Presentation skills will be the focal point for this blog. You can benefit from this if you are interested in presenting yourself and your ideas in the right way. These skills are important to anyone enhancing their leadership qualities as well. For this reason, I will be drawing examples from notable CEO’s or people in a leadership position.
“You have to be honest and authentic and not hide. I think the leader today has to demonstrate both transparency and vulnerability, and with that comes truthfulness and humility.”
-Howard Schultz, Former CEO Starbucks
Questions that will be answered in the blog are:
How do I retain my audience’s attention?
How do influential people present their ideas to the masses?
What are common mistakes that can ruin your argument?
My goal is to be an exceptional presenter, one that can motivate and persuade my audience in any situation. I will measure this from recent presentations with local high schools to one in a few weeks at a regional meeting for Beta Alpha Psi where firms and academics will be judging the presentation, comparing the differences and impact on the audience. I will grade my current techniques on a scale of 1–10 now and compare them to the presentation in a few weeks.
Techniques:
Volume- 8 Clarity- 6
Authenticity- 6 Eye Contact- 7
Command of Audience- 5 Persuasive- 6
I plan on achieving this goal by acting on what I write in this blog. My steps to improve will include increased exposure, practice, and feedback. I want to expose myself to as many resources as possibly whether that be an MBA’s advice, Ted Talks, or documented university research. I plan on practicing more scenarios where I’m presenting myself, whether that be interviews, to friends, or professional presentations. Furthermore, I will be seeking feedback after each presentation, if allowed to see how they would rate my above skills.
