Instigator Blog - Latest Comments in How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

billeder — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:25:56 -0000

Starting with the key talking points is the best advice in my opinion. I hate to listen to someone who doesn't make this clear from the beginning.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Webbureau Roskilde — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 06:50:44 -0000

It was indeed some very interesting tips. But i'd say that the best of all was Karsten Søgemaskineoptimering's: to imagine your audience naked... LOL!

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

peterK — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:26:58 -0000

Thanks for some handy tips. I can use some of them both in my personal and professional life. Cheers

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

peterK — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:45:26 -0000

Thanks for your great tips. I'll try to use some of them in my professionel life. They come in handy.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Paw søgemaskineoptimering — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:38:52 -0000

great tips ! however, i must say that different people have there own tricks.. but nice post anyway, i have put your feed to my reader, thanks.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Kenneth søgemaskineoptimering — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 05:28:20 -0000

In my experience practice is the most efficient way to getting better at giving presentations.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Hye Munar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:22:53 -0000

Another great tips coming from you. I don't actually go for conferences but I will keep in mind your tips as I know I can use them in the future. Thanks ;0

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

PK — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:18:35 -0000

well its just great when things like that work... hope for Lars B he can make it work...

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Lars Bachmann — Mon, 05 May 2008 09:55:17 -0000

#22
I tried the tip with the "no clothes audience", and it didn't work for me ;) I lost concentration right away, and kept focusing on one particular girl, and couldn't stop imaging her with no clothes :)

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Federal Watch — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:50:27 -0000

In my case..I always make it a point that I'm comfortable with myself..days before the actual presentation..I would always practice infront of the mirror and imagine myself standing in front of the crowd..also I try to ask some of my close friends or family members to watch me while I'm doing my speech..so that they can give their advice on what else should I do to improve it.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Ben Yoskovitz — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:16:05 -0000

@Stefanie: Glad to hear it's so easy for you! For most people that's far from the case...but you're one of the lucky ones.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Stefanie — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:37:09 -0000

These are great points. I've given a number of speeches, but I've never really given much thought to the preparation. I did a lot of tutoring through high school and college, so I just pretend like I'm going to sit down and explain something to someone else and it usually flows pretty naturally.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

gautam madeshia — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:22:25 -0000

great tips ! however, i must say that different people have there own tricks. and some are just born leaders... they speak and people listen.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Ben Yoskovitz — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:51:18 -0000

Hi all - thank you for all the continued feedback. I'm catching up like crazy from all the feedback, but it's great to see people continuing the discussion here without me! Thank you.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

karsten søgemaskineoptimering — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:59:30 -0000

Presentation adwise:

Imagine that everyone in the audience have no clothes on - then everything dosnt seem so important :)

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Curtis Palmer — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 02:36:46 -0000

I like your orignal post and the followup comments by others, but will add one other point:

*** Be sure to use your eyes in your presentation ***

Casually, look at different people in your audience as you give your presentation. Don't scan the audience too quickly or it will appear you are seeking someone out for reassurance. Make a personal connection with each person you look at, sometimes for affect (if you are talking about a target customer an he/she appears to reflect one) and other times to get feedback (it is amazing what seeing an audience member smile back at you has on your confidence). Be sure to look towards the back rows too, even though in a space with 700+ people it will be hard to see them individually. Just don't stare at the back wall because your eyes will look like they're staring at the ceiling. Good luck!!!

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Oza — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 06:37:03 -0000

Hi Ben

Thanks for sharing. Nice tips you give here - I´ll use them tommorrow in school :)

Greetings, a dansih guy

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Ben Yoskovitz — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 22:02:28 -0000

@Maximillian: You do what works. But in some cases there are obviously going to be restrictions on format, style, etc. DEMO lets you do and say what you want - the only limitation: you've got 6 minutes. And you're on stage in front of 700+ people *smile*

@Gunady: I certainly wouldn't get overly caught up in hand gestures and the such -- but -- I've often heard it said that a very high percentage of how you're perceived is body language, not what you're saying. In this case, people will be focused more on the demonstration itself and less on me ... so I'm less worried about how I move around, except to stay as comfortable as possible.

@Dennis: I haven't done a ton of practice in front of people yet for my speech either. That starts tomorrow and Monday, although I did a run through the other day with a small audience.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 14:38:40 -0000

I consider myself a semi-experienced speaker. My weakest point is probably that I seldom practice my speeches in front of other people. I tend to improv instead. Another thing I would like to improve is not to think too far ahead. I'm working on that.

Great tips. Thank you Ben!

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Gunady — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:49:13 -0000

Nice tips :) . I assume the tips was sorted in order of importance. By that I mean you can't practice the hand gesture if you haven't practice your script and how to deliver your script in distraction. We can only practice our gesture if we have already memorized what we are going to say. In further extent, if we are too busy with our gesture, we could end up not paying enough attention to our audience. So balance is important.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Maximillian Gunther — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:14:04 -0000

I have difficulties on "Find your comfort zone" tips. When I need to deliver presentation on some highly ranked people (read: angel investor :mrgreen:), I was forced to act so formal, while in fact I am not. Being formal isn't my comfort zone. Thus, I can't deliver presentation by being myself. In the end, I found it helpful to convince the angel investor in some informal occasion :-P

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Hilary Bowman — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:19:31 -0000

I usually write financial articles for my website http://www.fastguaranteedlo...

And writing is a thing, but speaking in front of people be it its 5 or 100 listeners, it requires, in my opinion, some previous preparation: you don't want to be asked a question and stay in "mute status".

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

matt roberts — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:22:24 -0000

Good post, & good luck with the presentation.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Fabio De Bernardi — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:19:12 -0000

Nice and useful post.
I agree with Stanley, go get Kawasaki's "Art of the Start" and read carefully what he says.
My humble experience of 2 presentations in 2 days (not as big as DEMO though) says that I was among the few who dealt with the allocated 7 and 5 minutes respectively saying exactly what I wanted to say.

Re: How Do You Prepare for Presentations?

Ben Yoskovitz — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:03:55 -0000

@Stanley Miller: Sonic Training. Now that sounds cool...

@Mitch: If I had the time to read Presentation Zen it would probably be a good idea. But...I'll be winging it as best I can!

Thanks again to everyone who has commented so far.