Here is a simple mantra that can help you laser focus your next speech or presentation. It actually works best to act it out. Here is how it works… Stand facing a mirror and…
1: Touch Your Head: Make Them Think. The first rule of speaking is to offer compelling facts and figures that will make your audience think. You may have to go a little outside the box to draw people in, but interesting information will bring your audience to life.
2. Touch Your Heart: Make Them Feel. Facts and figures by themselves can get boring quickly. You need to add emotion to really draw people in. The best way to do this is offer heart felt or compelling stories or anecdotes. Tell your audience what is wrong with the status quo and then offer a compelling solution.
3. Hold Your Hands Out: Ask Them To Take Action. You can have the best speech in the world but if you don’t ask your audience to take action, they will leave unfulfilled. Make sure your speech has at least one call to action, preferably near the end so people will remember it and follow through.
4. Smile: Add Humor. Adding humor to your presentation is a great way to lighten things up and make your audience feel at ease. This can take the form of a joke, a funny story, or even a funny picture or graphic. Humor is a great way to break the ice and get your audience on your side.
These four tips are easy to remember if you act them out. I find if I have all four of these present in a speech that the audience will respond better and it helps me remember why I’m presenting in the first place. Why not go through the motions a few times and make sure your next presentation is a memorable one!
Question: What techniques have you used to make a presentation better?