Many types of presentations contain content that is complex in nature.  For example, software sales pitches may include sophisticated architecture diagrams, while slides used in mechanical training sessions may depict engineering drawings or assembly instructions.  And, financial presentations will likely use number-intensive charts to demonstrate fiscal performance.

Keeping your language simple will help your audience absorb your material.

If these thoughts and ideas are not presented properly, however, they may be lost on audience members, creating confusion and bewilderment, and minimizing learning and retention.

Here are a few highly effective ways to ensure that your complex content is thoroughly understood by each and every member of your audience.

1. Simplicity is Key
You have extensive knowledge about the material you are presenting.  But, don’t assume your audience has any at all.  Act as though the concepts you are discussing are completely foreign to them, and provide as much background as possible.  This will help them absorb your material in the right context.  And, speak in the simplest terms possible, avoiding acronyms or industry jargon that only experts would understand.

2. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
Since repetition is the key to retention, be sure to repeat the most important thoughts over and over again.  For example, point out what the key elements on a diagram represent, or the variances in numbers between fields on a financial chart, several times throughout the course of your session.  Then, go back to those diagrams and charts and the end of your presentation, and reiterate those important points one last time during your summary.

3. Cover One Thought at a Time
This is particularly important when you are speaking about diagrams or images that have multiple elements.  Break it down one piece at a time, describing each component in as much detail as possible, before you explain how they all work together as a whole.  The build capabilities within most presentation software packages are quite helpful in these scenarios, allowing you to visually highlight one specific area of a chart, to draw attention to it as you are speaking about it.

4. Use an Open Forum
Few presenters allow questions to be asked ad-hoc during their presentation, since it tends to interrupt them mid-thought and throw them off their game.  However, when the subject matter is highly complicated, it is critical that the audience fully understand what you are saying at all times.  If they need further explanation at any point, they need to feel comfortable stopping you immediately to get it.  Otherwise, subsequent ideas will be difficult to comprehend.

5.  Compare It to Something Familiar
Many people understand things more easily when they are similar to other things they know.  So, whenever possible, compare your concept to something they can relate to.  For example, the repair of mechanical device can be compared to fixing a car, or describing how a large piece of equipment operates can be compared to the way a simple household appliance works.

Want more valuable tips on effective presentation creation and delivery?  Review our archive of presentation tips and check back every week for new posts.

You spend countless weeks researching, compiling, and preparing your content.  You practice your delivery over and over again.  And still, you – and every other speaker – will undoubtedly make a few mistakes during your presentation.  Some of these will be minor, and won’t have much impact on the success of your session.  Yet others can be detrimental, hindering your ability to achieve your goal, and rendering all your hard work wasted.

Here are five of the most common presentation pitfalls today’s presenters face – and how you can effectively avoid them.

1. Don’t Rely Solely On Your Content
No matter how interesting or informative your subject matter is, the words on your slides, and those you speak, simply aren’t enough to keep the audience engaged.  Your delivery of those thoughts and ideas must be dynamic.  The format of your presentation must be exciting and interactive.  And, you must incorporate visual elements, anecdotes, real-world stories, and other techniques to make your topic, and all supporting points, as relevant and memorable as possible.

2. Don’t Confuse Your Audience
In many cases, your attendees are coming to you to learn something specific.  As you are putting together your slides and speaking notes, always keep in mind that they lack the knowledge and expertise that you have.  So, you may need to “dummy” it down a bit.  For example, avoid terminology or phrasing that they may not understand, be sure to explain what any acronyms or industry jargon mean, and provide in-depth detail (and when appropriate, background information) when covering key concepts.

3. Remember the “Aid” in “Visual Aid”
Your slide deck is not the focal point of your presentation.  It is there to enhance and compliment what you’re saying.  Using too many images, videos, graphics, and other visual elements, or packing too much copy onto each slide, will have the opposite effect on your audience.  Instead of helping them understand and absorb your material, it will actually distract them and minimize information retention.

4.  Proofread!
Absolutely nothing will destroy your credibility as quickly as slides or handouts that are chock full of typos.  Misspellings, duplications, formatting inconsistencies, and other errors always convey a sense of inexperience or unprofessionalism.  So be sure to read through your materials very carefully before your session.  It wouldn’t hurt to have a peer review them as well, since a fresh set of eyes may catch mistakes you missed.

5.  Stick to the Schedule
If your allotted time is 45 minutes, then keep it to 45 minutes (or, preferably, less).  Once your scheduled end time arrives, your audience will begin thinking about where they need to be next, how many emails are flooding their inbox, etc. – and anything you say from that point on will likely be ignored or forgotten.  And, since the close or summary is one of the most important portions of your presentation, you want to make sure you still have their undivided attention.

Want more valuable tips on effective presentation creation and delivery?  Review our archive of presentation tips and check back every week for new posts.

We’ve all heard the old saying – “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”.  This advice, while important in many situations, is particularly valuable during the opening of your presentation.  Those first few moments are crucial to laying the foundation for a successful session, setting the tone for how your audience perceives your content, and more importantly, how they perceive you.

Start your presentation with a bang!

What are some of the best ways to open your presentation with a bang?

1. The First 30 Seconds are Key
You have just a small window of opportunity to grab the attention of your attendees.  After all, the first few minutes of your presentation are just about the only time you’re guaranteed their full, undivided attention.  Start with a joke, an interesting quote, a thought-provoking question, a shocking story – some exciting and compelling, yet relevant way to spark their interest or peak their curiosity.  If you can get them hooked quickly, keeping them engaged throughout the course of your presentation will be far easier.

2. Get to the Point
Many speakers save their summaries for the end of the slide deck.  However, some experts believe that beginning with a few key points that let the audience members know what they can expect to learn or what value they’ll take away from the presentation will excite them and give them something to look forward to, encouraging them to pay attention so they don’t miss anything important.

3. Kick It Up A Notch
Your opening is the perfect time to be a bit dramatic.  Use stronger voice inflections and more pronounced hand movements.  Pause strategically after important thoughts or ideas.  Slightly exaggerate your facial expressions. This will lend a sense of importance or urgency to what you’ll be speaking about.  But be careful not to overdo it.  If you’re too animated, you may look silly and destroy your credibility.

4.  Pick a Style – And Stick to It
While starting strong is vital, consistency is the key to maintaining interest throughout your presentation.  Let your opening convey your delivery style, and be sure that style flows throughout the rest of the session.  For example, don’t open with a joke, and then follow with serious and somber content. Or, don’t begin by shocking your audience, only to continue with light-hearted banter.  The tactic you use to get their attention is the same one you should use to keep it.

Want more valuable tips on effective presentation creation and delivery?  Review our archive of presentation tips and check back every week for new posts.

This post was contributed by Susan Dugdale of Write-Out-Loud. Thanks Susan!

Here’s the problem and its remedy is vocal variety.

You are giving a speech or presentation and,  although the content is excellent and  matches your audience’s expectation and needs, nobody is listening.

Vocal variety can cure your bored audience.

Instead you are looking at blank, disinterested faces. Someone is checking their watch, another is doodling, and that person in the front row is struggling to stay awake.

Your voice is turning ears off. To put it bluntly, it is boring.

The cure for deaf by monotone, (mono-speed, mono-pitch or any other one way or no way), is vocal variety. You need it if you want to be actively heard.

Vocal variety is achieved through varying your voice pitch, tone, volume and speaking rate.

It’s the combination of these elements that gives a voice its vocal signature. Lack of variety in any one of them can make you boring to listen to.

To understand pitch think of music. It has high and low notes as do people’s voices. Everyone’s voice has a natural pitch and a women’s voice is generally higher than a man’s. In addition, everyone has a pitch range, the number of notes they habitually use. When that range is very small the effect is monotonous to listen to.

Tone refers to the emotional content carried by our voices. It is not the words themselves but how we say them. To speak expressively is to fill or energise our words appropriately. For example, a person who puts very little energy into their speech no matter what they are talking about is often described as being ‘flat’. By contrast someone who fills their speech to overflowing with energy is described as ‘exuberant’, ‘enthusiastic’ or ‘passionate’. If you think of a word as a basket to carry its meaning, you’ll get the idea. Some people put very little in their word baskets. Others stuff them to overflowing.

Volume is how loudly or quietly you speak. If you are either habitually loud or quiet, you need to learn how to consciously turn down or up the volume.

Speaking rate refers to the rate words come out of your mouth: how fast or slow you speak.

Your goal as a speaker is to have people listen. To achieve that you need to use the most appropriate expression or vocal delivery, matching both your content and your audience’s needs.

Banish boring monotony with these 10 vocal variety tips.

1. Try this experiment for Pitch

Say the sentences below in your high, middle and low pitch range. Note what happens to the ‘intensity’ and the way you perceive their emotional content when you alter the pitch. There will be a distinct variation between each.

Her Grandmother died yesterday.

I want a new car.

This dinner is delicious.

People should love their neighbors as themselves.

2. The Tone Ham Sandwich Exercise:

Repeat the words ‘Ham Sandwich’ in as many varying ways as you can. For example say it angrily, happily, sadly, lovingly, despairingly, laughingly, importantly, slyly, snidely, shyly… This is a fantastic exercise to share with a partner. Take turn about giving each other the way to say the phrase. Repeat until you run out of variations. NB. Listen for emotional truth or believability!

3. Telephone Book Readings for Improving Tone:

Open the telephone book at any page. Select a style* or emotion and read aloud whatever is there. Sustain each feeling state for at least a minute. This gives you time to get into it. Listen to yourself to make sure you are filling those words with the appropriate emotion.

*Style? For fun and variation read your page in the style of a newsreader, a race commentator, a preacher, Marilyn Munroe…

4. Reading Children’s Stories:

Take a familiar story and read it aloud. As you do make sure your voice carries the meaning of the words. If a scary voice is asked for, use one. If somebody is bossy, sound bossy. If someone is teasing, put a teasing tone in your voice. If there’s a beat to the words, go with it. Find and emphasize it.

This a great exercise to record. When you listen to yourself, be alert for areas to improve. Record it again with the changes. And remember to try out your new improved reading skills with a child. Their feedback is direct and honest. You’ll soon know whether they enjoy the story or not!

5. Listen to Recordings of Novels,Short Stories, Autobiographies…

Many of these are read by highly skilled actors. Apart from enjoying the story, you will learn a great deal about expression. You can find audio tapes or CD’s at your local library or download them from the net. Many are free!

6. For Volume:

Use the following exercises to learn to project your voice naturally.

The skill involved with getting louder (or softer) is to maintain tone and pitch while altering the sound level. Many people lose them both, particularly when they get louder. Shouting may guarantee you get heard but it doesn’t usually mean heard with pleasure. And the other down-side to shouting is straining your voice. Good breath control is one of major keys to upping the volume while maintaining tone and pitch.

Practice Breathing Using your Diaphragm:

Stand in front of a mirror. Make sure your feet are a comfortable shoulder width apart. Pull yourself up straight and let your head sit square on your neck. Place one hand on your stomach. Breathe in. You should feel your stomach rising and then breathe out. This time your stomach falls. Watch your shoulders. If they rise and fall noticeably you are most likely breathing off the top of your lungs. Try until you can see and feel a definite rise and fall of your stomach while staying relaxed.

7. Distancing Technique for Volume Projection

Maintain the breathing technique outlined above and add voice. While watching yourself in the mirror to check for tension, (tightening of muscles), practice greeting yourself at ever increasing distances from the mirror. The first ‘Hello Susan, Bob’   (insert your name) is right up close. Then take two steps back and repeat. Now step back another two steps and greet yourself again.

(If your room is small, do the exercise outside and imagine the mirror! It remains in the same place all the time.)

If you feel any tension in your throat or chest from forcing the sound, stop. Breathe and begin again. It helps to imagine the sound arcing through the air, in a concentrated focused stream to reach its target. The further away you get the more control you need to have over the outflow of air carrying your words.

8, When you think you have a neutral ‘Hello Bob’ mastered, add emotional color. Say ‘Hello Bob’ nastily, lovingly, sweetly etc. while remaining relaxed.

9. Laugh Out-loud

Stand in front of your mirror breathing easily. On your out breath begin a series of ‘Ha-ha-ha-ha’s’ until all your breath is used. Take an ‘in’ breath and start again. Vary your laughter. Make it louder, make it quiet and then build it up again. Repeat until you are laughing loudly and easily without any strain.

10. Read Out-loud

Make sure your stance and breathing is good. Pin point a place at the far end of your room to talk to and now read aloud from a book, making sure you maintain your relaxed state while using as much vocal variety as you can.

A good way to test you’re working as you should is to do this exercise with a partner. Have them stand at the far end of the room you’re practicing in. Give instructions to give you feedback on clarity, variety and pitch.

If you find yourself rising in pitch, check your breathing. When we tense, we strain the throat and when that happens our vocal chords are restricted. The result is we force the pitch up and limit the range or color we can put into our words. If you  are straining will feel it in your upper chest and throat. In addition your shoulders will lift and you will run yourself out of breath easily.

To color and control your voice the way you want to, practice and then practice some more. Play. Experiment. Exaggerate, have fun and you will make them listen.

Have you got the power of the pause?  Silence in the right place speaks louder than any word can ever do.  How is your articulation and pronunciation? Is it clear? Can people understand you? Are you a motor-mouth? If so, can you put the brakes on? You’ll find more vocal delivery help tips and exercises at write-out-loud.com

This post was contributed by Dr. Carmen Taran of Rexi Media. Contact Rexi Media if you wish to learn how you can captivate your customers and employees through engaging, interactive and, entertaining presentations and training.

Any serious poker player knows there is a difference between playing well and winning, just like any advanced presenter knows there is a difference between a good presentation and a memorable one. Here is what poker players can teach us about winning presentations.

Poker winners:

1. Don’t believe in woulda, coulda, shoulda. Poker winners live in the moment. They may have had an edge a few minutes ago, but edge evaporates fast. Serious players know they win only they make good decisions “now”.
It’s the same in presentations. Who cares how strong you were a few minutes ago? Edge shifts constantly. If you want to keep people’s attention, you need to know how strong you are now. One way to stay tuned to the present is to ask yourself frequently: “how am I relating to the audience right now”? This type of monitoring helps you ensure you are focused on a current task instead of allowing your mind to drift in the past or in the future. When you are only attending to the present, you also have more mental resources to cater to your audience and the environment, which should fuel the flow of your speech.

2. Think holistically. Poker winners base their decisions on multiple sources of information, not just one input. For instance, if they look at the opponents’ finger movement, they don’t interpret them in isolation; they will link them with other body language cues, facial expressions, and even to other body movements observed in previous sessions.
Advanced presenters also base their reactions on multiple inputs. For instance, if they see someone with hands folded across the chest means, they realize that the gesture may mean a hostile attitude only if combined with other cues, such as legs crossed, toes pointed away from the presenter, shoulders sideways, or pursed lips.

3. Consider complexities. Poker winners know the danger of oversimplifying a game for which there is no simple formula or a short list of do’s and don’ts. They know that the right strategy matches the right situation. If you’re an advanced presenter, chances are you ignore attractively simplistic lists and instead focus on studying hard and practicing even harder. And you crave complexity because, if there was one magical formula for presentations, everyone would present the same way and no one would stand out.

4. Play mum poker. This is the famous poker face expression extended to the entire body, which means body language shows no complaining, no blaming, and no regretting. This type of control means knowing how to deal with denial, anger, and frustration. In high-pressure situations, poker winners know that emotions turn into enemies because they prevent them from acquiring information from the environment. When emotionally charged, they are prone to misinterpret what they see or hear, they don’t act with confidence, and they give away too much information, looking foolish and vulnerable.
Advanced presenters also know how to keep emotions out of the “game”. How do they do it? Discipline and realism are at the foundation of emotion control. Accepting a situation as is, not as they would like it to be, and depersonalizing any conflict are key ingredients to emotional stability and confident presentations.

5. Are disciplined researchers. Serious players know they don’t just play with cards, they play with people, which means they need to be excellent human observers. This is why poker winners go home after each game and write down what they saw at the table: habits, emotions, reactions, seating  (even night-time vs. day time conditions!). They also note realistic details about their own performance, which helps them later to avoid selective memory and exaggerating their performance. Using this information, they seek playing with just the right types of opponents in just the right settings, so that their strategy matches the studied conditions. Imagine if you had the discipline to write down details after each of your presentations. You would choose engagements that amplify your skills. Unlike poker, in such conditions, everyone wins.

Check out Rexi Media’s recent iPhone app, Presenter Pro, for additional techniques on delivering winning presentations. You can contact Rexi Media via @reximedia on Twitter or email them via info@reximedia.com.

Presenting over the Web, instead of in person, can offer many benefits – reduced travel costs and increased convenience for participants, just to name a few.  But, effectively conveying information to a remote audience can be a challenge for even the most seasoned presenters.  What works well in face-to-face sessions may be ineffective in a Web venue, and you must alter your presentation style accordingly.

Presenting over the web can offer many benefits.

Here are some sure-fire ways to deliver a great Web presentation:

1. Keep It Short
When you’re presenting in person, you’ve got a captive audience.  But, Webcast participants are either at home or in their offices, leaving room for many distractions like ringing phones, knocks at the door, or the temptation to perform other work while they’re listening to you speak.  Therefore, your discussion should be shorter than usual, 30 minutes maximum plus time for questions and answers, to avoid potential interruptions.

2. Use Stronger Voice Inflections
Remember, your audience can’t see you.  You won’t be able to use hand gestures, facial expressions, or body language for emphasis.  All you’ve got is your voice.  So, use a stronger tone and more prominent inflections than you normally would, to make sure key points get across.

3. Keep It Interactive
It’s harder to keep your audience engaged when everyone is scattered across multiple remote locations, so speaking non-stop for a half hour, then saving Q&A until the end may not be the best approach.  Take polls or surveys, ask questions, or solicit input at various points throughout the presentation.  This type of ongoing interaction will keep attendees interested until the end of your session. Watch how author Cliff Atkinson engages attendees using Twitter in his presentation, The Backchannel.

4.  Eliminate Background Noises
Your cell phone rings.  An email or pending appointment alert sets off a loud chime.  A colleague enters your office, without knocking, and begins speaking.  Day-to-day background noise in your office can be annoying and distracting to your audience – and your microphone will pick up all of it.  Be sure to turn of any phones, intercoms, alerts, or other noise-making mechanisms, and hang a “do not disturb” sign on your door, before you start presenting.

5. Check Your Equipment Ahead of Time
If your equipment fails while you’re presenting in person, you’ve got other ways to communicate.  But when you’re hosting a Webcast, your options are limited in the event of a technical disaster.  That’s why its so important to do a “test run” of your presentation several hours before your session, to ensure that your slides have uploaded properly, and that your microphone and other equipment are all in working order. If necessary arrange to have a backup set of equipment on hand to ensure your presentation can continue.

Want more valuable tips on effective presentation creation and delivery?  Review our archive of presentation tips and check back every week for new posts.