What to write at the end of a presentation. How to make a great presentation if you're not a designer. common mistakes in presentations

We live in an amazing time. The world is changing rapidly, and by 2020 the digital universe will grow tenfold. There will be even more diverse content, it will be more and more difficult for our overloaded brain to perceive it.

To cope with such an influx of information, you need to learn how to properly structure and present it.

How to create an effective presentation and what mistakes to avoid in the process?

Rule 1: Engage with Content

During one of my lectures, I was asked: “Alexander, how do you see a successful presentation?”. I thought for a long time, looking for arguments, because success in this business consists of many factors.

First of all, interesting, structured and well-presented content.

Such that during the presentation the listener looked at the phone for only one purpose - to take pictures of the slides, and not to check the Facebook feed.

So that his eyes would burn and the desire to create would appear.

But how do you know if the audience is ready, if they are interested in how involved they are?

First you need to come to terms with an important fact: people do not go to think and strain. And they probably don't care about your presentation. However, how you present and what they see can change their mind.

Dave Paradis is a presentation specialist who did some research on his site.

He asked people a question: what do they not like about presentations? Based on thousands of people's responses, he formed two important remarks for any speaker.

Rule 2. Do not read the text from the slides

69% of respondents answered that they hate it when the speaker repeats the text placed on the slides of his presentation. You must explain the information on each slide in your own words. Otherwise, you risk that your audience will simply fall asleep.

Rule 3. Don't "shrink" :)

48% of people cannot tolerate too small font in the presentation. You can come up with ingenious text for each slide, but all your creativity will go down the drain if this text is unreadable.

Rule 4. Joke and be sincere

Will Stefan at TED-x knows how to laugh at himself even during important presentations.

Look. Make a conclusion. Smile. The audience will appreciate your ease of communication and simplicity of speech.

Rule 5: Use the right fonts

In 2012 The New York The Times conducted an experiment called "Are you an optimist or a pessimist?".

Its participants had to read an excerpt from the book and answer "yes" or "no" to several questions.

The purpose of the experiment: to determine whether the font affects the reader's trust in the text.

Forty thousand people participated and were shown the same paragraph in different fonts: Comic Sans, Computer Modern, Georgia, Trebuchet, Baskerville, Helvetica.

The result is that the text written in Comic Sans and Helvetica did not inspire confidence among readers, but Baskerville, on the contrary, received consent and approval. According to psychologists, this is due to its formal appearance.

Rule 6. Visualize

We all perceive information differently. You tell the person to do beautiful presentation. You draw a specific example in your head.

And you don’t even realize that in his mind a beautiful presentation looks completely different.

Therefore, it is better to show five pictures than to explain everything in words once.

Before your speech, you need to pick up clear illustrations of your key message. It doesn't matter what you sell - lunch boxes, your consultations or life insurance.

Show your audience five pictures

You

Your product

Benefits of your product

Happy buyers

Metrics of your success

Rule 7. Simplify

Most people think that making a presentation on a white background is boring and unprofessional. They are convinced that it is worth changing the color - “magic” will happen and the client will immediately accept the order. But this is a delusion.

We try to “embellish” the slide with a large number of objects, although we can explain its essence in one word or picture.

Your goal is not to reach the level of Rembrandt's skill. An overly detailed and elaborate drawing only distracts the audience from the message you intend to convey. (Dan Roam, author of Visual Thinking)

Using illustrations and a minimum of text, we help convey our thoughts to the audience and grab their attention.

Less is not boring. The design of the one dollar bill is over 150 years old, and it only gets better every year.

It is constantly visually changed, leaving only the most important on the bill. Today, the banknote is beautiful in its simplicity.

Rule 8. Rehearse your performance

If you don't have time to prepare a presentation, why should the client take the time to do so? How will you enter the hall? What will you say first? Your laptop will be ten percent charged, and where do you expect to find an outlet? Will you rehearse a few scripts and your speech?

All questions have the same answer: important meetings and presentations need to be prepared. It is not enough to create a presentation with cool content and pictures, you need to be able to present it. At the performance, you must be understood, heard and accepted.

Creation effective presentation is not just adding cool content and pictures to the slides, it is the ability to present them. At the speech, you should be understood, heard and accepted.)

Imagine: a person comes into the hall and starts rushing about - then the 1st slide, then the 7th, then back to the 3rd. Worries, worries, forgets. Will you understand anything? I don't think.

People feel very good about other people. When you are not ready, not sure, you can see it from a distance. So my advice is to rehearse your presentation in front of a mirror at least three times.

Meet on the cover

Imagine you came to a meeting, amazed everyone with a cool presentation, added the person you were “selling” to as a friend on Facebook, and you have a flower or a skull on your profile picture.

First, it's weird. Secondly, in two weeks, when you write to a person in the messenger, he will not remember your face.

Open messenger. If you see letters or a person who has his back turned to you on the avatar, do you remember the face of the interlocutor without his name?

Presentations make a difference. This does not necessarily mean that they are changing the audience. This can also happen, but I'm not talking about that now. Presentations transform you and your own ideas. It's not about making you rich and famous with their help. It's about being different the best people. You will become more knowledgeable, more understanding, more sincere and more passionate. ( Alexey Kapterev, presentation expert)

No matter how cool your presentation in PowerPoint is, if you have a picture in a bad resolution on your profile picture, they will forget about the presentation.

Remember that your Facebook profile is selling while you sleep. They visit it, read it, look for something interesting. The visual design of your page is very important.

Can I ask you to do one thing? Upload your facebook avatar with a white background and make a cover with your photo and short description, What do you do.

Over time, you will realize that you are “meeting by the cover”, and you will get a specific result from communication.

Presentation by mail: 5 life hacks

A presentation in front of an audience is very different from the one you need to mail.

What I advise you to pay attention to before sending a presentation to a client:

The title slide always sells. Your first picture should be provocative, unusual. Looking at it, a person should want to know more.

We carefully select arguments, prepare slides, rehearse, rehearse, then make a presentation. And most importantly, that people listen, and with interest, nod, agreeing with your words, but do not buy anything?

And we wonder why, what is the reason? Not enough arguments? Or are the arguments weak?

Why do our arguments lose their meaning?

Let's fantasize a little! Imagine that you are going to ask for a hand and a heart from your one and only and beloved.

You booked a table at the best restaurant, hired musicians, bought a luxurious ring, certainly with a diamond, where would it be without it, and put on a new suit and clean socks.

And now you are having dinner in a luxurious restaurant, amazing music is playing, at some point you catch her eye, take her by the hand, the music becomes quieter, and on the contrary, your heart beats furiously in your ears.

You say that you have been together for just 6-7 years and still don’t know each other well, but that during this time you managed to love your chosen one with all your heart, that you are ready to take care of her and love her until the end of your life.

You kneel down, take out a ring with that very big diamond from a beautiful box and say: “Thank you for your attention!”. Then leave the restaurant.

Do you think you have a chance to tie the knot with this girl?

How does a girl feel, who, instead of “Marry me!” say "Thank you for your attention!"?

Your audience feels the same way, which instead of “Buy from us now!” you utter the same sacramental phrase.

But, on the other hand, you can’t just say directly on the forehead: “Buy it!”

How to make an offer to your audience?

There are six steps you need to take to significantly increase sales through presentations.

They are known to everyone and have actually been used in sales for a long time, but for some reason they are rarely seen in presentations.

Let's see what these steps are:

conclusions

As Stirlitz said: "The first and last phrase is remembered." And if at the end of your presentation you just say “Thank you for your attention” to the audience, then the only thing they will remember about you is that you are a polite speaker.

The only action she will take on your “Thank you for your attention!” Is, at best, she will say “Please!”.

Do not forget that a presentation is not a performance, not a show, but a sale! And that means it should end with a deal! Well, or at least a call to it :)

So round off every presentation with six steps that encourage your listeners to become your customers!

In order not to be verbose and not write memoirs about how one simple phrase"sank" hundreds of presentations, I'll just give an example that you have seen in your life more than once.
Let's go back to childhood, when parents often reminded us of the rules of hygiene and how important it is to wash our hands thoroughly before eating. Sometimes we were too lazy: we could not wash them at all and rush headlong to the table, where a delicious dinner was already waiting for us. Now imagine that your child does or would do the same, and you have a big responsibility to convey the importance of washing your hands. And so you say to the child:

There are many microbes on our hands. We don't see them, but they are there. There are even more of them when we touch the objects on which they live - Cell phones, door handles, shoes. If you do not wash your hands, germs jump into food, which means they get into our tummy. Because of this, we get sick and feel bad. Understood?
- Yes, I understand.
- Thank you for your attention!

So, what is next? Will your child wash their hands before eating? At first, maybe yes. And then he will simply forget what harm these microbes have on his hands. All you had to do was end your dialogue with a call to action.

- … Understood?
- Yes, I understand.
- Then go ahead - wash your hands!

A similar incident can happen in a restaurant during a romantic dinner, when a guy proposes to his girlfriend. He says that they have been together for 7 years and how important she is to him; how much they have experienced together and can still survive; then he takes out an engagement ring from his pocket and says: “Thank you for your attention!”. What are the chances of getting consent? Hardly.

I know what you're thinking: "This has nothing to do with the presentation and your examples are too exaggerated." This is not true. Your presentation is also in some way an offer that you make to the audience. It depends on what its content will be, “she will marry you” or not. And the probability of failure is very high if people feel that it is more important for you to get something from them, and not to give them something: knowledge or opportunities to solve their problems.

One simple phrase can change a lot. This also applies to presentations. People feel false and formal, and a casual phrase at the end of a presentation can blur the impression of even a good presentation and good slides.

The ending of your presentation is important because it has a huge impact on whether you achieve your goals with your presentation. Speaking of goals. "Deserving attention from the audience" cannot be the goal. More precisely, maybe, but it's close to narcissism. But “to change people's attitude to smoking”, “to attract to the bank for service”, “to increase the number of regular visitors to the site” - quite. This is where you need a strong presentation.

After the training "The Art of Presentation", positive feedback from the leaders and employees of network companies comes almost immediately. The sharp increase in people starting to cooperate with the company after the presentation pleases and sometimes surprises the participants of the training. “You know,” they usually say, “we ordered a training in order to teach beginners how to properly conduct our presentation, but after we went through the training and revised some approaches to preparing and conducting it, we get such results that we did not expect at all: people are signing contracts and getting actively involved in the work much more often than before." In one of the companies I conducted this training three times in one month.

I am sure that the presentation is one of the most important and effective methods doing business in MLM companies. Presentation is the ability to show the audience a product, business or anything else in the most favorable light. The purpose of the presentation is to encourage listeners to make a decision and take practical action to acquire a product or business. Therefore, it is very important to "right" start the presentation and finish it correctly in order to achieve the goal.

The beginning of the presentation should ensure a trusting relationship between the speaker and the audience. It is very important to arrange listeners to yourself, to ensure maximum perception of information. And this is where complimenting the audience is best. Only it should be a really professional compliment.

- Dear friends! I am very pleased to see so many smart, kind and beautiful faces in this hall. Thank you for coming to us to hear the wonderful information about the unique opportunities of our wonderful company.

One way or something like this sometimes presenters start their presentations at presentations. It would seem that everything is fine: the listeners were told a couple of affectionate words, the company was praised, people were set up. But those people who sat in the hall as guests in a similar situation know that such an introduction is either passed over deaf ears, like the first call before the event, or is perceived as the beginning of manipulation in order to seize personal savings.

At the training "The Art of Presentation" we talk with participants about the importance of complimenting the audience before the performance and learn how to make such compliments. There are many types of compliments, and they are always aimed at the positive qualities, skills and abilities of a person. What does it take to develop these positive qualities? Action is needed. Therefore, we divide compliments into four stages: a compliment for the desire to act, a compliment for the beginning of the action, a compliment for the continuation of the action, and a compliment for the end of the action (for bringing the matter to its logical conclusion). The presentation is more often attended by people who want to get something more than what they have today, or they have problems that they want to solve. To support them in their desire and increase their self-confidence before making a decision, it is best to give the audience a compliment of the first stage, to praise those present for their desire to act in order to change their lives for the better.

1. Dear friends! I really appreciate and respect your desire to change something in your life. This speaks of your effectiveness, restlessness, and I feel an extraordinary elation and responsibility, because I understand perfectly well that certain spiritual strength and determination were needed to leave the usual business and come to our presentation today.

2. When a person has a desire or a problem, he has energy for activity, he begins to look for information on how he can solve the problem. Dear friends! Today you are here, which means that you have a desire to change your life for the better. This suggests that you are ready to make choices, take responsibility and act. And that's great.

3. Dear friends! Since you are here today, it means that you are distinguished by efficiency and activity. You want to change something in your life, or at least bring a new positive stream into it. I perfectly understand that it was not idle curiosity that brought you to our presentation today, but the desire to find new opportunities to achieve your goals, and this deserves gratitude and respect.

Another good way to start a presentation is intrigue. Leaders of network companies quite often and successfully use this technique. This can be a story told about yourself in a third person or a story about any employee who is present in the hall, about a sponsor, etc.

Three years ago, one woman, sitting in the kitchen at night and sobbing for about an hour, decided: that's it, something needs to be done. Hopelessness tightened the noose so that there was nothing to breathe. Undressed children, a wrecked apartment, a beggarly salary, an empty refrigerator and debts as huge as melancholy. The girlfriends disappeared at once, and only one, cheerful and joyful all the time, at meetings spoke of some kind of opportunity. Any possibility was better than reality, and she decided. In three years, we have gone from poverty to prosperity, from uncertainty to leadership, from loneliness to being in demand. And here is this woman in front of you!

Intrigue will help to interest listeners from the first minute, show the way from hopelessness to success, prepare listeners to perceive information as an opportunity to achieve what they want, as a tool for solving existing problems.

After establishing contact with the audience, the presentation provides information about the company, products, and business. And here the most difficult thing for the speaker is not to overload the audience with information. The maximum amount of time should be devoted to stories that would show listeners how people have already benefited, benefited and enjoyed using the information received. To do this, the stories must be real, colorful, emotional, with important interesting details, and they must be directed to the social layer that is present in the audience. You should not tell students about the successes of pensioners, and teachers about the achievements of the military or housewives.

Most of the objections after the presentation of the listeners are, as a rule, information related to business. The reason for this is quite often a detailed description of the company's marketing plan. The more thoroughly the presenter tries to explain it to those sitting in the hall, the more fears it causes in them. It is more logical to build this information block in such a way that during the presentation people get answers to the questions: what can I earn in this business; Is this business simple? what kind of help will I get; whether the moment is right to start work. And all this is best backed up with stories.

After the information block about the business, you need a final phrase in the presentation that would encourage people to make a decision and take the first step. This phrase is actually the purpose of the entire presentation, because the main thing is to encourage people to act, and act right now.

If you say to the audience, "Thank you for your attention, it was nice to meet you," what practical action will the audience take? Clap their hands and go home as the concert is over. The phrase must include imperative verbs: make a decision, sign, buy, do ... Ask the audience to make a decision and take a concrete step. They most likely came to the presentation for this very reason.

So, just a verb! Just a call to action! People have questions, when they are interested in our information, they will still have some objections, because before making a decision they still want to make sure that their sponsor is professional. In no case should the speaker say the phrase: "And now I will answer all your questions."

The task of the presenter is to provide information for decision making, and those who invited people to the presentation will answer the questions. Therefore, the last phrase of the speaker may be something like this: "Dear friends, I hope that the information that you received today is enough for you to make a decision. Make it right now, take the first step towards success. Now I ask you to come to those who invited you to a meeting so that you can ask your questions and sign a contract or purchase products. I'm sure most of you will do both. So go ahead!"

Sergei Zykin,
international business coach
director of the MCC "Evolution".

People make many decisions based on first impressions. Let's use it!

Sims Wyeth is a presentation expert, coach, and author of several books. A few years ago, Nalini Ambadi, a psychologist at Harvard, became interested in the non-verbal aspects of teaching. She wanted to record at least a minute of video of each teacher involved in the project, play the recordings without sound for several observers, and then ask them to rate the effectiveness of the teachers on their facial expressions and gestures. She managed to record only 10 seconds, and she thought that the project would have to be abandoned. But her supervisor persuaded her to give it a try anyway and let the observers evaluate the teachers in those 10 seconds by answering 15 questions about their alleged personality traits. And it turned out that if the notes were reduced to five seconds, the observers would give the teachers the same marks. And what's more, if you show only 2 seconds, the scores will not change. It seemed like the first impression was everything. But then Ambadi made an even more remarkable conclusion. She compared these video-based grades with grades given to teachers by students after a full semester. It turned out that the correlation between the first and second ratings is strikingly high. It turned out that a person who watched a 2-second clip of a video without sound about a teacher whom he had never met in his life rated this teacher about the same as a student who sat at the lectures of this teacher for the entire semester. Trisha Pickett of the University of Toledo did a similar experiment: she collected recordings of 20-minute job interviews and stripped out the first 15 seconds of the interviewer knocking on the door, walking into the room, shaking hands with the interviewer, and sitting down. She then asked the participants in the experiment to rate the candidates in these 15-second videos against the same criteria that they were judged on in the original interviews. According to 9 out of 11 evaluation criteria were very close. The question is, are first impressions really that accurate, or are they just more influential than subsequent impressions? That is, are we able to quickly look into the soul of a person, or are we just hastening to conclusions after the first impressions of him? It looks like the second one. Scientists call this the fundamental attribution error: we assume that how a person behaves in a certain situation will certainly tell us how he will behave in another situation. But in public speaking, you can take advantage of this human weakness to take matters into your own hands, using your physical, vocal, and verbal skills to grab the attention of your listeners. The ways are endless. Here are just a few. - Go to the center of the hall, take a purposeful pose. - Lay out the materials, moving with concentration and grace. - Take your position, stand straight, not shifting from foot to foot, and stare intently at the audience. “Let silence be a blank canvas on which you will paint your masterpiece. - Choose a listener in the back rows, look into his eyes and confidently say the first words, addressing it to him. There are also many types of opening phrases.

Just talk about your main idea or topic

Seth Godin once gave a talk about how the marketing of tech products is too important to be left to marketers alone. He began by saying, "Marketing tech products is too important to be left to marketers alone." Pretty clear, don't you think?

Ask the audience to respond

“How many of you have wondered where the dish that you are about to eat comes from?” And then wait for hands up—or lack of them.

Briefly and vividly describe the problem the audience will face

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem. All of our sales data is locked in our salespeople's laptops and we can't get it out."

Outline what your audience's world will look like when the problem is gone.

“I wish you could see me then. I have finished the presentation. People stood up and applauded and my boss stood up and said it was the best speech he had ever heard. All my work was not in vain. I literally became a different person - relaxed, at ease and attracting attention.

Point out what you have in common with your listeners

“I am a professional speaker. I get paid to perform. I think you are paid for the same thing, it's just that your performance lasts a year, and mine is only an hour. I'm standing on stage, you're sitting at your tables, but we all get paid for how we perform."

State something shocking

"Every hour, a child is killed by artillery and rocket attacks in Gaza."

Tell a story

“Deepening into the forest, my friends and I walked about a mile and found a hill covered with tall, withered trees ...”

Share your personal experience

“I called a friend and his answering machine said: “Sorry, phone memory is full. Goodbye". It made me think that many people today are so busy that they have neither the time nor the ability to listen."

Use props or visualization

“It's a silicon wafer. It is made of one of the most common materials in the world - sand!

Use the phrase of a famous person

“Mastering skills requires a regular environment, adequate opportunities for practice, rapid and unambiguous feedback about the correctness of thoughts and actions. —Daniel Kahneman, professor of psychology at Princeton and Nobel laureate

Start with an intellectual puzzle

“We often read that there are literally millions of insects unknown to science in the Amazonian forests. I'm blown away by the variety of creatures that end up on my front porch in suburban New Jersey. Who are they? What are their names? And why the hell are they knocking on my door?”