Personal Presentations
by Dera DeRoche-Jolet

Have you ever sat in an auditorium listening to a presentation that put you to sleep? If you’re not asleep you’re probably looking at the clock counting how much of your valuable time you’re wasting.

It’s not only large audience presentations that can be boring. Smaller presentations in a conference room or even a living room can be just as uninteresting. Those are the kind that your sales force might present at a residential or commercial property so it’s pretty important that you hold the attention of the audience. If not, you might lose the sale.

What would make your presentations more interesting? What can you do or say that would generate curiosity and keep an audience (of one or more) engrossed and wanting to hear more? To start with, you can add anecdotes about other customers and even try a little humor. But most importantly, you should become personal during the presentation by speaking a bit about your own experiences.

Many speakers or sales people prefer not to divulge any information about themselves in their presentations. This makes it hard for an audience to get to know a speaker. If your audience doesn’t feel that they know you, there is no way that they will really trust you or relate to you.

On the other hand, when you get personal, people will easily connect to you and your presentation. Sharing your own experiences is also a great way to spice up your topic –or even some of your products or services - that may not be as exciting on their own.

Think back to a bad conversation you’ve had recently, I’ll bet that the communication problem occurred because you or the other person never really opened up. Marriages and friendships are like that too. A speech or presentation is no different.

Technology by itself won’t make a presentation more interesting. While we have become skilled at using technology such as PowerPoint to enhance our presentations there is a tendency to use it as a crutch. Don’t let your cute animations take the place of your personal involvement.

Adding personal touches can also help you avoid stage fright – even in a one on one situation. That’s because when you can personally relate to your subject matter and feel passionate about it, you’ll feel more at ease.

So speak informally, ask questions, and get the audience involved by telling them about your past experiences. By bringing yourself into the conversation, audience members are much more likely to be interested. Personalization shows them that you were once in their shoes and that you understand their viewpoint.

For example, when you are selling an alarm system you could briefly talk about how you feel safer that your home and family are protected right at the moment as you’re giving the presentation. You could even give a specific anecdote. Of course, any stories that you relate must be true.

That’s why it’s so important that any sales person who is selling an alarm system should have one installed in their own home. Without that personal experience they could never hold anyone’s interest and there is no way that they could be truly believable.