I’m a bit unusual, I suppose, among presentation coaches, in that I spend more of my time standing on stage presenting than teaching people how to do it!

There are two reasons I spend so much time delivering presentations –

1. I love it

2. It’s the single most successful way I know to promote my business.

Let me repeat for the people at the back – it’s the single most successful way to promote my business.

This should matter to you too. Many people, even good presenters, will never love presenting, but everyone should be aware of the power of presentations for promoting yourself and your business – both internally and externally.

We live in a world where it’s hard to stand out. Most of us are similarly qualified, we have similar experiences, and our CVs are all beautifully presented and printed to a high standard. We’re pretty indistinguishable over email. It’s becoming harder and harder to be heard ‘above the noise’.

The one area where you can definitely stand out is in face-to-face presentations.

When you present, you get an almost unique opportunity to build trust – in you and your subject. You can, within the space of 30 minutes, come to be seen as the expert in an area. It’s the kind of trust and credibility that it often takes months or years to build in any other way.

Whether you want to enhance your profile within a company by holding a ‘lunch and learn’ or you’re looking to promote your business and gain more clients – get out in front of people and present. Find a topic that is useful to your potential audience and that you are knowledgeable in. You don’t have to be perfect – you just have to be more knowledgeable than your audience. We live in a busy world and most people won’t have had the time to look at your subject in the way you have. You’ll be amazed at how often your ‘simple truths’ will appear to be profound to your audience.

I remember two things from my first ever public presentation to promote my business. One is that everyone was making notes about everything – even the stuff I thought was so simple it almost wasn’t worth saying.

The second thing I remember is that I met three new clients that night, one of whom transformed my business.

In an increasingly digital world, people who can stand up in front of others and argue a case, or construct a compelling argument, bring clarity to something that was complicated, or help people see the world in a new way will become more and more valuable and trusted.

Don’t wait, life is short! Do it now – grab a subject, make some notes and (if you must) a few slides to illustrate your point. Go on, do it now, you’ll never regret it.

And do let me know how you get on.