In his recent article on effective presentations, Malcolm Finney of Management Dynamics said presentations were all about rapport and not the contents of your slides.
Many people get called upon to give presentations, but how prepared are we and can we get our message accross?
Malcolm has now produced the definitive 42-page guide to effective presentations in a downloadable book from TrainingZONE.
For just £25 + VAT to download in Word, you can receive the most practical and authoritative guidance on making that vital presentation. The does and don'ts and the secret tips that make all the difference.
But to put it in Malcolm's words:
"Death of a spouse, divorce and financial worries are said to be the three situations which create the highest levels of anxiety in people; probably hardly surprising. It is, however, perhaps a little surprising to also discover that giving a presentation, talk or speech is also perceived by many to rank as equally stress inducing.
"Why should this be? What is so terrifying?
This book seeks to not only answer these two questions but also seeks to offer help and guidance to those who either wish to improve their existing presentational abilities or to those so far uninitiated in the ways of presenting but anticipate that at some time in the future this is (for better or worse!) likely to happen.
"There are already many books on the market on the topic of presentations each under somewhat similar sounding titles, each title being specifically designed to attract the potential buyer. Why, you may legitimately ask, is this book any different from the many already on the market?
"I believe this book is different for three main reasons:
- First, I believe that the most important element of any presentation is you the presenter. What I mean is that the colour of your slides, whether you use notes or read from a script, or whether you dress in black or brown are not what presenting is all about. Yet many books on the topic concentrate almost exclusively on these areas failing to deal at any length with the most important element, namely, you;
- Second, I do not believe in the "quick fix" and therefore do not seek to offer any simple over-night solutions which so many books on the topic seek to do. There is an old Chinese proverb which says "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for life". What I attempt to do in this book is to try to teach you how to fish; most other books simply give you a fish. I seek to do this by looking in more depth at some of the key underlying issues (eg a model of the communication process; audience empathy; etc) without an understanding of which a successful presentation, I believe, is much much more difficult, if not impossible, to deliver; and third
- I avoid some of the more annoying (or at least which annoy me!) statements such as "make sure you blow your nose before you get up to speak"!; "make you sure you face the audience"; and "always ensure you know the topic of your talk"! Whilst no one would, I suspect, disagree with any of these statements I do not think that too many people would want to pay to read advice of this nature.
"May I add one more point?
"I would also like to say that I have given many presentations at a variety of seminars and conferences around the world. By this, I do not mean to suggest that I have all, or even most of, the answers associated with the making of effective presentations. However, it does mean that I know precisely what is involved in preparing for a presentation and, perhaps more importantly, how it actually feels to give one. I can almost feel the butterflies in my stomach as I type this page and imagine a chairman at a conference announcing "And the next speaker is ..."!!! As a consequence, I hope that I can identify more closely with you the reader and accordingly proffer real help and direction not just "sound bites" and "quick fixes".
"So, whether you are reading this whilst standing in the bookshop; travelling to or from work on the train; languishing in an armchair with your favourite tipple or elsewhere sit back and enjoy. Good luck!"
Malcolm Finney
So for just £25 + VAT, download the 42-page guide in Word and start making a difference to your presentations.
To download the guide onto your hard disc, simply open a Word file on your computer and copy and paste the guide into it and press save.
Malcolm Finney is founder of Management Dynamics, which specialises in training and consultancy in the areas of management, finance and taxation for the professions and financial sector. For more information on Management Dynamics’ Presentation seminars visit www.mgtdynamics.co.uk
Check out other articles written by Malcolm Finney on a wide range of issues:
Presentation & management articles
