As an expert, one of your greatest opportunities to build your market reach and client base is to get on the platform and give a “knock their socks off” presentation.

If you’re an entrepreneur, there are very few strategies that compare to getting on the platform in order to build your credibility, visibility, market reach, client base and revenues.

As an “expert” your job is to give the best presentation you possibly can. The long-term benefits of using speaking to build your business are beyond compare.

Three “must-do’s” for HOT presentations are:

• Know your audience
• Tell stories
• Give it your all

Know your audience

It’s all very fine to be a good, or even great, speaker, but even great speakers need to know who’s in their audience. The more you know who your audience is the more you can customize your presentation to their needs.

Knowing your audience requires time upfront. There are a number of ways to become familiar with your audience including a pre-event questionnaire, one on one conversations with a cross-section of the audience and studying the website of the group you are presenting to.

By taking time upfront to know your audience, it’s a sure bet you will stand head and shoulders above other speakers.

Tell stories

Facts and figures may be a huge part of your message, but stories make your points memorable. People love stories. If you’re not a good storyteller, put effort into learning how. The ability to be a storyteller will take you from an average speaker to a memorable speaker.

Keep your stories short and make a point with your story. Avoid starting your story with, “I’m going to tell you a story.” Simply go into your story.

Give it your all

When people give you their time by sitting in your audience, your job is to give 100% to the experience. To not do so is doing your audience a disservice.

• Make your audience feel as though they are the most important people around.
• Have fun. When you have fun your audience will to.
• Stay excited throughout. This doesn’t mean you have to jump around and bounce off the walls. It simply means be fully present throughout the presentation.

Regardless of what industry you’re in, if you want to be viewed as the go-to expert, presentations are, by far, the best way to do so. They are also the best way to sell books, information products and enroll clients into your high-end services.

Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured manner intended to tell, persuade, or entertain the listeners. It is closely related to “presenting”. Public speaking and presentations can be very demanding. Whenever we have to get in front of an audience to speak, we usually have to go through a panic moment. Putting forth a good presentation demands a lot of courage, practice and preparation.

Every time you speak before crowd, you learn something new. With my 12 years of experience as a public speaker and trainer on public speaking and presentation skills I have several tips which would help many of you. These points would help no matter whether you are speaking at a large conference or giving an internal presentation to the co-workers. They can be used anywhere.

GETTING PHYSICALLY & MENTALLY PREPARED BEFORE YOUR PRESENTATION- The more you prepare, the more confident you would feel. Slowly and gradually when you become comfortable in public speaking you’ll unsurprisingly feel more confident and the need to prepare may be of lesser importance. Amateur speakers must spend more time in getting ready. But that does not mean that you make yourself go crazy. Just be comfortable with your material and keep practicing. If you are a first time speaker, you may consult a public speaking trainer and would be of great help. They will observe your style and suggest you some advice on addressing the crowd. For example they might advice you to:

* Speak slower.

* Talk to individuals in the audience.

* Take pauses and think before you speak.

Going over them before your presentation would help you to be more composed and confident. Some more ways to prepare yourself can be the following:

* Drinking a lot of water.

* Taking a good night’s sleep.

* Avoid drinking the night before.

* Breathe normally.

* Visualize a positive result.

* Talk to other speakers (if any). Ask them questions and for advice.

PREPARING MATERIALS TO SUPPORT YOUR PRESENTATION- The key to prepare your presentation is to remember that less is more. A few guidelines to a good presentation:

* Keep text to a minimum. Do not put more than 5 bullet points per slide. People tend to lose interest in what you are speaking while reading this stuff.

* Check for contrast and font size. Make sure that it is readable.

* Use pictures where possible to get your idea across. They can be remembered more easily.

* Keep the notes short and simple. Their purpose is only to serve as a reminder.

* Check the resolution of your presentation. To be safe, go for 800×600.

* Complicated charts and graphs should be avoided. Audience may get confused.

WHILE GIVING THE PRESENTATION- A few things to be remembered when giving the presentation:

* Be optimistic.

* Telling stories will make your idea clearer than charts, graphs and numbers. They also help in engaging your audience.

* Don’t read your slides or notes. They should only play the role of supporters to what you are saying.

* Keep your introduction short yet strong.

* Keep your speech or the presentation slow and steady.

* Don’t be anxious over mistakes. Don’t apologize. Stay confident and just move on.

* Take pauses at appropriate times. This would also give your audience time to absorb what you presented.

* Smile, joke and laugh when needed. Don’t try to overdo anything.

* Make your ending crisp, clean and powerful.

* Prepare yourself for interruptions and questions.

Recently, there has been a rise in the popularity of public speaking as a career choice. Only a few years ago, the idea of earning a living by speaking to groups of people would’ve seemed laughable to most people. These days, the opportunity to make great money in public speaking is no joke. With an endless variety of topics to speak about, the possibilities of finding your niche in this seemingly impossible industry are quickly growing.

There have been several things to spark this recent trend in the pursuit of a public speaking career. Movies such as “The Secret” have inspired many people to look into the Law of Attraction as a creative force in their life. Books in the self-improvement genre are gaining popularity, and everyday, more people are finding out the benefits of reading such books. Motivational and inspirational speakers such as Tony Robbins have convinced countless followers that life can be everything they can imagine.

These movies, books, and speakers have convinced many of their fans that the best way to achieve the life of their dreams, is to tell others how to achieve it. It is not uncommon for someone to begin learning about self-improvement, and eventually decide that they would like to teach others the same principles they have learned. Often times, these people will build great careers in public speaking.

With the increase in public speakers, comes an increase in competition. More and more people are competing to get a speaking engagement. There may be an unlimited number of topics to speak on, but there is a limited number of people willing to pay you to talk about it. Like anything else that involves competition, the key here is to set yourself apart from all the other public speakers. If you are able to find a great niche for your presentation, you have made the first step in being a successful public speaker.

There is another way to stand out in the crowd of aspiring public speakers. One of the often overlooked elements of presentations is the audiovisual aspect of it. Most presentation, no matter what the topic, will include things like sound, video, and lighting. Equipment like microphones, projectors, and screens are typically thought of as just a minor part of the whole presentation. In reality, you can use audiovisual equipment to enhance your message and create an huge impact on your audience. You don’t have to bore people to sleep with endless powerpoint slides. You can liven up your presentation and leave your audience wanting more.

When it comes to formal training for those seeking a future in public speaking, there is no lack of products and services trying to meet that need. The interesting thing is that with all of these opportunities for training, there is a limited number of people teaching the audiovisual skills. Most training courses teach the essentials of making eye contact, conquering a fear of public speaking, and organizing your presentation materials. Unfortunately, once these areas are mastered, the budding public speaker finds himself or herself without further guidance. For the most part, at this point, they’re on their own.

There is a “next step” to furthering a career in public speaking. Learning important techniques of the audiovisual part of a presentation will help move that career to the next level. It’s the forgotten step that can give a public speaker the edge needed to succeed amongst all the competition. It’s possible for speakers at any level, speaking in front of any size group, to benefit from learning the audiovisual equipment involved in a presentation.

The next time you are in the position to put together a presentation of any kind, think about what you can do with the audiovisual elements to make it more interesting. How can you pull in your audiences attention and keep them on the edge of their seats? It’s not all about making eye contact, knowledge of the topic, or even the way you present yourself. Much of the importance lies in evoking an emotional reaction from your audience. There’s no better way to do this than with the aid of audiovisual equipment.