Andrew Smyth’s Success Story after Presentation Skills Training with Michelle Bowden, presentation skills trainer. Improve your business presenting today!
Andrew is an Executive Manager in the lighting industry where he leads a team that is responsible for business performance through: sales performance, customer engagement and brand reputation. Andrew also holds a leadership role in Scouts Victoria. In all his roles advanced communication skills are essential.
What kind of presenting do you do at work?
– In my professional life I present to internal and external customers.
– I pitch and present proposals to external customers.
– I present at whole of organisation meetings about performance, leadership, management and strategy.
– I present to our Chairman and Board regarding performance, strategy and outlook.
– I meet with new sales team employees in a one on one meeting to share our strategy and expectations. Although these meetings are not formal, they certainly are a presentation as I am always conscious of the quality of that meeting. It’s crucial that all new employees feel they have absolutely made the right decision in joining our team.\
What prompted you to study with Michelle?
As a leadership team we were privileged to be invited to attend Michelle’s Masterclass by our Chairman and CEO who had identified the benefit of our Leadership Team attending the masterclass. Our whole Executive worked with Michelle to ensure that we know everything we needed to know to structure a compelling message.
How did Michelle's teaching change your attitude to presenting in business?
From the first moment we set eyes on Michelle she demonstrated the power of presentation. She’s awesome at walking her talk.
I realised that there’s a difference in the outcomes you achieve when you take the time to prepare instead of just walk in the room and start talking to a slide.
The power of really looking in your audience’s eyes and sharing a presentation so you are captivating became more and more obvious.
How have improved presentation skills have impacted on your job and your career in general?
I have increased confidence when presenting because I now understand how to be adequately prepared for every presentation.
I was invited recently to introduce a well-known Federal MP to a virtual parliament session with over 100 virtual guests an I took the opportunity in my stride.
In what specific ways have your presentation skills improved since learning with Michelle?
I have always wondered, “how do you train to be a master presenter or public speaker?”
Since completing the Virtual Presentation Skills Masterclass I now have both the clarity and the techniques/formulas to prepare an engaging and compelling script for any presentation. I know how to ensure the audience receives the value they deserve in return for attending my presentation.
I am much more mentally prepared for every opportunity that comes my way.
Like so many others in the business world I had learnt the mythology that presenting means putting a PowerPoint presentation together. Well now I know better! The first thing that was demonstrated by Michelle is that relying on your slides is not presenting! Presenting is all about serving your audience – it’s not rally about the slides, they are just an aid.
I now have clarity over the whole process that is required to deliver a persuasive presentation that flows naturally, captivates the audience and achieves the results I choose.
What were your top three takeaways from Michelle's teachings?
1. How to prepare my voice, body and mind before walking on stage to deliver maximum value to any audience.
2. How to structure a presentation to be effective with all audiences.
3. The PowerPoint comes last and contains simple visuals to support the presentation – it’s not ‘the presentation’!
Would you like to participate in our presentation skills training course?
We have a 25-year proven track record in developing people’s business presentation, public speaking and pitching skills. We will help YOU stand out for all the right reasons!
Master the art of public speaking and persuasive presenting in business with our life-changing public speaking training in Sydney LIVE and ONLINE via Zoom or MS Teams.
One presentation skills training course once is all you need. Become a more confident, engaging and persuasive business presenter & stay true to your natural style! We promise no hand holding, crying or videoing!
©2024 MICHELLE BOWDEN is an authority on persuasive presenting in business. She’s run her Persuasive Presentation Skills Masterclass over 1000 times for more than 13,000 people over the past 25 years and her name is a synonym for ‘presentation skills’ in Australia.
Michelle Bowden is a multi-million-dollar pitch coach to her client list that reads like a who’s who of international business: banking and finance, IT, pharmaceutical, retail, telecommunications plus many more.
Michelle is the creator of the Persuasion Smart Profile®, a world-first psychological assessment tool that reports on your persuasive strengths and weaknesses at work, the best-selling internationally published author of How to Present: the ultimate guide to presenting live and online (Wiley) and her new book is called How to Persuade: the skills you need to get what you want (Wiley).
