As a business owner you will probably need to make a presentation at some point. Whether for a business meeting, an opportunity to speak at an event or (most often) at a WIBN networking meeting, that time will come when you need to stand up in front of a roomful of people and express yourself for 10, 15 or 20 minutes.

It is said that more people have a fear of public speaking than death – though I’m not sure when that research was done or how valid it is now. Whether true or apocryphal, knowing what to say and how to say it is one area where there is no reason to worry.

Here are my top tips for presentations from a content perspective:

Prepare your presentation in advance

As soon as you know you have a presentation coming up, set aside the time to prepare it. Nothing is likely to make you more anxious when facing the prospect of a presentation where you know it isn’t ready, or you haven’t given yourself enough time to get comfortable with the content.

Even if you are planning to repeat a presentation you’ve done before, this time it will be different.  There will be a different audience, and things may have changed for you, for them, and for the wider world. You may have more or less time, so you’ll need to adapt to fit the new timings.

If you are giving a new presentation it can help to create a level map of key points, even starting by just brainstorming all the possible ideas you could include before winnowing them down. Only then do you go into more detail (you can even write a script if you like) and finally you can consider what props, aids, and tools you might want.

Know your Audience and outcome

This is the key factor as you are planning your presentation.

Who is in the room? Why are they there? What is the idea or concept you most want them to grasp?

I find the easiest way to get clear on this is to ask myself one simple question: “If my audience only walk away with one thing from my presentation, what is it?”

That helps me discard a lot of the ideas and possible topics I’d originally thought I’d include (and thus means I won’t waffle).

You know your stuff, they don’t!

In knowing your audience, it will help you pitch your presentation to the right level.

Think about what they already know and understand (which is often less than you might like to imagine) so you can be sure your content makes sense.

In preparing, this can sometimes mean you need to take the time to explain things which are obvious to you. As an example, I heard a builder recently explaining that DPC these days doesn’t need to be as deep as it used to be. Those who work in the construction industry were all nodding wisely, fascinated by what they were hearing. I felt lost! (It means ‘Damp Proof Course’ by the way).

Is your audience knowledgeable in your field?

Do you have a room full of novices?

Is it a mixture?

It is usually best to cut out any jargon, spell out acronyms, and assume at least one person in the room needs you to explain what you are talking about.

Also plan to go more slowly when presenting your material. You audience needs to digest your content, which means you need to give them more time and avoid trying to cram too much in. It comes back to that “one thing” question. If all you achieve is they understand the main point, you’ve done a good job. Some will take away more – and that’s a bonus. But the last thing you want is for people to walk away feeling they didn’t understand a thing!

Slides aid the audience (not you)

In your planning you may have written out a script to help you prepare. If you then decide to use slides to aide your presentation (and they are not obligatory, by the way) please do not transfer that script to the slides.

I see this all too often. A deck of slides goes up with a lot of bullet points, stuffed with words. Then the presenter simply reads them.

It’s deadly! Its boring! It keeps you locked to the slides with your back to the audience. And most people read faster than they listen, so they are already at the bottom of the slide before you are halfway through and now want you to get on with the next one.

Worse still, something packed with text comes up and the presenter says, “I don’t expect you to read this” (and then goes on to read it to you instead!).

Slides are only there to illustrate what you are saying, so use pictures and diagrams as much as possible and if you do need to use text limit it to one or two words for each idea.

I often use slide builds – one line or image at a time to build up the idea – but only do this if you have access to a remote control (aka ‘clicker’) to move the slides along and feel comfortable with the multitasking involved. And do please avoid getting over excited with slide animations. Words and images leaping out from the sides and bounding across the screen can be really distracting.

Rehearse till you are sick of it

You know what you are going to say and have materials assembled. Job done?

Not by a long chalk…

Now you need to practice. Even if you’ve presented this material before, and even if you are certain, you’ve got everything right, start running through the presentation.

It allows you to gauge for time, so you know you won’t get caught by a two-minute warning with 70% of the presentation still to go.

It means you can test that everything flows as you want it to, and you know how you will transition from one idea to the next.

It means you know the materials well enough that you don’t need to stay glued to your notes and can make eye contact with your audience.

Run it through a few times on your own and then, if you can, get a friend, colleague, or mentor to be a test audience for you too.

The more you practice, the less you will be worried about the content and that really brings down the nerves on the day.

Be ready for all the tech to fail

Have you asked yourself what you are going to do if your slides aren’t there for any reason. This usually comes down to a projector not being compatible with your laptop or the bulb going, but I’ve known for presentations to be scuppered by power cuts, a change of venue (so no one knew where anything was) and a previous tech delay resulting in the presentation time being halved at the last minute.

So, what is your backup plan?

Although I use my own PC when I can, I always also email my slides to the host and bring them on a USB drive. Plus, I know how I could manage if I had no slides at all. I also know someone who has a pocket projector which he can use if the in-house one fails for any reason.

If I’m reliant on images or diagrams for any reason, I have printed versions ready to pass round the room (not enough for one per person but enough that everyone can see in good time).

Technology will fail – so be ready for that to happen.

Don’t just read the script….

Remember what I said about reading your script from slides being boring?

The same applies to reading your script from a piece of paper when you come to present. Avoid it if at all possible.

If you’ve done enough rehearsal, you are going to know the overall shape and flow of what you plan to say, so you don’t need a script. Those who have the gift of a great memory can do without anything but their slides as a prompt (lucky them) but if not, create a list of the key points, to remind you what comes in what order.

I use small cards for this, with one or two points on each card and my logo on the back (looks really smart!), but one sheet of paper, a notebook, or even writing on your hand (if it will fit) will all work.

Then, most of your eye contact will be spent on the audience, not on the words on a page.

Breathe

Another advantage of index cards, is that at the bottom of each one, I write the word “Breathe!”

Presenting, even if you are experienced and enjoy it, generally leads to nerves. When we’re nervous, our breathing gets shallow, or we forget to breathe at all – and that tells your body there is danger around and it increases the fear response.

So, remember to take a few breaths, and pace yourself. Those short silences, which might feel like an eternity to you, will be comfortable to the audience. It gives them thinking time and time to process what you’ve already said, ready for the next point. And it can really add impact to a presentation as it can build suspense and make sure you have everyone’s attention.

Don’t forget a call to action

This is so important!

You’ve done the hard work in winning the audience, in sharing your story, getting your points across, building rapport…

So, now what? What’s the next step for them and for you?

This could be as simple as having a slide with your contact details at the end of the presentation so people can follow up but, the clever presenter has an offer ready.

You can give people discounted access to a course or a free taster session or assessment.  You can tell them where you’re speaking next, so they can book in. You can even invite them to come and speak with you afterwards for more information.

But don’t miss this opportunity to take the audience beyond the presentation.

If you would like help creating the content for a presentation or would like to book Cate to speak on content, get in touch today.

Did you know, LinkedIn is 277% more effective for lead generation than other social media networks? Of all leads generated from social media, 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn. These are shocking numbers, especially if you’re NOT using LinkedIn right now.

So how can you make sure you’re taking full advantage of the above stats when it comes to your own LinkedIn profile? Here are 5 tips that can help you.

1. How to make your profile stand out

There are lots of things you can do to optimise your LinkedIn profile to make it stand out from the noise, below are just a few that can contribute positively towards your SSI score:

• Picking the right picture: When you appear in search results, your picture is the first thing someone will see in addition to your headline. First impressions are important, especially on a professional network like LinkedIn. Try to keep your headshot professional but friendly and also make sure you are the only person in the picture.
• Adding a cover image: The cover image is your virtual billboard – use it. This is prime real estate on your profile and can be used to highlight offers, services, your expertise or even events. We regularly use this space to advertise our upcoming events. It can be useful to mimic your company page cover image to allow for consistency across your social profiles.
• Create a headline that hooks: LinkedIn will add a generic headline with your title and your location. Change this, don’t leave it on default. This is your chance to sell yourself and create a connection with potential leads. Use relevant keywords to hook people in so they want to click on your profile and see what you’re all about.
• Tell your story: Whether you’re B2B or B2C, you’re dealing with people. As humans, we love a good story. Storytelling has been used for centuries to communicate key ideas and help people connect through shared values. You can use this powerful method to share your own story which your potential connections and leads can resonate with. Use the about section to share more about ‘you’, your why, what you believe in, and why you started your business/got into what you’re doing. This is your opportunity to build a relationship with the reader.
• Use buzzwords sparingly (if at all): Be careful with buzzwords such as ‘specialist’, ‘expert’, and ‘guru’, these words don’t add anything. People are so used to seeing these words that they have become immune to them. If in doubt, when writing a word always think, “can I back this up”?
• List your skills and take tests: LinkedIn has a whole library of tests and certifications you can take to prove your expertise and skills in any area, it also allows you to add these skills to your profile.
• Spotlight your services: This is a new section where you can add your services and what you provide, to allow people to see how you can help them. It also allows you to be found when someone searches for a service you offer, as LinkedIn will send you a notification if someone is looking in the local area.
• Use social proof: This can be done by the ‘recommendations’ section in your profile. Use this section to show proof of the claims you have made in the rest of your profile, by asking for recommendations from colleagues, past clients, co-workers and customers. This will allow people to see that you are genuine and deliver on your promises. Make sure to share the love with others too!

Listing industry information—such as Internet, Financial Services or Education Management —leads to up to 9x more profile views and can help you get discovered up to 38x more in recruiter searches, according to LinkedIn data.

Plus, adding something as simple as your location in your profile can help you get up to 19x more profile views.

2. Using a commenting strategy

We get a lot of people asking about what content to post, and what to say on LinkedIn. We get it, it can sometimes be difficult to come up with ideas for content all the time. That’s where we recommend the commenting strategy.

The commenting strategy is an easy and simple way to engage on LinkedIn without having to post new, fresh content all the time. It allows you to leverage other creators who are already creating content in your industry and simply add to the conversation already going on.

When it comes to the commenting strategy, the LinkedIn search bar is your best friend. You can use this to search for keywords related to your products or services which will bring up posts that are around those topics.

You can now go in and read through the posts that show up, if there is a specific post that you have a comment on you can get involved by contributing useful insights that further the conversation.

This strategy is a secret hack that you can use to bring in more leads than actually posting on your own profile as it allows you to tap into the relevant conversations going on in your area of expertise.

3. How to get involved in groups

Groups are a huge opportunity that not a lot of people utilise. Again, using the LinkedIn search bar you can search for almost any group in any industry.

Joining, posting and contributing to a group can open up more opportunities than posting on your own profile. The reason is that the people who have joined the group are super targeted, they are there to learn more and connect with like-minded individuals. So if you are contributing to the group then this allows you to get in front of the relevant people, who may be your target customers.

Another benefit of joining groups is that you can go in and message the group members, to take your conversations further if you like. You do not have to have a LinkedIn premium account for this.

Use this sparingly though, don’t spam people as you WILL get banned.

4. How to bypass the follower button and personalise your connection request

Content creators on LinkedIn who are focussed on growing their following now have the option to have a ‘follow’ button instead of the ‘connect’ button displayed on their profiles. It may seem as though you can’t directly connect with them anymore due to these button changes.

However, you can still connect with them, you just have to do a workaround. You can do this by going to a person’s profile, and instead of clicking the ‘follow’ button, click ‘more’ instead.

This will give you the option to connect with them and send a personalised message as well, just be mindful that not everyone will have this option though (if they are paying for the services to block this).

Make sure to always customise your introduction message, take time to look through their profile and customise your invitation. This additional step can be the difference between your connection request being accepted or declined.

Note: If your request gets declined, this contributes to your SSI score – so it’s well worth taking the time to customise your connection message.

Below are some quick ideas that can help you personalise your message:

• Just be honest
• Look for similarities in their profile
• Connections in common
• “I’d like to see more of your content”
• “Expanding my network”
• Both members of the same group

5. How to create quality content with the algorithm in mind

Content forms the foundation of any social media strategy, and that includes LinkedIn. There are six key ingredients in any content recipe- which will allow you to create content that people actually want to read, these include:

• The ‘trigger’- This is the hook, it’s the sentence that shows before you press the ‘see more’ and is prime real estate to get your audience interested in what you’re talking about. Its purpose is to ‘stop the scroll’ and entice people to read more.
• Post layout – No one wants to read a huge block of text. Space out your text with smaller paragraphs or one-line sentences to allow people to skim your content if they want. Short and sweet is best. If you feel confident then make a video.
• The tag – Is there someone you can tag in the post? This could be a colleague, business or another individual. Make sure it is relevant though, and the person will actually engage with the post.
• Hashtags – Use relevant hashtags. The key is 3 to 5. Make sure they are relevant to your post and audience.
• The storyline – As mentioned before, storytelling can be useful when you are wanting to deliver any message. Every story has a beginning middle and end, it has a structure – try and incorporate this structure into your content.
• Call to action – In such a distracted world, people need direction. If someone has taken the time to get to the end of your post, they are engaged so tell them what to do next. Want them to call you, tell them. Want them to comment, tell them. Tell them what action they need to take.

Bonus: Make your company page a consistent priority

We’ve been talking about your LinkedIn profile, but it’s important to note that a lot of the methods outlined above can also be applied to your company page.

Your company page is equally important as personal pages, so make sure it’s up to date, don’t just post random stuff on it, inconsistently.

The key is consistency and relevancy. Make sure you have a clear strategy for your company page too. Companies that post weekly see a 2x lift in engagement AND those with completed and active pages get an 11x lift in clicks per follower. So it’s well worth taking the time to fill in each section.

Hopefully, you found these different methods useful and can use them to update your LinkedIn.

This blog was first seen on Xpand Marketings website.