Karen Cross

Presentation Skills

Presentations in the Fashion Industry

• Being able to present your work in a clear, engaging and exciting manner will help the audience to understand and accept your ideas.

• Many roles within the fashion industry require us to be able to present and ‘sell’ our ideas.

Presentations

•The way we speak, stand and move all have an impact on how the audience receives and understands information…

What makes an effective presenter?

• Upright and confident body language

• A sincere, authoritative and powerful voice

• Terrific mastery of subject

• Self-confident attitude

• Feeling of being totally ‘rehearsed’ and ready to go

(Etherington 2006)

F.E.A.R.

Fictitious Events Appearing Real

• One presenter who feared giving presentations to businessmen in suits started to imagine them all wearing scruffy jeans...

How do you see your audience?

• Some presenters imagine their audience naked, or wearing party hats… or as children in high chairs - anything to make them less intimidating!

A confident approach…

The mind is a powerful tool!

• Don’t think about how much you are dreading giving a presentation… instead imagine yourself giving a successful presentation...

What makes a good presentation?

•Original… animated… memorable… audible… clear visual aids… provocative opening… concise ‘call-to-action’ summing up… excellent Q & A… unexpectedly powerful conclusion

(Etherington 2006)

Retention of information – a good start

• 80% of people tend to remember the first few words they read or hear ie:

what happens at the start of a presentation.

• Psychologists refer to this as ‘primacy’.

• So the opening of a presentation should have something more than...

Opening

‘Good morning.

Today we are going to talk about…’

BORING!

Opening

• One way to grab the audience’s attention is ‘the ask opening’:

‘Good morning… before I begin there is something I would like to ask you…

How many silkworms are needed to make a silk blouse?

(pause for 10 seconds before answering…)

The provocative opening…

• Saying or showing the audience something they weren’t expecting is another good way to get attention.

• Take care with jokes… they are often not cross-cultural, and rely on delivery and timing as much as content.

Too much information

• Humans are very bad at absorbing and making sense of lots of information in a very short timescale.

• Focus on three key points.

• Translate your points into your audience’s language (avoid jargon).

Retention of information

Retention of information Retention of information Retention of information

• Human brains tend to remember things which

are repeated • Human beings learn by doing things over and

over again • Good presenters repeat the same words and

phrases constantly

‘a picture is worth a thousand words’

• Our dominant sense is sight

• followed by sound,

• then smell

• Studies have shown that using images to reinforce a point makes a massive difference to memory retention.

Unusual emphasis

• Human brains love unexpected and unusual things and tend to remember them...

• Find creative ways to make your points

Connectivity

Human brains tend to focus on words and phrases which are connected:

‘The island of Great Britain is awash with a tidal wave of fast fashion which, while keeping the economy afloat, leaves the ethical consumer with a sinking feeling.’

Tell me a story

• Human brains love a story. Storytelling is one of the most common and popular features of all global cultures. Anecdotes and real life examples will help your message to be remembered.

• Place a story in the middle of your presentation, when the audience’s attention begins to dip…

What makes a good story…?

• Human interest

• Drama or emotion

• A goal or objective

• Reference to time

• Words to invoke mental images

• Good use of pauses to create tension

• A message related to your ‘point’

Retention of information – Fantastic Finale!

THE END

• Most people will also retain/recall what happens at the end of a presentation.

• Psychologists refer to this as ‘recency’.

Closing

‘Finally, in conclusion, I would like to say this…’

• A good basic close should have 3 parts:

1. Summary of the main points

2. Concise structure

3. Call to action – what do you want your audience to do next?

Any Questions?

• Take control of the end of your presentation!

‘What questions do you have?’

This phrase sounds much stronger and more confident than, ‘do you have any questions?’

Bring the question session to a close by repeating your summary and call to action

again…

‘Let me emphasize once again…’

P.P.P.P.P.P

Prior preparation prevents pathetically poor performance!

• Your slide show is NOT your presentation; YOU are your presentation

• Preparation and rehearsal eliminate 75% of nerves

Alert, Alarm, Attract & Activate your Audience!

• When are you going to rehearse?

• How will you enthuse?

• Where are your pictures?

• How are you going to open?

• How are you going to close?

• Why that content?

• Who is your audience?

• What is the goal?

How to organise all this info?

• Use a concept map to collect your points, stories, repetitions, unusual emphasis, openings, closings, facts…

• The beginning, middle and end are then right there in front of you!

• Explore what-links-with-what to get the ‘chaos’ into a logical order.

Concept Maps

• Concept maps are good for:

– Summarising information

– Consolidating information from different sources

– Thinking through complex problems

• Studies have shown that university students can take down and remember lecture notes much more easily if they don’t do them in straight lines.

Body Language – getting started...

• Don’t rush!

• Take you time, get in position, smile, make eye contact with your audience.

• Then you are ready to speak…

Body Language

• Touching your face between your mouth and your nose sends a subliminal message that you are lying!

Body Language

• Folding your arms creates a subconscious barrier with the audience.

• Try not to sway, twist on the spot, scratch, flick hair back etc.

Body Language

•Head up, palms apart, arms open – this presents an open image, projecting a feeling of control to your audience.

Body Language

• If you need to point to a slide image or object, stop talking, make your gesture then turn to face the audience again to speak – you cannot communicate with your back turned.

Body Language

•Research has shown that persuasive power is:

–55% to do with body language

–38% to do with changing levels and enthusiasm of voice tone

–7% content

Body Language

•Women are 10 times more sensitive than men to,

‘reading between the lines’,

picking up what does, or does not ‘ring true’ from subliminal messages gained from body language and voice tone.

Visuals

Ah yes… you probably can’t see this at the back…

Check your slides/visuals/props are visible from the back of the room.

Text Accessibility

Dark text on a dark background is hard to read

Most people find reading light text on a dark background more comfortable

when looking at screens

Text Accessibility

ALL CAPS ARE ALSO HARDER TO READ

Use both Upper and Lower case

Text Accessibility

Sans Serif texts, such as this one, are easier to read

Serif fonts are harder to read, especially for dyslexics

AVOID VERY FUSSY TEXT STYLES!

Powerpoint

• The average reader reads text twice as fast as you can say the words – avoid reading long pieces of text directly from the screen (30 words per slide is enough)

Speaking

• Use pauses to emphasise important points… count to 3 in your head then look around the audience before continuing.

• Authoritative people have no need to rush – s p e a k s l o w l y …

Scripts

• Most people sound wooden and totally flat reading from a script.

Voices tend to start loud

at the opening of each sentence and quieten towards the

end…

Scripts

• If you are using a

script, keep the text

to only half of the page

width – this makes it

less likely that you will

lose your place when

reading

• NEXT SLIDE

Right on Cue

• Cue cards can be a more useful way to keep on track and ensure that you make all the points you want to make.

• Write short bullet points in large clear text on each card.

• Number them clearly, punch a hole in them and tie them together – that way they can’t get out of order.

Summary

Prepare, Rehearse!

Repeat Key Points

Provide Clear Visuals

References

• ETHERINGTON, B., 2006. Presentation Skills for Quivering Wrecks. Marshall Cavendish: London

• SIDDONS, S., 1998. Presentation Skills. IPD: Exeter