How can a presentation workshop help you?

If you’ve ever had to give a presentation of any kind (which most of us have), you know that the process can be uncomfortable and overwhelming if you aren’t adequately prepared. Sure, you can know your material front and back, but if you aren’t ready to fully sell your idea, then the entire experience can be stressful and all for naught. The key is to know your audience, your material and how to engage them in an emotional way. You’ve got to merge your proposition with their feelings in order to obtain their trust and belief in your idea or product.

In the last 6 months or so, Big Fish has been working on a series of workshops that center around the main components involved in giving a truly awesome presentation. We’re in the process of developing three different workshops that are each designed to prepare you and your team for any presentation that you give. We want to share our knowledge with your team so that your business or organization can focus on improving indepedently. In short, these workshops are a tool that you can use to enhance your business from within, instead of going to another company for work. It’s an investment that will significantly improve your presentation performance for years and years to come.

So, what are these workshops like?

Like I said, we have three different types of workshops. We have a delivery workshop, a storytelling workshop and a slide design workshop. However, the only current, up-and-running operation is the delivery workshop, entitled “Hook-Line-N-Sinker,” so I will focus on this one for now. Keep in mind that each workshop is different, but they all consist of various activities, discussions and teaching points that reflect their particular topics.

Let’s take a look at the Hook-Line-N-Sinker workshop.

This workshop focuses strictly on the way you deliver your information to your audience. There are many techniques that can be used to connect with your audience and prompt action that results in change. No matter what the style, the fact remains that every presentation must be delivered in a strong, effective way in order to get the point across and engage your audience. We cover topics such as discovering your presentation style, organizing your skill set to fit your audience and the art of the pitch. Do you ever have trouble getting people to respond to your message? Is it difficult to effectively get your message across? If so, this workshop might be an option for you and your team to consider.

Here’s a sample activity from the Hook-Line-N-Sinker:

Activity: Slide Therapy
For this activity, break into groups of even numbers with a maximum of 4 people to a group. Facilitator will hand out 4 different short slideshows to each group. Groups then have 20 minutes to find ways to improve the visual aesthetics and messaging of each slide on paper. After 20 minutes, groups are then asked to 1) present the problems with the old slides 2) explain their improvements and 3) provide mock visuals of slides. Other groups will then score the improved new slides based on scorecard below. The winning group’s score will be recorded for the prize at the end of the day.

As you can see, we take a very specific, hands-on approach to teaching the art of presenting. Although this example is design-specific, we explain in the workshop that slide design is a crucial part to delivery. The same thing applies to storytelling. All of these elements combine to form a great presentation. These workshops are simply detailed versions of the various elements that make up an effective, exciting and engaging presentation.

Whether you’re a single person in charge of a departmental meeting or a CEO speaking to thousands of shareholders, presentation delivery is a necessary tool you’ll need to make your points across and create progress for your business or organization.

These workshops work well with as little as 2 or 3 people, but can be effective with up to 10. These aren’t just lectures, but interactive experiences that immerse you in games, discussions and activities centered around the art of the presentation. By the time you and your team leave the workshop, you’ll be ready to tackle your next presentation with a renewed sense of confidence.

Are you interested in a workshop for your team? If so, feel free to contact us in any way at any time. Comment below or on our Facebook page, tweet us or e-mail us at hq@localhost! We’re here to help!