ARTICLES

In today’s business world, presentations and public speaking are required in many trades. In a managerial position, you need to perform task delegated by your senior management executives.

They look for those they can trust. Suppose you are entrusted to do a task. When you have worked hard on your entrusted task, your presentation becomes your showcase of your ability and public speaking skill.

When it comes to presenting, knowing how to present to senior management executives within your own company or in another company is going to have an impact on your career. Here are six tips that will be useful the next time you are going to present to a CEO, Senior VP, VP, etc. The tips are given based on the assumption that the presentation is held in a boardroom or meeting room where the size of the audience is small and there are interactions.

1. Preparations Your senior management executives are busy people. They may be so busy that they do not have the time to read the information given to them prior to the meeting. So you do not waste their time. Be well prepared with all your information and data. Anticipate likely questions and be prepared for them. Prepare additional materials to support your answers. Your extra effort will impress the seniors as they know you are well prepared thus gaining their trust in your proposal or analysis. Rehearse your presentation as many times as you can as practice makes perfect. Get a peer to be your audience. You gain confidence as you rehearse. You will be seen as knowledgeable and confident. This helps in your career advancement.

2. Know your audience Know your audience in terms of their knowledge of your topic. This helps you to decide how much time you need to spend on background information.

3. Speech and Manner Speak naturally, varying your pitch to emphasize important points. Do not use monotone as it is a lullaby. Try to sound conversational. Pause between sentences. Look at your audience. Answer questions truthfully. If you don not have the answer, say so and promise to give the answer later. Do not feel intimidated when you face a barrage of questions. Just take it that the executives are very interested in your content. Take it that they need to fully understand your plan before giving their approval.

4. Usage of time Start the presentation by informing what is the agenda and the objective of the meeting. Senior management executivesí time is valuable. Deliver your content within the scheduled time. Get to the main points before the presentation is derailed. Allot ample time for discussion or questions. This allows the senior executives to plan the next step of action.

5. Slides If you are using slides, be flexible in the order of the slides sequence. Do not use too many slides. Slides should contain key points in a short and clear manner. Do not just read your slides and avoid using jargons. Ensure all visual and audio equipment which you are going to use are functioning and you know how to operate them.

6. Keep it simple Make your presentation short and lively. Focus on your main points. Describe the benefits of your recommendations when adopted. Present the benefits clearly. This enable your senior management executive audience to understand and decide on your proposals or recommendations.

As a sales personnel, the most challenging aspect of your profession is to meet with sales objections.  Even those in the service sector face the same challenge.   Below are some useful tips to help you to overcome your problems.

Readiness for objections

You have to be prepared for objections.  From your experience, list down all the reasons for objection that you have encountered.  Prioritise them into the most frequent ones to the occasional ones.  Prepare good responses and plan strategies to address every objections.  When you face with objection, remain cool, listen attentively and understand their reasons.  From your  list, you will realise that the most common reasons for objection are usually budget, need, urgency and trust.

Budget

Concur that price is an issue but do not rush to give discount as it may raise doubt to the quality of your product.  Instead, stress the qualities of your product and in what ways it can benefit your prospects. Demonstrate your knowledge of your product and show that you understand their needs.  Show your care of their needs, not the eagerness to sell your product.

Need

When your prospects object to the need to change, share some research about the competition and some of the changes that have been made in their industry. Share with your prospects the changes their competitors have made.  Create awareness of the ever changing environment of their industry.

Another way to overcome the need to change is to demonstrate past examples of change and how beneficial they were. For example, show the client a list of different ways the industry has changed over the past 10 years.

Urgency

People say timing is everything. When your prospects tell you to call back in 6 months’ time,
you can overcome this objection by convincing them of what they are losing by not having your product right away. You can illustrate some revenue projections of what they could gain over the next 6 months instead.

Trust
Trust is needed in every trade.   You need to be honest and forthcoming to overcome objections. Be truthful with information and share testimonials and references that will gain confidence in your product.

Surveys show that the number one fear of most people is not death but having to speak in front of a group of people. It sounds illogical but it is true. So does it mean the person delivering the eulogy is worse off than the one in the casket? Fear of public speaking can be overcome by training.

We have years of experience training individuals with our effective methodology. Our trainers are dedicated and inspirational. Our workshops are fun and engaging. We offer public speaking trainings for individuals and for corporate too. Our Speeches of Excellence enable you to achieve your goal. You will be transformed to be an eloquent speaker. We will hone your communication skill. This skill helps you increase your sales if you are a sales personnel. If you are in a leadership position, this skill enables you to convey your thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively. Thus, your team will improve cohesion and productivity. You will gain the respect and be an inspiration for all. At Speechacademyasia, our experienced trainers will help you to speak confidently and with humour. You will be able to capture the attention of your audience with your superb delivery. You will learn about body language, gestures and the correct use of your tone and voice to speak well. You will speak with conviction.

On a personal level, your relationship with people will improve. You will be a happier person. In our interactive workshops, you will learn with practical daily scenarios. In this way, you get the chance to practice what you have learnt. At the end of our workshops, you will learn the crucial steps to communicate effectively with anyone, anywhere. You would have mastered the essential basics of public speaking. You will soon find yourself having people who are receptive of your ideas. You will then be empowered to meet any challenges be it in your profession or in your personal life.

Public speaking for kids

We have public speaking programmes specially designed for children and teenagers. Let your child have a headstart. Our programmes enable them to acquire good public speaking skills which will be an asset for their future. Our dedicated trainers conduct classes with fun as children learn best through play. They will learn body language, voice control and right use of words and other useful skills to become a good and effective speaker. They will definitely perform better in their school curriculum for “Show and Tell”. They will do well in their oral examinations too. We also have Character Development programmes for children and teenagers. Our programmes allow the children to discover who they are, what their talents and strengths are. With this knowledge, they can then set goals for themselves. They will learn how to socialize, co-operate and share. Thus your child is well poised for the future.

Corporate trainings

On the corporate level, our trainings enable your staff to transfer what they have learnt with us to their colleagues. In this way, your company will save training costs.

Sales training

Speeachacademyasia has courses to help sales personnel to improve their salesmanship. They will learn to discover their own strength to develop their own selling strategy. We study proven strategies of successful global sales masters. There will be trainings in negotiation skills and on sales closing techniques. Pre and post fundamental sales processes are taught to deliver customers satisfaction.

Almost all students are fearful of presentations. The fear is twofold.
One is the content of the presentation and the other is the lack of presentation skills. If the content and skill are found wanting, the grade will be affected. Some may say as long as the content is well prepared, the presentation will not be a problem. Is it so? It will be a pity if all your long hours of research work on the content come to nought due to last minute jittery, anxiety and you fumble during the Q and A session of the presentation. Fortunately, there are some tips to help you.

First and foremost is your content. All your research work should be arranged in a flowing manner.

• The main points are your backbone of your presentation.
• Do not read from your notes.
• Prepare cue cards with key words on them.
• Use visual aids like slides, charts and graphs to illustrate your points. However, do not over use them.
• Dress appropriately for your presentation.
• Speak clearly and loud enough for your audience to hear you. Look at your audience when you speak.
• Vary your pitch and tone to emphasize an important point. Do not speak in monotone.
• You should practice a few times in front of the mirror to check on your posture and gestures.
• End your presentation within the allocated time.
• Summarise your main points before ending your speech. A lucid explanation scores points.

Does your job require you to do presentations frequently?
Are you required to speak in public often?
Does your job require you to have effective communication skills?

Or most importantly, you know you have a very good product which is way above your competitors but you lack the power to convince your potential buyers.

Well, fret no more!  We, at Speeachcademyasia, are able to help you!  We can transform you to become a good, confident and effective speaker.  You will be able to capture undivided attention of your audience with your superb eloquence which is spiced with humour and yes, your charisma.

Whatever professions you are in, the ability to speak well is an asset.  Be it sales or services, good communication skills help.  It helps in your career advancement too.  On a personal level, it improves your interpersonal skill and your social life is enhanced.

On the corporate training level, our programmes let your employees learn about sales compendium which includes sales psychology, personal selling, negotiation techniques and closing of deals. We share proven strategies of successful personnel. We offer techniques to manage unhappy customers too!  The techniques learned can then be transferred to other employees in the workplace thus saving cost.

At Speechacademyasia, we are committed to nurture children and teenagers.  They are Singapore’s most valuable resources.  The future lies in their hands. All parents wish to give their children a headstart in life.  It is a unanimous fact that most adults are afraid of public speaking.  The fear can be traced to the lack of such training in the early years of an adult life.  At Speechacademy, our programmes train your child to be a confident speaker in any circumstances.  Children will learn how to use their voice, body language and gestures.  With our training, your child can shine in  his/her school’s “Show and Tell” curriculum.  Your child will also perform well in his/her oral examinations.

We also have Character Development activities for children and teenagers.  Through our fun-filled activities, your child will discover his/her own character and strength so that they can set goals for themselves.  We teach them how to work towards realizing their goals.  Children also learn socializing skills.  They will learn how to cooperate, share and empathise.  With all these and more, your child will be well poised for his/her future.