Business Talk with Martina: Presentation Leadership

Have you ever got lost in the presentations at work? You don’t know what to present, where to start and how to organize your slide? The workshop of Ms.Martina Bayers will answer your question.

For over fifteen years, Martina has been a consultant, creative facilitator, and presentation designer. She guides executives and their teams through their creative thinking and the creation of original and persuasive visual presentations. She trains individuals in the art of delivering unforgettable TED talks. Her ‘Picasso Manager’ conference inspires directors and their managers on creativity in today’s business environment. She is the author of ‘Réussissez vos présentations PowerPoint (Successful PowerPoint Presentations) (2014).

What makes a presentation attractive?

1. Presentation design

Before design presentation, you should know your audience, understand the context and being clear on your reason for presenting. This represents 3 questions: Who, What and How

– Who: they are audience segment you want to reach. What is in it for them? What do they want to listen to? How can you solve their problem?

– What: if they could remember one thing, what would it be? This is how you define your key message. Encapsulate your core message in 1 sentence.

– How: which data or information is available that will help make your point? What is your story line? Arcoding to Martina, you should start your presentation “low-tech”, write down your ideas on paper. Don’t start a presentation with classic power point template, you narrow your thinking in a box!

2. Dress up your number

Data plays an important role, it helps to persuade and impress audience. However, you should use figures wisely and explain clearly, otherwise your audience will be lost in numbers! Dress up your numbers means presenting important facts with smart figures in an elegant way.

3. TED-style

Do you know that all TED talks are under 18 minutes? Why? Because “It is long enough to be serious and short enough to hold people’s attention”.

A great talk is a storytelling. Forget about a concept “Once upon a time and happily ever after”. A good story line needs “a bad guy” to engage people. Transformation emerges after breaking roadblocks.

A presentation with good structure and visual information will recall memory better and speed-up decision-making process. Use contract colors, limit bullet point, focus attention where you want it. These are some practical tips that Martina gave audience.

“A great presentation give smart ideas an advantage” – Nancy Duarte

Doing presentation is an art, but it’s not too hard as you think. The most important thing is your confidence and passion. “You are the presentation” – this is the message that Martina inspired audience during the workshop.