There are two schools of thought when it comes to giving presentations: either you enjoy doing it and like being at the front of a room captivating your audience with compelling stories and great accompanying visuals or you absolutely hate it. I’ve yet to meet someone that is on the fence on the issue. I am fortunate that I fall into the former as opposed to the later category and attribute a lot of my love of and success with presenting to spending some time as a middles school teacher. In front of a group of pre-teens and teens you can’t exhibit fear, drift too far off message or risk being boring or you will lose the class. If any of you have lost a class full of students this age you know that it’s next to impossible to get them back.

I’ve posted previously (here and here) about presentation techniques and what I feel are the essential elements of good presentations and more importantly things to avoid when giving presentations. I guess some could say that I am extremely passionate about the topic and I constantly keep my eye out for good examples and new literature so I can keep my technique sharp and engaging. Among my favorites I count Cliff Atkinson’s Beyond Bullet Points, Garr Reynolds’ Presentation Zen, and Stephen Kosslyn’s Clear and to the Point among my absolute favorites.

Despite the wealth of great resources on presentations available, both in print and online, often it is helpful to see a great presenter in action to really understand what it takes to successfully engage an audience. Among my favorite presenters is Steve Jobs. Mr. Jobs simply has a special quality when it comes to capturing an audiences attention and delivering his key points. Another thing that he does especially well is that he sets a theme and uses his slides and his content to establish his context. It also doesn’t hurt that in my estimation he is a master showman. So what does he do that truly sets him apart from the rest? Bnet put together a 7-minute video overview of what makes Steve Jobs a such a stand-out presenter and believe it or not most of the tips we can all benefit from.

For those of you who don’t have the time to watch the video, the 15 most salient points are as follows:

1. Set a theme and stick to it.
2. Make your theme clear and consistent.
3. Create a headline that sets the direction for your presentation
4. Provide a verbal outline and then open and close each section with a clear transition.
5. Make it easy for your audience to follow you.
6. Demonstrate enthusiasm.
7. Sell an experience.
8. Make numbers and statistics meaningful.
9. Analogies help connect the dots for your audience.
10. Make it visual (and simple).
11. Paint a simple picture that doesn’t overwhelm.
12. Identify the most memorable point and tell people when you reach it.
13. Use the resources at your disposal to make the presentation pop.
14. Spend time to rehearse.
15. Give your audience a bonus at the end.

I think there are some great points in this video overview that we can all benefit from. But I also know it isn’t completely comprehensive or applicable to less austere events. I also know that the association-world has some stand out presenters so I’d love to hear your own thoughts and ideas. What do you do to dazzle your members or colleagues when you present? What can we learn from you? Share your tips, tricks and secrests below in the comments.