There are several ways you can demonstrate your services during your presentations.

For example, if you are a business coach, you could demonstrate coaching someone. If you are a voice coach, you could help someone improve their singing style.

 

Some Benefits of Demonstrating What You Do as Part of a Presentation

  • You provide value to both the attendee you are helping and the rest of the audience.
  • People get a chance to see you in action. If they relate to your service style, they might be more likely to hire you.
  • You challenge yourself by demonstrating your service in a new environment.

I recently started adding a demonstration component to my LinkedIn presentations, time permitting.

A typical demonstration consists of asking some attendees to allow me to provide a high-level critique of their LinkedIn profile. I’ve found that I can cover 3-5 sections of a person’s profile in about 5 minutes each.

 

Examples of How I Critique LinkedIn Profile Sections

  • Profile headline – Are there search terms that include the type of service you provide or the product you sell? Can I get an idea of the types of customers you serve and the skills you have?
  • About section – Does the beginning of the section grab my attention? Does this section give a sense of who you are as a person?
  • Top five skills – Are these listed just below the About section?
  • Experience section – Are there at least 3-4 skills associated with each position? Does the information in the position description clearly indicate your role in the company?
  • Skills section – Are the two displaying skills consistent with the information provided in the top five skills?
  • Recommendations section – Have you received at least two or three recommendations in the past year? Have you given at least two or three recommendations?

 

Process of Preparing to Provide These Critiques

If possible, I prefer to have the opportunity to review the profiles I’ll be critiquing before the speaking event.

In one recent scenario, I had a list of everyone who would be at the event. Since 20 people were attending, it took me about an hour to find their LinkedIn profiles and review them.

I made a few notes for each person to help jog my memory on the day of my presentation. Then I asked everyone there if they’d be willing for me to critique their profile. Not everyone was comfortable with me doing it.

For those open to having their profile critiqued, I put their names in a hat and drew out four names.

On other occasions, some of the leadership team for the group hosting my presentation let me know in advance that they wanted a critique.

Photo credit: Jonathan Castner of Jonathan Castner/Filmmaker and Photographer.

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel,Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 55 and up, to become more effective using social media, especially LinkedIn and Facebook. She works with business owners, business development professionals, business consultants, job seekers, and more – ranging from entrepreneurs to people in large corporations. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.