are proposing:

1) It can be shown exactly how the return on investment meets or exceeds the amount you have to spend to achieve it, and it isn’t going to have a detrimental effect on cash flow

2) Information is available on the impact the proposal is going to make on key areas of the business, e.g. customer service levels, quality, shareholder value, productivity, innovation, skills development, etc.

3) It can be shown how the case will influence the competitive edge the comany will experience in the future, e.g. by reducing the time-to-market of products or services

4) It will add to the reputation of the company in the short and long-term with the local or international community, e.g. it will help what you do now get even better

5) There is proof that the new idea has worked well in other cases internally or represents good practice that can be transferable to the company

6) The implementation can be done without too much downtime or too much trouble between individuals or departments

7) The case is brief, to the point and the arguments are sound and well-argued, making it easy for stakeholders to agree the terms

If you keep these objectives and enhancements in mind, there’s every chance your business case will be recognised as good for the company.

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

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Having prepared your presentation, how can you deliver in a way that will make the maximum impact?

No doubt you can recall presentations from others that had you constantly checking your watch, wondering when this was all going to end, and concentrating more on what you had to do afterwards than in listening to what was being said.

And no doubt you can recall presentations from others that had you riveted to every word, enthused and inspired by the message and determined to take action as a result of what was being said.

What were the main differences?

Naturally, you needed to have an interest in the subject. Also, you needed to see the value in what was being presented. But the main difference, I’ll bet, was the quality of delivery, the passion that the speaker used in delivering the message and the way they kept your interest all the way through.

And that’s what you need to do to make a massive impact, to create an impression and blow them away with your presentation!

So what can you do? Firstly, plan an impactful opening! Make it visual, interesting, attracting attention and building desire to hear more. Use metaphors when you can to make the information come alive. Don’t just reel off a list of statistics or facts…you’ll lose them before you start.

Remember how impactful your body language is when you present. Your audience will notice your nerves if they are showing and this will detract from the message. Think about your posture and style of delivery, so they are listening to your words rather than worrying about your shaking!

Be passionate about the subject. This means creating meaning in everything you say, creating an interest with attention-grabbing stories, influential ideas and absorbing information. Make the subject really come alive in the listeners’ minds by painting pictures with words. That way, you are developing reasons why this message is important.

By all means use humour, but ensure it is appropriate. Jokes can easily fall flat or be badly timed, and people will remember a poor delivery more than they remember the attempted humour. Try to find everyday situations that are funny, rather than attempting to be a comedian when it doesn’t suit you.

Understand that you always will speak differently during a presentation than when you have a conversation. This is natural, but make it as free-flowing as possible, without rushing, mumbling or missing off the ends of words.

Eye contact is a must when presenting. If you are constantly looking down at your notes, you lose the contact and rapport with your audience that will convince them this is really worth listening to. Use cue-cards if possible and keep the eye contact as open as you can with everyone there.

Above all, make your presentation end on a high. There are two laws to remember here…the recency effect and the closing effect. Of the two effects, the closing effect carries more weight for your message because the last thing the audience hears and experiences, is the first thing they’ll remember! It should be… Outstanding!

What should your closing include? A quick resume of what you’ve covered, and the actions that need to be taken as a result of what you’ve presented. Make it memorable and outstanding, and your audience will remember it for the right reasons.

All this won’t guarantee your presentation will be the best ever…but it will give you the best chance to be your best ever! And that will surely blow them away!

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Seldom will you go a long time as a manager without having to present some kind of message, Whether it’s to gain more funding, to convince a customer to use your services or simply to address your team members, you will need to present a message where decisions have to be made and your credibility will be on the line.

How can you make sure you blow them away with your words? How can you prepare effectively to give yourself the best chance of success?

Here are some ideas:

Ask yourself: What objectives do I have? This will drive your whole presentation. Your goals have to be clear, so you can prepare according to exactly what you want to achieve.

Then, what do you need to know about the audience? If it’s your team members, you hopefully will know their characteristics, and will be able to plan accordingly for the responses you most likely will get. But what about if you’re presenting to someone you have never spoken to before? You can still do some research on them or their company to ascertain what kind of person they might be. This will give you confidence in preparing the message specifically for them.

Decide how long the presentation will be. If it’s, say, 15 minutes, divide it up into manageable chunks or units. Write down all the points you want to make, and put them in order. This will create the framework for what you want to say. Prepare the material at the level of the audience; you don’t want to go too deep, but you don’t want to bore them with simplicities.

Don’t use too many facts and figures that will cause confusion and boredom. Prepare any visuals you might be using in a way that complements what you are saying. If your presentation is simply the reading of slides or papers that the audience could have read themselves, you will soon bore them.

Prepare something that will grab their attention. Make the opening come alive with a hard-hitting question, or a statement that makes them think. Then give them a hook, something that will tease them into wondering what the next piece of information is. Create interest by observations or interesting stories rather than a list of facts or figures.

When you’ve prepared the material, read it through and act as if you are the audience. Would this information keep me interested? Does it answer all my questions in my mind? Has it impressed me so that I want to know more?

When you’ve prepared effectively, you might want to bounce the ideas off a colleague so you can get their feedback. Ask for constructive ways you can make the material come alive, and how it would affect them if they were listening to it. That way, you have rehearsed it and got to know how you sound when you deliver it. Remember…keep to the objectives and goals, and you’ll have prepared a presentation that blows them away!

Our next message will be about how you can make a presentation that blows them away!

Thanks again

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”