Many people have cold feet when they are asked to present something in front of a live audience. A sales presentation is a make or break situation for the companies. An excellent presentation can bring in a lot of new prospects for the company. Similarly, a bad presentation can also sour the relationship with an eager prospect. Public speaking is intimidating, but you can avoid the common mistakes and make a mark as a public speaker. You should be calm, confident and organized during the presentation. Here are some points you should remember during a presentation
“Hello! Can everyone hear me?”
You can feel very nervous before your presentation, but do not begin with this question. It is your responsibility to check the audio, but try to arrive early to check everything. When you are speaking at a large conference hall, the chances are high that someone has already checked the audio-visual facilities. Take a deep breath and smile at the audience. Begin with full confidence.
“I’ve got a lot of information to cover, so let me get started.”
This statement can make your audience lose all interest in your presentation. People believe that longer presentations are boring. Starting with this statement assumes that it’s going to be a long boring lecture instead of a captivating presentation. If your presentation happens to be long, do the work to shorten it in advanced, and come prepared to give a more condensed presentation without losing the overall message.
“I’ll keep it short”
This is a promise no one keeps. You should not use this statement before the presentation. Your audience comes to hear something promising and get inspired. It does not matter if your speech is long or short. When you say “I’ll keep it short”, you’re also underselling your ability to maintain your audience’s attention.
“I did not have much time to prepare”
You should not begin your speech with an excuse. People in the audience look forward that the presentation will be a well-prepared one. They invest their time and money to be prepared for your presentation. It’s only fair that you should be prepared to present.
Fillers
Never use the words like “Umm”, “you know” or “like” in your presentation. Your audience will assume that you are not confident about what you are saying. The fillers in your speech can distract them from the main point of the presentation. If you need to think about something, you can take a short pause in between.
“In Future, we plan to…”
Never reveal anything about the products that is still under production. Make public announcements of your new products and offers. Your audience expects detailed information of your new and ready products. If you have something exciting on the way, wait for it to actually be ready to start talking about it.
“Avoid reading through the pages”
Do not just read aloud the pages or slides. This can turn the session dull for your audience. Try to present your points in an interesting way. You can begin with a small story or show some examples.
“I’ll get back to that later”
The audience is always eager to interact with you. They can ask many questions after your presentation. Do not avoid their questions. It leaves a bad impression on your audience. Try to answer their questions politely.
“I guess that’s it”
You should not end your presentation with this statement. Prepare your speech in such a way that it becomes obvious it is the end. Your transition to your next point should come naturally.
Make your speech fit in the given time-slot. Do not come underprepared and prolong your speech. You should not completely depend on the prepared write-ups or slides. Try to conclude it with some interesting information. Keep some time to interact with the audience, but do not get stuck with irrelevant points or questions.
