Do you do presentations in front of people—such as in real estate offices? You may be a title rep, a home warranty specialist, a mortgage rep, a real estate manager, a salesperson—or a meeting planner. In fact, almost all of us must get in front of people and present at some time. But, it’s not something we’re trained for. We probably don’t even realize we CAN gain a process, and get some training, to do a great job! So, we just ‘wing it’—and, unfortunately it shows. However, there’s a process to create an effective presentation, and I’m going to share three major tips in that process for you here.
When you look out at the audience, what do you see? If it’s the picture below, you’ll love these tips. Why?
After you adopt these principles, your audience will be attentive to your every word!
As a long-time speaker and member of the professionals’ National Speaker Association, and trainer of trainers, I’ve learned the importance of presentation—no matter what we do. Here are three big mistakes ‘amateurs’ make, and three major presentation tips that assure your sales presentations and trainings will be professional—and effective.
Mistake #1: Launching Right in Without a Great Opening
Recently, I was at a real estate sales meeting. I heard 5 presenters in a row all start their presentations by ‘rambling’ into them. I wasn’t sure what they wanted to say, why they were there, or why I should listen!
Solution #1: Grab a Great Start
What’s your ‘hook’? How are you going to begin your presentation? With a provocative question? With a relevant story? How does that beginning tie to your theme? Sit down and write down your beginning.
Start with a great ‘hook’—something that grabs their attention.
For example, I give a presentation (usually to affiliates) to teach people how to do a persuasive presentation. As a ‘hook’, I start at the piano. They certainly aren’t expecting that, and it gets their attention right away. Of course, then I segue to the rest of the beginning: Pose the problem, suggest your solution, and build a rosy future when following your recommendations. This works great, too, in an open house to grab the attention of the ‘looker’ who’s trying to avoid you.
Mistake #2: Not developing a cohesive solution to the problem and developing it in the middle of your presentation. Instead, these presenters I heard in the sales meeting wandered around in a vast wasteland of incohesive facts, figures, and stories with no relationship or relevance to a ‘theme’ that should have been developed at the beginning.
Solution to #2: Get Persuasive
You need to be selling your point of view always to your ‘audience’. That means to structure your point of view persuasively. What stories, statistics, and facts do you have to shore up your solution—the solution you promised at the beginning? How persuasive are you here?
Mistake #3: Not crafting a great ending
In some of the presentations I heard during that sales meeting, there was no ending! The presenter just ran out of time and sat down! What if you heard your favorite tune and it ended about 4 measures before the actual ending? It would feel and sound weird, right? Well, a presentation without a logical ending feels and sounds ‘weird’, too.
Your ending should re-state your solution that you developed throughout your presentation.
Solution # 3: Bring it Home with a Great Ending
Have you ever been at a presentation that just puttered out at the end? The speaker said, “Well, we’re out of time.” And you thought, “Good”. Remember, a persuasive presentation is just like a popular tune.
Bring back the theme at the end.
Close by reminding your audience of the rosy future they will have by following your recommendations.
Your Job Up There
Your job during the persuasive presentation is to persuade. And, here’s my point of view: All presentations that anyone gives should be persuasive. You’re up there to persuade your audience to YOUR point of view, not just to regurgitate facts and figures. Otherwise, the audience could simply read a scientific report or watch a video (well, the video may be more interesting than a boring ‘live’ presenter…..)
Rate Yourself
Based on the three major points, how would you rate yourself? What will you do differently next time to make your presentation cohesive, attention getting, and motivating?
Stepping Up to Great Presentations
Do you provide training for your presenters and trainers? I’d love to help you, and them, learn and practice these types of great, quickly applicable strategies. I do trainings and presentations for Realtor trainers, trainers of real estate companies, and affiliates.
Get in touch with me and we’ll talk about your needs. I customize each presentation, too, for YOUR specific audience needs. My background as a performing musician, coupled with my real estate sales, leadership, and training experience, gives me a unique ‘take’ on training trainers. I’d love to help you!
