As a corporate executive, you have a great deal of pressure that is on your shoulders. Because so much is expected of you, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the many responsibilities you will have on your plate. One such responsibility is delivering effective presentations. Whether you are speaking to your board of directors or at an industry conference where you provide certain insights, you are not only going to need to sound professional, but you will also need to be concise.
Choose Your Words Wisely
If you want to be perceived as a professional corporate speaker, you might have realized that you need to be extra careful in wording your ideas and requests. As a corporate executive, you cannot just list a bunch of points and expect your audience to understand and heed your recommendations. Communication including giving a presentation is a process and you need to understand the technique of getting your ideas across effectively to make you a success.
Identify Your Objective
“As with every presentation, you need to know precisely what you want to achieve with it” suggest business coach Dean Johnson from The Coaching Institute. “Start with the outcome in mind and work your way backward when you prepare your speech. Many speakers fail to do that. The audience is confused; they do not understand where the speaker is taking them with his thoughts.”
Pedestal
As a corporate speaker, you should not put yourself onto a pedestal. The audience likes speakers who are exactly like them. It is much more effective to show them that you are not special; you are a normal person without super strength or super intelligence. It is much more effective to promote a system or process that your audience can use and be as successful with it as you are.
Audience
You need to know and understand your audience. The more you know about their needs and wants; also their fears, the better. You will be able to give them vivid pictures of how they can achieve their goals; and how they can avoid their biggest fears. This is called the carrot and stick technique and it works beautifully every time, if you do it correctly.
Vision
People love to be part of something bigger, something they can believe in. What they need is guidance, a proven and down trodden path to get there. Very often it is also important to tell them clearly what will happen to them if the goal that you are setting is not reached. Will they lose their job, their income or benefits? Will their business dreams; attempt at independence fall through?
Explain it clearly
Even if you think that by now they must understand your ideas automatically, chances are that some of them are still confused. They still wonder how they will achieve the big goal you dangle in front of them. Give them the vision you have for their future, maybe with your company and tell them exactly what three steps they have to take to make it happen for them and for you.
Corporate speaking and presentations is based on a process to get the message across to the audience. To get them to accept your ideas, pave the way with a system, a process that will help them achieve the success they crave. Do not put yourself or your company on a pedestal. Give your audience the chance to be the hero by presenting them with the three steps that they can use to achieve the success they crave.
