Advice from iconic speakers that will teach you about giving great talks

"It's not enough to be well-prepared and put together to deliver a good presentation or pitch. You've got to be a storyteller and capture your audience's imagination." -James Ontra, founder and CEO of Shufflrr.

Steve Jobs, Tony Robbins, Mary Barra and Ken Chenault- when it comes to contemporary speakers, these names go a step beyond celebrity speakers. They broke the mold, and have been studied endlessly in terms of how to motivate and influence an audience.

What are some of the key lessons professional speakers can learn from watching them?

While there can be books (and there are) written about each of these iconic speakers particular style, we want to get down to the wick as to why they were (and are) such effective speakers.

Inc.com, an American blog and which focused on growing companies, posted an article,  “What 4 Iconic Speakers Can Teach You About Delivering a Killer Presentation”, exploring some of the key lessons speakers can take away from watching Steve Jobs, Tony Robbins, Mary Barra and Ken Chenault. We’ve summarized the article visually, giving you three techniques to consider using in your next talk.

Steve Jobs

1. To give your presentations a story-driven Jobs-like impulse, use compelling anecdotes about your product or offer that tell the story of how it will be a game-changer.
2. Keep the focus of your story on you and your product. Jobs's minimalist style of dress, and his equally minimalist approach to product, advertising, and, yes, presentation slide-show design, all helped keep the focus on the experience users could have from Apple products.  
3. Think presentations as stories, think about what you want people to feel when they experience you, your company, and your product. Feelings move people to act, and the right story will help your audience connect feelings to your product.

Tony Robbins

1. Robbins has a unique ability to connect individually with his audience members. When he speaks, everyone in the room feels like he's speaking directly to them
2. To adopt this strategy, find a way to connect on an individual level with your audience
3. You might personalize and address an experience that's common in your industry, or tell a story that shows you understand your audience's specific needs, offering them something that fills those needs.

Mary Barra

1. Follow Barra’s lead by creating forums that allow you to be approachable by team members or audiences: Ask questions of them, or invite their questions, so that your presentations involve people.
2. By turning a presentation into a group effort, you can also share your success with your team or audience: They will feel the pride of success or the pain of failure along with you. 
3. Be yourself. Barra is candid and honest, and people love that authenticity. She's not afraid to ask when she needs feedback.

Ken Chenault

1. Don't make empty promises--always follow through and deliver on what you say. Chenault's presentations are powerful because his actions reinforce the values that he communicates.
2. Speak from a place of values: let your presentations be fueled by the things that you think are important.
3. Make your presentations effective by giving the audience a clear destination-Having a clear story that audiences can follow helps foster connection and understanding.

“What 4 Iconic Speakers Can Teach You About Delivering a Killer Presentation“ originally appeared on Inc.com in October, 2015.

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