The Three Things

Thursday, August 04, 2005

The Three Things ...

There are three essential elements you can use to make your presentation really fly. Most of these are common sense, but you'd be surprised how often they are missed out.

1. Visual Aids. There are three reasons for using them.

• Your audience takes in information in three ways. 7% of what they take in comes from the text you present, 38% from how you say it and a massive 55% from the visual impact.
• Visual aids make your presentation more memorable, because "A picture is worth a thousand words."
• They help you achieve your objectives. A study has shown that by using visuals in your presentation you can almost double the chance of achieving your objectives.

2. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse and you will get better. No time? You wouldn’t go to the theatre and watch actors who hadn’t learnt their lines, would you?

• Plan to rehearse your presentation out loud at least three times. This will help you work out what works and what doesn’t, what volume you need and how your visual aids fit with what you say.
• Rehearse against the clock to practice your timing. The shorter your presentation, the more accurate you need to be, to make sure you get all your points across in the time you’re given. Watch out for nerves, as they can make you talk faster on the day. Make sure you can see a clock or watch during your presentation.
• Memorize your script. Winston Churchill was a great speaker, often taking weeks to prepare important speeches. Memorizing them was just one of his tricks.

3. The audience will only remember three messages, so here are three things to do to make sure they remember the most important three things.

• Plan what you want your audience to remember. What are your three key messages? When you know what they are, you can structure your presentation around them.
• There are three parts to your presentation – the beginning, the middle and the end. Plan each section separately to make sure they are memorable. Introduce your three key messages at the beginning, talk about them in the middle and summarise them at the end.
• Use lists of three wherever you can in your presentation. A classic example of the rule of three was Winston Churchill's famous “blood, sweat and tears” speech. What he actually said was "I can promise you blood, sweat, toil and tears" but we only remember three of them!

Stick to the rule of three and your presentation will have far more impact.

Blogged on 7:15 AM

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