Rock Your Presentation – top tips for presenting

Nearly all of us have to pitch or present our ideas, whether in a formal setting like a lecture theatre, at a company conference to a hundred jaded salespeople, in a classroom or even selling a concept one-to-one to our boss. In all these situations we can choose between delivering a message that sounds like muzak, or one that wakes up and engages the listener. In Rock Your Presentation, Nigel Barlow, a professional keynote speaker and creative coach to many of the world’s most famous organisations, shows you how. Drawing on his experience from on the stage and off it, he gives you inspiring insights and practical techniques to ‘rock up’ your presentation or speech. Below are some top tips for presenting, taken from the book, that you can easily employ in your next presentation.

For instance, you could try:

1. Strong beginnings and endings. Just like a great song, it has powerful opening bars and a great climax. Build this into your talk.
2. Life by PowerPoint. People always complain about the opposite, but it’s easily fixable by realizing ‘I am not my slides’. Have far fewer slides (up to 80% fewer) and make them visual.
3. Be a protest singer. This means being bold about what you really believe in and are passionate about changing. It’s a powerful way to touch an audience.
4. Go unplugged. This is how musicians reach the hearts and minds of the audience. Think acoustic, not electric. Unplug your technology, move closer and start a conversation.
5. Have a clear ‘chorus’. What do you remember from a song? Usually only the chorus! So what’s the chorus, or essential message that you want people to leave with? Make it clear, visual, and memorable.

This is a small sample of insights from Rock Your Presentation. Whether you want to create a whole new talk, or tune up a tired old one, you’ll get plenty of fresh ideas.