Business Presentation Skills Training & Courses

Your organisation’s success is directly related to your people’s ability to communicate ideas effectively. To engage and influence – confidently, persuasively, and consistently.

And of course these ideas are often communicated through a presentation, delivered in a room or virtually.

Communication is no longer a ‘soft’ skill, but a crucial edge in business. If your people can communicate in ways that grab – and hold – attention, they will stand out in a sea of dull, long-winded or unclear presentations: whether they are delivering to an internal or external audience.

To gain attention for the right reasons, there need to be various elements successfully in place – and these elements usually apply even with less dynamic presentations like a status update. Let’s look at a presentation from an audience’s perspective:

And how are we judged as a presenter?

We’re judged on these factors – or lack of them – and more:

• Confidence levels
• Clarity
• Connection capacity
  
• Engagement ability
• Influencing and persuasive skills

If you lack confidence (or seem to): this can be seen as lacking confidence in your knowledge level, content, offer or service. And you may not be considered ready for promotion, hiring, or worth listening to. This is harsh – but we know it can be true.

If you’re not clear: this is – clearly – a major problem! And it’s remarkably common. A lot of effective business presentation skills training and coaching is about creating or building clarity.

If you don’t build connection by resonating at some level with your audience, you may fail in your presentation goals. And interestingly, this can happen when presenters are too confident, as well as when they’re lacking in this area. 

If you don’t engage effectively: your audience will be disconnected, confused or bored. Even threatened by your presentation if they don’t understand it: humans don’t like to feel stupid or ‘behind’ in understanding. Particularly in front of others.

If you don’t influence and persuade in the right ways: well, this is obvious. You miss opportunities. And sometimes, an opportunity may only come along once.

My business presentation skills training involves any or all of the above elements. The Accelerated Speaking Results model is a clear way to show the 5 levels of training and coaching available:

The training can be pitched at any level of the Accelerated staircase above: foundational,  transitional or advanced skills. Or it can be customised as a combination of all three levels; the choice is yours.

It can therefore apply to frontline teams, managers, supervisors and team leaders, right up to executive and board level.

Internal examples: 

• Different departments needing to clearly communicate, to enable your organisation to deliver its best work. 
• Project updates
• Town halls
• Monthly sales meetings
• Team or supplier briefings

External examples: 

• Client presentations: for example, talking clearly and succinctly through the reasons and decisions made or suggested to clients.

You receive customised, practical, interactive and enjoyable sessions, with the goal of permanently embedding new strategies and skills which will transform your people’s ability to create and deliver great presentations.

Participants bring along work-specific content, which is then workshopped during the sessions. It’s exceptionally practical, fast paced, fun and tailored for participant needs.

Everyone has the opportunity to deliver in some capacity, depending on the numbers and format chosen. And participants receive safe, individualised, constructive feedback. Videotaping is also available depending on group size.

Location and delivery

The training can be delivered face-to-face, hybrid (in room/online) and fully virtual.

Course and workshop length options

The training can be run over anything from 2 hours to 2 days.

Participant numbers

3 – 100+ depending on the type of sessions chosen.

1. Speaking habits

These are crucial because any habit that isn’t conscious will potentially make the speaker look either not self-aware, or nervous. Neither will build credibility and authority in the eyes of an audience.

There may be unconscious or unhelpful habits or biases around visual, vocal or verbal elements such as gestures, ‘filler’ words, powerless word choices, vocal cues and triggers.

Learn evidence-based, tested tools for these habits – what to add, tweak or drop.

2. Engagement and connection tools and pitfalls like:

• Top ‘filters’ that kill listener engagement
• Stories or case studies that really work
• My ‘Circles of Speaking Disconnection’ and what to do about them
• How to read the room, and adjust style if required

And everything learned will still allow ‘realness’ and authenticity.

Delivery and preparation skills to demonstrate clarity and presence.

Working effectively with slides or visuals.

Flexible, effective structures and frameworks for clarity, impact and influence.

Sharp, succinct and refined language and key messages.

Specific techniques to build trust and authority fast.

Managing questions or different/difficult audiences.

Audience engagement and ability to retain information.

To look at just some of the organisations Sarah’s worked with over the past 14 years, and real testimonials about her corporate public speaking and presentation courses, check out the Client Results page.

So, to improve the skills of your people, permanently and easily, get in touch with Sarah to discuss how she can help by designing and delivering the best business presentation skills training option for your organisation.