Do you regret this??

The platform is set. The key audience is seated in the room. This could be a classroom or a boardroom. You did not sleep the previous night since you were giving the final touches to your project or presentation. There is silence in the room. Now it’s your turn to showcase your project or presentation to the key people who matter. You start with your presentation and suddenly you see the critical eyes, argumentive & over powering people staring at you and your data, almost giving you the impression that every data or slide you are presenting is incorrect. You go blank and lose your confidence. You just sail through the presentation looking at some friendly eyes who nod in affirmation to your points. You come out dejected and with regret.

If this is the common thing that you also suffer as i initially did, this blog may of help to you.

Let’s try and understand why this happens.

Most of us are not habituated to give presentations to a group. As a result of this there is a great fear of failure. This is good enough to make us feel nervous.

The other reason is our assumption that the audience is so super learned that they may look at all the flaws or data mis-matches in our presentation. One more reason to deepen our nervousness.

The third reason is that our slides may have so much of text or data that we ourselves get confused which one to highlight in the limited time available at hand. Additional reason to make us nervous and confused.

A friend of mine who works with a multinational company once told me that his department people prepared 84 slides presentation to be made to the Managing Director and the time slot given was 30 minutes!!! Imagine the plight of a presenter who have to finish close to 3 slides per minute to give justice to 84 slides. He further told me that each slide had lot of text and data. No prizes for guessing what would have happened to the presentation. It miserably failed.

Here are the quick tips:

1. Keep it simple

Does not mean you write in mono syllables or dumb down your presentation. Find the core idea or key message you wish to highlight on a slide and ensure its coming out clearly.

2. More pictures less words

Pictures or graphs represent a great visual story. It allows you to keep the main thing the main thing. You can always give the printouts for micro level data.

3. Follow a three step approach

a. Tell them what you are going to tell them; b. Tell them the key message; c. Tell them what you have told them.

Try using these things in your next presentation. The clarity on slides will keep your thoughts clear during presentation. This will allow you to present the main things in a way you wish to present and make the desired powerful impression.

 

J K Rowling's secret weapon - Robin Sharma's article

JK Rowling’s Secret Success Weapon

By Robin Sharma
Author of the #1 International Bestseller “The Leader Who Had No Title”

I know you’re all about Mastery. And Excellence. And crafting an iconic life. Along with doing things most people call impossible. For this, I applaud you.

So I wanted to share a great story with you…

All she ever wanted to do was write. But few believed in her.

She ended up as a single mom. Collecting social benefits checks–just to get food onto the table. For her and her child.

On a trip from Manchester to London in 1990, her train was delayed. And an idea burst into her imagination. About a boy who didn’t know what he was.

She called this kid Harry Potter. And she wrote about his adventures.”

12 publishers rejected the book. A small house called Bloomsbury Press eventually agreed to publish it. But even then, the author was told “you’ll never make any money on children’s books.”

Yet, the book caught fire. Touched the hearts of millions. Inspired a new generation to read.

Of course, the woman is JK Rowling.

And she’s sold 400,000,000 books. And built a fortune of $800,000,000.

From an idea. About a young wizard. With a brave heart.

Her secret “weapon”?…

… JK Rowling DIDN’T LISTEN TO THE DOUBTS OF HER CRITICS.

“For some to love you, some must loathe you,” she brilliantly observed.

And she’s right. All visionaries are initially ridiculed before they are revered.

All enormously successful people first meet with rejection, resistance and yes, sometimes outright hatred. Criticism truly is the price of greatness. And you really need to be so invested in your dream + abilities + passion that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING will knock you off your game.

So be strong. Go for world-class. And when you get knocked down, dust yourself off, and stay true to your loftiest visions. In the end, you’ll be grateful you did.

Sending you all green lights! So you get your boldest (and most audacious) dreams done. You know this: Life’s just too short to play small.

- See more at: http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/05/jk-rowlings-secret-success-weapon/#sthash.IGUqeNKi.dpuf

Clarity

There is a program called as ‘Power of Shunya (Zero)’ on CNBC TV 18. The concept is impressive. Teams of 2 students participate in this program. One from technical side and the other from the business school. The techie presents his innovation and the student from business school presents the business plan. The juries see the strength of innovation and the effectiveness of the business plan to market the innovation. On 20^th July 2014 I was watching a team of two talk about an impressive medical innovation that can reduce the cost of treatment by almost 80% of the current medical cost. The patient will not have to undergo surgery reducing lot of emotional and physical pain for her. In spite of what appears to be a breakthrough idea, the duo failed to impress the juries and the audience. You know why?

They were given 90 seconds to share the business plan and they could not present their main ideas clearly and crisply within the given time frame.

Most of us have this difficulty. We often struggle to keep the main thing the main thing. As Stephen Covey puts it “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing”.

It is important that we are able to present our ideas clearly, crisply and effectively. One simple way to start doing it is to observe carefully someone who does. This can be a good beginning to start one of the very important requirements in our life.