Are your presentations advancing your career? Here are 7 presentation skills your boss wants you to master right away! 

Got an upcoming presentation on behalf of your organization? Here's some welcome news: your boss wants you to succeed as much as you yourself do!

And if he or she is sitting in the audience, that's doubly true.

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Two recent experiences reminded me of this link between what you're looking to achieve in a presentation, and what your boss is probably expecting.

In the first situation, the boss and the staff were on the same page. The second scenario was more problematic.

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Public Speaking Training for Effective Performances

If your boss has arranged to train you as part of a group, you'll most likely be on solid ground concerning what he or she is expecting. That was the case recently in the first of my two scenarios, when I trained a team of negotiators for a leading HMO.

Some of these executives were experienced presenters, and some weren't. The VP who hired me was clear with me and the team: she wanted them to know "how it's done" in terms of effective presentations. So the training was straightforward: equal parts spent on the rules for successful business presentations, and on how to be a dynamic speaker.

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Are You Delivering Solid Business Presentations?

In the other scenario, my client was really shooting in the dark. He was a new hire who had been wooed away from a very successful consultancy to join an emerging department in a real estate development company.

We worked for weeks to get him ready for his presentation: his debut in front of the entire staff of his new company. He ended up being blindsided, however. His new boss didn't look pleased during his talk. In fact, he took him aside afterwards and told him he didn't come across with the level of credibility and connection with the audience that the boss was looking for.

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I believe the point of these two stories is this: some bosses are good at explaining what they're looking for, and some aren't. Just as important, your boss may not consciously realize what they're expecting from you in your presentations, though they probably understand unconsciously what those things are.

So you may have to do some heavy lifting. Here's some help. Below are seven key "necessary's" to check off in your on-the-job appearances. (Bosses, you should definitely be paying attention here, too!)

7 Ways to Make Your Boss Happy With Your Talks

1. Achieve Rapport with Listeners

You always have the challenge of quickly opening up the channels of communication between you and your listeners. Audiences make judgments about you very quickly, so here's how to begin a presentation successfully within 60 seconds. Also, spend much less time preparing your content, and much more time getting comfortable talking to groups and leading them. 

2. Engage Public Speaking Audiences Immediately 

Listeners need to know at once that you're an interesting speaker and not an anesthetist. Avoid  openings that simply announce your topic, and the deadly "Today I've been asked to speak about . . ." gambit. Instead, know how to hook your audience with a great opener. Do this in two ways: 1) Give them something they weren't quite expecting, and 2) Show them you're bold enough to show some originality. 

3. Nail Down Your Credibility

What's your expertise on this topic? That, and "What's in it for me?" are every audience's key questions. Answer both of them early. If you're presenting to colleagues, clue them in that you have something important to say today. Otherwise, why should anybody listen? Here's another hint: give your full name and job title (or other credential) if you're speaking to strangers.  "Hi, I'm Marty!" does nothing for your credibility.

4. Display Total Confidence (Even If You Don't Feel It)

Your boss really needs you to come through here. A few years ago, a member of a large law firm came to me for coaching because the firm had lost out on being hired for a big case. The reason: this lawyer had been visibly nervous as the lead presenter with the firm's pitch. Nerves may show, especially when the boss is in the room. If you can't demonstrate complete confidence, work with a speech coach who will either engender that confidence in you or show you how to make your anxiety invisible.

5. Show that You Can Speak for Leadership.

Here's where you move up from the minors into the majors. Face it: your product or service isn't too different from that of your competitors. Clients and customers may want to work with you for many reasons. But these two are usually among them: they feel they have a relationship with you; and you're in complete command when you explain the things they need to know.

Interested in achieving command when you take the stage? Understand how to use nonverbal communication. Here are "Six Body Language Exercises for Public Speaking." 

6. Prove You Can Think on Your Feet

With enough prep and practice, anybody can give a pretty good presentation. But what about when unexpected questions, objections, and resistance arise? For instance, I call Q & A "The Forgotten Avenue of Audience Persuasion." Everyone, your boss included, understands that you can't know what's coming your way once the questions start. But he or she still wants you to demonstrate that you know how to handle pushback. Discover the answer in my Free Tips and Tricks Guide, How To Think on Your Feet: Two Exercises for Speaking Under Pressure. 

7. Move Your Audience to Action!

No one understands a "cut-to-the-chase" mentality like a boss. A presentation is a fast-closing window of opportunity, so you must achieve something lasting not only during your talk but after it's over. Therefore, don't think in terms of delivering content—think of activating listeners. What will lead them to take the action you want, tomorrow or six months from now? To get that to happen, get my Free resource, "How to Be a Clear, Concise, and Compelling Speaker."  

Now, go get 'em!