Most professionals will need to present in front of colleagues or business clients, and to be successful calls for high quality presentation skills. Yet, the majority do so with very little or even no prior training. Have you invested in In-House Presentation Skills Training?

Perhaps it can be said that the only training most employees have had, is purely by being in the audience of another speaker. What if those speakers aren’t skilled?  Maybe their talk is full of bad habits and poor ability to engage the audience, and overall a little dull. As a result, the repetitive cycle continues within your own teams’ presentation skills and capabilities.

It’s no wonder that even the thought of public speaking engenders feelings of fear and intimidation. Does it have to be this way? Absolutely not.  Investing in in-house presentation skills training will have an immense effect not only on yourself and your colleagues but also on a larger scale, your business. Let’s see how: –

Benefits for Your Business

1- Improve Your Business Image

Have you ever endured a painfully boring sales pitch? Or a business meeting although informative, leaves you checking the clock every 10 minutes for when you can escape. We’ve all been there. But surely that is not the effect we want our speakers to have on their audiences?

Those essential skills will be so effective when improving your business image. If presentation skills are amateur, then this will be how your business is perceived.

A well thought out talk, given with confidence will draw an audience in.  It will lead to them feeling assured that the person speaking is professional, and that your organisation is professional.  It seems obvious, but the battle for the business image you want, can be won or lost by the presentations given by yourself or your colleagues.

When speaking in front of current or potential clients, the need to appear sincere is vital. A poor speaker who’s tied to their notes, has little or no eye contact, and body language that screams to everyone that they’d rather not be there will do the polar opposite.   If the one presenting is not confident, how can you expect the client to feel confident in your organisation? Its logical right!

For example……..

Just to give an idea of how beneficial training can be to affect the business image, let me tell you about an experience we had at a high-end country house. The waitress serving us whilst having dinner, was unable to open a bottle wine. She was so lovely but felt clearly embarrassed, and my husband had to give a quick lesson in this simple skill.  Now I can’t remember what we ate, even though it was of high quality. What I do remember is the waitress and how I felt she had been let down by her superiors, who should have provided adequate training. It also affected our view of the establishment, because it seemed that there was a lack of professionalism at management level.

Can you see how even a small amount of training could have led to a better experience for the waitress, and for us as the customer, which would have led to repeat custom?

So, investing in high quality in-house presentation skills training for you and your team will have a huge impact on your whole organisation. Having speakers who are confident, capable of engaging, interesting presentations,  will reassure the client that they have no need to doubt. As a result, they will be willing to take a risk, or make a change because of how you’re presenting your sale or argument. 2

2- Increased participation and Motivated Staff

A Responsive Audience

One of the key-signs that the presenting skills of the speaker are strong, can be seen by how easily audience participation can be generated.   Yet, in your organisation perhaps you have seen the antithesis. When opportunities arise, the speaker is met with a wall of silence, blank eyes, and a general disinterest in being involved. Realistically, this could quite easily be improved by taking the skills you and your team already have and getting them to the high standard you expect and want.

For example, an athlete may already have shown promise and natural ability to a point. But to be the best in the game, they will train and improve regularly to get there. And so, it’s the same with any business or organisation. You and your team may already show signs of great ability when presenting. But if you want to be recognised as one of the best, take the time to invest in presentation skills. In-house coaching allows your team to have personal training, concentrating on each one’s own specific needs and skill set.

As a result, that honing of your own skills and those of your your team, no one will be guilty of the famous ‘death by power point’ presentation that is so regularly a part of many meetings. That incessant “snooze fest” of slides and monotone explanation whilst tied to notes.  (You know exactly what we are talking about don’t you!!) And that’s just one example!!

Incite Motivation

What if you need to hold a team meeting, and you need to deliver a difficult message, or motivate them to see your vision and adjust accordingly? If you have learned the skills necessary to speak with clarity and tact, whilst at the same time delivering your message with impact and enthusiasm you can pitch your presentation at the right level to motivate and inspire your team.
Naturally, better presentation skills will enable you and your team to have the confidence to be more creative. It’s pretty satisfying to have the enjoyment of speaking to people who are truly invested in what’s being said.   A dynamic, lively exchange between the one presenting and the audience is far more enjoyable for both parties.

3- Increase in sales

Now who doesn’t want that, right?!

They say money talks…. but really, to get anyone to invest, or buy, the onus is on your organisation to do the talking. A high calibre sales pitch is what’s needed. With a little in-house presentation skills training we can contribute to that end result.

You know you have a high-quality product/service to offer, but to have anyone believe in it, they will need to be convinced with a powerful and persuasive presentation. Yes, you and your team might know your facts and figures very well, but a purely black and white explanation of these won’t lead to a sale.  Remember, no matter how great your product, it needs people to sell those products and services, they won’t just sell themselves.  Investing in great presentation skills training will allow the pitch to burst with colour and success in selling what you do.

Let’s say an average sales person earns 2-3 extra contracts per annum due to a smoother, slicker delivery. What will that do for your revenue?

The financial benefits of a well-trained sales team will show quickly and the investment you have made in in-house presentation skills training will have paid for itself time and again.

Presentation skills training will inject the boost you need in your profit margins.

4- Improved Comradery

You might find you have some colleagues on your team that display easily more skills than others. Having some more superior in ability than others can lead to disjointed team, allowing blame to be put at the door of colleague’s others deem weaker when presenting, if pitches and presentations are unsuccessful.

We’ve all seen those films where a sports team has the ability but not the team spirit to win. They lack unity and real comradery. That is until they get a new coach!! And through his/her mentoring they overcome all obstacles to be a truly powerful team, winning that final trophy with true team work leaving the audience with misty eyes and fuzzy warm feeling. As cheesy as it may be, these films have a point!!

You can have winning results too, if you invest in your team. Getting a coach in to train all in their presenting skills, will lift the whole team up.  When everyone can demonstrate a high skill level, it will naturally lead to success.  They will feel they can all rely on each other, and be confident that they won’t let each other down.

Working together on these skills will also be a valuable day of team building where you see the strengths and weaknesses of your colleagues and work on them all together. When you are all aware of little tips and techniques that work well, you can use these going forward to continue to refine, remind and help one other to keep improving in ability.

Such high comradery will be such an asset to any business or organisation.

In Conclusion…………

How to Improve

Most of us want to be successful in what we do. Investing time into getting to know our business well. We try our very best to make beneficial connections and work hard. But in that recipe for success, presentation skills are rarely part of the mix. To leave this out, would be like baking a cake without the essential baking powder to help it rise.  Failing to improve those skills will leave overall abilities of your team flat.

Of course, the internet is awash with information and blogs with help on trying to improve. And they, like the one you’re reading (nudge, nudge, wink, wink!!) can of course be hugely beneficial in pro-actively helping yourself and your business. The reality though, is that anyone is likely to plateau by solely relying on this method.

How can you truly know what your own, or your teams’ real strengths and weaknesses are without help?  Having someone who’s trained and skilled in presenting will be able to help you hone the skills you and your team are already good at, whilst opening your eyes to new skills that can be successfully developed.

Spending time investing in some in-house presentation skills training will be like putting you and your team in a proverbial green house. The personal help you all receive from a professional speaking coach; will help you grow and improve much more quickly.

So don’t delay! If you would like to add to your business arsenal, why not take a look….. click here to see our options

Sarah Wherrett