Are you ready to be an amazing presenter?

Most of us have been in front of a group of people, about to present, knowing exactly how we were going to begin. Most of us have also seen this same open from the majority of presenters we've seen. The most famous open to a presentation is the one we all know, and it's the same one we should never use.

Do NOT ever start your presentation by saying "Hello, my name is ______." When you do, you give up the biggest opportunity to do something memorable for your audience. Everybody is waiting for your first words.

Instead, ask someone to introduce you before you begin. It can be anyone. That can't happen? Then put your name on a slide that is displaying as you come on stage. Or, take the biggest risk of all, and try telling everyone your name at the end. If you open your presentation well they'll forget they cared about your name, which is fine for now.

This "nameless open" is but one example of how to force yourself to create an impactful opening to your next presentation.?It will make you choose a way to engage your audience, right in your first thirty seconds with them.

How you choose to open creatively and unexpectedly is up to you. Everything is better than "Hello my name is _____."

There is a good chance you've sat through dozens, if not hundreds, of group and stage presentations. Let's be honest, most of them were boring and un-engaging. By taking a few small risks, you can make sure you're not boring and un-engaging. If a few small risks can leave a positive lasting impact on your audience, everyone wins.

THE SLIDE DECK IS NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE PRESENTATION, YOU ARE.

Have you ever sat through a presentation where the presenter referred to slides that had lots of words and sentences on them? This is just plain awful.

Everyone in the room should be focused on what you say, every time you speak. The slide's ONLY reason for existence is to support what you say. It should not exist unless it strengthens what you say with engaging graphics or a few words.

Human beings are incapable of listening and reading at the same time. It can't be done. Every time you display a slide containing words, you lose the audience to the slide for a few moments as they read your slide. If you put up a slide with more than ten words, you're making a brain-breaking mess, because the audience may go back and forth between you and your slide as long as it's being displayed. Did you ever wonder why some presentations literally put people to sleep? It's because trying to listen and read at the same time is impossible, and when we do, it exhausts our brains.

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When it's dark at night, if you are indoors and the lights unexpectedly go out your senses are immediately stimulated. You suddenly pay extra attention to all sounds and any sights you might be able to see. You may even become excited and perhaps a little scared.

As a presenter, we can give our audience a small taste of this feeling, but in a small way that benefits our presentation. We can cause our own mini-blackout. No, we won't be killing the lights during our presentation (you should actually always leave the lights ON during your presentation, by the way).

After you close out a slide or concept, and you're ready to present what you think is the most important part of your presentation, take a long pause, then click your?remote controller blackout function.* Once the screen goes black (don't look at it, know its happening and act like you knew it), everyone's eyes and attention will be ON YOU. This delivers amazing power to you. While looking at your audience, pause for a moment, then say "What I tell you next is the most important thing in this entire presentation." Because everyone will have been subconsciously stimulated by the "blackout," their minds will be in a most receptive mode to hear you. What you say next will be very, very memorable. Only after you are done speaking should you turn the slides back on.

Congratulations, you just learned magic.

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It's OK to use a few words (and numbers) on slides to support what you are saying. However, if you do, consider using the?Tell then Show technique. Not show and tell, but TELL THEN SHOW.

In the Tell then Show technique, we make our point or argument or BEFORE we show the supporting slide on screen. Put simply, we talk about the slide that is to come before we display it. This accomplishes two things:

1. It ensures that people are listening to you, since they've already processed the slide currently showing. Now they are looking at you, listening, "waiting" for the next slide - so tell them about what's to come, thereby "training" their brains to anticipate your visuals.
2. Telling a story or providing an anecdote, when followed by visual proof, is very powerful. Without going into detail about the power of visual stimulus, just know that seeing something acts as validation or proof of what was just said. When you can tell someone a story then "prove" it's truth with a visual, you become a genius. It's both bizarre and exciting to use this technique on an audience.

Understanding how the human brain operate is fascinating, and you'll now be using this knowledge to benefit you and your audience. Becoming a more successful presenter (and just a better communicator in general) is one of those benefits.

ONLY SORRY PRESENTERS SAY "I'M SORRY"

When we hurt or harm others, it is both appropriate and kind to apologize. Saying sorry is an important statement, especially when we are with those we care deeply about.

Rarely do presenters do anything that would hurt or harm their audience, but many choose to apologize anyway.

Long ago, I worked with an amazing leader named Dan. After about our third one-on-one meeting, Dan said something to me I've never forgotten. After I apologized for something small I had missed in one of his requests, he said "You don't have to apologize so much. You are important, and your time is important. Apologize when you've made a real mistake." He was right, I was over-apologizing and making myself seem weak, unimportant and perhaps even un-committed to actually getting the work done. Thanks, Dan, for this useful life lesson.

In the past 30 years of watching hundreds of presenters, I've heard far too many apologize for mistakes they didn't make. Even worse, I've seen dozens apologize for something I hadn't even noticed they did or affected.

Apologizing from the stage can be very risky to your credibility. Unless you've done something egregious, skip the apologies. People don't expect it, nor will they penalize you for not saying it. Worse yet, when you apologize too much, especially for things we don't notice or don't think are your fault, you discredit yourself. You seem weak and not committed to doing a great job for your audience.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't highlight the mountain top of horrific apologies. It's apologizing for something you could have controlled, but didn't. The best example of this is apologizing for displaying a slide with a graph and words that are too small for your audience to read. NEVER apologize for this,?just don't show the slide. Better yet, MAKE A NEW SLIDE or force your foolish marketing team to fix the awful slide they gave you.

YOUR AUDIENCE THINKS YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THEM

I've tried to provide some of the easiest to implement techniques that deliver the biggest impact. Regardless of how easy they are to implement, they will require some work and practice by you.

You must put in the work to get better. Otherwise, your message to the audience says this:

I don't care enough about you to bring you my best effort.

It doesn't require much for you to care more about your audience. They deserve it, and you deserve the feeling and results that come from caring and preparing.

ML

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***IF YOU'VE MADE IT THIS FAR, YOU MUST LIKE WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED. This is a reprint from OneLuckyMinute.com newsletter. Please subscribe for more content like this.

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*Most slide remote controllers have a blackout button on them. You've likely never used it or even knew what it was for. Now you do. If you don't have a remote controller with blackout feature, simply insert a blank black slide into your presentation. When you click forward and display it, pause and then make your powerful statement.