Secret to Successfully Keeping your Audience Engaged

Sorrento Valley Fearless Speaking Guru Dana Bristol-Smith, executive director of Leap to Success, informs Hera Hub members her secret to successfully keeping your audience engaged.

Do you ever look at your audience and see people ready to nod off?  Do they have that far away, eyes glazed over look?  Are they just waiting for it to be over?

Let’s face it.  Many business presentations can bore people to tears.

A good presentation really should be a journey of discovery for your audience—one that they willingly take and don’t feel like hostages.

How can you take your presentation from complex and confusing to concise and clear?  Make sure your presentation answers these ten questions.

Does your presentation…

1. Have a clear beginning, middle and end?
2. Include an overview of what you’ll be covering?
3. Answer the question: Why is this information important to your audience?
4. Speak to your audiences’ level of knowledge-not from yours?
5. Have one main idea per slide?
6. Use font at least 18 pt and larger?
7. Provide charts (not spreadsheets) to illustrate historical data/projections?
8. Provide a summary as a conclusion?
9. Provide a call to action? (if you want your audience to do something)
10. Allow you to tell the story, not read from your slides?

Becoming a great communicator is no longer a skill that’s just nice to have.  It’s essential for success in any field.  Use these tips and you’ll be seen and heard as a leader who others look forward to learning from.

Want to hear more advice from intelligent entrepreneurial women? Check our Hera Hub’s blog!
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Felena is a long-time entrepreneur and marketing maven.  Her latest venture, Hera Hub, is a spa-inspired shared workspace for female entrepreneurs. This as-needed, flexible work and meeting space provides a productive environment for women who primarily work from home.  Hera Hub members have access to a professional space to meet with clients and to connect and collaborate with like-minded business owners, thus giving them the support they need to be prosperous.  Cost-effective monthly membership options are suited for freelancers, independent consultants, entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and authors.

Hera Hub is much more than just a shared workspace; it’s a community of like-minded entrepreneurial women who find the additional resources, such as special classes, workshops, and one-on-one support essential for their business growth. The first San Diego location is conveniently located in Sorrento Valley.  By the end of 2012 Hera Hub will have additional locations in Mission Valley & Carlsbad.

Felena is passionate about education, earning her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of San Diego and her MBA from California State University Dominguez Hills.  She taught Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and at California State University Dominguez Hills for the MBA online program for eight years. Felena was most recently rewarded for community efforts, as she was awarded the “Women Business Owner of the Year Award” by the local chapter of the National Organization of Women Business Owners.