Our conversation was about everyday trends that are changing face of business. We also talked about countless number of business owners, sales people, managers and entrepreneurs who choose to live in place of “business as usual” without fully understanding how important impact of trends are on our economy.

Think about some of trends that have impacted virtually everyone you know. Years ago, with introduction of ATMs many people were either hesitant to use them or immediately understood power and benefit that came with ease of use. No doubt, they changed face of banking forever.

Actually, I hold designation as very first user of ATM in front of Bank of America branch in a small town along Russian River I lived in until 1991. To this day I remember what an exciting moment that was for me and bank personnel. You can tell, sometimes I am easily amused and entertained. And yet, for town this was a really big deal. It was a turning point.

Since first being introduced, ATMs became as common as VCRs, cassette players, and heated curlers. As with all of items mentioned, including ATMs, each has been phased out by more progressive items and ways of doing business. VCRs to DVD players, cassette players to CD players, heated curlers to curling irons or hair styles that don’t require curling. ATM machines are making way to debit cards and Internet banking.

Have you given thought to trends that are impacting way you do business? It never ceases to amaze me how many home based and small business owners don’t give this much thought. Or, even if they know something is looming overhead, they pretend it doesn’t exist.

Every one of us has ability to be truly great as a presenter. There is nothing particularly special about people who stand out as brilliant. However, average presenter is usually holding themselves back, doing things which prevent them from being good.

At every training course run by The Presentation Business we spend some time debating what makes a great presenter. This inevitably leads to a discussion of what bad presenters do wrong. Having kept a record of what these sessions considered I have been able to produce a definitive list of what to do to make your presentations great.

The overwhelming conclusion of all these discussions is: content is NOT important. Of hundreds of people who have debated what makes a great presenter not a single person has mentioned value of content. Your audiences are likely to think in just same way. They are NOT interested in what you are saying, but way you are saying it. If you say it well, that appears to make content interesting. But what this means is, if you concentrate your planning and preparation on content, you are likely only to be average.

The most important factor for great presenters according to our discussions is that they make a personal connection to every member of audience. This means lots of eye contact, liberal use of words ‘I’ and ‘you, and that everything you deliver is done form audience’s perspective. This means you need to know a great deal about your audience in advance so you can do this.

The connection you make between yourself and your audience seems to be enhanced by widespread use of examples. Our discussions at training courses show that your audience expects you to ‘show’ rather than ‘tell’. In other words, you don’t need to give them ‘messages’ and ‘content’; instead you need to give them lots of examples and they will work out message for themselves.

A further element of this aspect of being a great presenter is that these examples should always include you. Your audience wants to know about your thoughts, your feelings and your opinions. They want to share your experiences. If all you deliver is content, this does not help your audience. They could get your content from a book, a web site or some other non human contact. The fact that you are presenting to them means your audience wants to hear from you personally.