Presentation Skills Information | |
|
Learn about CV writing as an important part of your presentation skills. Find out why getting a Perfect CV is so hard and get everything you need for effective CV writing. |
I Love the Smell of PowerPoint in the Morning: The 5 Sensory Approach to Business Presentations
You're in a conference room. You're giving a PowerPoint presentation to several of your colleagues...and your boss. On a scale of 1 to 5, how sensual is this experience? And just how important is sensuality in business-related PowerPoint presentations? Believe it or not, live PowerPoint presentations can be sensory, full-bodied experiences. Sadly, many presenters focus primarily on the visual elements of PowerPoint, adding a dizzying display of wild backgrounds, pictures, charts, animations, and bullet points...simply because PowerPoint makes it easy to do so. While focusing solely on visuals may stroke a presenter's ego, it does very little to provoke a positive emotional response from the audience. That's because information arrives in our brains through all five of our senses: taste, touch, sight, smell, and sound. Just how sensual are you willing to be when you give a PowerPoint presentation? Put another way, how well do you address each of the following five sensory areas? See PowerPoint Run... The best sensual presenters only use visual elements to activate the audience's imagination or emotions. As an audience member, when you feel your brain cells spark or your heartbeat increase upon seeing a graphic, you've been visually stimulated! Great visuals can stir your emotions?and spur you to take positive action. Sensual presenters skip endless, needless, hard-to-read, or boring visuals. They might be easy to add, but they do nothing positive for the audience. Now Hear This... Sound is an incredibly important part of any presentation. I went to hear a widely recognized expert on PowerPoint design speak last week...and almost went straight to sleep! It wasn't his visuals, it was his voice! His slides might have been eye candy, but they weren't enough. His bored monotone didn't match his widely purported passion for demonstrating and promoting excellent multimedia visuals. The most sensual presenters use a voice that projects enthusiasm for the subject matter at hand. And they skip the cheesy "ta-dahs" and other trite sound bites that inspire groans and eye-rolls! The Aroma of PowerPoint... If you think that you can't smell a PowerPoint presentation, think again. Oh, the fragrance of dry-erase markers on a white board! The odor of perspiration, day-old pizza, and stale cologne that lingers from the coworkers who met in the room before you! What kind of scent best compliments your message? An aromatherapist I know anoints her room with essential oils that elicit audience attention and interest. If this sounds too new-age goofy for you, how about a fresh pot of brewed coffee, a vase of flowers, a bowl of fruit - there are many business-acceptable ways to improve the aroma of your PowerPoint! PowerPoint is a Banquet... What's a business meeting without a nosh? Tasty little treats can really win over an audience. Sensual presenters score big points for providing a box of donuts, pizza, pastry, boxed lunch or other edible goodies for their audiences. Feel the PowerPoint... As an audience member, you're always touching or feeling something during a PowerPoint presentation. Super sensory presenters provide pleasant or useful items for their groups to feel. If you're presenting, consider pencils and paper, product samples, and porcelain cups instead of styrofoam. Make sure the room temperature is a little cool...the more bodies you have in the room, the warmer it will get (and warmth can make the audience sleepy!) All five senses provide a portal to the human mind. The more you can awaken and enliven your audience's senses, the more powerful your PowerPoint presentation can be. Since 1999, over a million people have accessed free PowerPoint tips, tricks, techniques, and templates at Laura's website, http://www.maniactive.com. Now, you can learn even more about using PowerPoint more effectively by listening to Laura's PowerPoint Podcasts or by subscribing to herPowerPoint blog
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
RELATED ARTICLES
Shamus Browns Top 5 Sales Presentation Tips When its time to give your next sales presentation, here are my favorite tips for delivering powerful, charismatic, and engaging sales presentations. #1 - PLANT YOUR FEET SQUARELY ON THE FLOOR How you hold your physical body during your sales pitch communicates a tremendous amount of information about you to your audience. Steps to a Successful Audience/Trainer Relationship A major cause of trainers being unreceptive to their audience is stage fright. Being so self-involved the trainer has very little energy to devote to making personal contact. Facilitating Panel Discussions A client recently called to say she was going to facilitate a panel for the next business meeting. She had never done so before and asked if I could coach her. 1,000,001 Reasons To Connect With Your Audience Eye contact is mandatory when giving a public presentation.The goal of public speaking is to connect with your audience. Polishing Your Sales Presentation Summer is here! It's time to bring out your summer attire, take a vacation and reflect upon your achievements thus far this year. Look back at the past few months of your sales production . A Discussion about Facilitation Skills Interview with Julia Apple-Smith, Manager of Employee Development at Sauer-Danfoss Ames, Iowa about Facilitation Skills:Q: Would you tell me a little bit about the culture at Sauer-Danfoss?Julia: About nine years ago, Dave Pfeifle, President and CEO had a vision for us to change our culture. We, at one time, were part of the Sundstrand Corporation, and as such, over time, had evolved into a company that was fairly autocratic and not very customer focused. Is This Thing On?: Keeping Your Audiences Attention First and foremost, you must deal effectively with your own emotions, ego, hang-ups, inhibitions, and fears. This will release you to focus on the audience is their attention level. Using Your Audience to Your Advantage Regardless of what response technique may be convenient in a given situation, one thing is certain for the aware trainer: different techniques will drive you deeper and deeper into the realm of subtlety, which is precisely where the art of using response points belongs. For most trainers, these direct questions will be the best method to determine how well the idea presentation is progressing. 5 Breakthrough Marketing Ideas Do you ever get frustrated with your marketing? Are you putting in a lot of effort but not getting the results you want? Don't you wish you could just hit a switch and get a better response from your mailings, sales calls and web site?You hear a lot about breakthroughs; is it all hype, or can you really create a breakthrough in your marketing and sales? I know that you can.I spent last weekend skiing in Vermont with my spouse, nephew and his finance Sonia. Grand Opening: The Key To Great Presentations Whether you are speaking in front of a civic group or makinga sales presentation, your opening can make or break thedeal. Unless you grab the audience at the beginning, they'llbe sleeping through your most important information. I Love the Smell of PowerPoint in the Morning: The 5 Sensory Approach to Business Presentations You're in a conference room. You're giving a PowerPoint presentation to several of your colleagues. Powerful Presentations: How to Write and Deliver a Presentation to Remember If the mere thought of standing up in front of an audience makes your knees quiver, you should know that you're not alone. Public speaking is one of the top fears listed by Americans and for good reason- most of us don't do it very often. Audience-Friendly Presentation Style Habits in Three Easy Steps You have presentation style habits that automatically appear when you are speaking in public. Where did these habits come from? Most likely you picked them up from watching other people give presentations, or they are carry-overs from your own conversational style. Communication Barriers and Simplifying the Communication Process The communication process can be much more difficult than a person thinks. Unfortunately, many times a presenter does not realize that their message is being lost until it is too late and they have gone through an entire meeting/lecture talking away about something that their colleagues/audience thinks is absolutely meaningless. Develop The Winners Edge Through Conversational Hypnosis Communication is vital for survival in an age of information that is undergoing a "shock-wave" of changes. Nationally and globally, we remain in a crisis in traditional literacy. Dump Your Speeches For Leadership Talks The CEO of a worldwide business asked me to help him develop a talk he planned to give to several hundred of his top executives. He said, "I feel as if I'm Daniel going into the lion's den. Story Telling As a Business Tool Long long ago, it was the time when time itself stood stillThat was the time this story of story telling beganWhen everyone listened to the story and people learnedAnd that was the time people were also very happyBecause they were listening to a story.Stories have been the purveyor of knowledge from time immemorial. Improve Your Bottom Line with What You Say When was the last time you thought about what you were actually saying to potential clients? Are you closing the deal more often than not? Or maybe it's time to revamp your elevator speech or introduction.Remember potential clients do not want to hear statistics about you and your company; they want to know how your product or service will benefit them and make their life easier. Show the World Your Wares Easily and Inexpensively You've spent a lot of time preparing your PowerPoint presentations and now you're ready to show the world all your company has to offer. You set up some appointments for sales presentations with a few members of the local Chamber of Commerce. Handling Questions with Authority At some point in your presentation you will be expected to answer questions from your audience. They might have some burning questions that need to be answered before they buy into your message. |
| © Presentation Skills 2009 |