Presentations

Leaders need to communicate effectively.

When speaking to groups, we want to get their attention, keep their attention, build their buy-in, and move them to action.

To do this, we need to speak in ways that make us interesting! Be clear. Use terminology that is appropriate to your audience. In-house, your company and industry acronyms will work, but in a public forum, you need to use “civilian terms.” Make sure you have what you need to believe in your own message—it’s hard (and may even be unethical) to sell others on something we don’t believe in ourselves.

Get the right balance. Be loud enough, but don’t yell at people. Be enthusiastic, but not “I’ve had WAY too much coffee!” hyperactive. Speak slowly enough for your words to be understandable without plodding. Use enough detail and technical information to be credible, but don’t get too down in the weeds to lose sight of the big picture. Emphasize the main points and your call to action.

(image source: pin.it/6Ig0aXEAF)