Remember how great it was when you finished building your signature presentation? You probably exhaled a big sigh of relief, and maybe even let loose with a “Yippee!” And why not? You were finally ready to start sharing your expertise.
Fast forward two or three years and things continue to go well. You’re still getting great comments and feedback from your talk, still getting invited to speak, and still booking follow-up conversations… which means there’s nothing wrong with your signature talk… which means you don’t need to change anything. Right? Weeeeell… let me start by saying that I am a big fan of not trying to fix things that aren’t broken. But in the case of signature talks/presentations, there is another perspective to consider.
Everything is moving so fast these days it’s hard to keep up. Take “Threads” for example. It’s a new app/platform making big promises. Don’t worry, I’m not going to talk about Threads. I just used them as a good example of the challenge we face to keep up with what’s new.
Today’s article is about ways to refresh your presentations and talks, without interfering too much with what’s already working for both you and your audiences. We’ll start with staying up to date with what’s going on in your field of expertise, because nothing will disappoint an audience faster than finding out that they’re more up to date than you are!
Industry Trends: Are you reading the blogs and newsletters you subscribed to? Or are they accumulating in your inbox? Do you listen to and keep up with the influencers and thought leaders in your topic? Whether you agree with what’s new or not, incorporating current and relevant information, trends, thoughts, ideas, etc., into your talk is a “must-do” if you want people to think of you as a qualified expert who can help them solve their problem.
Conferences and Events: As speakers, it’s easy to think of conferences and events as speaking opportunities first. But you can learn a lot about what’s going on in your field when you attend. If traveling to an event doesn’t fit into your calendar, look for an online attendance option. You might also have the option of purchasing an online digital recording of the event you can watch on your own time. The downside to not attending in person is not being able to network with other attendees. This is why I encourage my clients to attend at least two in-person, and 2-4 hybrid events a year.
And now that your content’s refreshed and up to date, it’s time to consider the ways you’ve built engagement into your talk.
Audience Interaction and Engagement: There will always be new tech options for engaging with your audience. In person, if your audience has their cell phones, you can engage them with in-the-moment surveys, polls, and questionnaires. You can use those same interactive tools online too. Both in person and online, you can build them right into your talk. You can also use them on the fly to keep an audience engaged. But here’s the thing… new tools aren’t going to magically show up in your inbox!
Visual Aids: How does your PowerPoint look? Is the style outdated? Are your photos older than a flip-phone? How current are the stats you’re sharing? If you can’t answer those questions off the top of your head, it’s time to go online and check out how the leaders in your field and your peers are presenting themselves. Decide what you like and don’t like. Explore the easy free presentation-builder programs available online, and start updating your visual style and theme accordingly.
Let’s sum this up. The heavy lifting is behind you. You’ve created a talk you’re proud to deliver. That doesn’t change. This is simply about taking easy steps to update and refresh your signature presentation. Do this and your audiences will continue to accept you as the expert you truly are. Fair warning though, you may also find that the spark and excitement of getting out there and sharing your expertise has been refreshed too!