“Hey dear Husband (this is my version),
What are you exactly doing? What is your job? You see, my friends, family and mother are asking me and i really don`t know what to tell them.”
I was overjoyed to finally explain myself…Which i did, but two hours later i found that she was completely lost to me. That was i valuable lesson, and very important to me. From that day i constantly worked on my presentation skills, never to see that look on someone`s face like that day.
So please read what i have to say about my experiences.
After some serious time of extensive education about Innovation and Innovation management i finally got the chance to put my developed knowledge to some good use beyond office walls (beside my wife).
I was involved in IT Open Days 2011 seminar in Belgrade as a presenter on the subject of :”Innovation management in Cloud Computing”.
At first i was thrilled that i finally got the opportunity to pass the word to my fellow people and young students from Computer faculty, who btw are brilliant, but then i was forced to focus on the message i was inclined to serve them.
Innovation is not topic overly popular in Serbia, and because of that people are vaguely familiar with the term and i was at the hotspot.
My choice was to perform this presentation with all the necessary informations related to the subject and utterly bore them to death, or to use some creativity and to make thing different and interesting.
Naturally, i picked creativity. 🙂
1. CHOOSE ALTERNATIVE – I sliced through conventional creation of PPT presentations and went for something little less known: http://prezi.com/ntby344eeigr/upravljanje-inovacijama-u-cloud-tehnologiji/
Note: this gave me focus where i wanted to and it was very easy to create and completely lovable by students.
2. RECOGNIZE THE AUDIENCE – I picked not to talk in academic sophisticated manner, but to tune my vocabulary to their own age.
Note: Simple memory from my school days told me that was the right way to go.
3. “BATTLE CRY” – I focused “Battle cry” of my presentation to innovation and possibilities of managing it, not to Cloud computing about which they were hearing all day.
Note: Innovation was the term that i had to put light on, Cloud was not. I have chosen that way after reading the Agenda of the seminar and realizing that there were 5 or so presentation dealing with Cloud computing.
4. EXAMPLES, PICTURES, VISUALIZATION – I choose interesting bulk of good recognized examples to which i hoped they can relate to and better understand the topic.
Note: It was complete success. Latin words, history, definitions…all was irrelevant, examples rolled.
5. HUMOR CONNECTION – I put humor to good use at the beginning of the presentation and personalized the subject from the start. That way they got to listening me really, and we connected.
Note: I leveraged my charisma and humor to engrave my words to their minds. Try it.
6. SPACE FOR QUESTIONS – I gave those kids enough room to form up and to deliver questions, and those questions are best feedback of what was wrong and what was good about your presentation.
Note: Those questions are guiding points for your next presentation. Ultimate feedback.
7. DANGERS? – I gave them advices. I hate giving advices, but these were precise and natural. I told them where are the dangers and what to nurture in themselves in order to succeed.
Note: The battle cry of the seminar was “Unlock your potential”. I tied idea management and creativity to this battle cry and gave it another, deeper meaning.
8. FEEL THE BIT, CONTROL IT – Keep eye contact with your audience, don`t make gestures, “aa`s” and stutter, keep your mind and body in balance. Talk with your body, but only in context of the words flow and message you are delivering. If it is too heavy and unnatural…go to number 9.
9. STAY HUMAN – You are not a machine, and they know it, so stop trying to be one. They can sense your unease, this can ruin all. You can leverage some power from uncertainty if you joke on it and make it genuinely sympathetic.
Note: I WAS nervous at the start…As soon as i uttered the first words and they were fuzzy, i got really afraid that this will be a disastrous presentation. But then, i took pause…gathered myself, and as soon as i got them laughing i relaxed completely.
10. MESSAGE IS THE POINT – Remember that you are here to deliver THE message. You are indeed selling yourself alongside the story that will be remembered only if you hit the spot with overall performance. Keep it simple, interesting, and funny. Tell the story.
Note: Don`t focus just on the message, focus on the people who are listening. Be a great story teller.
I hope this helped a bit.
Cheers.
Innovation Post