Perfect Presentation Coaching

How do you present your message?

The days of having to present directly to people in the same room are rapidly disappearing.

Yes, there will always be meetings that you have to sit in and listen to someone.

BUT.

Notice that its all capitalized?

Its that way on purpose.

Why? Because there are so many ways to get your message heard that “one on one” meetings are no longer the be all end all of presenting.

Here’s a quick rundown. This is far from being a comprehensive listing, but it does hit some large players.

Presentation Software: In addition to the big boys; Powerpoint and Keynote, there are some smaller guys competing for your eyeballs. One in particular that I really like is Prezi. Prezi takes the metaphor of the slide and tosses it in the trash in favor of a completely new way of constructing and using presentations. Take a look at http://prezi.com

Online Presenting Tools: Another feature of Prezi is that it has an online version you can use from any computer with an internet connection. In addition to Prezi, you can also take advantage of applications that let you create your presentation completely online, Google has one, and a really nice one can be found at SlideShare.com. If you are tired of using Powerpoint, give one of these a try.

Ok, so you’ve created your presentation, what now? If you want it to have an effect you have to get people to point their eyes at it. How to do that? Easy, use the tools that we all have available to us.
* Email: Send it to your coworkers for feedback and exposure.
* Blog: Do you have a blog? No? You should. Go make one, its easy and free!
* Social Media: This, more than anything else is changing the way people get some recognition for their work. Facebook and Twitter are two big players here. Here’s an example of how powerful these two social media sites are. You are receiving this newsletter because you signed up for it. After I send this to you I will post it online and that site will send a message to my Facebook and Twitter accounts. Why is that important? Because it sends a notice to close to 1100 people who might not otherwise hear about this newsletter.

Online tools are amazingly powerful. Think about it. I write this once, send it to you, post it online and it will be there forever. It will be there getting my message to people years after I have forgotten that I even wrote it!

Now why am I talking about something that I am sure is completely obvious to some. For a simple reason, really. Because I think it is important for you and your success to take advantage of every single tool you can.

So if you don’t tweet, or facebook, or blog, or (Fill in online tool here) I have one simple question for you.

Why not?

Go out there and spread your message!

As you know I recently published an e-book: Presentations That S.U.C.K. I am offering this e-book for sale for the amazing low price of just $1.99. If you have not yet purchased your copy go do it now.

Here’s a handy link: http://tinyurl.combuypresentationsthatsuck

Anyway, that is not the point of this. The point is the funny thing that happened after I published it and what I learned (and what I hope you can learn) from the experience.

The day after I published I received an email that read: “Your document, Presentations That S.U.C.K., has been purchased for $1.99.”

Elation.

Excitement.

I told all of my friends. I was officially a published and purchased author!

A couple of nights later I was at dinner with my parents and was talking with my Dad.

“Dad, did you get the email I sent about my e-book?”

He says back to me – you can probably see it coming – “Yeah, I bought one.”

Elation – gone.

Excitement – seriously diminished.

Yes, it turns out that the one e-book I had sold was to my Dad.

All of my friends had a good laugh and, quite honestly, I think its pretty funny also.

So what did I learn from this?

I learned that success can be defined in many ways.

Success: Making a sale.

Success: Completing and offering for sale a product of your own creation.

Success: Making a sale – even to your own father.

Now you may be asking why I still call that a success.

Here’s why. I still sold something. Yeah, it was to my Dad but I didn’t know that until he told me. The fact that it was my him that purchased my e-book doesn’t change the fact that it was still a sale!

I choose to look at the positive of this funny situation. I made a sale!

So when life throws you a curve ball, even a funny one, use it to look for something you can learn or profit from.

Oh, yeah go buy your copy of Presentations That S.U.C.K. I am quite proud of it and I believe it can help you make any presentation you have to do better.

Here’s that link again: http://tinyurl.combuypresentationsthatsuck

Have you ever made a mistake?

Done something you shouldn’t have?

Said something you shouldn’t have?

Or

Not done something you should have?

Not said something when you should have?

I know I have.

And you know what?

As bad as it seemed at the time, and no matter how bad it looked, I made it through.

You can to.

So what is the secret, magic formula?

There isn’t a secret, although there is something.

What is this thing?

It’s easy.

Ready? Here it comes.

Whenever you make a mistake or mess up, learn from it!

That’s right, the secret to moving forward in life and finding your success is to simply learn from your mistakes.

Does this guarantee automatic success?

No, but it will help you avoid those situations in the future, which will lead to more success.

So next time you make a mistake, don’t beat yourself up over it. Use it as a learning opportunity and use the lesson it offers to improve yourself.