Some of My Favorite Strategies for Presenters
I spend a lot of time finding the best advice and strategies for my coaching clients. As I review books, websites, blogs, podcasts, articles, and any other source of information I can find, I put together step-by-step processes for my clients to learn more efficiently and perform more effectively.
In the presentation world, one of my favorite sources of ideas is Harvard Business Review (HBR). This source has trusted, successful people who write about the topics they know best. HBR has a wealth of information for presenters and public speakers.
Here are a few of my favorite articles from HBR on giving effective presentations. If you’ve got just a few minutes, read my quick review. If you’ve got more time, click on the links and read the full articles at HBR.org.
6 Ways to Look More Confident During a Presentation
Author: Kasia Wezowski, founder of the Center for Body Language
Summary from David Motto: 1. Stand with your feet shoulder distance apart. 2. Use Wezowski’s 5 hands positions to look more trustworthy, strong, and honest.
Recommendation from David Motto: Read this article if you’ve always wanted to know what to do with your hands while presenting.
A Checklist for More Persuasive Presentations
Author: Dorie Clark, Marketing Strategist and faculty member, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business
Summary from David Motto: 1. Define the problem you’re solving and why now is the time to tackle the problem. 2. Let the audience know your solution has been vetted. 3. Simplify your structure. 4. Include a story. 5. Have a call to action.
Recommendation from David Motto: Read this article if you’ve got a high-stakes presentation that you and your team have spent a lot of time preparing – and where you’re facing an audience of decision makers who can easily reject your idea.
The Best Presentations Are Tailored to the Audience
Author: HBR Staff
Summary from David Motto: Knowing your audience is crucial for an effective presentation. This article offers 9 questions to ask yourself in the early planning phase of your presentation to assure you’re creating the right presentation. I especially like this pair of questions in the article: “What are people likely to assume? Which of those assumptions are correct and which are incorrect?” Thinking about just those 2 questions will make you stand out from most presenters!
Recommendation from David Motto: Read the questions in this article if you’re going to make a presentation to an unfamiliar audience or to an audience who doesn’t know you that well.
Five Presentation Mistakes Everyone Makes
Author: Nancy Duarte, Presentation expert and award-winning author of books on presentations
Summary from David Motto: Duarte warns that most presenters do not (1) engage their audiences emotionally, (2) create appropriate slides, (3) use the best types of visuals, (4) speak in clear language, and (5) stay within the time given them.
Recommendation from David Motto: If you read only one of the 4 articles I include here, this is it. Duarte gives a high-level overview of the items that plague even veteran presenters. Avoiding the 5 items on Duarte’s list will help you immensely. And, she gives you tips on what to better.
Successful Presenters Need More than Strategy
The advice in these HBR articles is insightful, practical, and effective. I highly recommend you follow these authors’ words of wisdom, and I also believe you’ll find a lot more useful information at HBR.org if you take the time to explore the content there.
I have another belief too: All the great strategies in the world need something added to them for your presentation to be great.
You see, there is something missing from all of these articles: the mental and emotional preparation needed to make you the best presenter you can be.
As much as I urge you to follow all of the strategies from HBR experts, you’ll also want to create a mental and emotional state that allows you to be truly great. I’ll be exploring this side of performance preparation in several posts in this blog.
