Contact: Joni Sullivan Baker, Buoyancy PR, 513-319-3231
MEDIA ADVISORY, Mar. 19 /Christian Newswire/ -- Take the lump out of your throat and the knock out of your knees by learning from an expert how to prepare for your next important presentation, whether at work, in a club -- or at church.
According to Tony Jeary, "Mr. Presentation(tm)," most Christians have never had any training in how to make some of the most important presentations in their life -- sharing their faith, teaching a Sunday School class, or welcoming first-time visitors to their church.
"I realized a long time ago that life is a series of presentations," Jeary says. "And if we effectively communicate the message of God's love to people we can have a profound impact on their lives."
Jeary, a nationally-known business communication expert and writer, coaches many of the world's top business leaders at major corporations to improve their presentation impact. He has written more than 20 books for the business market, including his signature business work, Life is a Series of Presentations, published by Simon & Schuster in 2004.
Now turning his attention to helping those in the church, in Jeary's newest book (Purpose-Filled Presentations, Standard Publishing, June 2009) he outlines Seven Steps to Effective Presentations. These practical steps will help anyone be more prepared and more confident in making a presentation. Here they are:
1. Clarify objectives -- Write out what you want to accomplish in the presentation and why each goal is important. Understanding the "why" will energize your efforts, boost your confidence and increase your effectiveness.
2. Define your audience -- You cannot reach your audience unless you understand who they are and how they think. Once you've gathered as much information as you can, remember that all people want to belong, to be respected, to be liked, to be safe, to succeed and to be inspired.
3. Gather content -- Keep your objectives in mind as you study and gather information for your presentation. Be sure to start with what the Bible says about the subject, and then keep your presentation practical and realistic.
4. Maximize preparation -- Prepare thoroughly in every way possible. Gather more information than you even will use, and outline the entire presentation. Jeary offers his Three-Dimensional Outline as a simple, yet powerful tool. The 3-D Outline(tm) doesn't simply include what you will say in what order, but also adds columns that note why you are presenting each point, and the methods you will use, as well as noting how long each section will take. Free templates for Jeary's 3-D Outline(tm) are available at www.PurposeFilledPresentations.com.
5. Open well -- Use the first two-three minutes to connect with your audience by showing respect and building rapport, and by opening with something that grabs their attention -- an interesting statistic, a compelling photograph, humor, or a comment about current events.
6. Engage your audience -- Remember that people will retain about 90 percent of what they say and do, and only 20 percent of what they hear. Involve the audience in the presentation through discussion, handouts, humor.
7. Close with action -- Find out whether you've connected with the audience by eliciting feedback about how they are going to put what they learned into action. Your call to action will bring your points and objectives together and give attendees a reason to be glad they spent time at your presentation.
Jeary will lead a workshop in Dallas on Saturday, March 21 at 10 a.m. demonstrating these seven principles at work. Using examples of eight major types of church presentations, volunteers will learn how to actively implement these strategies in their ministries. The workshop will be part of the Christian Book Expo, sponsored by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, held at the Dallas Convention Center. For registration information, contact www.christianbookexpo.com.
A complete discussion of the seven principles and use of the 3-D Outline(tm) in the preparing for presentations in a church setting is available in Purpose-Filled Presentations. This first-of-its-kind book will focus on successful presentation and communication skills specifically for the church environment.
For more information or to order the book, contact www.PurposeFilledPresentations.com or www.standardpub.com.
For more than 140 years, Standard Publishing has been raising the standard for true-to-the-Bible resources that educate, encourage and enrich. The company is based in Cincinnati, Ohio where it was founded in 1866. For more information, visit www.standardpub.com.
