Say it with Confidence!

Here’s the situation: You are asked to give a presentation on your product or service.  This is an opportunity to generate interest in your business and reach prospective client(s).  The challenge is that most people get nervous when they think about public speaking and have a fear of not making a great impression.  The good news is that most people want the speaker to be successful and are usually supportive during a presentation.  Here are five tips to help you Say it with Confidence:

1)    Clear Goals: What is the purpose of your presentation?  Are you providing information?  Do you want to set up a future appointment? Do you want to make a sale right on the spot?  When I give a presentation on the Small Business Development Center’s services, my goal is to provide information and engage the audience so they want to speak with me afterwards.  This usually ends with conversations after the presentation and then setting up business appointments.

2)    Organization: Have a clear structure on what you are going to say and for how long.  This doesn’t mean write out your presentation and read from your notes.  Instead, write down key words on an index card and refer to them occasionally.  A presentation is like telling a story where there is a clear beginning, middle, and end.  What if you forget what to say?  See point #3.

3)    Practice: Write out an outline with an introduction, key messages, and conclusion or call to action. Practice saying the presentation, preferably to someone not part of the real presentation.  If that isn’t possible, then record your voice or videotape the presentation for your review.

4)    Know the Audience: Find out as much about the expected audience as possible.  Ask your host who is expected to attend the presentation and what would be of most interest to them. It’s very important to remember: Presentations are for the audience and not you.

5)    Be Yourself: Audiences want a genuine person, not an actor.  You get to be who you are and not a made up person.  If you are naturally a quiet person, then don’t pretend to be this overly friendly and loud person.  Being authentic is much more interesting then someone trying to be a comic.

The Northeastern Small Business Development Center ( www.sbdcsc.org ) is available to assist you with the mentioned suggestions and can help businesses be competitive in a complex marketplace.  Our center provides no cost one-on-one business consulting for Siskiyou, Shasta, and Trinity Counties .  We are hosted by both College of the Siskiyous and Shasta College.  For more tips call our Yreka office (located at 212 Butte St. ) to make an appointment with business consultant Stephanie Hoffman at 842-2470 or email shoffman@sbdcsc.org