While juggling different projects, I’ve finally found time to update my Linkedin “About”. There’s likely something that may interest you, so do please check it out. Blessed weekend!

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In Part 1, my first suggestion is that you see numbers as stories. So if your deck has plenty of numbers, instead of just rattling off those numbers from the screen, tell the audience what those numbers mean.  And if I may add: tailor your story to the audience. The level of detail can vary. Executives tend to want the punch line right away while technicians may want to hear about the thinking behind the numbers.

My second suggestion is to use bullet points in your deck so you can be more spontaneous as you deliver your presentation, rather than reading from copy-pasted text from a Word document.

Here’s the challenge. Boil down your content into bullet points, then expound each point in your own words. Don’t forget to exude confidence as, remember, you own the deck. You’re friends with the numbers. You’re crushing it!

Example: you are presenting a business case for buying a new machine for quality control. On the benefits slide, a bullet point simply says “Reduce rework.” You tell the decision-makers in the audience:

“Right now, the production line is so fast that when defect X appears, the line produces 10,000 defective pieces before our people notice it. Then we stop the line, isolate those 10,000 pieces, and spend Y hours repairing what can be repaired and throwing away the rest.

“But with this machine, we will be able to detect the defect after only 100 pieces, thus we save on cost of rework.”

This brings me to my last suggestion: anticipate questions.

Those decision-makers would likely ask for the cost of the rework. Do your homework and you can say “Php Z per unit” rather than stammer “I’ll get back to you” (which won’t sit well with busy approvers).

In fact, be ready for another question down the road: how much would the quality-control machine cost and what is the payback period?

So practice your presentation and pretend you’re an executive listening to yourself. What questions pop into your mind? This takes critical thinking, curiosity and foresight. Have the answers in your fingertips. If there are so much data to memorize, then keep short notes handy.

When you do all three: see the numbers as stories, use bullet points to force you to expound, and anticipate questions so you have the answers ready, your reporting days are over. You will shine as an expert.

And you know how employers value experts.

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When you’re making a presentation, do you find yourself:

Copy-pasting a Word document onto a Powerpoint, then read the content word for word?

Reciting the numbers on the screen, then freezing when an audience member asks you a question?

Having your boss answer that question, then he takes over the rest of the presentation? (You quietly slink back to your seat.)

If that’s you, you’re sabotaging your career. Think of a business presentation as an audition for higher responsibilities. Everything else being equal, employers value those who communicate well.

Here’s my pitch: What you may need is not another workshop on presentation skills. Rather, you need a change in thinking. Do you see yourself as a reporter or an expert?

The reporter is the first guy I described who reads the Powerpoint word for word… and irritate the audience member who can read faster than you can speak.  He’s also the guy limited to the content on the screen. Throw him a question and he draws a blank, then pulls in an expert, usually the boss, to rescue him.

So why not be that expert? In doing so, the audience will see you as boss material. Here are some suggestions.

1. See the numbers as stories.

It’s one thing to rattle off the numbers. It’s another to tell the audience what they mean. Is there a problem? How bad is the problem? What do the data say is causing the problem? Where do you and the audience go from there?

Once you get the hang of this, you will be more conversational than robotic. What’s more, because you know what the numbers mean (and not mean), you won’t be caught flat-footed in the Q&A.

2. Use bullet points.

When you copy-paste a Word document to a deck, you didn’t actually create a deck. You might as well project the original Word and read from there. There’s no real difference! So why do people do it? Because it’s easy. In reading the text, you’d just be coasting along.

I’ll give an example in Part 2, as well as offering a third suggestion.

Meantime, if you know someone who struggles as a reporter, do that person a favor and share this post with him. He or she will thank you for it.

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