Presenting Professionally
Five different scenarios are role-played in this DVD, showing people in organisations presenting themselves and information in a variety of different contexts.
At work we need to present ourselves in a way which increases our ability to influence others, and enhances our credibility. People often do not appreciate the way their behaviour may be interpreted by others. Watching these scenarios can help people to see the impact that they may be having when they present at meetings, either with their own team or with clients, or when they are at networking events with other business people.
We created this DVD in response to questions we are asked on courses and in the coaching room:
• I hate going to networking events, what am I supposed to say to people I’ve never met?
• When can I give people my business card at an event? And how do I do it?
• How can I make my board presentation more interesting?
• Should I use more graphics in my presentation?
• How should I talk to clients when I’m trying to sell them something?
• Does what I wear really matter?
If you are a trainer or coach, and you’d like to visually demonstrate concepts for presenting yourself professionally, this DVD is for you.
Overview & Key Learning Points
Board Room Presentation
Richard is in charge of organising the office move for his company, and he has to go to the Board Meeting to report on progress. In the first scene he is disorganised and makes a bad impression on his boss and his colleagues, people are frustrated and Richard gets even more flustered.
In the second scene we see Richard prepared, calm, and answering questions easily. His body language and verbal interactions are more measured and professional, greatly improving his credibility with everyone at the meeting.
Key Learning Points
• Think about how you look
• Be prepared, including paperwork
• Think about the audience’s agenda
• Be concise and clear
• Offer to give further explanations
Client Presentation
Miranda is going to see some potential customers to try to sell them some training courses, which her company designs and delivers. In the first meeting she arrives late, appears flighty and disorganised, makes assumptions and judgements about the prospective client’s business, and is definitely unprofessional in her approach. You certainly would not buy training from this woman!
In the second scene Miranda asks open questions, listens attentively and is clearly prepared for the meeting.
Key Learning Points
• Dress appropriately
• Greet with handshake
• Ask open questions
• Check others’ level of understanding
• Have prepared materials
• Be aware of what you need to know
Networking Host
Kathy is hosting a networking event. She ticks people off a list as they arrive in a very officious and unwelcoming way. She makes one person feel very uncomfortable by telling them “You’re not on my list!”
In the second scene Kathy welcomes people and has clearly prepared, by knowing people’s names and where they are from. She introduces people and helps them to get involved in conversations with other guests.
Key Learning Points
• Welcome people warmly and smile
• Be aware of people’s names
• Make introductions
• Include information to help start conversations
Networking Guest
Miranda is a guest at a networking event. She arrives with an attitude of ‘I don’t want to be here’ and it shows. She only wants to talk to someone she already knows and actively discourages her friend from introducing her.
In the second scene, Miranda takes the lead and introduces herself to others at the event, in the process she makes some new contacts thus expanding her network.
Key Learning Points
• Be prepared to introduce yourself
• Make introductions for others
• Have business cards and ask for others
• Ask people questions about themselves
• Ask about their business
Stand-up Presentation
Kathy has to present the sales figures at the team meeting. She has been criticised for her boring presentation, so she uses visual aids to try to make it more interesting. She uses irrelevant and very hard to interpret graphics, and reads directly from the slides with her back to the audience most of the time. She has spelling errors and too much text on her slides and also introduces animations into the presentation, which are distracting and unnecessary.
In the ‘Getting it Right’ scene, Kathy engages her audience by asking questions and has a much clearer, and well received, presentation.
Key Learning Points
• Make eye contact with audience
• Relevant, easy to read slides
• Do not just read from the slides
• Engage your audience using questions
• Use confident body language
Presenting Professionaly
Training DVD
£150 plus VAT
How we use the ‘Presenting Professionally’ DVD
In our training courses we use the DVD as part of a session to help people to understand and identify the more common mistakes people make when making presentations, or presenting themselves in a work situation. We ask participants to identify their own areas for improvement and to practice, and get feedback.
• First we play the ‘getting it wrong’ scene from a relevant scenario.
• We ask course participants to identify ten things the presenter gets wrong during the short role-play.
• We lead a discussion about whether these are common mistakes, asking if anyone has examples of similar experiences they have had in the workplace, or indeed, if they are guilty of these themselves.
• Participants can then be asked to role-play a similar scene, but this time trying to improve the situation. (An alternative to role play is to ask them to list the key changes they would make and how they would make them.)
• The final scene or scenes can then be played and lessons are drawn from the DVD by discussion.
Remember the role plays are not perfect, they represent real life. Ask the participants what they think, and then you may want to make comments on other options or approaches the presenter has open to him or her, in order to present professionally in the situation shown.
On most courses we select one or two scenarios which we think are most suitable for that business, or that people have identified as problems they have faced before. You may, of course, just want to show the more positive examples on the DVD, and you may choose to use the bullet points on the slides following the scenarios to lead further discussions.