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    Rules of Attention

    Author: Pia Mara Finkell

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    I recently attended a very helpful presentation training offered by my colleague Brian Ellis. For this session, we were asked to prepare and give a new business presentation to a potential client. We were filmed and critiqued by our colleagues on content, energy and style. Horrifying, perhaps, but extremely helpful.

     

    Besides realizing you should always wear dark colors when being filmed, here are some of my key findings. In reading Brian’s recent blog post on advice in managing crisis situations (http://blog.crt-tanaka.com/2009/11/ellis-rules-of-crisis-management-2/), I was struck by the similarities of these lessons.

     

    A great rule of thumb comes also from advice given by Chris Atherton, a UK psychology professor, to his students in a recent blog post:

     

    “When giving presentations, the only rule that matters is the rule of attention.” Good point, Chris. In the end, people have short attention spans. Here are some ways to prepare for this, and other presentation challenges:

     

    1.  “Admit you are Wing-It Challenged”

    How often have you practiced your material in front of an audience before a new business presentation? You likely know your material on paper and have practiced in your head, but the delivery could appear awkward without conducting a few dress rehearsals before the big day. Being filmed was extremely helpful in this regard, but practicing in front of a mirror or a friendly colleague would also do the trick.success

     

    2.  Harness your Nerves for the Common Good

    Everyone is nervous before giving a big presentation. That’s a fact. The good news is rarely are these feelings perceptible to the audience. Instead of letting your fear paralyze you, embrace your nerves and channel them into positive energy and in this case, a lively and passionate presentation.

     

    3.  The Rule of Three

    Stick to three messages throughout your presentation. Why not four? Because people can only remember three. According to the American Psychology Association, people are more easily convinced by repetition in sets of three. At the end of the day, you want your potential client to walk away with these three key messages.

     

    4.  Keep it Simple Stupid…and Visual

    Don’t fall victim to laziness and simply paste your proposal into PowerPoint slides. All words and no fun…well, you know the rest. Why not use this often abused medium to create something that won’t put our new business prospects to bed!

     

    Keep it simple and visual. Load the PowerPoint up with cool images, videos, graphics, photographs, and very little text. Know your material inside and out, and spare your audience from scrambling to read all the thrilling bullet points on the screen. Instead, they’ll focus on something more interesting…you!

     

    5.  Respect the Time Limits

    timeThis might seem obvious, but stick to the time your host has allotted. Keep your presentation short and sweet, be consistent but not repetitive and stick to the point. Time management is key and practicing in front of the mirror or  a willing colleague will help you achieve this goal. The worst thing you could do is not allow sufficient time for questions or socializing with your potential client.

     

    In the end, it’s not your impressive Power Point skills, or even your out-of the-box ideas the client is buying. It’s your sparkling personality that makes the overall package worth the investment.

    Comments (2)

2 Responses to “Rules of Attention”

  1. Assunta Milak Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 12:56 am

    Very useful for me, thanks so much

  2. Francis Latch Says:
    July 26th, 2010 at 1:18 am

    lv backpork

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