This post shares Presentation Lessons from the pop/rock star Phil Collins.

You must have heard his song ‘In the Air Tonight.’

I have always liked it.

It is a great song that has featured in numerous places – a Cadbury’s TV advert, the Hangover film and TwinsthenewTrend on YouTube.

There is a vital lesson within the song that can help you with your next presentation.

A common problem with many presenters is that their performance dips a bit (or a lot) in the middle of the presentation.

When the speaker dips, so does the audience.

The two parties move in unison.

And in many cases, neither really recovers.

However, what if the speaker does not dip?

What if the speaker has a boost?

In theory, the audience will get a boost too.

This is where the presentation lesson from Phil Collins comes in.

The song is 5 minutes 36 seconds long.

At 3 minutes 41 seconds is the most fantastic drum solo.

Hear it once and never forget it.

(Take a moment at some point to see the reactions on TwinsthenewTrend on YouTube.)

What are you going to do in your presentation to stop the dip in the middle?

I assume a drum solo is not an option.

But there are many other options.

A wonderful story?

Something genuinely amusing?

Audience interaction?

A powerful image?

A practical demo?

A change of medium?

It can be anything that injects some pace and changes the dynamic.

This will have an impact on you and give you a real lift.

Which, in turn, will lift your audience too.

This momentum at the right time can carry you and the audience safely to the end of the presentation.

It also helps your motivation earlier in the presentation too – as you know there is something really good coming up.

This is highly unlikely to happen by accident.

Have a clear plan for what you will do and when you will do it.

Then implement that ‘beat drop’ moment with everything you have!