Physicians wishing to move into non-clinical positions, whether in a healthcare setting or in other industries, such as biotech, pharmaceutical, advertising, or other industries, must be able to give effective presentations. Physicians wishing to launch substantial business ventures must also be able to give great presentations to a variety of stake holders, such as employees, business associates, potential joint venture partners, potential funding sources, and others.
In addition, giving lectures and presentations helps increase one’s visibility and strengthen one’s brand, which is important in every situation.
Delivering effective presentations is a critical technique that must be mastered if one wants to be a powerful persuader. Effective presentations are at the heart of “excellent communication skills” that so many advertisements list as a requirement for employment. Did you ever know a leader or senior manager who never had to give an important presentation? You just don’t get to the top without possessing this skill. The better you are at giving effective and even inspiring presentations, the faster and farther your career will go. Overall, it is not difficult to give average or standard presentations. With a little more effort, and a lot more practice, becoming an excellent speaker is well within the reach of most physicians. Using the right technology can also be a critical success factor (CSF).
Experts say that the success of a presentation depends mostly on the presentation of a topic. Less than 10 percent depends on the actual words spoken. That means that how you look, your level of confidence as perceived by the audience, your tone of voice, rate of speech, body language, enthusiasm, organization of material, concern for the audience, quality of your slides, and so forth are far more important than what you actually say. Keep this in mind as you prepare for your presentation.
Although one of my mentors, Tom Antion, who is a very successful speaker and Internet marketer, hates Microsoft’s PowerPoint, it is in fact the standard program used for most presentations. A huge portion of our brains is linked to visual input. Because of this, the visual portion of one’s presentation is incredibly important. How one looks and what your slides look like are key elements in the overall success of one’s presentation.
Both simplicity and elegance of your slides are important. In terms of simplicity, a general rule of thumb is to use no more than five lines, and five words per line on each slide. Incorporate graphics, symbols, pictures and color for variety–just don’t overdo it. Don’t use more than two or three colors, for example. Be consistent with colors and format from slide to slide.
In terms of elegance, there is a software program called Power Plugs for PowerPoint you can use that will definitely separate you from the competition, and there are always competitors. I have used this suite of programs for more than five years. Using it allows you to add quality and excitement to all of your PowerPoint presentations, and definitely sets you apart from all the other presentations and presenters. Without going into all of the details, the Power Plugs suite includes:
1. Transitions between slides. There are hundreds of these transitions, which add sophisticated television-style 3D slide effects to your presentations. Its stunning visual effects and realistic, synchronized sounds keep your audiences’ attention and make your message more memorable. The easy-to-use software plugs directly into PowerPoint, enabling you to add 3D animated transitions right from the Slide Show menu.
2. Slide templates: There are thousands of stunning and unique backgrounds to choose from.
3. Video backgrounds: Add incredible, television-quality full-screen moving backgrounds to PowerPoint presentations with just 3 clicks!
4. Pictures: includes many unique pictures, which are not copyrighted, that can easily be placed into your presentations.
5. Animation: includes many unique animations that can easily be placed into your presentations.
6. 3-D Titles: there are dozens of eye-popping three-dimensional title slides that you can adapt to your presentation.
7. Flash-ready: this module allows you to add flash graphics.
8. Music: there is another module that has hundreds of music clips, which are not copyrighted, that you can add.
We all like surprises. Using Power Plugs in your PowerPoint presentations will stun your audience with your unique slide background, television-quality slide transitions, 3-D titles, and other elements you choose to add.
If you want to differentiate yourself, be different. Do something out of the ordinary. Don’t give another traditional, average, run-of-the-mill presentation. Give a surprising, impactful, memorable presentation. Check out Power Plugs and other useful information at www.thedoctorzone.com [http://www.thedoctorzone.com].