In business we all have to present messages every day. But standing up in front of an audience is not always a part of our work that we enjoy, find easy or do well. All too often presenting brings with it feelings of stress and anxiety.
Effective presentation skills are based on knowing your audience, planning your content and preparing and delivering a relevant and clear message in a confident way.
Nerves can either hinder or help the way that we present, so managing them is a key factor.
Training can give us confidence about our presentation skills. If we know how to connect with and influence our audience whilst presenting a well structured and memorable message in clear visual manner, the results are going to be consistently more effective.
Presentations may often involve facilitating a dialogue whilst handling questions and even challenges from the audience, so presenting an assertive, informed and enthusiastic presence is vital.
And finally, confirming that the message has been received and understood, and that it will be acted upon, brings the process to a satisfactory conclusion.
One media organisation with teams spread across a range of countries, sought to bring about a consistent style of planning, delivering and following up on presentations through a training programme. This was achieved by delivering the same training with clear guidelines in different countries, allowing for sensitivity to the cultural differences whilst maintaining the integrity of the message.