The Facts Don't Speak for Themselves
How to Give a Persuasive Technical
Presentation
Overview
Technical experts
— engineers, scientists, researchers, programmers,
analysts, and the like
— provide much of the intellectual capital that
drives thriving organizations these days.
And yet all too frequently they are unable
to communicate what they know in a way that other people can understand and use.
Technical experts often act as if their
presentations have to contain as much information and detail as possible,
delivered in the flattest, just-the-facts-ma'am sort of way, using
PowerPoint slides that make people's eyes glaze over. Then they are often
frustrated by the lack of response they get from their audiences. (Their
audiences are even more frustrated.)
It doesn't have to be that way. With a new
understanding of the nature of a technical presentation and a new set of
practical strategies, technical experts can speak in a way that wins other
people's interest, understanding, and cooperation.
Program Objectives
This speech is designed for technical experts who want to
present themselves and their ideas in a way that wins an audience's
understanding and cooperation.
A successful technical presentation is...
-
Clear
If you confuse an audience, they will never accept your ideas, adopt
your proposal, or support you initiative. The first requirement of any
presentation is to make sure that you audience understand what you're
talking about.
-
Relevant
Audiences have to understand right from the
start how your material affects them. If they don't
know how it will help them solve a problem, achieve
a goal, or satisfy a need that's important to them,
they'll stop listening.
-
Useful
Audiences are already overwhelmed with too much
information. What they need is a way of putting it
to use. They are always asking what am I going to
do with this?
Successful technical presenters know how to...
-
Use PowerPoint to their advantage
PowerPoint is a tool, an aid, and nothing more. It is not the
presentation, not the script, not the most important element
of a presentation.
-
Create a strategy for every presentation.
Answer this question: what do you want the audience to do with your
material? Then ask what they need to know and feel in order to do it.
Finally (and most importantly), ask why would they want to do what you want
them to do.
-
Invest themselves in their presentations.
Technical experts have been taught to write in an impersonal way, using
the passive voice and avoiding any personal investment. Which is exactly the
way not to speak. A presentation is about some disembodied
information that anyone could give. A presentation begins with a person
— you
— talking about something that matters to you.
"Thanks to Chris, I'm able to
deliver professional briefings — to three- and four-star
generals, Members of Congress, and leaders of foreign armed
forces — in a manner that not only gets my message across
but also keeps the listener's attention."
Matt McCarthy
Fr. Lewis Mission Support Training Facility
Program Highlights
-
Facts don't speak for themselves.
Facts don't do anything by themselves. You
have to gather or generate the facts, assess them,
interpret them, and present them in a clear and
meaningful way. You speak for the facts.
-
Knowledge isn't power.
What you know doesn't do anyone any good until you
share it. Knowledge isn't power
— the ability to communicate it in a way that
other people can understand and use is power.
-
The best ideas don't always win out.
Just because your idea (proposal, product, process,
approach, service, etc.) is the best one being
considered doesn't mean it will win approval. (Bad ideas
often beat out good one.) The best ideas only win out
if they are presented persuasively.
Program Format
-
Keynote Speech (45 Minutes to 1 Hour) covers these topics, giving illustrations and how-tos.
-
Workshop (Half to Full Day) goes into each topic in more depth and coaches participants through exercises designed to increase their “influence factor.”
Questions?
For more information about how this
presentation might benefit your organization, please call us
(toll free) at 866-268-3084 or email
us.
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