July 20168 By Naomi Simson, Founding Director, RedBalloon; Director, Redii.comIt can be daunting to present to a board, panel or even to your colleagues. You know your content and what you want to achieve, yet you somehow get lost for words. Most recently we saw what happened to Benjamin Habib on ABC News24 Breakfast - he described the incident in a follow up piece in the Sydney Morning Herald as an "excruciating, mortifying, devastating meltdown" - all on national TV.I understand why people fumble over their reports, or respond defensively when someone starts asking lots of questions they aren't prepared for; the stakes can be high and it can be stressful. However, sometimes all the knowledge in the world doesn't help us in that moment of critical presentation.So how do you make the most of your 10 minutes in the spotlight to influence those who you are presenting to?Let's Use the Board Room as an Example...One thing stands out the most: the importance of speaking the language of the business your board is directing. Often I'll find people giving too much attention to the detail without any focus on why those details matter in the bigger scheme of things - how they fit into `The Plan'. Boards are interested in strategy and, more importantly, how your area is delivering to that strategy. And what we want to know is why you've made the decisions you've made, and why and how you intend to fix, improve or focus on one thing over another. This means honing in on the value technology (as an example) is delivering to the business as a whole, not just to your department or a specific project. IT jargon is rarely going to impress your board. It might confuse them, it might annoy them - and it might also give them the impression that you aren't sure how your work fits into the big picture. So make a point of determining why you're reporting on the things you're choosing to report on...and speak their languageAvoiding the `Excruciating' Agony when the Mind goes Blank in a PresentationIN MY VIEWRedBalloon is an online experience gift retailer considered as the pioneer of experiential gifting in Australia and New Zealand Naomi Simson
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