Kapable’s Post

The hard truth is that even the most beautifully designed presentation can fall flat if it doesn't drive action. With big goals like swaying board members, investors, or clients, you need to ensure your message is not only memorable but also reflects your expertise and vision. Discover techniques and proven frameworks in our blog to elevate your presentation skills and achieve impactful outcomes.

There is so much to know and learn when it comes to preparing and giving an effective presentation. But there are some aspects of presenting that are absolutely essential to take into account if you want to present confidently and smoothly. In this article I share six of my favourite ‘presentation truths’. https://lnkd.in/dhcn-WQX

“What if you could follow 4 simple steps so that you can captivate any audience and achieve your goals seamlessly. For example, envision acing every presentation or proposal with confidence. And that’s not all… I’m not selling anything, yet I have your attention. In this great HBR article you can learn how to build a simple yet effective pitch in 4 easy steps ”

I found this article interesting due to the advice given is meant for those who are already familiar with presenting. I feel most people in academic or business settings understand the basic components of what makes for a good presentation just based off repeating the presenting process in school and work. Despite this, I feel there is not many instances where these people are given further advice on how to improve. This list allows readers those extra details that will make their presentations more effective, helping the speaker grow in success. https://lnkd.in/gZKs7tFh

"It's a story, not a timeline." "Oh. OH." That was an interaction I had earlier this week in a presentation coaching session with a big influencer here on LI. This person is very confident and effective when they're not working from a script, sharing knowledge about their craft. But now it was time for them to tell their own personal story, and that meant writing a script and delivering it. So of course (because brains 🧠) they ended up treating it completely differently from the nearly 200 YouTube videos they've created before. Instead of letting their natural charm and ease flow through, this extremely experienced communicator ended up reading me their script, one section after another, with nary a break, pause, or any hint of tonal inflection. The content was great, but the delivery turned it from a compelling, moving personal story into a rote recitation of a chronology of events. Factual? Yes. Impactful? Not yet. In one 90-minute session, I helped them move from narrator to storyteller (with "performer" on the horizon!) so that their personal story will have the weight and impact on their audience that it deserves. This person went on to tell me “I am blown away… your feedback was so good, and it was perfectly delivered with confidence and sensitivity.” That's what I do: I help people make sure their presentations and speeches are as good as they are. If you want your presentations to be as good as you are, I have a couple slots left in my upcoming group cohort. You'll get personalized feedback, tools and techniques to help you present with confidence, and lots of practice. You'll also have fun! Register here: https://lnkd.in/eRKUKJmi

When it's "Make Or Break" time... Will your message come through? The stakes are high for... > Investor pitches > Product launches > Executive presentations Being clear is the ultimate power move. Because people feel smart when they understand. And YOU made them understand. Common errors to avoid... JARGON > It does NOT elevate the message > It adds barriers (especially acronyms) > SME = subject matter expert AND small and midsized enterprises (which is also jargon for "small business") HYPERBOLE > "Exciting" words are empty and false > Like slapping on an exclamation point! > Don't tell us to be excited; excite us MY, OUR, WE > Talking about you instead of them > Use the FIND function to reframe the message from the audience point of view A famous quote from Blaise Pascal says... "I apologize for writing such a long letter. I didn't have time to write a short one." Writing a clear message takes more effort than writing one filled with generic language.

On a scale of 1-10, how much do you prepare before giving a presentation or speech? Let's say 1 is minimal preparation, maybe jotting down a topic or some notes, and 10 is full-on prep, completely written out remarks, dry runs, etc. It might be surprising, but I'm solidly a 1 or 2 most of the time. Now, when it comes to presentations, of course I prepare the actual information (slides, etc) carefully, but the spoken part of the presentation... yeah, not a lot of prep there. I had a mentor once tell me I have "the gift of extemporaneous oration" but sometimes it feels more like I just black out, say things, and hope for the best 🤣 On the plus side, it means I don't really get worked up or nervous about what I'm going to say, and honestly I find that having notes or something written out actually slows me down and trips me up more than just winging it. On the other hand, it also means that sometimes I miss a point I wanted to make, or have a hard time making transitions. As I do more and more speaking, I am starting to wonder if my skills would get better if I taught myself to be more prepared, or if it might take away some of my speaking style and impact. Curious to hear from others on where they land!

I'm often asked "Jeff, do you get nervous when you speak on stage to a large audience?" The answer is "No" and here's why... It's not because I don't care, in fact it's because I care very deeply and therefore the preparation is meticulous and critical to success. Preparation takes me a long time, sometimes it takes several weeks to create a 1 hour high impact keynote speech. However, preparation doesn't mean writing a script and rehearsing it over and over, I don't do that at all. The advice I give is to forget about you, it's not about you... to succeed, you must focus 100% on what the audience wants. When you focus on what the aufience wants, you don't have time to think about you, you simply focus on ensuring that the audience is receiving your message in the way that it needs to be received. A little bit of fun and humour helps too. 👉🏻 The real magic comes from making your message inspiring enough for people to want to go away and take action. When your focus is here, there's no time left to get nervous :-) Everyone in business needs to speak effectively if they aim to climb the corporate ladder, and speaking effectively is a skill. The good news is that a skill can be learned. All you need to do is ask.

When you are putting your presentation together, making your talking points interesting and memorizing them can help you stand out amongst the others.