Knowing how to give persuasive presentations can transform your life, especially if you are already speaking in your business or career. If you can move your audience to take action or make lasting change, you become an extremely valuable asset.
It’s amazing how many speakers are giving presentations all over the world without taking the time to properly structure their presentations to best connect and give value to their audience. Think about how many terrible or boring presentations you’ve had to sit through, right?
Here are some top tips I’ve learned from working with some of the highest earning Persuasive Presenters and Celebrity Experts in the world.
- Reverse Engineer Your Presentation With Your Main Goal In Mind
Decide on the main outcome from your presentation, what do you want the audience to learn, remember or act on with you? Make sure that the entire presentation takes them on a journey to that destination.
- Choose 1-3 main points to cover and keep it simple.
If you cover too many things, you will overwhelm your audience. Write your speech in a way that it guides them through the most important points. You might feel like you’re being repetitive making the same points in a variety of ways, but remember that everyone has a different way of processing information, and some people take longer to process new information or a change of thinking than others.
- Deal With Barriers That Will Block Acceptance of Your Information.
If you’re introducing new concepts or a change of thinking to your audience think about how you can respectfully lead them to accepting your point of view in a way that deals with their current mindset and eases them in to the new way of thinking.
- Use Stories.
Start strong and aim to capture the attention of your listeners with your very first words, and use stories to keep them interested and engaged. Start your speech by making sure the audience understands how your speech is relevant to them. Too many speakers lose their audience by droning on about themselves for far too long at the start of their presentations. Focus on your audience getting great value from you.
- Know Your Presentation.
Confidence is key to a great persuasive presentation. Plan, script it and record yourself giving your presentation and listen to it over and over. Know your structure and content. Practice it so that you know your speech and can deal with any distraction or interruption. Know your structure so that you can connect with the audience, take pauses, check in with them, adjust if you need to.
- Connect With The Audience.
Don’t read off your slides, script or notes. Stay connected with everyone in the audience. Make eye contact, ask questions, acknowledge them for responding, check in with them, involve them. Walk around and make contact with them if you can. Tap into the energy in the room, adjust your speed, volume and tempo. Use language that connects with them on different levels, such as sense of sight, sound, smell, feelings and intellectual challenge.
- Practice, Practice, Practice.
The key to connecting with your audience is to know your speech and manage the audience experience. Start with an engaging story to enroll their attention then manage your intensity to sustain the attention of attendees throughout. To do this it’s best to practice over and over again. Record your speech and ask qualified peers to listen to it and give you constructive feedback.
- Make your Main Points in a Variety of Ways.
Don’t rush through your presentation. Speak in a slow and measured way. Explaining your main concepts in a variety of ways will impact your audience on a deeper level.
- Close with a Strong Call to Action.
Build up to a strong, impactful, and clear close with a call to action you want the audience to take moving forward. Don’t rush it and make sure you close confidently with strength and conviction.
- Your Persuasive Presentation should Be a Journey
That has been clearly articulated and brought the audience to an understanding of what you set as your main outcome at the start if you have structured it right.
There are a number of advanced strategies that you can continue to learn and implement over time as you continue to build your confidence and effectiveness as a persuasive presenter. Watch presentations by legendary speakers like Anthony Robbins, John F Kennedy, and Martin Luther King for inspiration and technique. The sky is the limit!
Cydney O’Sullivan
International Speaker, Best Selling Author and Founder of Celebrity Experts & Motivational Speakers International
Please visit www.CelebrityExperts.com to find out more about being a highly paid author, expert or speaker