The New Face of Presentation Skills

Some of you may have had this experience: You are standing back stage at your association’s annual conference ready to walk out and deliver the opening speech to the general assembly. On cue, you walk out to face 1,200 people waiting to be entertained, informed and inspired. But not to worry, you’ve had plenty of training in the art of giving good speeches; so you smile at the audience and begin …

But more likely, you have had this experience: You’re walking down the hall on your way to a meeting and your boss stops you long enough to tell you that the Board of Directors is meeting next week to consider the new building proposal. Since you are one of the leads in this project, you’ll need to prepare and give a presentation to the Board.

Gone are the days when the need for good presentation skills applies only to the person standing in front of 1,200 people; rather, good presentation skills are required of the 1,200 people in the audience.

Consider the following:

Team Meetings: Your team can meet as a group only once week and it is your job to make sure the most relevant information is delivered in the most effective manner in the time you have to deliver it. Sure, you will meet with individuals and groups during the week, but this is your only chance to meet with the team together, and what you say and how you say it has to be good.

It’s all about presentation skills.

Conferences: Your company holds a yearly conference. Keynotes are given by the executive staff and break out sessions are led by key employees. It’s the one opportunity a year to connect face to face with customers and all sessions must be good.

It’s all about presentation skills.

Meetings: You are a project lead and you serve at the will of the Joint Committee. At any time you can be called in to give a project report. You have only ten minutes to report on a project to which you and a staff of five devote their entire time. After (and usually during) the report, which is nearly impossible to deliver in ten minutes, you are peppered with questions.

It’s all about presentation skills.

Professional Organizations: As a community volunteer you have been involved with the city’s very expensive and very impressive park development and beautification project. Several professional organizations in the city are interested in this project and have asked you to present at their monthly meetings.

It’s all about presentation skills.

In the situations described above, some people will be great, some will be good and yet others will muddle their way through. But why muddle when you can be good; and why be just good when you could be great? And is it really important to be a great presenter or speaker? What are the benefits of being great?

First, the ability to present or speak well creates an effective work group. People understand the information and direction and work gets done. Good presentation is directly related to accomplishment.

Second, good presentation saves time. When people understand information and direction, time is saved and thus created for additional accomplishment. You get more done in the time you have to do it.

The need for good presentation is everywhere; learn to present well, use it and benefit from it.