Many of you will probably remember making presentations from school, or worse, your time as a 9-5er. They’re awkward, uncomfortable, nerve-wracking experiences. They’re also essential to success. There will come a time, regardless of your business, where you will be faced with the task of presenting yourself and your business to prospective clients. There isn’t really any getting around it. Fortunately, there are ways to make it a little easier on you, and leave a better impression on the people whose money you would like them to part ways with. Some of them I’ve even covered before, so if you’re a faithful reader of this blog, you’ve already got a head start!
Make A Good First Impression: This one is so important, I wrote a whole blog entry about it. You can reference that for a lot of great advice, but a few things to add. Remember, you’re essentially trying to sell yourself to these people, so you want to look, act, and sound your best. Practice what you’re going to say, run through every aspect of your presentation, make sure you have the whole thing down to a science before even walking in the door. The second you walk in, and the second you start speaking, you should be commanding the attention of everyone in the room. Make eye contact, engage people on a one on one level. Just don’t spend too much time on a singular person or the others will feel left out.
Be Creative: Another one I’ve touched on before. The key to a good presentation is to grab the attention of your audience, and hold it. One of the best ways you can do this is by making your presentation as creative as possible. If you’re using something like a Powerpoint presentation or a video, make sure it’s very interesting. Don’t be that guy who walks in with a bunch of boring slides, or worse, one of those giant pads of paper that you have to turn over every minute or so. This is so unbelievably boring. And while you’re speaking, crack a joke or two. Anything a little outside the box to keep people engaged.
Communicate Effectively: Bogging down your presentation with a lot of big words and mumbo jumbo the average person can’t understand is going to lead to them getting bored in a hurry. You must avoid this at all costs. Speak to your prospective clients using clear, concise, easy to understand terminology. If they don’t understand what you’re trying to say, they’re far less likely to come onboard with what you’re doing, which is the exact opposite of what you want to happen. I find it best to speak to people as if they are, well, people. In some cases a more formal approach is necessary, but generally prospective clients will find it a lot more comforting (and easier to connect with you) if you speak to them as exactly what they are. A regular person, just like you or I.
Be Yourself: I touched on this briefly in this article, but there’s one point I want to emphasize. People can spot a fake a mile away (or 1.609 kilometres for our Canadian readers). And if someone is blatantly being fake, well, would you listen to someone clearly faking their way through a presentation? Of course not. So be yourself. Let your own personality, your own natural charm and charisma shine through, and people will respond to that.
Remember, you’re not just trying to sell prospective clients on your business, you’re trying to sell them on yourself too. In a way it’s kind of like one of those job interviews we’re all so very fond of. But in this case, you’re the one in charge. You’re commanding the attention to the room. The power is in your hands. Wield that power well, and you’ll find yourself in a much better position to take your Personal Independent Earnings to the next level.
