Five Tips to Wow Your Audience with a Blow-Them-Away Presentation

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Five Tips to Wow Your Audience with a Blow-Them-Away Presentation

by colleencole on March 19th, 2010
60 Comments

Building a blow-them-away presentation is fast and easy with a little bit of preparation.

Consider your Audience

Most speakers focus on their message rather than on the listener’s needs. The most important person in any presentation room is the listener. Start your presentation by telling them how your presentation will help/improve/enlighten them. What will they take away from your presentation and how will it benefit them?

Build an outline

Make it easy on yourself by building an outline first, rather than trying to simply start writing from the beginning. As you put pen to paper, think about your topic. What format will work best to illustrate your points? Comparisons to other products, a chronological description of events, do you need to bring samples or visual materials with you?

Pull in as many senses as possible

If you have product that your audience can see, and possibly even handle, they will retain more of your presentation. If you are using slides, add photographs and illustrations that reflect the message you are delivering. Consider using audience participation.

Dare to be different!

Some of the most effective slides I have seen in a presentation used a solid black background and contained a single word. It was unexpected, so it was memorable. Is there something you can add to your presentation to make it memorable?

Never end your presentation with a Q & A

You give up control to the audience, and a single, persistent person could drive the room completely off message. It is better to ask for questions near the end of your presentation, then quickly review the highlights and conclude. Make sure that your message is the last one your audience hears.

With a little thought, preparation and a few enhancements, your next presentation will blow away your audience and have them asking you back for more!

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Category: Branding, Marketing Strategy, Sugartone

Tags: dare to be different, new tactics, pitch, professional presentation, professional skills, Sugartone

The Author: colleencole

Colleen is a sales and marketing professional with over twenty years of experience in technical sales. Recently Colleen founded HumanFerret, a consulting and coaching service designed to help people "get started, get moving and get unstuck". HumanFerret's ideal client is seeking to start a business, or launch a new product or business division. Colleen is also a professional speaker with over two decades experience in technical training and speaking. Colleen is known for her humorous presentations that both inform and engage the audience. The best compliment she ever received was from a seminar attendee, six months after the presentation. Not only did he comment on the calibre of the information, he had retained the material and was incorporating it in his presentations! http://www.humanferret.ca is currently under construction, but will be live soon. http://www.humanferret.ca

Add Your Comment

Anonymous

Follwing up on what Kelvin said, if you can emotionalise your goals you’re far more likely to see them fullfilled. Ask yourself, how will I feel what I reach goal X? Really examine your thoughts on this, imagine you’ve achieved your goal, feel the happiness, rush of excitement, feelings of acomplishment…etc

btw, best book I ever came across for this type of stuff is, ‘What Self-Made Millionaires Really Think, Know and Do’. Author is Richard Dobbins and Barrie O. Pettman – highly recommended!

While we’re on the subject I’m looking at putting together a mastermind alliance, a group of 4-5 people, meeting maybe every month to assist/critique each other in the pursuit of their goals.
Anyone interested let me know.
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Greg, I just wanted to compliment you on your blogging style. It’s very interesting to see the many way in which you convey your message. I’m learning quite a bit from you so Thanks.
Anonymous

Thanks Niall. Coming from someone I have a lot of respect for, your comment meas a lot.
Anonymous

Thanks for your comments Peter. The book recommendation is a great one.

I like your idea of putting together a group of 4-5 people to help each other with business and I am in the process of forming a similar group. Do not hesitate to contact me if you would like any thoughts or advice on this. (contact details are in the article)

Have a great week.

Greg
Anonymous

Great simple tips that we can all adopt.

I often shy away from slides altogether as very often they distract the audience. I particularly like “Consider your audience” so often I see presentations that our word for word (or slide for side) the same as previous presentations they did. One so called Social Media guru gives the same talk to schools as he does to businesses. Crazy stuff. Also not ending your presentation with Q & A is another great tip. Maybe I need to think my approach on that one?

Thanks,

Greg
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Collen. A useful post – thanks. I like the idea of pulling in all of the sense i.e. the more the better. That is something i will remember for my next presentation – thanks
http://www.wchingya.com wchingya

Another tip I prefer is to relate your presentation with some real life experiences, it’s a good way to capture attention. Or if one doesn’t have an appropriate one, can always share about a story, a light joke.. it will brighten up the session surely. Surprise your audience but be relevant. I guess this can be included as ‘dare to be different’. Thanks so much for sharing.

@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Great tips. I especially like the one–”Pull in as many senses as possible.” I see a lot better use of images in powerpoint, but the really spectacular presenters can effective use props too. I think of Jobs, the Mac Air, and the envelope. That made an impact. Everyone was captured.
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Great tips. I especially like the one, “Pull in as many senses as possible.” I think lots of people are getting the hang of powerpoint and rich images. However, the truly spectacular presenters I have seen lately effectively use props. Some examples: Steve Jobs, Mac Air, and the envelope. Dave Ramsey uses chains as he talks about debt.
http://bettercloser.com Bill Rice

Great tips. I especially like the one, “Pull in as many senses as possible.” I think lots of people are getting the hang of PowerPoint and rich images. However, the truly spectacular presenters I have seen lately effectively use props. Some examples: Steve Jobs, Mac Air, and the envelope. Dave Ramsey uses chains as he talks about debt.
http://twitter.com/drofsocialmedia Brian Prenderville

nice read Collean,

I love the dare to be different bit and never thought about the asking questions bit at the end in the way you describe , makes total sense ! will deffo be using your tips.
Rosa Murray

Great Tips ! Straight to the point
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

Thanks, I always used that in sales – if I could get something into my clients hands, I would, it helps them remember the meeting down the road.
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

I use slides as reminders to keep me on track, but I never do the word for word thing – that is an unprepared presenter. The “different” slideshow I was referring to consisted of single words or photographs to illustrate each point. It was very, very effective.

The Q&A is really important. We have all either given a presentation where a single audience member took us off message, or we have been in the audience and watched it happen. It’s a difficult one to deal with, how quickly do you cut them off, and how do you do it politely, but end the Q&A and then wrap up with a summary of your presentation. People remember the last thing they heard – let that be you!
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

That is a very valid point, personal stories used to illustrate your points get remembered better than simply issuing edicts. Thanks so much for your comment!
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

Hi Bill! You are right, that is something that Jobs does particularly well. So do the better presenters at TED.com. Have you seen the presentation on TED by the scientist who had the stroke? It is really moving, and when she brings out an actual brain to illustrate her point, you can’t help but “get” it. Of course Bill Gates discussion about Malaria is also fun, when he releases live mosquitoes into the auditorium. Not sure the front row was happy with that demo!
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

Thanks Brian, glad I brought some value!
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

Hi Rosa, Thanks for reading!
Anonymous

Hi Colleen. You posted some really great tips; some I had never thought of before. It makes sense why you shouldn’t end with a Q & A.
Anonymous

Put your Q&A tip into action today at an Interview workshop. Many thanks.
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

Great! How did that work for you. Do you think it was effective?
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

Thanks for reading! Hope you can put some of my suggestions into use!
Anonymous

Excellent points, especially about not ending with a Q&A. I have seen many presentations get out of control.
Anonymous

Excellent points, especially about not ending with a Q&A. I have seen some Q&As get way out of hand, and that is the only thing I really remember about that particular presentation.
pat

Good luck, from SC, patiofurniture1f
Anonymous

Worked really well Colleen. Was great to recap at the end and finish with the key positive points.
SweetPanda

Very informative! Thanks! Good luck and voted from SC!
Kelly Kennedy

Excellent information – I’ll pass this along to my sales staff.
http://www.stress-solutions4life.com/ Catherine Connors

Wonderful tips we can all use, I like the idea of daring to be different, I shall think of this post when I perpare for my next presentation. Thank you.
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Hi Colleen, “Most speakers focus on their message rather than on the listener’s need” I think that this is a wonderful point and well worth considering, to a large extent everything else follows
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

Thanks Kelly, I am glad you found the article useful.
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

It really does. Presenting is all about fine tuning your message – actually putting together this article was great practice, I wanted it to be brief, to the point and full of value. Our presentations should be the same! If you focus on the listener, you will be golden!
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

Hi Catherine, I am glad you were able to pull something from my tips. Being different and doing something unexpected will help your message be remembered.
jentamar

Great article. I especially like the idea of appealing to many different senses.
Anonymous

Great advice as I embark on my first ever PowerPoint presentation.
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http://www.ngrain.com/ Mike

Thanks – intigued by the point about “Never end your presentation with a Q & A” – going to incorporate it in next presentation.
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

Good luck with your presentation. If you find yourself nervous at any point, remember, you are the expert on your topic, because only you know what you are going to be presenting. If you miss something, don’t worry, no one will know. If you really need to calm your nerves – yawn! (Before you get to the front of the room). The oxygen will relax you. Thanks for reading!
http://www.fortysomethingbride.com/ Colleen Cole

Please let me know how that works for you. After your Q&A, summarize your main points, then end with your call to action. You’ll be amazed by your results!
http://www.channelship.ie/blog facundo

Welcome to Bloggertone Dermot! Will take in your advice on using the official name of the country in the native language, or even better, the official name of the language in the very language (tongue twister!).
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

Great tips Dermot,
I have images of a landscape – wonder who I am insulting today… and who I will offend tomorrow!
Thanks for sharing – lots of food for thought, be it noodles, french fries, sauerkraut or sushi
http://www.codegaconsulting.com Una Coleman

Very nice piece Dermot with some lovely illustrations. As GB Shaw said of the English and the Americans “Two peoples separated by a common language” – or a language not so common afterall. Would be great to see some examples of companies who are getting localisation right in the context of delivery of their international Social Media Marketing strategy – some benchmarks we could reference.
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http://www.seoconsult.co.uk Jack

Depends on your presentation. If you present your product confidently then you’ll have them in the palm of your hand – you have to have faith in your own products.
http://www.codegaconsulting.com Una Coleman

Dermot, are you coming to the IIA Conference next week. Would be great if you could attend our Internationa Strategy Working Group session. Your input would be valued: http://www.iia.ie/events/iia-conference/breakout-sessions/international-strategy/
DermotQ

I’d like to be there very much ,Una, but unfortunately I’m already booked to attend the Localization Conference which is the same day as the IIA conference. I look forward to seeing your post on the Strategy Working Group however.
Facundo

Dermot, I’m working on a wireframe for a client at the moment and this article comes in very handy. I was about to fall into the flag trap…
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

Great post John, sellers, salesu00a0departments and sales mangersu00a0can choose to fight oru00a0embrace what’su00a0happening.u00a0nnI agree with Adam below that many selling fundamentals remain but the sales/buying process has changed, with both now less obviously defined as before. For instance, a sales manager may read your blog above and the points willu00a0resonate because he or she is experiencing the difficulties mentioned.u00a0The comments feature of this blog or evenu00a0LinkedInu00a0or Twitter will allow them to start au00a0conversation (buying process) with you here oru00a0elsewhere.u00a0nnWhat sales people have got to remember is that the online and offline worlds are u00a0now merged andu00a0dependentu00a0on each other. Choose to only operate in one and you place a severeu00a0limitationu00a0on yourself. u00a0u00a0
Anonymous

nnHi Adam nnA great comment. nnnu00a0nnnI am sitting in Heathrow and have beennreflecting on your point about a calm, sincere and deliberate approach.nnnu00a0nnnMaybe I can add to that. A calm, sincere,nand deliberate approach accompanied by the ability to show how a solutionnimpacts the buyeru2019s key metrics may in fact be the secret sauce that really deliversnthat breath of fresh air. The buyers we have been speaking (as part of ournongoing research in modern buying) around the world have become obsessed withntheir business case and have tended to accuse us sales people of not demonstratingnthe performance impact that will deliver to their business case. nnnu00a0nnnFood for thought. nnnu00a0nnnAll the best Johnnu00a0nn
Anonymous

nnHi Niall, nnTotally agree, the more sophisticated buying teams out there are using thenonline world to feed early stages of their buying process. This has a knock on affect for when the buyer feels they need to call in a vendor/partner. nnCheersnJohn nu00a0nn
Anonymous

nnHi Elaine,nnnnInteresting point re the “newbies”. nnnnThe Sellers we see succeeding have a broad range of expertise/years under theirnbelt. The mindset shift hasn’t taken its toll because their focus has in somenways always been on the buyers process and business case. nnnnu201cNewbiesu201d or more established sellers comfortable with the knowledge the buyingnprocess is a long one have adapted well. nnnnWhere we have seen u201cnewbiesu201d succeed is in places where buyers want to see/meetnexperts in a given field or category to drive out their requirements. The newbies are seen to add a lot ofnvalue to the buyer and they are keen to help the buyer at all times. They arenmore buying process centric than selling process focused which is interesting.nu00a0nn
cashformysettlement

Yes we all need to set goals……….we just need to stick with them!!
Jhonwotsan

Everyone needs goals…..and they need to stick with them………hard to do tho in this challenging world we live in.
Jhonwotsan

A career coach,really now can you afford one?
http://www.sovereignfunding.com Cashforstructuredsettlements

Great blog! I enjoyed it.
Jhonwotsan

You should have a short term goal in mind when you start.
Sellyourannuity

Make goals for yourself, make them challenging to keep them interesting and you will be more apt to stay with them.
http://www.sovereignfunding.com structuredsettlement

I agree with you. We set ourselves up for failure if we do not commit totally to the belief that we are going to acheive those goals.
http://www.sovereignfunding.com structuredsettlement

I love the idea of looking at your goals as though they are roadmaps. We all need something to follow and that makes our goals achievable.

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