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How to Capture Your Audience with Great Presentation Skills

HEY!, presentation skills are designed to capture the attention of attendees. They are also designed to hold the attendees attention. Going about capturing and holding your attendees attention requires all the presentation skills you have learned and used in your speaking and showing experience. How you use them is the trick. BUT!, use them you must or you may find people leaving or snoozing on their neighbors shoulder. The next time you are out at the lectern give a few of these POUNDINGLY good ideas a try.

Inflect this!

Pauses and silences hold a special place in the world of presentation skills but they need to be used properly. A silent pause can be the beginning point of a slowly building point or it can be the start of a new and BETTER point by elevating the voice to a fairly loud and crisp wording of the next few words. The trick when using this particular technique is that you do not want to use it too often or the point will be lost. Additionally, meter is important if you are slowly ending a point by becoming quieter. If you’re getting quieter, you usually will need to slow down the meter. This is simply how people expect the information to be presented.

Emphasize that!

As you develop your own style of presentation, consider how the people that know you will react to your style on the stage. If your presentation skills have lead you toward being a fire and brimstone presenter, by all means slam your hand down on the lectern and make the point. If your attendees happen to be librarians, you may shy away from this a bit but if the point needs emphasis go for it, but with less vigor. Emphasis does not need to be all fire and brimstone. Getting out from behind the lectern and including the attendees with a wave of the arm is also a dynamic way to maintain a connection. As you do swing your arm, be sure to pick out a few people for direct eye contact and watch how attentive they become.

Pick a person

Solid presentation skills are really about making a connection with the audience. Whatever it takes to make that connection, do it. As you prepare for your presentation notice a few people that get there first and strike up a conversation with them. Find out a thing or two about them, including name, and then include that tid-bit in the talk. If you’re lucky enough to find a big-wig you have elevated yourself in the eyes of the attendees. If you pick out a nice looking lady/guy, you have connected yourself with a nice looking lady/guy which also elevates your position.

Using scale to advantage

Appearing larger then life is a great way to capture an audience. Presentation skills in this area involve using a backdrop that makes the stage look larger. A video wall screen is a good idea here. You are now permitted GRAND gestures and GRAND statements which are a GRAND way of using presentation skills to advantage.

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