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Presentation Skills - Are You A Rock Or A Diamond?

By Bob Malloney

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Published: 11Nov2009
Word count: 537
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There's a story of a man, a poor farmer, who was fed up of his life working from dawn to dusk to only survive. He decided to sell his fields and went off to seek his fortune. He travelled the world for many years until finally, tired and defeated he returned home. He collapsed onto the ground and noticed for the first time some strange looking rocks, which turned out to be diamonds. The wealth he had been seeking was in his own back yard.

The point is that daimonds in their rough state do not look like diamonds at all. They first have to be cut and polished.

I have trained people in presentation skills for over 20 years and for the vast majority, just like the poor farmer, the huge advantage of being able to communicate powerfully and persuasively to groups of people, is not fully realised until they have learnt to present in an entirely different way. Learning to present your ideas and needs in a way that engages and motivates others can truely turn a rough looking rock into a diamond, in terms of the value your presentation creates and the impression you leave with your audience.

Some people are born to present. They can stand up and wow an audience with their confidence and personality. Being a good presenter is about being yourself, but 'larger than life'. However, out of the thousands of people I have trained, I have only come across a handful of people who are natural presenters. Because presenting is such a stressful experience, the vast majority of people seem to do the opposite and come over to their audience as a shadow of themself. They adopt a strategy of self preservation and consequently deliver their presentations in a way that minimises the risk of damaging their credibility. Unfortunately, the chosen strategy is usually one that makes them come over to the audience as drab, boring and lacking in personality and enthusiasm. This is why we see so many over-scripted, PowerPoint driven, detail laden presentations delivered with little energy and no passion. They hide the diamond and show the audience the rock!

The good news is that anyone can learn to be a first class presenter. If your job involves motivating, persuading, inspiring or leading others, can you really afford not to invest the time and effort (usually about 2 days) to realise your full potential to communicate with groups of people? Out of all the soft skills, the ability to communicate effectively is by far the most powerful and provdes the largest return on investment. Value is created by inspiring others to do something differently. This cannot be done just with facts set out in a report or email. People need some emotional input to fully engage and be motivated to change the way they do things. If you can stand up, have a personality and can talk, you can achieve all of this.

By realising your potential as a presenter, you recoup your investment many times over. If you can inspire and enthuse others, you have created the abilty to promote change and create value. And once you are trained, it doesn't cost you a penny to do it!

Bob Malloney, a presentation skills trainer for over 20 years can help you to make a real difference to your ability to engage and inspire others. See how at > http://www.videocoaching.tv

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