Shelter Chiyeza Change Management
Now that the World Cup is upon us, it is impossible despite the low temperatures to retire to bed early.
While a lot of folks have been concentrating on the skills, the players successes, the Mueller hat-trick or Neymar’s attempts to score, some of us have been experiencing a different ball game.
I like the match build up sessions and the half time break analysis which keeps some of us glued to the television.
The introduction of the goal-line technology makes the matches even more interesting. I have watched previous World Cup matches before and the technology keeps on improving.
The panellists don’t have much to add onto what technology would have done for them.
The statistics, ball possession and the movement of the ball are all traced by technology. That’s what technology does. It makes things easier. Whenever technology gets introduced in all facets of our business, it should increase productivity and efficiency.
Imagine the number of match officials we would need to create such apt match analysis. Contrary to common practice, presentations are not just an opportunity to overwhelm an audience with a swam of bullet points and uninspired charts.
Used properly, they can be a powerful tool in your quest to win the hearts and minds of customers, stakeholders, suppliers and shareholders.
For me, the most important part of making any presentation is to prepare and practise. Going into the presentation unprepared will generally make a fool of yourself.
Break down your presentation into key parts. Introduction, overview, key points, summary and question answer session.
Make the presentation to a willing listener, and ask for feedback. If another person isn’t available, just practising out loud, or even in front of the mirror will help you identify areas where you stumble or need to add or subtract information.
Write out your talk, memorise it and then prepare notes with the key points to help keep you on track.
Business is all about selling, either a product, topic or concept. When making a business presentation, the most important thing is to know your material. If you do not know everything about what you are selling, the audience may not accept it.
Ensure that you keep your audience focused and interested. Making effective business presentations takes practice, but with a few tips up your sleeve, you are ready to take on the challenge.
Always face your audience. Gaining eye contact with as many people as possible as you present is important as it adds a level of understanding and comfort to the presentation.
Always prepare presentations that address the target audience. It may be of assistance if you know who your audience is — what are their backgrounds and knowledge level of the material you are presenting and what they are hoping to get out of the presentation. Don’t bore your audience with off-topic, deliver what the audience wants to hear. A common mistake of inexperienced presenters is to try to say too much.
They feel the need to prove themselves by proving to the audience that they know a lot. As a result, the main message is often lost, and valuable question time is usually lost.
Your knowledge of the subject is best expressed through a clear and concise presentation that is provocative and leads to a dialogue during the question-and-answer session when the audience becomes active participants. At that point, your knowledge of the material will become clear.
If you do not get any questions, then you have not been following the other rules. Most likely, your presentation was either incomprehensible or boring.
Don’t assume that you were such a good presenter such that your audience could not find questions for you. If you talk too quickly you will lose the essence of your message. Do not be overzealous about what you think.
Research never goes as fast as you would like. Remember the audience’s time is precious and should not be abused by presentation of uninteresting preliminary material.
A friend of mine finds it effective by starting with a joke. A compelling presentation requires more than visualisation techniques, and not every topic lends itself to humour. However, even the most apprehensive public speaker can make an effective presentation.
We have men and women that have literally pulled thousands and filled stadiums. These lead huge crowds and impact people’s lives in different directions. Whichever way you look at it, the choice of the best leaders and managers is purely opinionistic.
Till next week, May God richly bless you!!
Shelter Chieza is an Advisor in Management issues. She can be contacted at shelter.chieza@gmail.com