Newsletter Archive

     RUDI GOLDMAN'S TIPS, TOOLS & INSIGHTS   

 GETTING YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS:

1. Respect your audience. Make sure your talk is relevant to them, not just to you. Focus your talk on what benefits the audience and you will keep their interest.
2. Do not memorize your presentation.  It will sound and feel like you are reading it from the cue cards in your mind.
3. Never read a presentation, even if you are giving it in a language other than your mother tongue.  No matter how well you have practiced the talk, you will come off stiff and boring.  One exception might be if you are in a crisis and have decided to only deliver a single statement to the press, with no Q&A afterwards.

Audience Respect

One of the biggest mistakes most presenters make is in not considering or respecting their audience when preparing their talk.  Showing respect means not boring them to tears with a data dump of information which is meaningless to them.  To show respect means not loading your Power Point slides with overwhelming content that you expect them to read while you continue talking, or worse yet, reading the slide content to the audience.  Audience respect involves knowing who you are talking to and knowing what they care about.  Audience respect means showing that you care about each person in the room.  Speakers who respect their audiences:

• Find out what the audience wants to know and address this information gap.
• Keep the messages simple and interesting.
• Use colorful examples and stories to illustrate their messages.
• Present in a natural and comfortable way.

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Coordinator Investor Relations

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     RUDI GOLDMAN'S TIPS, TOOLS & INSIGHTS   

BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS: The Lost Art of the Story

Let’s face it:  Most business presentations are just boring and sleep-inducing.  We get huddled into a dark room for what seems like an eternity and are forced to observe the speaker rocketing out one fact after another. Even worse, are those speakers who read their presentations word for word, off a sheet of paper, or read the PowerPoint slide bullet points out loud with their backs to you.

People just don’t remember facts and figures unless they are presented in a context which is meaningful and interesting to them.  So, for example, if the presentation is not specifically about your bonus for next year or the targets you achieved this year (things that you care about), the information ends up drifting away into the world of the doldrums.

The Art of Storytelling

The big secret for successful business presentations is to feature relevant stories about your experiences and the experiences of your customers, friends and colleagues that reveal fundamental messages to your audience. 

The key word here is relevant.  Your story should relate directly to your audience’s interests, needs and wants.  These stories should be delivered with enough detail so listeners can see, touch, taste and smell the point that needs to be remembered.  Stories and examples need to be told in a compelling and personal way, which connects with the listener.  The audience then links the message to the visualization, emotion or other feeling induced and they remember it!

Be Brave and Communicate

Of course, it is very difficult to follow this advice if you boss yells out “just get to the point, and leave out all of the stories!” 

People are reticent to tell stories, fearing that people will think that they are incapable of being concise.  But my advice is to brave the storm.  Tell your stories with interest and passion.  I know through years of testing the waters, that the only sure way to get audiences to remember messages is through using stories.

Make it Relevant

In fact, audiences really do want to hear stories.  However, the stories must be relevant and interesting to be impactful.  They also have to be well-told.  This takes some practice. 

So support your facts with memorable stories and make your messages come alive.  Be sure to take as much time as you need to accomplish this.  Having the audience remember what you said is more than worth the risk.