Presentation Tips

How to Use Storytelling in Presentations

June 30, 2020 by Erick Saputra Leave a Comment

Have you ever listened to a presenter who subtly inserted a story or narration into his presentation, so that you barely realize that he was actually trying to make the audiences more ease to understand his ideas or absorb the information he was conveying?

Storytelling is the most effective way of presentation. It is an old and powerful form of communication to translate ideas and move people to action.

Humans are designed for storytelling. It is confirmed by a research conducted by a neurologists from Princeton University, New Jersey, United States, Uri Hasson. Hasson investigated the effects of storytelling on the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Together with his team, he scanned the brain activities of his research participants as they listened to a storyteller. The brain activity of the listeners and the storyteller is synchronized and Hasson finds this activity was in harmony.

In presentations, this harmony is certainly beneficial because the audience will more easily understand your presentation material when there is synchronization. Furthermore, you can incorporate your ideas and move the audience to make decisions or do things based on those ideas.

The human brain has needs for stories or narratives, like schemes, scripts, cognitive maps, mental models, or metaphors. So, take advantage of these things in the presentation. In many ways, we use stories as a way to think and understand the world around us.

Choosing to right story

It may sounds easy, but using stories in presentations has several rules.

1. Touch your audience emotions

The main purpose of using stories in presentations is to provide an emotional experience to the audience. Great communicators say the most effective and efficient way to provide this experience is through the use of metaphors or analogies.

Humans see and remember things based on how they correspond to something else. Metaphors help the brain in this activity. Through metaphors, presenters can explain difficult concepts through association with something that more familiar. Metaphorical thinking can also be used to help solve problems.

2. Put stories in context

When you decide to use story in a presentation, make sure the story fits the context of it. Be careful in choosing a story because a forced story will have the opposite effect.

The wrong story will cut your relationship off with the audience and make it difficult for them to understand your direction or purpose in the presentation.

3. Relevance

Your stories must be able to connect with audiences’ experience and interest. Every story must have at least one point that they want to hear and can be understood. You want to use stories to put information into perspective, not to replace it.

One other thing to be considered is you also have to keep your story short and leave unnecessary details. This step is important to make your story relevant and clear in order to support the information in the presentation.

4. Visualizing

Act as if you are drawing a picture of your idea to make you easier to think of a story. Make one that is easily visualized: where something happens in a certain time and place, played by characters who are likely to have relevance to your audience, and so on.

5. Keep it simple

No need to overdo or use too many stories (remember the importance of keeping the story short and leaving the unnecessary details as mentioned above) in your presentation. Also, make sure you will feel comfortable telling the story. If you think you won’t get comfy with it, your audience can sense it and this will have a negative impact on them.

6. Personal story

If possible, put your own story in presentation. Stories that have a personal touch will be naturally embedded in the minds of the audience and last long enough. Your audience will also be more easily connected to you.

Personal stories also make it easier for you to interweave stories. You will more easily choose how you tell the story, which details you will tell, or decide which elements will most strongly touch the audience’s emotions.

Steve Jobs’ storytelling structure

World’s leading speakers use storytelling in their presentations, like Steve Jobs, for instance. The founder of Apple Computer is always able to sweep and amaze his audience in every presentation of Apple’s product launches. Not only because of the product sophistication, but also because of the strength of his story.

Jobs also includes elements or personal experiences in his stories, such as when he developed and launched an iPod product.

You can use Steve Jobs’ presentation structure as your reference because it is very simple. Jobs did not use complex structures to create excitement. Almost all of Jobs presentations follow a structure like this:

1. Here is what I am going to tell you

2. Here is what I promised to tell you

3. Here is what I just told you

4. And because I am a nice guy, here one more thing

The first three parts of the structure use “ad nauseam” or repeatedly until the audience memorizes that sequence. The last part is different. Though the audience knows Jobs always has “one more thing” to add to the end of the presentation, they never knew what this “one more thing” would be like.

This kind of structure give tension like suspense movies. If we look closely, the way the power of storytelling works in presentation is indeed the same as what your favorite films or books do.

Stories trigger chemical, physical, and emotional responses to the audience. The brain releases oxytocin which motivates cooperation by increasing empathy. That’s why stories will make it easier for the audience to accept and apply new ideas and move based on those ideas.

Storytelling skills in presentations are something you must have. Storytelling is still the most powerful way to get and hold audience attention, to the point of changing their belief in an idea. (*)

How to Avoid Boredom in Delivering Same Topic Presentation Frequently?

February 19, 2020 by Muhammad Noer Leave a Comment

Being a speaker for the same topic so frequently or routinely and over a long period of time will certainly give you a sense of saturation. This boredom can have an impact on the way you deliver your presentation to audience.

That same topic will also resonate differently to audiences who happen to have heard you deliver the topic before. For example, they burst out laughing at your jokes about your topic before, but this time they might just smile.

Well, then how to keep your presentation interesting, even though you are bored. How do you anticipate the same people who have heard your presentation among an audience?

The following are some strategies that can be put into practice to keep your presentation effective.

1. Adjust the “module” of the presentation topic

This term only exists in our mental notes as speakers. Instead of as a whole, try to view the parts of our presentation as a collection of modules.

You can turn your presentations to suit the needs of the audience and ourselves. Make a number of module variations. By changing modules like this, you avoid the boredom of the material itself, likewise with the audience.

Don’t forget to train the entire module variation, so that you can immediately overhaul the parts of the presentation as needed.

2. Throw away all of your notes

This is the benefit to always practice. When you deliver the same topic quite often, you may have memorized everything by heart, but you may also need cue cards.

But, forget those cards or any kind of notes. Memorize the variations, as stated in earlier point. You are flexible in using them. By removing your focus from any notes, you will be free to interact with the audience. You will also be free to improvise and prevent yourself from the regularity of presentations.

Many speakers are reluctant to interact or engage to their audiences because of the fear of losing control, although there are many advantages to making the audience part of the presentation.

To avoid this situation, just ask variety of questions or give instructions to your audience.

3. Utilizing multimedia in “modules”

We know that the use of pictures, music, or videos gives extraordinary impacts in building effective presentations. Now, by breaking your presentation into modules, you can use up-to-date or better pictures, song pieces, or videos to suit the conditions or needs of the audience.

4. Getting to know your audience

This applies to any presentation, whether it’s a first one or for the umpteenth hundred times. The difference is, when you use this strategy in giving a routine presentation of the same topic, you will be more helped in matching modules that can be changed earlier.

Find out about relevant demographic, psychographic, age, gender, etc, so you can choose the module that best fits the audience’s life situation. This information can be obtained from the event organizer or committee.

For example, one time you have to deliver a presentation on the topic of career planning and this time the audience are managers. So, you can take an example of a career journey from prominent company leaders that they might recognize.

Another time, you have to talk about the same topic, with different audience. They are employees who started their careers from general staff positions. Then you have to replace the example with people who are in similar conditions and situations with them.

Similarity will attract the interest of the audience.

5. Adjust to the purpose of the presentation

The same presentation can be used for different purposes. Again, it is important to divide your presentation into modules. For example, you are a regular speaker on business topics. You can change some modules that are more suitable for those who are just starting a small and medium business.

On another occasion, you are asked to speak in front of small and medium entrepreneurs who want to improve their business by using latest technologies. All you have to do is modify an existing presentations (the modules or examples).

When you are considered as an expert in a particular field, the possibility to give the same topic many times in a presentation is very large. To that end, be creative in modifying your presentation, so that it is more suitable to audiences with different backgrounds, and prevents you as a speaker from being bored. (*)

Why Smiling is Good for You When Giving Presentation?

November 13, 2019 by Muhammad Noer Leave a Comment

Some of you might say, “Standing in front of audience without getting cold feet sometimes is already hard, let alone smiling.”

Well, the truth is smiling can help you reduce stress and shake off all your fears while talking in front of people, such as in a presentation.

A smile has its own strength. To your audience, a smile expresses warmth. For yourself, it gives a strong impression on how you see the world.

When you smile, you change the effect of the reaction on your body. The body releases dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins, the hormones that responsible for calmness and pleasure. Aren’t these conditions you really need to overcome your fears and stage fright?

When giving a presentation, your smile is an important part of the instruments that exist in your body. Smiles can modulate your voice, thus enabling you to get more engaged to your audience.

Our body is a tool, just like a musical instrument. The design is important. Our mouth is the bell of the instrument, while smile determines its shape. When you change the shape of the bell, it also changes your voice.

When you smile, you can feel it changes the atmosphere, from your stage to the entire room.

There are so many reasons why you better smile when giving presentation. The release of the happy hormones was just one of the them.

It makes you look cool and credible

People say, the less emotion you how, the more you look cool and credible. Apparently, not really. The Journal of Consumer Research in 2018 reveals the opposite. Looking serious or credible has nothing to do with smiling.

Researchers found that public speakers who smile look cooler than less expressive ones. In addition, unable to smile risks the absence of connection with the audience. And we all know that connectedness is needed in effective communication.

It helps you to build connection with audience

This point is related to the previous reason. Giving a presentation is a form of communication that based on relationships. Presenters need to smile to help them develop connections with the audience.

People tend to mimic face expression their interlocutors. The mimicry often occur unconsciously. Basically, by mimicking, we want to express warmth and build connection.

So, when you stand in front audience and smile at them, there’s a big chance they will smile back at you unconsciously. This is the beginning of the formation of connections in the subconscious.

It helps your mind stay calm and makes your body relax

When you see the audience smile back at you, you can also feel the effect. You will be calmer, more relaxed, and more confident. It is triggered by the release of the hormones, like serotonin and dopamine in the brain.

Dopamine increases feelings of happiness, while serotonin tries to reduce stress. When you smile, your brain produces chemicals that tell you if you enjoy this activity (presentation, public speaking). It is telling you, “You are fine.”

These hormones relax your body. Smiling reduces the body’s response to stressful changes.

Research that has been done involves the act of biting chopsticks in the mouth, which gives a similar shape to a smile, giving the effect to heart rate. The beating is lower, so less stress occurs.

These findings suggest that smiling during brief stress can help reduce the body’s stress response.

It helps you to have longer life span

Well, this might be the long-term reason, but if you think your life is stressful since you have to give presentation a little bit too often, and stress leads to shorten age, therefore you better start to practice this smile.

In conclusion, smiling is a simple way to make giving presentation or public speaking less stressful, while helping you connect with your audience.

One thing that also important to keep in mind is public speaking is an industry of service. As speakers, we must find ways to form ourselves to become instruments of presentation, that will get the strongest response from our audience. Who would have think that the strongest instrument was a smile?(*)

Have to Give Online Presentation? Here are the Tips

February 20, 2019 by Muhammad Noer 1 Comment

This is the era of digital transformation and you still have no clue how to deliver online presentation? Oh-oh. What if next week you have to manage a large project and it requires support from many people, but they are spread in cities or places far away from your workplace?

The easiest way to engage with this kind of working team is through online presentation or online meeting using digital applications or software. Online presentations are very effective media to make everyone from different spot can work together collaboratively without leaving their places.

In this article, we are not going to give you the step by step on how to make an online presentation from scratch, but more on how to make it effective, efficient, and correct. Well, here we go.

1. Choose the right device

Using the right tool to provide online presentations is the most important thing of all. Make sure your team has installed online meeting software to their devices, such as GoToMeeting, join.me, and so on. These software allow you to monitor who is online and communicate about the same points. Send meeting notifications via e-mail. You should be able to make sure everyone engaged with your presentation receives an e-mail and confirms their presence.

2. Be on time

Make sure that each team member is present in the online meeting room at scheduled time. It is pretty irritated if we can’t start the presentation just because one or two people are late. To make it easier for you and your team, set a calendar along with an alarm that can be sent via e-mail as a reminder. For team members who really can’t attend the online meeting, let them see the meeting video record every time they have time. Online meeting software usually includes this recorder feature.

3. Simple

Simplicity is not only applies to offline presentations. Online presentations are also better delivered through simple slides. Too much text will confuse and going to be difficult for your team members to read. They also won’t remember long sentence or definition. Make simple headlines, with three or four points as explanation or supporter. The fewer, the better.

4. Clear and efficient

Just do a short online presentation. At the very least, make one slide to represent three or four materials. Limit your presentation duration 10 minutes at the most. If there is a lot of material that you want to convey, divide them into several parts during the meeting. It’s much better than to stuff your team member with so many information at one time.

5. Practice, practice, and practice

Everyone knew practice makes perfect. Make sure you deliver an online presentation with the right order and good articulation, also with normal speech speed. Your voice must be heard clearly by each member of the team through the device. After the presentation, you can review your online presentation through the video recorder feature.

6. Be visual

Images represent many words. Therefore, rather than lengthy with sentences, it is better to choose images, photos, or short videos that represent what you want to convey in the presentation. If not everyone can access the video, give them the URL, so they can download it whenever they have time.

7. Entertaining

Yes, business meeting is a serious situation, but working should be fun too sometimes, right? A business presentation certainly contains a lot of factual and informative things. It is possible for your team members to feel bored quickly, especially when they have to follow the presentation through their device screens. So, spread a little sprinkle to your presentation. Stories or humor are good stuff. Your team members will tend to listen to you carefully. Plus, they will remember more of what you said to them.

8. Fair and strict moderation

Though it’s online meeting, make it possible for team members to ask questions and chat with you or other team members after the presentation. There are online meeting software feature that allowed moderator to manage conversation and Q & A session, to let one team member talk, while others can only listen (muted), because it will sound annoying, if one speaks and the other immediately responds. Set the time that will be used for the Q & A session and discussion.

9. Planning a follow up

Write down points of follow-up that you will take from online meeting. The you can add up with other points came up from the meeting. This preparation of follow-up points is important to cut down meeting time. It will also help you and team member to get conclusions and follow-up plans.

10. Finish it on time

Finish it on time. If it starts on time, then you have to end your presentation on time, too. Your team members are busy people and they may also have appointments or other activities. Respect their time and tell them they can always be connected to you to submit questions that have not yet been reviewed in your online presentation or if they would like to gain more information.

Wow, there are a lot of points! But actually these preparation is similar as the one you do for an offline presentation. The difference is probably only in the use of software and time efficiency. Have a practice and good luck with your online presentation. (*)

Anaphora: World figures’ outstanding Presentation Technique

July 11, 2018 by Muhammad Noer Leave a Comment

Some world figures are widely known for their outstanding presentation act. For instance we can see some figures such as the late Steve Jobs, Al Gore or Barrack Obama. Each of them seems to have a specific and unique style, but when we try to observe them closer there is something emerging. All of them were united by a single exceptional technique, anaphora.

Anaphora is a Greek word for a repetition of a similar phrase or word at a beginning of a sequential sentence.

The world figures commonly use Anaphora as a technique to deliver a motivational or inspirational speech.

They bring into play the technique with the aim of persuade and encourage their audiences to remark upon the presentation.

A presentation with anaphora technique is widely confirmed as an effective method to inspire audiences. The well known world figures are prove of the technique’s effectiveness.

Undoubtedly their reputation was one of the reason of why many people were astonished by their presentation or speech. Nevertheless, a good result will not appear when they deliver the speech in a bad and uninteresting way.

By these following examples we can see how anaphora applied as the world figure presentation’s technique.

1. Barrack Obama

In his 2008 Berlin speech, Barrack Obama addressed, Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words ‘never again’ in Darfur? Wiil we reject torture and stand out for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands? This is our time.

In the speech Obama use anaphora when he replicated ‘will we.’

2. Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill was a book author before he became prime minister of Great Britain on the era of world war II. In the following speech we will look at Winston Churchill oration before the House of Common June 4, 1940.

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight with growing strength in the air, we shall never surrender.

In this speech we learn that Winston Churchill constantly repeat phrase “We shall”.

3. Martin Luther King, Jr

Marthin Luther King, Jr was a central figure for African-Amrican equality movement. He was well known with his phenomenal speech I Have a Dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the the true meaning of its creed. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of the former slaves owner will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judge by the color of their skin but by content of their character.

You can see that King empower the phrase I have a dream to astound the audience.

Those three examples show us that the world figures in fact have several points they demand to deliver. They did it by constantly repeat a similar phrase. Draw on a specific phrase as their anaphora’s instrument they lead their audiences to focus on their demanded points.

The certain repetition conducts the audiences to go behind and convicted to the orator.

The anaphora technique was already confirmed as a constructive technique in order to inspire many people. However you have to remember that there are several detail to be pointed out in your presentation:

· Do not overuse

When you decide to use a repetitive to you have to carefully consider when you do it. You don’t want your presentation is just a bunch of meaningless repetition. When you overuse such repetition it will be a boring presentation.

· Use a simple and important phrase

Anaphore will be powerfull when you find a short and simple phrase. A long and complicated phrase will be uneasy to remembered.

· Point out a specific tone

A repetitive phrase will sound more familiar when you use a specific intonation each time you said it. The intonation compose a stimulation to the audience to feel a special message behind a repetitive phrase. Once you bring

master the intonation you have to manage your rhytm. Take a short pause before repeat the phrase. This way will create a wonderful anticipation to the audience.

You can learn from the wold’s figures to become an outstanding presenter or orator. Anaphora for sure, is just one of many presentation techniques, there are still many technique to learn.

Beside it you can try to use a short story or a joke to make an interesting presention for your audience.