MANILA, Philippines — Just like closing the year 2011 in a meaningful fashion, we too should close our presentations (as a teacher, preacher, public speaker, trainer, whatever!) with a big bang!

Before ending a particularly difficult presentation, take time out to obtain feedback from your audience.

• LEARNING CONTENT. What have the participants learned so far?

• MEANINGFULNESS. How can the lessons learned be applied in their daily lives?

• VALUE-LADEN. What is the personal or social importance or value of the lessons learned?

• COHESION. How are the lessons learned related to one another?

• CONTINUING LEARNING. How can participants continue to deepen their knowledge about the lessons? What are the resources or reference available?

• PROACTIVE. How can participants overcome the obstacles and challenges to further learning?

• FUTURE PACING. In what ways can participants visualize the turn out of the lessons they have learned?

How to ma ke presentations presentationspresentations meaningful

• Close your presentation through a brief but purposeful interaction with you audience.

• Ask the audience what they could do (for their company, family or community) based on their learning.

• Let participants demonstrate a new skill from the lesson.

• Encourage participants to make a journal of what they have learned.

• Ask them to share what they have learned with a partner, a small group, or with the rest of the company.

• Relate the learning to a larger pattern of understanding.

• Ask participants to draw some conclusions from the lessons learned and have them cite its relevance to their lives.

• Thank each participant for having volunteered to share, demonstrate or otherwise contributed to the closing of the presentation.

Dra wing out a sense of achievement

People feel good when they know they’ve achieved something. Let them savor that heady feeling by:

• Letting them discuss what they have learned.

• Providing time for reflection and letting them share their learning with their peers.

• Checking their actual learning against their own expectations determined at the start of the presentation.

• Allowing participants to demonstrate their learning to another.

• Conducting a mock quiz.

• Reviewing the participants on what they have learned.

A Few Lastast Words …

It is my hope that we have dispelled the illusion that one has to be a born speaker in order to be effective in any public discourse.

But reading the “what’s” and “what-not’s” of effective presentations is not instant assurance that you will make a great speaker. Speaking before groups is not easy and it does take special training or skill development. It is much the same as learning the tools needed to operate a business. Speaking is like any learned skill. It takes time and practice.

It’s not about being perfect. We don’t recall ever seeing or giving a great presentation that was absolutely perfect.

The challenge is to continue to blaze forth with a deep, heartfelt belief in our topic by espousing individual learning styles and multiple intelligences through unconventional teaching interventions.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. Learn to see the funny side of things, and learn to communicate it to your audience. Humor is important because it keeps your audience tuned into your message. The more attentive they are, the more they will retain.

You don’t have to be a comedian to be funny. Anyone can tell a joke. There are many other ways of getting a laugh. Dig deep into your pool of life experiences. Speak funny. Make enlargements of relevant funny cartoons. Use props. Have silly pledges or rituals. You are only limited by your imagination.

Use passion and laughter in your presentations. The biggest item that separates mediocre presenters from world class ones is the ability to connect with an audience in an honest and exciting way.

Inspiration, fun and play are not always what we make happen, but what we allow to happen. And it does. And that’s no joke.

Be yourself. Don’t hold back. Develop your own style. Famous speakers can lend guidance to your speaking style, but it is a mistake to attempt to emulate these individuals. Adapt your own style to the platform, speak conversationally and do not attempt a wholesale.

And finally, let’s stay committed to breaking down walls of ignorance, myth and complacency, and in their place helping build bridges of new knowledge, new structures, new processes, new ways of thinking, doing and being.

A PROSPEROUS 2012 TO EVERYONE.