5 Tools for a Powerful Presentation

5 Tools for a Powerful Presentation

Without doubt, the greatest skill I have ever learned is public speaking. After being terrified of speaking in public, I am now able to share a powerful presentation to a live audience. The most successful people in the world understand that being able to communicate an inspiring vision is the most crucial skill to be able to learn if you want to achieve success.

You may have heard the term ‘visionaries’ used to describe the most influential people on the planet.

Now, what does this mean?

It means that a visionary has a vision, a goal, an objective, and they are able to articulate that vision in a compelling way that moves the masses.

There are numerous stories of incredibly successful people starting off with no resources what so ever. But what they had was a vision for the future and they were able to share that vision in a way that attracted all of the resources that they needed to create their vision.

Your ability to influence comes down to your presence. Your presence is determined by how much time you spend in ‘PRESENT TIME’. How much time you spend in the NOW moment. Even the first word in PRESENTing is present.

Let’s look at five tools you can use today for delivering a powerful presentation.

5 Tools for a Powerful Presentation

Rapport

The most important step for delivering a powerful presentation is building rapport with your audience. It doesn’t matter if this is one person or 100, it’s crucial to your success.

Rapport is established by matching and mirroring the person or people you’re communicating with. You see, communication is only 7% words! Tonality makes up 38% of communication, while physiology makes up a whopping 55%. The problem is that from a young age, we’re only ever taught the 7%.

To establish rapport with someone, try matching their posture and their gestures. You can even try and match facial expressions such as a smile, or even breathe in time with them. If the person you’re communicating with speaks slowly, match the tempo of their speech. The same goes for loudness, if they’re quiet, you should try and speak quietly too. Try matching some of their words too. If they say ‘awesome’ a lot, that’s awesome, you can do it too!

This process may feel a little awkward at first, it may feel like the other person will know you’re copying them. By matching and mirroring someone subtly, you will help them to feel safe and comfortable. When people are like each other, they like each other!

Metaphors

When people come to Live it Now, there is a lot to take in. We find that often people forget some of the education, but they always remember the stories. Why? Because generally, there is something in every story that someone can relate to their own experiences!

The major purpose of a metaphor is to pace and lead a participant’s behaviour through a story. By doing this, we are able to move the client out of their own story, and help them to identify with the character we have constructed through the use of behaviours and events that are similar to the participants story. We then finish the metaphor with a sequence of events in which the character in the story resolves the conflict and achieves the desired outcome.

For example, if someone is dealing with rejection, we could tell the story of Superman having all these powers, rejecting himself for being different, then discovering he can make a difference to the world and that his wounds are actually his superpowers.

Body Language

Remember how earlier we said that 55% of communication is physiology? Your body language plays a key role in how your message is received.

If you wanted to teach a room full of people about confidence, do you think they would believe you if you’re on stage with your shoulders slumped forward, speaking softly, hiding yourself behind a book? No!

When you put your shoulders back, chest up, and deliver your message with passion, you will move the masses. Your confidence will switch on, and it will have a ripple effect across your audience. After completing Influence Now and learning how body language influences a presentation, our graduates become some of the most in-demand speakers in the country!

Your state of mind is linked to your physiology, so here’s a little bonus tip for next time you’re feeling down. Move your body! Get out of your seat, shake your body up, breathe deeply from your abdomen, hold your head high, and break out your biggest smile. I guarantee you will start to feel more positive and you will be able to tap into new resources.

Eye Contact

Have you ever been at a presentation, and the speaker is constantly looking at the floor and fumbling with their notes? Not very engaging, right?

When we make eye contact with individuals in the room, it’s a way of connecting with the whole audience. It turns a presentation into a conversation. By making eye contact, you look more authoritative, more believable, and more confident.

By looking someone in the eye, they are more likely to look at you. This means they will be engaged in what you’re saying and truly listen, absorbing the content you are sharing with them. It will also help them to feel more comfortable to interact with you and ask questions.

Remember to scan across all the participants in the room. Make eye contact, pause, then move to the next person. This way you’re not awkwardly staring, and you form a personal connection with everyone in the room.

Anchoring

Anchoring is a process that is used to associate a positive experience, such as a time when you felt supremely confident, to a physical place on your body. By setting an anchor, we are able to tap into that state at the flick of a switch.

For example, if you anchored the state of ‘confidence’ to a tug on your left earlobe, just before you jump on stage to deliver content to an audience, you would tug your earlobe and evoke that state. Then when you start your presentation, you would be doing it from a place of confidence!

At Excellence Now we teach the process of anchoring for different states. It could be for mood, for confidence, for power. The beauty of anchoring is as long as it’s a positive state, it’s such a personal process that you can use it for anything.

Public Speaking Skills

Developing your public speaking skills is so important in today’s climate because there are so many platforms for sharing your message. From YouTube videos to Facebook Live to telling a story in front of a room full of people, there are so many platforms available for inspiring people to follow your vision. All you need to do is let go of your fears and build your confidence!

If you’re ready to learn how to deliver a world-class presentation and earn an annual salary in a weekend, join us at our annual Influence Now presenter training.

Kindest regards,

Matt Catling

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