Do you sparkle?

Not like a vampire in the Twilight series which is an abomination to vampire mythology.Vampires do not sparkle in the sun. They die.

I digress.

Back to your sparkle!

I have a friend, Rebecca, who owns an interior design company, Rivalee Design. She's not your average let's pick a color, buy some drapes and gut your bathroom type of a designer. She is a designer who believes changing your physical environment can transform your life.

I recently watched her give a presentation to a networking group about her business and what she does. By any standards the presentation was a good one. Well organized, clear message, great visuals and well delivered. However, this was a GREAT presentation. What transformed this presentation from a good presentation to a great one?

Sparkle.

Rebecca just sparkled as she gave her speech. She glowed. She shined. Whatever you want to call it, she was clearly sharing her joy.

As I looked around at the audience, they were all entranced by her presentation. They connected to her, the stories of her clients, and her mission. I'd bet my one of my cats that everyone left that room pumped up to recommend Rebecca's business.

At this point, you might think “Great, your friend sparkles in a non-vampire kind of way. What does that have to with me?”

Everything.

We can all sparkle.

Share your Passion

Speakers often struggle for what topic to speak on. Speak about something you care deeply about. This could be interior design, accounting,  your bobble head collection, or why Star Wars is way better than Star Trek (for the record Star Wars is WAY better). If you care (and I mean truly care not “Oh I gotta do this for work” care), it is easy to sparkle. The audience connects with you when they know how much you care. It draws them in and makes them excited for what you've got to offer! And boy, do you got a lot to offer!

Unbridle your Enthusiasm

Many times you are forced to do presentations that you don't care about. Giving the latest numbers from your TPS report might make it hard to get out of the bed in the morning to do the presentation. Dude, do I know what's this is like. For years, I worked in market research spouting off jawdroppingly boring statistics about how many millions of Americans eat bologna or endless bar charts on whether or not you should take the fiber out of whole-grain cereal (seriously).

It's was not my passion – not even in my top 30 of things I marginally like to discuss.  In order to liven up a research presentations I was doing, I told a personal story of how I connected to the topic. You can connect with cereal – who doesn't remember waking up to Smurf Berry Crunch in your bowl looking at Mom busily getting me ready for the day? My sugary cereal treat was an expression of my Mom's love. Cereal is love. Afterwards, people told me how much they loved the story because it turned dry, boring research into something human. Something that sparkles.

There is usually one if not more things about your presentation that you DO like about your talk. Find those moments and be enthusiastic about them. If there aren't those moments, create one.

Tell your Story

Stories have a fabulous way off connecting with an audience. People love to hear stories of triumph over tribulation. Rebecca tells stories about how redesigning her clients' homes dramatically impacted their life. Stories about clients being able to sleep through the night in a new bedroom to couples who relationships improved because they didn't have to fight over the color of the third bathroom. Stories with results shine, show impact, and build relationships with audiences.

What makes you sparkle? How can you transform a presentation to help you shine?

Let me know if I can help you sparkle, shine and glow.

Image courtesy of Clarism_4  licensed via creative commons.