How to Give an “EFFECTIVE” Presentation

Outline

• General Guidelines

• Slide Do’s and Don’ts

• Delivery Do’s and Don’ts

• Avoiding presentation mistakes

• Planning a perfect Presentation

• Final thoughts

Why are presentation skills important?

• Placements……………….most important

• Academia Conferences, Seminars, Teaching classes

• Industry (Way of Life) Training, Project Reports, Reports to Management Selling an idea, sales deal

• Other

Politics, fund raising, community service, etc.

The right image conveys trust. The wrong image conveys doubt.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

The way you look, smell, sound and move can determine the success of a first meeting.

Importance wanes after that, but never disappears.

1) Introduction2) Body3) Conclusion

A Presentation should have an …

•The introduction of the presentation is like the first impression .It should be good enough to hold the audiences interest. You need to build a relationship with the audience while giving the introduction.

• Some of the ways of starting the introduction are:• Story - a small story is a very good way of holding the

audiences interest and building a relationship with them.

• Question - Asking a pertinent question is another way of connecting with the audience and holding their attention. For example - How may people use a particular product? What is you favorite past time etc. and then connect it to the presentation.

Introduction

7

Cont…. Introduction

• Anecdotes - a real or imaginary incident to hold the audiences interest and connect it to the presentation's objective.

• Quotation or phrase- A quotation or phrase which explains the objective.-Example -Think Win-Win

• Pointing out to some facts/statistics-Example- do you know that Body language is responsible for 56 % of the message impact?

Body• This is the meat of the presentation and contains

the information facts, data to meet the objective of the presentation. For example, if you are making the presentation to show that a particular brand is better than the others. Show the functional superiority, performance tests, price advantage, better performance results etc. The information can be collected from the published material -newspapers, magazines, and studies talking to experts, surveys and Internet.

• The information can be organized in various ways• Sequential -In a particular sequence or order.

Conclusion

• Question & answer method

Ask questions and then give answers in the presentation

• Comparison & contrast

Compare the two or more solutions or products and contrast them (show their differences)

• Problem solving formulaExplain Causes, Possible solution and Actions

General Guidelines

• Purpose

You need to define your purpose for giving the presentation

Teach, Persuade, Prove, Review, Expository, Impress, Put to Sleep, Entertain?

Who?What?How?When?Where?Why?

Often your goal is a high level overview, even for a technical presentation

Don’t tell them everything you did, you’ll bore them

General Guidelines

• Organization

Always have an outline

Tell them what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them

Hint: I am doing this for this presentation

Problem then solution Not just “data then solution” or “solution

then problem”

General Guidelines

• Preparation An unprepared presenter loses the

audience before even starting Practice makes perfect and builds

confidence Arrive early, make sure everything is set

up Dress appropriately

Better to dress up than down

Slides should be done well in advance

General Guidelines

• Time Be sure you know how much time you have while

preparing the presentation Not 5 minutes before you start

It is better to end early than to go over Always have a watch or clock in view

You’ll never have enough time to tell everything so stick to the most important

Rule of thumb At most 1 slide per minute of presentation Better to plan 2 minutes for each slide

General Guidelines

• Audience Be sure you know your audience well

Tailor presentation to your audience Failure to do this is probably the biggest mistake people

make

Watch the audience for clues

Slide Do’s and Don’ts

• “PowerPoint doesn’t give presentations – PowerPoint makes slides” From microsoft.com website

• Your comments should be more compelling than the slides

• You shouldn’t put everything on the slide

Slide Do’s and Don’ts

• Do include 50% white space

• Do make it obvious which section of your outline you’re in

• Do make each slide stand on its own Generally 1 main point for each slide

• Do use animation Don’t overuse it

Makes it difficult and annoying to navigate

Slide Do’s and Don’ts

• Do include written conclusion for every graph Don’t forget to add meaningful labels, titles,

captions, etc. to graphsPerc

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IndustryAcademiaNoYesNoYes

100

80

60

40

20

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Percentage of People Needing Presentation Skills

Conclusion - It is important to learn presentation skills!

How we take in information during a presentation

Making the presentation memorable

Achieving your

objectives

Use visual aids where you can

Slide Do’s and Don’ts

• Don’t use yellow text Do use dark text and bold

• Do use formatting and color to emphasize

• Don’t include unrelated pictures

Slide Do’s and Don’ts

• Don’t do serif fonts (like Times New Roman)

• Do use sans serif fonts (like Arial)

or Tahoma

Slide Do’s and Don’ts

• Do chek yor speling for mestakes Typos instantly destroy credibility and convey

lack of preparation

Do have someone else read through presentation

• Do acknowledge previous work and help

• Do use a template if using PowerPoint

• Do put title slide at the end

Slide Do’s and Don’ts

• Do use a light background

Slide Do’s and Don’ts

• Don’t use a dark background Even if using a lighter font color

Harder to read, especially from the back

More likely to put people asleep

Handouts often don’t look very good

Slide Do’s and Don’ts

• Do use occasional “spice” or “pace breakers” Humor

Pictures

Sound

Animation

Questions (Not just Yes/No)

Surveys

Quizzes

Videos

Physical Objects

Top Ten Lists

Etc.

For example . . .A pace breaker can do this for your audience

Handouts

• Use them if they help achieve your objective Especially for technical presentations

Greatly increases retention

• Often best to pass out at the end You want to keep the audience engaged

Delivery Do’s and Don’ts

• Don’t read or “parrot” the slides Otherwise, why give a presentation?

• Do use the slides as a cue Let audience read

• Do use pointers sparingly They magnify nervousness

Create slides and use animation that emphasize your points

Delivery Do’s and Don’ts

• Do be passionate about the topic Have fun, this is your opportunity

If your audience doesn’t know why your topic is important, you’ve lost them

• Don’t forget to practice Record yourself, tape yourself, or use a mirror

Reading through slides does not count as practice

Delivery Do’s and Don’ts

• Do relax, use nerves to your advantage Breathe deeply, pause as needed

Don’t go too fast

• Do empty your pockets and hands

• Don’t point at computer, point at the screen

Delivery Do’s and Don’ts

• Do use body language to help make a point Purposeful movements

• Do use appropriate posture Don’t slouch

Sitting implies informality

• Do move around if possible Don’t pace

Don’t be hyperactive

Center yourself, rearrange setup if needed

BODY LANGUAGE

Your body communicates different impressions to the audience.

People Not Only Listen To You, They Also Watch You.

Throughout your presentation, display:

Eye contactFacial ExpressionsGesturesPosture and body orientationProximity

Delivery Do’s and Don’ts

• Do face audience more than slides Don’t talk to the screen or wall

• Do vary your voice Don’t speak in monotone

Most people speak too soft, not too loud

• Do memorize slide numbers for key slides Or transition points

• Do get honest feedback from someone you trust

THE VOICE

The voice is probably the most valuable tool of the presenter. It carries most of the content that the audience takes away. There are three main terms used for defining vocal qualities:

Pace

VolumeTone

Delivery Do’s and Don’ts

• Don’t forget to smile

Handling Questions

• Welcome them Lots of questions are either a sign of:

Interest in what you are talking about– Audience internalizing

Failure to communicate an idea– Meaning that the person still wants to

understand

• Always repeat the question

1. For you to make sure you understood it

2. For audience to make sure they heard it

Handling Questions

• Answer the question to the audience Then check back to the individual for

confirmation

• Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” Better than mumbling or fumbling an

answer

Avoid presentation mistakes

• Ignoring “What’s in it from me”

• Not practicing in front of a live audience

• Forgetting the main principle of public speaking

• Using too many visuals

• Not giving time to look at visuals before commenting on them

• Using font that is too small

• Using bad color combination

• Speaking too fast

Plan a Perfect Presentation

• Know your Audience

• A strong Opening Statement or a Question

• Plan the content of presentation

• Use index cards

• Keep visuals simple

• Practice makes perfect

• Prepare questions and answers

Final thoughts

• Superior Presentation skill helps you win

• Effective presentation skill is the mark of a leader

• Presentation skills is not a talent- it is a skill

• The purpose of business presentation is to sell an idea or product- It is not the facts that sell, it is the presentation.....