“Once you have taken the first step, your effectiveness begins to depend on your ability to influence those around you through the spoken and written word!”(Peter Drucker)
Presentation is the most effective way to attract the attention of the target audience, partners, colleagues, and suppliers – to a brand, trademark or company!
With the help of the presentation it is possible to visually and volumetrically present all the information about the product, novelties and successes of the company, as well as the prospects of its development, including the opportunity to familiarize partners and investors with the business plan of the company.
Visualized information is easier to comprehend and remember well!
In order to create an informative and interesting electronic presentation, you need not only specialized knowledge of the software products in which the presentation is created, but also basic knowledge of the rules of creating effective presentations. And also excellent public speaking skills!
Everyone knows Steve Jobs – the founder of Apple, entrepreneur, inventor, designer and, among other things – a great speaker! Steve Jobs is an outstanding communicator on the world stage of innovative marketing. Jobs’ presentations and speeches were, and thanks to surviving video recordings, still are, enthralling millions of people due to the great presentation of the material – simple, accessible, informative and well-structured – for easy perception! People traveled thousands of kilometers for these presentations.
He was able not only to capture the audience’s attention, but also to keep it during the entire presentation, he was able to create a passion around the product being presented, to amuse the listener, to make him participate in the process, and much more. At the same time, Jobs was self-taught, and he himself developed certain rules for creating a presentation, which are extremely worth listening to in order to make your presentation successful and effective!
So, the rules for creating a presentation from Steve Jobs!
Act One – Create a Story (Tools to Win an Audience)
In order to effectively and with positive energy to sell your idea, it is necessary, before creating a presentation to come up with its history: the main ideas, design – text, headlines, illustrations, script and other components.
1.Сценарий. Ваша презентация и дальнейшее выступление должны иметь свой сценарий, как своеобразное “театральное действие”, содержащее завязку, кульминацию, конфликт, развязку, злодеев и героев и демонстрации.
Be sure to include a demonstration of yourproduct! And, if possible, its features and functions. People always want to see what you are telling them about and know what idea you are presenting.
Antagonists and heroes. Any listener asks the questions, “Why do I need this? What do I need this presentation for, what use is it to me? “. In order to answer this question, you must present the listener with an existing problem, for example, “contaminated drinking water – it’s undermining our health!The problem is the antagonist – the enemy to be fought. The hero is your product, for example, unique filters for water purification, which solves the problem of contaminated water and eliminates the risk of harm to your health, i.e. defeat the antagonist. By introducing the antagonist and the hero you make it clear to the listener why they need it!
2.Text, bullets, headings, props, etc.Texts and bullets (lists) are the most inefficient ways of presenting information. Therefore, the presentation text should be as concise as possible and emphasize only the really important textual information. Bullits or lists are for some reason considered to be a favorable form of text presentation and are suggested in all presentation templates as a basis. But no, bullets are effective only when their number is small – 3-4 pieces in a list. Otherwise – no one will remember anything that is in the list.Try to stop exactly on the number 3, the human brain is arranged in such a way that accentuates attention and easily remembers exactly three positions no matter what. The magic number 3 should go through your presentation.When you write the script of the presentation, highlight three ideas that your listeners should take out of the presentation – easily memorized and reproducible without written cheat sheets. Use the so-called “rule of three” as often as possible!
It is very important to “decorate” your text with rhetorical techniques – metaphors and analogies. They will make your text attractive, besides, examples and comparisons allow you to memorize even complex information! A vivid example of this can be the metaphor of Steve Jobs: “For me, a computer is the equivalent of a bicycle for the brain!“. Use “lively” epithets in your text – incredible, amazing, luxurious, fast, etc. Words that hook and create a positive effect of your speech. Avoid professional jargon! Use it as rarely as possible, only when necessary and with a mandatory explanation of the meaning.
The headline should be short, 140 characters or less, no matter how strong the message! The most memorable sequence of words in a headline is “subject, predicate, complement”. For example, when Jobs presented the iPhone, he exclaimed: “Today Apple invented the telephone!“, or the presentation of the iPod: “iPod. A thousand songs in your pocket “.
Реквизит. Всю аудиторию слушателей можно разделить на три типа людей: визуалы, аудиалы и кинестетики. Необходимо захватить внимание всех трех типов, поэтому презентация не должна состоять только из слайдов и текста выступления, необходимо подготовить реквизит – образцы продукта, которые можно продемонстрировать аудитории или передать в зал.
Act Two – Create an Experience (Secrets of an engaging presentation)
1.Superiority of images. As already mentioned, the text of an electronic presentation should be as concise as possible, as opposed to the need for images in the presentation. Photographs, illustrations and diagrams present any information in a much brighter, more accessible and visual way, causing the audience to understand and feel the right emotions.
2.Numbers. If you can’t get away from presenting digital information in your presentation, make the numbers an asset and use them to create the desired effect. To do this, you need to make your figures look attractive, i.e. give them some interest or significance for the audience. For example: “30 GB of iPod memory is enough to store 7,500 songs, 25,000 photos or 75 hours of video.”
3.Entertainment. Do not forget that the audience needs to be entertained, and divert their attention for a while, for example, to play a game with the audience, show a skit or invite a guest.
4.The “Wow!” moment. Be sure to prepare a moment that will excite your audience. A moment that relates to one thing or one topic! The kind of moment that the listener would remember first if someone asked them: “what was in the presentation?“. For example: at the launch of the MacBook Air, the thinnest laptop in the world, Jobs showed the really unique thinness of the laptop by sealing it in a mailing envelope!
Act Three – Improve and rehearse (charisma, speech control, naturalness, body language).
- Never read from paper, otherwise the audience will not listen to you. You should speak in a relaxed manner that gives the impression that you are speaking to each listener individually.
- Create eye contact with the audience – your eyes should be constantly looking into the room, not at the presentation slides.
- Open postures – don’t cross your arms or legs, don’t stand behind the podium, don’t turn your back to the audience!
- Gesticulation – use techniques and gestures to create the desired effect of your speech and emphasize the most important points.
- Adjust the volume of speech, emphasize important points with loud exclamations and pause between separate meaningful parts of the speech.
- Have fun with your presentation, show your audience your passion for the idea or product you are demonstrating!
- Every 10 minutes, change the way the information is presented – pictures, video, speech, guest speaker, etc., all of which should constantly engage the listener in the presentation and, at the same time, give their perception a “break”!
Now you know how to make a “live” presentation! Apply these rules and create new successful presentations. And, who knows, maybe the great communicator – Steve Jobs – will be far behind you when it comes to the success and attractiveness of brands!
