iPresent: How to enthrall your audience like Steve Jobs – Part 5

iPresent: How to enthrall your audience like Steve Jobs – Part 5
Derived from : Carmine Gallo; The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs

RAP4 : Getting it Down Pat
PROFIT : An athlete trains for match day. A musician practices for a recital. Steve Jobs rehearses for Macworld. They’re all prepping to pounce like a cat when it matters. Here’s three elements to consider to get yourself ready…

Watch the video, read the RAP and apply it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec76iwztQok&NR=1

Make it Look Easy

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”
Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers.

There’s three ways to make your presentations look easy and effortless. The first way is to practice. So is the second and third way.
Jobs rehearses and rehearses and rehearses. Then he practices some more.
He’s as meticulous about his presentations as he is over the design of all the Apple products.
10,000 hours of deliberate practice will make you a world expert… See Book Rapper’s Anti-Self-Help.
The key to getting over nerves is the knowledge that you’re well rehearsed.
Review everything. Video your practice. And, get feedback from respected mentors.
Prepare for tough questions by using the Bucket Method. Most questions will fall into a handful of categories. Prepare answers for these buckets. Listen for key words and use these to steer your response to your bucket categories.

Embody Your Words

“Your body plays a fundamental role in the believability of your message.”
Michelle Bowden, Don’t Picture Me Naked.

Research shows that gestures reflect complex thinking. And, they give the listener confidence in the speaker.
Being authentic in our speaking is when our words and gestures fit. Alternatively, we can smell a lie when the body and facial expressions don’t match your words.
Be open in your postures, your eyes and your hand gestures.
Mix up your vocal variety. Change the TONE of your voice… As well as y-o-u-r p–a–c–e… And…
Pause.
The best way to improve your presenting performance is to record yourself on video.

Ditch the Script

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
Steve Jobs

Would an actor use notes?
Jobs speaks casually, conversationally and clearly to his audience. He performs mostly without notes allowing him to connect with his listeners.
One of the best approaches for ditching your script is to use one idea per slide. The slide then becomes one distinct prompt.
Here’s a five step strategy for ditching your script…

1. Write your script in the notes section of PowerPoint or Keynote and practice your presentation.
2. Highlight key words in each sentence. Then practice.
3. Practice using only your key words
4. Memorize the one key idea per slide. Then practice.
5. Practice the entire presentation using the slide images as your only prompt.

If you really, really, really have-to use your notes then use a trick Steve did at Macworld 2007: create a notes book. Small, neatly bound with colour-coded tabs to match your talk sections.

Get the complete iPresent issue from www.bookrapper.com