SUCCESS Formula for Memorable Presentations

SUCCESS Formula for Memorable Presentations
www.public-speaking-hong-kong.blogspot.com

Want an easy formula for creating memorable presentations?


If you follow these guidelines, then your audience will have no choice but to be wrapped up in your speech/presentation:

• Simple - Boil your presentation/speech down to one simple, core message. What one thing do you want you want your audience to remember by the end of the speech? You should be able to summarize this point in one sentence - and in a words that even a child could understand.
  
  
• Unexpected - The best way to grab your audiences attention is to do or say something unexpected. However, don't make this gimmicky (i.e. just for the sake of being unexpected). Make sure your 'twist' is part of your message. One way of doing this is to provide shocking facts/statistics. For example, "one bag of popcorn is as unhealthy as a whole day's worth of fatty foods!" would shock your listeners into paying more attention to your 'Healthy Eating choices' presentation.
  
  
• Concrete - avoid vague language. Provide specific, clear details. Instead of saying "a few months ago", say "On 19 March 2011". Instead of saying "eat healthy", say "make a commitment to never eat at McDonalds".
  
  
• Credible - Talk about things where you have an expertise. In other words, if you're speaking about "How to be a Millionaire in 10 days", make sure you're not broke.
  
  
• Emotional - Engage people's emotions by telling them a story.
  
  
• Story - Use stories. Stories are a very powerful way of engaging people's emotions. Read more about the power of stories here

There you have it, the SUCCESs checklist for sticky presentations. 

P.S. This formula was taken from Chip and Dan Heath's fantastic book, "Made to Stick". 


Want more great info like this? Sign up for the free updates by entering your email in the box at the top right hand side of the page. 
Share

How to Tease and Flirt with Your Audience

How to Tease and Flirt with Your Audience
http://www.public-speaking-hong-kong.blogspot.com/

What's the best way to get your audience curious?
How do you get them so curious that they're begging
you to know more?

• Public Speaking Tip: Tease, Don't Tell

Before your audience will value the information you’re giving,
they’ve got to want it. Demand has to come before supply.Most presenters take the audience’s desire for granted,
but that’s a big mistake. Great presentations are mysteries,
not encyclopedia entries.

• Example: The Girl Effect

An online video called “The Girl Effect”  starts by recounting a
list of global problems: AIDS. Hunger. Poverty. War. Then, it asks,
What if there was an unexpected solution to this mess?
Would you even know it if you saw it? The solution isn’t the Internet.
It’s not science. It’s not government. Curious? See, it works.
(Go to girleffect.org for the answer.)

• Even TV Shows Do It!

Curiosity must come before content. Imagine if the TV show Lost had begun with an announcement: “They’re all dead people and the island  is Purgatory. Over the next 4 seasons, we’ll unpack how they got there. At the end we’ll take questions.” We’ve all had the experience of being in the audience as a presenter clicks to a slide with 8 bullet points. As he starts discussing the first bullet point, we quickly read all 8. Now we’re bored. He’s lost us. But what if there had been 8 questions instead? We’d want to stay tuned for the answers.

•  "What's the next question I want them to wrestle with?"

The best presenters don’t structure their presentations
by thinking, “What’s the next point I should make?”
Instead, they decide, “What’s the next question I want them
to wrestle with?”



About the Authors
The above article was by Chip and Dan Heath, authors
of the highly recommended book "Made to Stick". You
can check out their public speaking resources here:
http://heathbrothers.com/

Presentation Mastery: 6 Steps to a Successful Presentation

Article by Douglas Kruger, 5 time South

Africa Public Speaking Champion

Looking to add a little electricity in your own

presentations? Use the following six devices

to add sizzle to your sentences:

1. Start by sounding human

When you chat with your friends, would you use

a sentence like, “It is has come to my notice,

in terms of our internal policies, that wasteful

expenditure is causing a detrimental effect

upon our bottom-line profits”? Doubtful.

A human being would say, “We’re wasting

too much and it’s hurting us.”

Use a conversational tone. A conversational tone

keeps your audience engaged - and awake!

2. Craft interesting titles

Yes, you can deliver an address titled

‘A Critical Look at the History and Production

of Fireworks.’ But how much more engaging to

have the MC say, ‘Help me to welcome Joe,

with his speech titled ‘Bang! – Making the Fire Work!’

Your title is an opportunity to create interest before

you even stand to speak. Take the time to develop

a hook.

3. Metaphors help you to sum up complex ideas quickly

Certainly, you can show a busy graph depicting

the in’s and out’s of any idea. Or you could simply

use a metaphor that captures the essence of the idea,

and say, “It’s like...”

Metaphors sum up complex ideas quickly.

4 Repeat catch-phrases often and your point will be remembered

Simple. Memorable. Easy to repeat.

Advertisers know the value of a good catch-phrase,

and top speakers understand it too. Remember the

old war-time phrase ‘Loose lips sink ships’? That’s

the kind of easy-to-repeat mnemonic slogan you

should develop and use often in your presentations.

5. Alliteration adds impact

In one of my contest speeches, I spoke about

the glib nature of self-help quick fixes. I packaged

it in the following sentence: “The treadmill of

self-improvement churns out Kellogg’s Rice Competitors,

Kentucky Fried Performers, Supersized McMen and Women;

egos bigger than buildings.” Alliteration adds musicality to

your sentences. Its rapid-fire nature also helps you to create

the impression of being ‘on a roll’ when you speak, which

adds to the perception of passion.

6. Visual devices bring dry information to life

Don’t just give information. Create mental pictures.

The human mind becomes more engaged when

points are delivered in story form, with character,

setting, emotion and the description of action.

We do not ‘feel’ a PowerPoint graph the way

that we feel a story. Use language that creates

the perception that you are ‘re-living’ the story as

you tell it, and you will pin souls to seats and set

fire to minds. Best of all, you will be remembered.

About the Author

Douglas Kruger has represented Africa in the

Toastmasters World Championship finals three

times. He is the author three books, including

50 Ways to Become a Better Speaker.

See him in action, or review his books and

articles, at: www.douglaskruger.co.za