Most of us would admit to being anything from downright terrified to slightly apprehensive at the prospect of doing a presentation for colleagues or clients. We may try our best to avoid it, but there are some excellent reasons why the presentation may be the best format for you to put across your message:

1. It is personal the audience gets the opportunity to see and hear the presenter and this helps them to decide their reactions to the material. 2. They can ask questions and get immediate answers. 3. The interactive nature of the presentation means the presenter gets feedback from the audience and can tell if their offering needs some adjustment. 4. By being present in front of an audience, it helps you to sell your idea or product. 5. It is much more interesting than reading literature or information on a website.

Overall it is simply the most practical and dynamic way of getting your message across as clearly as possible.

So what are the benefits of a presentation?

1. It gives you the opportunity to educate and influence you may need the help of another part of the organisation or another company to reach your goals.

2. You can see for yourself what the reaction is to your news.

3. With luck you will gain their commitment to your project immediately, whether that is their cooperation, their resources or their financial backing.

4. You can sell your company and also yourself there is no better way to get into the spotlight than to stand up and do a presentation.

5. You get to have some impact!

In my experience, the benefits of doing a presentation vastly outweigh the time and effort you put into it. But the biggest benefit of all is that you no longer have a fear of doing presentations and can go on to get better and better!

Andy Britnell

Andy Britnell has worked as a professional musician, a cheesemonger and in hotels, including Claridges and the Savoy in London. He spent 15 years with BT, latterly designing and delivering international management, sales and graduate development programmes. He now lives in Cornwall, UK, where as well as enjoying the surf and the coastal footpath, he runs a training and coaching practice specialising in sales, customer service and personal development training for the private and public sectors. He is an accredited coach and trainer of the Insights Discovery System which is a model based on the pioneering personality profiling work of Carl Jung. Using colour as a common language for better understanding of self and others, it helps people operate and communicate more effectively. Andy gains great satisfaction from helping his clients to grow and learn, and from the rapid progress they make in their business and personal lives. He works constantly on his own development and practises Ki Aikido, the ancient Japanese art of working with energy.