Presentation skills expert Benjamin Ball, based at Bledington, near Chipping Norton, says preparation is vital when making a speech to a business audience In today’s global market place, putting the key messages about your business across in a pitch, speech or presentation is crucial to your success.

While presentation training is often perceived as focusing on body language and voice projection, it is actually a far more specialised science covering a broad range of knowledge and skills.

You can use specialist training to help win pitches, impress audiences and communicate clearly.

Our method is based on scientific principles and uses a carefully constructed process to make the pitch or presentation far more engaging and persuasive.

The idea is not just to guide the speaker’s performance, but to work with them like a business consultant on the most important issue — the presentation content itself.

Throughout my career, I have witnessed some appalling presentations. Yet both pitching and presenting are essential business skills.

You need to be good at this, not only to persuade colleagues that your way is the right way, but also to win business and be recognised and respected by a wider audience.

Modern business audiences are generally multi-lingual, multi-cultural and are used to receiving short, sharp hits of well-packaged, easily digested information. That is what a good presentation should be.

Unfortunately, those giving presentations tend to focus all their attention on their PowerPoint slideshow, rather than thinking about their audience, their business objectives and what they are trying to achieve. This is usually their biggest mistake.

To avoid these pitfalls, here are my top tips for successful presenting: n Research your audience — work out what really matters to them and how your talk will connect with their interests n Have a clear simple message — be laser sharp in the reason for your presentation and what you want to achieve n Do not start with PowerPoint. Get a blank sheet of paper and begin plotting out your story. Think of presenting as like making a movie. If the story and the script are not right, then the film won’t work, however good the actor n Start your presentation by grabbing the audience’s attention. For example, use an anecdote, a shocking fact or a brilliant idea n Get the most important messages in your talk across within in the first minute or so n Divide your presentation up into clear sections. A three-part structure to a talk will usually be the most audience friendly way n Use clear language and short sentences. Simplify your story, again using stories and anecdotes, rather than facts and figures. To be completely clear about what you are saying, check that a 12-year-old can understand what you’re talking about n Empathise with your audience. Speak to them as if they are a group of friends in the pub. It will make you seem more interesting n Use the word ‘you’ a lot. See yourself as an educator, rather than a presenter n Rehearse. Behave like an athlete. Do all the hard work in practice. When it comes to your actual presentation, it will be much easier n Physical presentation — work on your body language and voice only when you are confident that the presentation is right Rehearsal tips n Prepare a 30-second version of your presentation or pitch. If it sounds good in that time then it will sound good for 15 minutes n Rehearse without any visual aids — only introduce these later n Do not use a written script, as the way we write and speak are quite different n PowerPoint is not the presentation — you are Good presentation skills do not come naturally to everyone. They have to be learnt. All successful presenters, from presidents to TV reporters, are helped and advised by presentation experts. Audience expectation now is that business leaders will be just as savvy and authoritative.

The good news is that because good presenting is a learned skill, it is open to anyone who wants to make an effort.

o Contact: 0845 676 9766. Website: www.benjaminball.com