Recently I had the privilege of being invited to the finals of the Telstra Business Awards with a client that nominated for an award. Such an inspiration to be in a room so full of entrepreneurial spirit.
So many businesses present were not household names. Many of them offered services that I was not even unaware of, yet are businesses that have many thousands of clients. Businesses that help so many others and are very active in their contribution to the development of our communities and society.
Awards such as these present an amazing opportunity to build a brand and reputation of a business, as well as a offer springboard for promotion.
As the night rolled on, presenters came and went. Dignitaries and officials made speeches. Award recipients made speeches. Each of the businesses were profiled. With the passing of each I became more and more aware of how uninspired each of the presentations were. Thankfully the MC held it together.
Many of the business profiles sounded the same, officials and sponsors all made the same stiff comments about “the value of small business”, including some tired statistics that we have all heard over and over. All eyes on the table were rolling as the small business minister droned on ..and on.. and on. People were tuning out and having their own conversations. The acceptance speeches, except for one, were stiff, repetitive and mostly boring.
For a room full of enthusiastic entrepreneurs who had mostly started their businesses on a shoestring in their garages or bedrooms, how many times do we need to hear about ‘the difficulty of the journey’? Assumed. What we were all craving for was that snippet of wisdom that made that business the winner; a funny story about the worst customer ever; some insight into what makes their business (in particular) amazing. In other words “how did you get there and I didn’t?”
How is it that such an interesting topic, in an exciting environment, can be presented with so little pizzazz?
My personal opinion is that the presenters prepared the content only thinking about what they want to say, not what the audience might want to hear. This is a common mistake that small business owners make, where they agonise over the content of communications, yet forget to consider what the readers care about.
Communications don’t end with the audience, they start with the audience. It actually doesn’t matter so much what you think of the content. It matters what your audience thinks.
Understanding the audience’s perspective is crucial to creating communications that make an impact. In all forms of communications. Just to fumble through with the excuse of ‘I was nervous’ is not good enough and squanders invaluable opportunity.
If your big chance comes along, what will you say? Will you inspire, motivate and captivate? Or nervously drone on with everyone losing interest?
Here are a few tips for a great presentation:
· Before you put pen to paper, spend some time profiling the audience. This is not as hard as you may think. A few conversations with them can give amazing insights.
· Spend some time thinking about what you want to achieve from your presentation. Do you want to inspire, inform, amuse or entertain?
· Make it about your audience not about you. When you are weaving your story, make sure that the audience can reflect upon it from their own perspective. If you just blab on about yourself or make references to people who they don’t know (or know their role) they will quickly tune out.
· We all love stories. Build them in.
· Don’t forget to inject some humour. We all have funny things that have happened.
· The element of surprise is a great way to engage and get people’s attention
· Decide what is the best way to communicate your message. Pictures, facts, stories, statistics, sounds.
· Practice it in front of someone who is similar to those who will be in the audience. Sometimes this is hard as you feel self-conscious, but it is very powerful and is one of the most useful things you can do.
· Review and refine. Review and refine. Practice. Did I say practice? Do it again.
Dr Warren Harmer, Director, Crecer
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