This is the dilemma PowerPoint presenters face: When you stand during a group PPT presentation, all eyes and ears are directed at you and, up to a point, that is fine. However, monologues, even good ones, can’t tell you
- How much do listeners really understand?
- How do they really feel about what you are saying?
- What do they really think about the value of your selling points?
Short of saying, “So are you buying this?,” you need to get your listeners involved in a very natural way, particularly when you are making what you think are key selling points or touching on critical issues.
Solution: Switch The Focus of Their Attention
Use this easy three-step process to take the guess work out of your group presentations and get listeners more involved in your PowerPoint presentation.
- Ask the group an open question and then,
- Sit Down and facilitate a discussion around their answers
- As the conversation dies down, Stand and segue back with one of their comments or the conclusion of their discussion to your PPT
These mini-discussions help in many ways
- You learn what is and is not resonating with listeners.
- You can see where you might have to modify comments on future slides
- You enhance your relationship with listeners as you are demonstrating a focus on them beyond your slides
When to Involve Listeners?
Some examples of when you would want to use this approach include:
- To Test Key Selling Points. Ask, “What are your thoughts on that?”
- To Check Reality of important implementation issues. Ask, “How do you see this fitting in with your current operations?”
- To Get Acceptance for key responsibility Issues Ask, “Who do you see being involved in the roll-out?”
Who Owns the Value?
A mentor taught me this a long time ago: When you say something, you own it. When clients say something, they own it. So, if you want to make sure you and your clients are really in sync, use this simple technique to turn presentation performances into meaningful conversations and get the results you want.
Anne Miller
Words Matter – Make What You Say Pay!
Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash
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Random Recommendation
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