Working into a business requires managers and most employees to make presentations. The real challenge is to make them relevant, time efficient and hopefully enjoyable for the participants.
Their frequency could be occasional, frequent or with a repeating schedule.
Some presentations might be risky, with significant effect on one's career, driving success or failure. We might enjoy the challenge of public speaking, or suffer while preparing and attending the experience. Multiple variables have to be taken into consideration, such as the goal, the context, the culture of the audience, the "way they do it", and many others. Your delivery must be appropriate to the audience's knowledge and abilities.
A successful presentation is the result of attentive preparation and the ability to manage multiple variables and conditions around it. Further to it good preparation is the key to confidence, which is the key to you being relaxed.
Years ago, as a consultant, I had the chance of writing tutorials and train people about meeting management and presentation techniques.
We often see articles on the Internet about public speaking tips and tricks and how to give the best presentation of our life in front of a crowd. More often than not the corporate reality is different: we stay in a tiny room with well known colleagues or clients, trying to do our best to keep their interest as high as possible and fight against the emails flow on their smartphones and laptops, sometimes trying to get feedback from them.
Remember that you make a presentation for a purpose. The format and purpose of presentations can be different, for example: oral (spoken), multimedia (using various media - visuals, audio, etc), powerpoint presentations, short impromptu presentations, long planned presentations, educational or training sessions, lectures, and more.
The common goal of these formats and supporting techniques is to communicate in an ordered way, making an effective presentation the result of proper management of all the following aspects:
Here is a summary list that we should always keep in front of us, as reference and guidance, of what we can consider true presentational strengths:
Based on my professional experience, with the help of the reference sources I pointed at the end of this article and several secondary resources on the Internet, below I go deeper into the different aspects of presenting.
You could use such best practices together from top to bottom or just take whatever you need, use it as a check list, or as a reminder to reflect on your own way of acting when getting ready for a presentation.
Enjoy.
You must create a strong introduction and a strong close.
For further tips on presentation styles: Making presentations in the TED style
To efficiently do that you can follow the WISE OWL path:
Your conclusion should give the audience a sense of closure. You might return to your “hook,” pose questions for further discussion, or suggest future inquiries.
For examples of different kind of presentations check out: TED.com
The less nervousness you will experience and the more residual energy you will have to devote to the presentation itself. When it comes to presenting, nerves are inevitable. Letting them get the better of you is not. By controlling as much of the uncertainly as you can, you increase your confidence in your ability to deliver an excellent presentation.
Their frequency could be occasional, frequent or with a repeating schedule.
Some presentations might be risky, with significant effect on one's career, driving success or failure. We might enjoy the challenge of public speaking, or suffer while preparing and attending the experience. Multiple variables have to be taken into consideration, such as the goal, the context, the culture of the audience, the "way they do it", and many others. Your delivery must be appropriate to the audience's knowledge and abilities.
A successful presentation is the result of attentive preparation and the ability to manage multiple variables and conditions around it. Further to it good preparation is the key to confidence, which is the key to you being relaxed.
Years ago, as a consultant, I had the chance of writing tutorials and train people about meeting management and presentation techniques.
We often see articles on the Internet about public speaking tips and tricks and how to give the best presentation of our life in front of a crowd. More often than not the corporate reality is different: we stay in a tiny room with well known colleagues or clients, trying to do our best to keep their interest as high as possible and fight against the emails flow on their smartphones and laptops, sometimes trying to get feedback from them.
Remember that you make a presentation for a purpose. The format and purpose of presentations can be different, for example: oral (spoken), multimedia (using various media - visuals, audio, etc), powerpoint presentations, short impromptu presentations, long planned presentations, educational or training sessions, lectures, and more.
The common goal of these formats and supporting techniques is to communicate in an ordered way, making an effective presentation the result of proper management of all the following aspects:
- Organisation
- Relevancy
- Body language
- Voice
- Use of evidence
- Effectiveness: provide the right and useful content
and avoid overloading slides with information and figures.
"If the only tool in your toolbox is a hammer you'll treat everything as a nail." (Abraham Maslow). So don't just speak at people. Give them a variety of content, and different methods of delivery - and activities too if possible.
"Don't tell me, show it!" has to be our mantra. Today, in the era of Big Data, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and amazing tools for data visualisation, the use of visual aids is key. Our goals in using visual aids should be:
"If the only tool in your toolbox is a hammer you'll treat everything as a nail." (Abraham Maslow). So don't just speak at people. Give them a variety of content, and different methods of delivery - and activities too if possible.
"Don't tell me, show it!" has to be our mantra. Today, in the era of Big Data, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and amazing tools for data visualisation, the use of visual aids is key. Our goals in using visual aids should be:
- reinforce key points
- clearify meaning
- aid retention
- keep your audience awake :D
- Clear structure
- Appropriate content
- Interesting delivery
- Good illustrations of points
- Audibility and visibility
- Awareness of audience reaction
- Keeping to time
Based on my professional experience, with the help of the reference sources I pointed at the end of this article and several secondary resources on the Internet, below I go deeper into the different aspects of presenting.
You could use such best practices together from top to bottom or just take whatever you need, use it as a check list, or as a reminder to reflect on your own way of acting when getting ready for a presentation.
Enjoy.
Structuring
A presentation should usually have three main parts:- Tell the audience what you are going to say, what you're going to speak about and what your purpose is = Introduction
- Say it! = Main part
- Tell them what you said! = Conclusion
You must create a strong introduction and a strong close.
For further tips on presentation styles: Making presentations in the TED style
Opening - Introductory Section
Providing a great first impression is key and the first step to a presentation success: Introduce yourself, explain your objectives, say how long you will be presenting, indicate the main points of the presentation and how you will structure these.To efficiently do that you can follow the WISE OWL path:
- Welcome attendees and thank them for their time
- Introduce yourself
- Say what the topic is
- Explain why your topic is relevant for your audience, why is it important for them?
- Outline the structure of your talk
- What comes when: say when you will be dealing with each point
- Let the audience know how you are organising the presentation (handouts, questions, etc.)
Getting attention
Letting people to care about the topic of your presentation could be a challenge itself: fighting against social media and email on smartphones is war. You can use the following techniques to address attention on to your presentation:
- Ask rhetorical questions
- Start with an interesting fact
- Tell them a story or anecdote
Beware that the success of using them depends on several variables, especially your audience's culture. A joke that might works for Americans could not work for Indians, South Africans or Italians. Always better to customize such kind of strategies for your audience.
The body - Main Section
In the main part you should clarify the problem or topic that you are addressing:
- what are the significant factors in both situation and environment, and the evidence that change in needed?
- What was your remit, and how did you go about the work on which you are reporting?
You have to make clear what you are recommending and why.
Here are some tips to keep order in your main section for your "BEST SHOT" during the presentation:
Here are some tips to keep order in your main section for your "BEST SHOT" during the presentation:
- Briefly state your topic again
- Explain your objective(s)
- Signal the beginning of each part
- Talk about your topic
- Signal the end of each part
- Highlight the main points
- Outline the main ideas in bullet-points form
- Tell listeners you have reached the end of the main part
Break the content into sections / chunks so that no single item takes longer than few minutes. Between each item try to inject something amusing, remarkable or spicy - pictures, quotes, audience interaction - anything to break it up and keep people attentive. Be careful while presenting of your audience dynamics and be ready to improvise and interact with them.
Staying too long on the same subject in the same mode of delivery will send people into the MEGO state (My Eyes Glaze Over).
Why should people be interested if your proposition is no different to your competition?
You must try to emphasise what makes your service / idea / proposal /whatever special.
The Rule of Six
We might be ahead of technology but the truth is that Powerpoint still rules. When presenting text on overheads or Powerpoint slides, it is a good idea to use the Rule of Six which means:
- A maximum of six lines per slide
- A maximum of six words per line
- A maximum of six rows or six columns of data if you are using tables in your slides
- Keep your discussion of each slide to six minutes or less
The Rule of Three
A simple approach is to have three main sections. Each section has three sub-sections. Each of these can have three sub-sections, and so on. A 30 minute presentation is unlikely to need more than three sections, with three sub-sections each.
If you stick with these rules, you will not risk overloading your bullet charts with too much information. Other useful tips related to visual aids: visual aids ideas for presentations, training courses design and public speaking
Signposting
You have to signpost to highlight the presentation’s organization and major ideas for the audience. Use marking words (first, next, last, in sum, therefore etc.) or entire phrases (The most important thing to understand about X is…).
Once you start using signposting, you realise soon how important it is, especially to help the audience to follow the path or your thoughts and points you are making.
Once you start using signposting, you realise soon how important it is, especially to help the audience to follow the path or your thoughts and points you are making.
Conclusion
Remind your audience of the arguments you made by restating them. Follow the review with a restatement of your thesis so that the audience is left with a clear understanding of how your evidence supports your thesis.Your conclusion should give the audience a sense of closure. You might return to your “hook,” pose questions for further discussion, or suggest future inquiries.
For examples of different kind of presentations check out: TED.com
Dealing with Nerves
Below I quote some brilliant tools and advice taken from Managing Presentation Nerves, How to Calm Your Stage Fright, Mindtools that I consider the pocket bible of dealing with nerves.The less nervousness you will experience and the more residual energy you will have to devote to the presentation itself. When it comes to presenting, nerves are inevitable. Letting them get the better of you is not. By controlling as much of the uncertainly as you can, you increase your confidence in your ability to deliver an excellent presentation.
- Know Your Material: Nothing is worse for nerves than trying to give a presentation on a topic you are not well prepared for.
- Prepare well: The more uncertain you are, the more nervous you will be
- Learn to relax:
- Practice deep breathing
- Drink water
- Smile
- Use visualization techniques
- Massage your forehead
- Before you start talking, pause, make eye contact, and smile
- Speak more slowly than you would in a conversation
- Move around during your presentation
- Stop thinking about yourself
- Check out the room
- Know your audience: Consult your audience before your presentation. The more confident you are that you are presenting them with useful and interesting material for them, the less nervous you will be overall.
- Concentrate on the message
- Visualize success
- Structure your presentation so that you give yourself clues of what is coming next:
- Have a set of key phrases listed on a cue card;
- Refer to these phrases to trigger your mind as to what is coming up next;
- If you're using slides, use these key phrases in your transitions.
Practice
- Try videotaping yourself. You will see what you look like to others and then you can make a plan to change the things that need changing.
- Use an audio recording device to listen to how you speak, your tone and your speed, and adjust appropriately.
- Prepare for large speaking events by practicing with a smaller audience first.
- Be aware of your body language and remember what advice you got from your friend on your practice run. You are the most powerful visual aid of all, so use your body movement and position well. Don't stand in front of the screen when the projector is on.
Prepare
- Decide what you are going to wear - make it comfortable and appropriate
- Arrive early and get your equipment set up
- Anticipate problems and have backups and contingencies in place
- If possible, give everything one last run through in the real environment
- Prepare responses to anticipated questions. Try to think like that one person in the front row who always tries to trip the presenter up.
References
- S. Cameron, "The MBA Handbook", 7th Edition, Pearson Education
- English for Business Presentations course, Witswatersrand University, Johannesburg, 2010
- Visual Aids and Props Ideas, Businessballs: https://www.businessballs.com/facilitation-workshops-and-training/visual-aids-and-props-ideas/
- Presentation Skills and Techniques, Businessballs: https://www.businessballs.com/communication-skills/presentation-skills-and-techniques/
- The Quick and Dirty Guide to Creating a Winning Pitch Deck
https://medium.com/swlh/the-quick-and-dirty-guide-to-creating-a-winning-pitch-deck-b4f88e106f5b - Planning an effective presentation, University of Leichester, https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/all-resources/presentations/planning-presentation
- S. Maier,C Black, In Any Event: Top Tips on Managing any Corporate Event, 2012, https://books.google.it/books?id=-qs1nGaUFVkC
- Managing Presentation Nerves, How to Calm Your Stage Fright, Mindtools - https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/PresentationNerves.htm
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