I recently attended a “Get Motivated” seminar,

However, I did gather a few presentation skills tips which I thought were interesting. Here they are.

How to Get a Standing Ovation at Your Introduction

Have you ever thought to yourself as you watched a speaker’s video tape, “Isn’t it great that the audience is on their feet applauding the speaker before he or she has even said one word?” The introduction is being made, and the audience is standing there in eager anticipation. They must love this speaker.

I learned at the seminar how easy it was to get that enthusiastic standing ovation at the beginning of your program.
The Master of Ceremonies used this simple phrase,
“Please stand up, as I introduce the next speaker.”
How easy is that? Ask and you shall receive.

Now I don’t know that I would recommend using this technique with every single speaker (although she did), but for special people, and for special situations it might be appropriate.

(Note - the speaker will really appreciate it.)

Energy and Audience Involvement

Although I missed the start of the first program, one of the initial activities was when the Master of Ceremonies asked the audience to stand up and introduce themselves to the people who were nearby. The audience by this time was comfortable, quiet and relaxed in their chairs, sitting back taking it easy, but as soon as this activity started, you could see the energy level rise in the auditorium. People started smiling and became more enthusiastic.

Les Brown, a renowned motivational speaker, uses the technique this way.
He says, “Stand up and shake hands with the person on your right and left and say …”

In many of my programs, I have people stand up, raise their right hand and recite a pledge that I wrote for them. It’s always a winner.

This is a great technique to bring up the energy level of your group, especially at the beginning of the program, when people are more reserved and are holding back.

The Afternoon Slump

If you have a presentation right after lunch, you are in BIG trouble. Blood is rushing down to the stomach to digest that mega-burger, whopper fries and chocolate shake. People’s attention span is growing shorter, and there’s a general lack of energy in the afternoon.

One of the tricks at the seminar, involved beach balls and rock-and-roll.
By offering a prize, the leader got several volunteers to lead their group in dancing. Now in Missouri, it takes a lot to get a group of mainly white business types to start dancing in the afternoon. So, they then sent hundreds of beach balls sailing over everyone’s head. You had to pay attention or risk getting smacked in the head with a beach ball. It ended up being a fun event with everyone smiling and energized.

Trick number one is to make sure everyone is standing up. People are much more animated when they’re standing. Use some good ole rock-and-roll music in the background (crank up the volume) and with beach balls flying all around, people will start moving and get their energy level up.

Note: You can use this same technique with large balloons and it’s a bit safer if you have breakable items in the room.

The Power of Power Point: Sell – Don’t Tell!

I’m always amazed at times how stupid some people can be.
No, excuse me. I didn’t mean to say that – that’s not PC (politically correct).
What I should have said is, ”I’m always amazed at times at how naive some people are.”

At the “Get Motivated” seminar, one of the speakers talked about how easy it was to make money in the stock market – even when the market was going down. Using Power Point, he went on to “prove” how easy it was to buy on green and sell on red.

He had a young woman come onto the stage, and as he would show different Power Point slides, she would tell him whether they should buy or sell the stocks.
Remember? Buy on green and sell on red.
She was always right. It was amazing!
It seemed so easy, even a third-grader could do it.

He said, “And for today and today only, you can get this $6,000 dollar program for only $995.” What a deal, what a bargain! You were saving $5,000.

I did some quick calculations in my head. I noticed that about 1 in 20 people, had actually bought the product. If there were 20,000 people in the audience, the total sales that day would come close to $1,000,000.
Not bad for a 45-minute Power Point presentation.

What was proved to me that day, was that Power Point can be a tremendous tool for selling your ideas. Most people use Power Point to tell, to deliver information, to show hundreds of boring bullets, but its true power seems to be in the power to sell.

The question you need to consider in every speech is, what are you selling?
What ideas do you want the audience to buy?
And finally, how can you use Power Point to sell those ideas.

If you want to see a true master of this tactic, visit the next “Get Motivated” seminar in your area, but please leave all your credit cards at home.

Technology: I Love It - I Hate It

I admit it, I am a tech-junkie.
At times my coffee table looks like something from Best Buy Electronics.
I’ll have scattered about, my seven remotes, my digital recorder, my phone and my wireless laptop. It’s a bit laughable, but I enjoy them all.

I like having the ability to have my own recording studio, video production, and photo lab etc. – all in the comfort of my home.
But there is a large caveat when you start using technology with presentations:
Murphy was right, (Remember Murphy’s Law?) things will go wrong.
You can count on it.

Even with a high-priced production like “Get Motivated,” they had a number of tech-problems.

Most of the speakers used a wireless mouse to advance their Power Point slides.
For one speaker however, it became a nightmare.
Wireless mouse #1 stopped working.
Wireless mouse #2 didn’t help.
Wireless mouse #3 showed that the situation was hopeless.
He threw them all on the floor.

Luckily, the presenter had a low-tech backup. He used an “old-fashioned” wired mouse to advance his slides. It’s a trick you’ll want to add to your bag of tech toys.

While a wireless mouse is great, when they don’t work, you need a backup.
Buy a small USB laptop mouse, and add a long USB extension cord. You will then be able to regain control of your Power Point presentation without having to sit behind the laptop.
You know your tech toys are going to take a day off now and then, so this is one way to be prepared.