Jeremy Kaplan
What do the best and brightest business presenters do that less effective presenters don’t do? It might be surprising to learn that great business presenters are made and not born. By keeping your audience in mind, remembering that your not giving a performance that will be judged, and calming your own nerves, you can rise to greatness!
Remember that the truly great business presenters of our time were made and not born that way. They practiced a lot, remembered to put their audience first, and improved. Yes, it’s possible to study the 20 habits of great business presenters to improve.
Check out this infographic for even more details.
The Business Presentation Habit To Break
At the same time that you work to develop great presentation habits, it’s also possible to understand what the best presenters don’t do. Sure, you need to base your claims upon reason and data. However, if your going to connect with and convince your audience, you need to appeal to their emotions as much of their reason.
Basing your entire presentation upon charts and grafts is likely to lose your audience and make your presentation pretty forgettable. You might refer to studies or research, but be sure you weave that information into your presentation in a way that keeps the audience engaged.
Approach Your Presentation As A Conversation
Remember that you are giving this presentation for your audience and not for yourself. You’re not giving a performance or lecture. You’re not getting judged, and the presentation shouldn’t be about you anyway — it should be about your audience!
If you approach your business presentation as a conversation with your audience, you’ve already acquired the first habit of effective presenters.
Yes, you might do most of the talking. Still, you want to approach your talk as a two-way talk. Visualize yourself as getting up to have a chat with the people who took time out of their day to come and see you.
That means you should design your presentation with your audience in mind in the beginning. During the presentation, keep the idea of having a two-way chat in mind. That means it’s important to gauge responses and adjust accordingly.
How To Keep The Conversation Going
Some great habits to make your presentations better include telling stories, making your talk colorful and creative, and of course, involving your audience. You might ask audience members some questions and even get them to tell their own stories.
