1 00:00:00,190 --> 00:00:04,720 I wanted to give my friend Ann Handley some props here. 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:07,400 She's the head of content at Content Profs, and 3 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:10,050 she has spoken all over the world as well. 4 00:00:10,050 --> 00:00:13,070 She had a wonderful piece of advice in terms 5 00:00:13,070 --> 00:00:16,400 of the tip that she would share with people. 6 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:21,470 Ask yourself, what's the one thing I want the audience to remember. 7 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:24,380 It's a great question, you know. 8 00:00:24,380 --> 00:00:25,850 When you are 9 00:00:25,850 --> 00:00:31,030 giving a presentation, I know we focus on, you know, a lot of us focus on filling 10 00:00:31,030 --> 00:00:36,670 it with so much information, so much evidence towards a certain conclusion. 11 00:00:36,670 --> 00:00:40,580 Towards, you know taking a certain act type of 12 00:00:40,580 --> 00:00:43,080 action at the end that we just fill it with 13 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,720 information and we sort of lose sight of the 14 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:51,150 really important big picture, one thing that we want people 15 00:00:51,150 --> 00:00:51,730 to leave with. 16 00:00:53,370 --> 00:00:56,690 Now in terms of the audience, data has shown that 17 00:00:56,690 --> 00:00:59,510 the audience can sense when a presentation's coming to a close. 18 00:01:00,930 --> 00:01:03,070 You know, they might say, well I wanna wrap up 19 00:01:03,070 --> 00:01:06,010 here or as I said, you know, one more thing. 20 00:01:06,010 --> 00:01:08,570 Kind of, you know it's a signal that we'll be coming to 21 00:01:08,570 --> 00:01:13,000 a close soon, the conclusion is coming, I'll be wrapping things up. 22 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:15,220 And a lot of people when they hear that. 23 00:01:15,220 --> 00:01:16,720 If they're, you know, sitting in the audience 24 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,580 kinda taking notes or checking their phone or whatever. 25 00:01:19,580 --> 00:01:20,780 They'll perk up. 26 00:01:20,780 --> 00:01:25,540 You know and they'll actually retain what gets presented at the end. 27 00:01:25,540 --> 00:01:28,730 So when you do have their attention you definitely 28 00:01:28,730 --> 00:01:31,480 have it and you want to compel people to act. 29 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,040 This is a great time to do it. 30 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:38,750 So, what would be the one thing for your presentation? 31 00:01:38,750 --> 00:01:41,790 Well if you're pitching a client, 32 00:01:41,790 --> 00:01:45,860 hopefully you've provided great evidence of financial benefits. 33 00:01:45,860 --> 00:01:50,210 Or a great plan of action examples of design elements 34 00:01:50,210 --> 00:01:52,950 and in the end, you know, you provide them with a 35 00:01:52,950 --> 00:01:56,830 recap of all the benefits to doing business with you, a 36 00:01:56,830 --> 00:02:01,370 URL for them to visit or an email for contacting you. 37 00:02:01,370 --> 00:02:02,990 You know, you wrap up your proposal in a 38 00:02:02,990 --> 00:02:07,830 nice little bow, present it to them and basically 39 00:02:07,830 --> 00:02:09,660 they have no choice but to get back to 40 00:02:09,660 --> 00:02:13,090 you and respond because it's so great, all right. 41 00:02:13,090 --> 00:02:15,540 If you're proposing a site redesign. 42 00:02:15,540 --> 00:02:19,750 Hopefully, you've spent your presentation breaking down all the things that need 43 00:02:19,750 --> 00:02:24,500 to be done showing the data, why you would do certain things. 44 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,090 and, you know, the final slides in your presentation could 45 00:02:28,090 --> 00:02:31,860 be devoted to a focus checklist or timeline of action. 46 00:02:31,860 --> 00:02:33,040 You know, it shows 47 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,890 very clearly what are the next things that should be done, 48 00:02:36,890 --> 00:02:40,410 what to do, when to do them and you've already explained why. 49 00:02:41,660 --> 00:02:45,420 Even if your presentation is a book report or reasons why you know your 50 00:02:45,420 --> 00:02:50,170 favorite sports team will, will repeat as world champions you know go Red Sox. 51 00:02:50,170 --> 00:02:53,480 By the end, you should be reaching a conclusion where 52 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:55,970 you sum up all your major points that you've made. 53 00:02:55,970 --> 00:02:58,170 And perhaps you make a call back to important 54 00:02:58,170 --> 00:03:03,150 parts that you can reference, or that you referenced along the way. 55 00:03:03,150 --> 00:03:07,110 So, what would be one thing for my presentation? 56 00:03:07,110 --> 00:03:12,630 Well, I mean, is it about what tools you can use? 57 00:03:12,630 --> 00:03:13,770 To make great presentations. 58 00:03:13,770 --> 00:03:16,260 I mean Keynote, PowerPoint, prezi.com. 59 00:03:16,260 --> 00:03:19,290 even the camera on your phone, I mean perhaps. 60 00:03:19,290 --> 00:03:23,540 But tools don't make the presentation they are means to making a story 61 00:03:23,540 --> 00:03:24,490 come to life. 62 00:03:24,490 --> 00:03:28,660 For me creativity is your greatest presentation design tool. 63 00:03:29,810 --> 00:03:31,750 So think about that. 64 00:03:31,750 --> 00:03:37,750 And also you should strive to be creative, but also a human being as well. 65 00:03:37,750 --> 00:03:39,892 Especially when you fall off a stage, right? 66 00:03:39,892 --> 00:03:43,950 [LAUGH] Show stories and connect with the 67 00:03:43,950 --> 00:03:46,720 real people that you're hoping to connect with. 68 00:03:47,730 --> 00:03:47,920 You know, 69 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,350 preparation means that you understand their needs. 70 00:03:51,350 --> 00:03:53,900 And by doing this and by 71 00:03:53,900 --> 00:03:56,740 presenting something that's well prepared and relevant. 72 00:03:56,740 --> 00:03:58,440 You can help them accomplish their goals. 73 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,160 So when we're asked to give a talk or presentation about 74 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,010 something, it's not just because we're you know, a pretty face. 75 00:04:06,010 --> 00:04:06,630 Right? 76 00:04:06,630 --> 00:04:10,780 It's because they know that we have something important to share. 77 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:14,580 When we're given this opportunity, 78 00:04:14,580 --> 00:04:17,910 prepare, deliver, and compel. 79 00:04:17,910 --> 00:04:20,880 Prepare and deliver what your audience needs. 80 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,570 Help them accomplish their goals and overcome their 81 00:04:23,570 --> 00:04:26,300 struggles by taking the action that you recommend. 82 00:04:26,300 --> 00:04:30,990 And if you can remember these important points, You're going to be successful. 83 00:04:32,010 --> 00:04:33,830 But to boil it down to one thing, I'd 84 00:04:33,830 --> 00:04:40,200 have to say, take advantage of your opportunity to influence. 85 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,250 And influence can mean a lot of different things to different people, but 86 00:04:43,250 --> 00:04:48,670 by trusting you, the people who have requested that you give a presentation. 87 00:04:48,670 --> 00:04:49,750 They believe in you. 88 00:04:49,750 --> 00:04:55,880 They believe in what you have to say. And they want to be influenced. 89 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:57,810 That's why you're there. 90 00:04:57,810 --> 00:05:02,350 So, through the research and preparation that you do, you can help people. 91 00:05:02,350 --> 00:05:05,540 You can teach them. It can be for profit, for personal 92 00:05:05,540 --> 00:05:09,950 goals career aspirations, or for education, like this is today. 93 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:17,000 By making a positive impression you not only help them but you help yourself.