Business presentations are a frequent part of the CEO's life. Do you make a speech and make a difference? When you incorporate these 7 tips for highly effective CEO presentations, you can be sure that your speaking is making a difference.
Tip #1: Put the audience first.
Ask yourself what the audience wants you to talk about, rather than thinking about what you want to talk about. Asking yourself "What is on the minds of the people who will be in my audience?" will lead you to a highly effective presentation.
Options: what they are worried about, what troubles they are having or how they feel about things that are going on within the company.
Tip #2: Articulate a clear and specific call-to-action to deliver at the end of the speech or presentation.
Information is widely and easily available, so you must go beyond giving information. What do you want the audience do after they listen to you?
Some options:
Take a particular action that can be measured and evaluated
Change their thinking about something
Renew their enthusiasm and commitment for a specific outcome or result
Tip #3: Surprise them with the first words out of your mouth. Avoid the standard "Thank you for being here" or "Thank you for coming to hear me" or "Today we're going to talk about..."
Grab them with a story, a provocative question or a challenge. Some options:
"What would you do if you were in charge of meeting next quarter's financial goals?"
"Imagine you are meeting with the auditors tomorrow. What would be on your mind?"
"'Your company has great products but terrible customer service. ' That harsh comment came from a dozen of our best customers. It's hard to accept what many people think about us. What can we do to change this view?"
Tip #4: Be real
People like people who are genuine. Genuineness is easy to understand and decipher. The perfectly written speech read word for word is not genuine. It slides right out of the minds of the audience.
Tip #5: Be sure your speech is perfect for listening to
As a well-educated professional, you have great writing skills. You write with excellent sentence structure, word choices and perfect grammar. Your long sentences are constructed with just the right words connecting phrases and clauses. Your writing is literary and a pleasure to read.
Audiences do not have the leisure that readers have to go back, read something again, pause and think, and make notes. Audiences have only one chance to get your message as it moves past their ears at a steady pace.
Keep the limitations of listening in mind when writing the notes or text for your speech. Make your notes with the same fits and starts of spoken conversation. Use familiar words and keep sentences short and in the active voice.
Tip #6: Get out from behind a lectern.
Do not ask for nor accept a lectern or podium. These separate you from the audience when you should be doing everything possible to get close to them.
Require a hand held wireless microphone or a lavaliere microphone, rather than one that is fixed to a podium.
If you're nervous without a lectern, practice enough to reduce your nervousness. If you need to have notes, prepare neat note cards and hold them in your hand.
Tip #7: Be scintillating every time on every subject for every audience.
Even though you're the CEO and command attention due to your position, you will gain immeasurable respect through great speaking and presentations.
Time to prepare is always an issue. Shorten your preparation time by using a speech development system for every speech or presentation. My speech development system has 5 simple steps:
Describe the audience's mindset in 10 words
Write your call-to-action close
In a few words each, articulate three key points that drive to the call-to-action
Select some leading materials to make your key points attractive and interesting
Write an attention-getting opening that ties to the call-to-action.
Avoid power point slides. The audience will be glad and you'll be able to devote the time you do have to your content and your preparation.
