Page 105 - Today’s Business Communication; A How-to Guide for the Modern Professional

94 TODAY’S BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

• Do NOT memorize. Memorization prevents you from
accomplishing number 6 above. Further, if you falter, it is
very difficult to recover if you have memorized a presentation.
Finally, if you memorize, you are less likely to sound conver-
sational.
• Demonstrate your magnetism. The ability to attract
money, people, and ideas is powerful, and it also helps your
credibility.
• Create potential. Show your audience what is possible. They
need to see the world you envision. Demonstrate the now
versus the future.
• Empower your audience. Show your audience how their
actions can have profoundly positive consequences. Give
them the tools and guidance they need to carry out your
ideas.
• Believe in yourself. Perfect practice makes perfect perfor-
mance. Any athlete who is any good at his or her sport is an
athlete who has done the same things over and over again,
perhaps thousands of times. When you put that level of effort
into your presentation, just like the athlete, you can’t help but
be confident.

Closing Well

You’ve heard them before: highly paid, very influential people ending a
presentation or speech with “thank you” or “are there any questions” or,
if he or she is a politician, “God bless America.” Well, just because people
use these closers doesn’t mean these are good closing statements. It’s just
like when you were a child and you wanted to do something that your
mother or father wouldn’t allow. You might have whined, “But everyone
else is doing it.” And your parent(s) may have responded, “If everyone
else were eating worms would you want them for dinner?” We hope you
answered no. So if all these important people end their presentations with
weak closing statements like the ones mentioned before, why do they do
it? There are at least two reasons. First, it’s not offensive. Second, it’s easy.
By now, however, you’ve probably come to realize that we aren’t big
proponents of easy. This entire chapter attempts to persuade you to make