By Doug Van Dyke, Leadership Simplified, www.leadershipsimplified.com

Do you fear speaking in public or making a presentation to a group of people? Most leaders do. In fact, helping leaders and sales professionals become better public speakers and presenters is one of our most popular training sessions. While there are a litany of best practices to share, today we address two tips regarding making presentations and speaking in public.

The first tip is to influence your audience, rather than seeking to convince them. Influence is best achieved by crafting your message in a fashion that leads to audience buy-in. If you present in a manner that hits people over the head as you attempt to convince them, it will only lead to buyer’s remorse. Help your important messages stick by being influential. Your audience is smart, if you treat them as such they will gravitate towards your message.  

The second tip is to think about presentations and public speaking in terms of knowledge transfer. When you address a group of people you are attempting to transfer your knowledge of the core topic(s) being addressed. As such, craft your message and delivery with ‘knowledge transfer’ in the forefront of your mind. Your audience will appreciate the knowledge they gain, plus you will build rapport with them during the transfer process.  

Bottom Line: It is a privilege to speak to groups of people. Make certain your message is influential by transferring knowledge in a manner that is memorable. Treat your audience with the respect they deserve. The most likely result is a mutually beneficial outcome.      

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