Sean D’Souza – Blackbelt Presentations

Without credibility, it’s almost impossible to sell to an audience

In the year 2008, I stood before an audience of about 250 people in Chicago. It was a conference (like most conferences you go to). And it was my turn to speak. After my speech, I made an offer to the audience for some of our products. And most of the audience bought the product priced at about a little over $300.

The interesting part was that I wasn’t the first speaker (I might have been the sixth). So I didn’t have a first-speaker advantage. In fact, most of the audience didn’t know me well. And yet I sold over $20,000 worth of product, without the usual “sales pitch”.

So what causes presentations to come alive?

Most of us have given presentations, but this isn’t about just “given” presentations. It’s about setting the stage alight, no matter how good the competition. No matter whether your presentation is digital, live or recorded, it needs to get you from “little known” to credible in double-quick speed.

So why is this factor of speed so critical?

As a presenter you’re either getting the audience to buy into an idea, or invest in a product or service. For a “cold audience” to make such a leap of faith, you need more than good ol’ fashioned luck. Instead, you’ll need a step-by-system that allows the audience to be locked in to your presentation, from the start to finish. And you know you’ll have done an outstanding job not because of the applause, but because of the action the audience takes right after your presentation.

So how do you get your audience to act? How do you create and sustain that credibility? Is there really a logical structure that gets results every single time?

Here is a list of what to expect:

Part 1: Controlling Presentation Design

• DIY Slide Design: How to create stylish slides without driving yourself crazy
• Understanding the ‘promixity of elements’ and why it avoids visual chaos
• The power of invisible lines and how they help avoid distraction—and increase focus
• Why a simple colour palette saves you endless amounts of preparation time
• How to avoid ‘unwanted noise’ by choosing uncluttered backgrounds

• Why 95% of your slides need just one thought for max impact
• The palm test: How to get rid of unwanted and distracting graphics
• How to use the power of size to make graphics pop on your slides
• Two core methods to instantly increase curiosity on every slide
• Why most photos/graphics are flat on slides and how to bring them to life instantly!

• How to avoid busting your budget on photos/graphics
• Easy ways to stretch your budget without compromising on quality
• How masking and transparency make graphics stand out
• Why most graphs are confusing—and why to avoid 3-D completely

• How to transform graphs into powerful visual data that make audiences sit bolt upright
• How to avoid the downsides of animation
• The secret of how ‘invisible’ animation helps reduce surprise
• Handy presentation resources to help improve your presentation skills

Part 2: Controlling Presentation Delivery

• Why the 13-Box system will change the way you do presentations forever
• A simple way to instantly wake up an audience in a matter of minutes
• The biggest mistakes made with audio and video
• The importance of well-loved stories and how they captivate an audience
• Why ‘easy questions’ break the ice—especially with a tough audience

• How to get engagement with your audience every single time
• The importance of the teaser at the start of your presentation
• Why the right agenda creates a safe zone
• How the fairy tale sequence helps create a flow with your core topics
• How to create drama with statistics, story and problem scenarios

• How examples can save your bacon when you’re running out of time
• How to get a good chunk of your audience to sign up for more information
• Why a break in the middle of your presentation improves conversion

• Goodies: Why they work and when they fail miserably
• Why any goodies or bonuses must have a price point
• Why taking questions at the end is a bad idea
• How to smoothly segue from your presentation to actually selling a product or service

Part 3: Controlling The Event (with premium option)

• The importance of control: And why lack of it leads to utter chaos
• Mastering the three Phases of Control: Pre-event, live-event, post-event
• Teasers: Why they’re an important part of pre-event control
• Why most presenters don’t give any details of presentation content—and why it’s a BIG mistake
• How to use music to influence mood, energy and direct specific behaviour

• Why props change the pace of your presentation—and why this change in pace matters
• How room temperature will make or break your presentation
• 3 Important personal devices no presenter should be without
• Why you need a back up plan. And how to execute on, should things go haywire
• Alcohol: Why even the smallest drink can change the audience perception
• Audience volunteers: Why they play a critical role in keeping you focused on your presentation

• Three check points when using video as a control device
• Why ‘rocking chairs’ and other mundane stories are more effective than more elaborate ones
• A powerful analysis of rhetoric, coercion and story-telling—and why story-telling rocks!
• Three simple keys to create great stories that entrance your audience
• The black slide: A fail-proof method to yank an audience’s attention in a fraction of a second
• Why presenters run out of time—and how to control time down to the last minute

• The challenge set-up: How it adds tremendous suspense and drama to your presentation
• How to engineer the audience testimonial—and how to prevent it from going terribly wrong!
• Why most speakers ignore the ‘radar sweep’ and isolate their biggest potential fans
• How to get rid of the ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ in your speech in under 15 minutes

• The wind down: Why it’s important to wake up a tired audience
• How to create variation with rhythm, pace and volume
• The myth of public speaking as the No.1 fear deconstructed (You have to read this!)
• The critical importance of the ‘free report’ break—and how it helps you get the contact details of audience members