When’s the last time you listened to a presentation that inspired you? Did it motivate you to take action and collaborate with your team? How many business meetings have made you excited about the future?
A terrible presentation can ruin a day in the office. Employees aren’t invested during the meeting and produce poor results. Businesses everywhere struggle to keep their team focused on the prize!
Why is it challenging to keep employees engaged? Because an excellent presentation to motivate employees requires an exceptional communicator!
A common reason why businesses don’t succeed is because of poor presentations. If employees don’t understand what they should present to the customer, the customer will lose interest.
Have you ever tried to herd cats together? Every cat goes a different direction, ignores your calls, and believes it's the boss! How long would you keep trying before you’d throw in the towel?
The challenges of herding cats are similar to the obstacles exceptional communicators face during a presentation. To keep people’s attention is tricky, and thousands of gurus try to give you the secret to entice your audience. The way to deliver an excellent presentation is so simple it will shock you!
You need to understand your audience. If your audience is like a group of cats, you show you know what interests them when you use a laser pointer to get their attention. They will all chase the red dot!
To find a community of value-driven professionals who can help you learn to speak to an audience, visit our website or apply to join one of our mastermind groups online.
Know Your Audience
A value-driven professional understands when they deliver a presentation, the audience is the most important part. Understanding how to present our messages starts with knowing the audience.
People listen in order to gain something from the time they spend with you. If what they hear isn't relevant or is confusing, they will lose focus and gaze around the room with a glazed look. When you take time to know what your audience wants to receive, they’ll be so engaged they’ll ask for more!
When you know your audience, you will deliver a presentation that will guide employees in turning potential buyers into customers.
5 Questions To Engage Your Audience
Now, maybe you’re reading this and thinking, “Big A! What you’re writing is what I need to succeed! But I don’t know HOW to engage people and attract people with my presentation. What do I need to do?”
I understand. It’s challenging knowing what to say and even harder knowing how to present to an audience. But there’s good news: You can learn what it takes to engage every audience. Through understanding, discipline, and an inspiring group of people who can support you, you can deliver an exceptional presentation.
In his book, Business Made Simple, author Donald Miller asks professionals for their five points on gaining an engaged and inspired audience.
1. Give The Audience a Solution
Professionals spend needless hours memorizing their presentation speeches, and they are a nervous wreck while trying to find the right formula to win customers. They make one critical mistake: They forget WHO their audience is.
An audience won’t be interested in your presentation until they know you’re going to help solve their problem. When you address the problem, your audience will pay attention and stay hooked until the end.
Here are three questions to help understand what your audience wants:
- What is the topic of this presentation?
- Why should they listen to this presentation?
- Does the speaker have the authority to talk on this subject?
2. The Problem For The Solution
Miller says by guiding your listeners through each step of a plan, like subplots in a story, you will engage your audience throughout your presentation. Through storytelling, you will deliver a speech that people can easily digest.
Value-driven professionals use plots in their presentations to access the imagination of their listeners. As you tell stories to your audience, you control the idea you want to convey.
A great communicator will have four subplots to carry the speech to its conclusion:
| Plot | Charlie gets up from the couch to get ice cream. |
| Subplot | As Charlie opens the fridge, he cannot find ice cream anywhere! |
| Next Subplot | Charlie decides to run to the corner store for ice cream and goes to look for his wallet. |
| Next Subplot | Charlie cannot find his wallet and starts to tear apart his living room. |
| Next Subplot | Charlie finds his wallet under the couch and heads to the corner store for ice cream. |
3. Imagine The Outcome
A value-driven professional knows what their audience wants to see changed in their life. Using visual words, describe the possibilities your listeners will experience if they take action on the presentation you make.
Here’s an example of using visual words:
- “Imagine you’re making $10,000 a month. What kind of car would you drive?. When you want to eat out, what type of restaurant do you choose? This life can be yours as you take action on my course…”
4. Inspire Your Audience to Action
An exceptional presentation will always inspire listeners to action. As a value-driven professional, you understand people don’t take action unless someone challenges them to make a decision. Great communicators know how to empower their audience and help them see what’s at stake!
Here’s an example of a clear call to action:
- “Let me know when you email David your certifications and resume. I’ll call him and put in a good word for you!”
5. Providing a Lasting Impression
We’ve heard the quote, “You only get one chance to make a good first impression.” The impression you make is worth its weight in gold. But what about a lasting impression?
Miller says, “People remember the last thing you say more than anything else.” A great communicator understands it’s their responsibility to give their audience an experience that they’ll remember for a lifetime.
When you end your presentation, summarize your theme. By describing this in your speech, you’ll make your point clear and leave a lasting impact on your audience.
How do we find our theme? By filling in the blank:
- "The main point of my presentation is ______________.”
As a value-driven professional, now you know how to deliver an excellent presentation to engage and inspire any audience to action. Don’t be discouraged if you make mistakes applying these skills. It’s challenging when you start, but it’s simpler than you think. With faith and creativity, your presentations will resonate with your listeners.
When we’re discouraged, we need other value-driven professionals to keep us motivated toward our goals. Reach out to us at our website and apply to join one of our mastermind groups online.
