Presentation Skills
Presentation Skills
Presentation Skills
Presentation SkillsThis is a biggy! So many people present poorly. It’s not that they can’t be good
presenters. It’s just that they have never been taught how to present, or even worse, noone can be bothered to tell them that they need to improve.
So you know, it doesn’t really matter whether there are 4 of you in a meeting or you are
presenting to five hundred people (I’ve done both). The same rules apply. These are:
• Have fun. If you go up there to have fun this will rub off on the audience and, to be
frank, they will thank you for it. Even if you are nervous put on a big friendly smile
and feel good about yourself. Everyone has to listen to you for a change and you
have their full and undivided attention.
• Rehearse. Even the best speakers rehearse multiple times. I’m talking in front of a
mirror or in front of your friends, family (unless confidential!) or a work colleague.
Not quietly in your mind but aloud. Be vocal.
• Slides. If you use slides or other visuals please ensure that:
o They are not crowded. People gasp when the slides are crowded with words,
figures, diagrams etc. Keep content down to a minimum.
o They match to what you are saying. Don’t have a slide that shows a diagram
of how to put a wheel on a car while talking about the exhaust pipe. This is
something I often witness. So please don’t talk about something that isn’t on
the slide to avoid confusing the audience.
o They are fun (if possible and appropriate). Avoid immature jokey slides but
do include visuals that will grab the audience’s attention and will wake them
up.
• Make them laugh. If you have the confidence, make the audience laugh. We’re
not talking about being a stand-up comedian but some amusing anecdote (short) or
some dry wit can come across well. If in doubt, then leave this out. You’ll get the
feeling after a few presentations whether you can pull this off. But if you can make
it fun the audience is far more likely to remember your conversation. Do you want a
real life example? Yes? Well, I once worked for a company that was expanding very
rapidly in the following markets: Tobacco, Drugs (not that sort), Beverages and
Health. I wanted to portray to the audience that we were doing well in these so
called ‘recession-proof’ sectors (that is companies that do well even when we don’t
have much money to spend during a recession). So I stated that ‘the results
indicate that our customers are down-hearted and hence drinking themselves to
death, smoking themselves to death and taking drugs (yes I used artistic license
here) and then ending up in hospital’. Ok, I was joking, but two years later a
colleague came up to me and reminded me of the joke and said that their part of the
business had invested in those markets and become the fastest growing part of the
company. I just stated a fact in an amusing way. My colleague had used that fact
to improve the business. But the great thing is that my presentation had been
remembered by someone two years later. I slept well that night.• Time your presentation. The length of time it takes to run through your
presentation is critical. Even a presentation that is full of interesting content and is
professionally delivered will not be received well by the other presenters (or audience
as a whole) if you significantly (or in many cases even marginally) overrun. So, it is
important to rehearse it thoroughly ensuring you know how long it will take to
deliver. If, for example, you have a thirty minutes slot, make sure that you allow a
minute or so for the change-over from and to the previous and subsequent
presenters respectively. Allow sufficient time for questions and answers (Q&A)
where this is an essential part of the education exercise. Also, remember that it
generally takes a little longer to present in practice than it does in rehearsal as you
have to allow for audience reaction and the fact that you generally slow down your
pace of speech in a public arena. Remember, that if there is a series of presenters
and there is also a ‘hard stop’ (finite time) for the overall presentation, you will be
eating into someone else’s time by overrunning. Just make sure that it is not the
CEO or head of department following you in the line up!
• Plant Q&A. Quite often I see really good presentations that seem to be
accompanied by a shy audience. When the one-way communication is over the twoway or multi-way dialogue does not always open up as wished. In other words,
people don’t ask questions. Therefore, my recommendation is to plant some friendly
faces into the audience and arm them with pre-loaded questions. Not only does this
allow the two-way dialogue to open up but it encourages others to join in the
conversation as the barriers break down before you. It also allows you to show off
your Q&A skills as you can rehearse the answer to their question in advance ensuring
a pristine delivery.
• Check that the technical set up works. It’s not that an uncommon occurrence
for there to be technical glitch. Perhaps your file containing the presentation has
become corrupt (always carry a back-up) or perhaps the projector or laptop are not
working correctly. The best thing to do is to arrive in good time to check that the
technical aspects of the presentation work as required. If possible have an
Operations or IT guy on hand to sort out any problems. Better still, get them to
check the set up for you and confirm that everything is all right. As I say, technical
glitches are not that uncommon and the more you rely on electronic visual and audio
aids the worse things seem to the audience when they don’t work. Finally, as a
back-up perhaps have in mind what you will say/do if the technical aids fall down
part way through your presentation. Know your notes inside out and practice
staying calm in such situations. Although things may look unprofessional to the
audience they are unlikely to blame you for any technical hiccups.
• Arrive in good time. Your presentation may be in your office or in a town hall
somewhere across the globe, but in either event you should ensure that you arrive in
good time. This will allow you to check out the technical facilities, get a feel for the
surroundings and ensure that your voice carries well (depending upon whether there
are microphones or not). Arriving late, under pressure with your nervous system
under attack, is not a great start. [BTW, if you are late, certainly have a routine to
keep yourself calm and at ease. Taking 3 deep breaths really does work.]
• Liaise with the other presenters (where possible). It would seem an injustice
if you have spent hours honing your presentation skills, hours putting together a
lively, informative and engaging presentation and hours rehearsing your speech in
front of the mirror only to find out on the day that part of your content has been covered by another presenter in the overall line up or indeed that your anecdote or
witticism has already been communicated to the audience. I would highly
recommend that you cut these problems off at the past. Perhaps there is someone
centrally coordinating all the presentations, but if not it would definitely be worth
checking that all that hard work doesn’t disappoint at the end of the day.
• Nerves. I feel that I could write a book (and you would be bored reading it) on how
to steady your nerves before a presentation. But I won’t. I’ll summarize this down
to a few, hopefully very useful, bullet points. First of all, what can you do to reduce
the level of nerves? Try some of the following techniques and see which work best
for you:
o Follow all the steps listed above to optimize your level of confidence.
o Take 3 deep breaths before you start (see above). It really works.
o Rather than standing at the front of the room perch on the side of a desk (if
there is one at the front) or adopt another stance or position that naturally
puts your body at ease. It is strange but true, but where you stand and how
you position yourself can make a significant impact to the way you feel.
o Enjoy yourself. Practice shifting the nervous energy from fear to enjoyment.
This, I suppose, is more of a mental exercise, but I guarantee that if you go
out there with the intention of enjoying yourself the nerves at least partially
move to a place where they are more constructive.
o Perform as many presentations as possible while you are going through the
learning curve. Like with any skill practice makes perfect and the more
presentations your deliver the more relaxed and confident you will become.
There are also techniques to hide/shield nerves if you find it hard to overcome them.
These are as follows:
o Don’t hold anything in your hands, such as a piece of paper with notes on, as
it will flap around due to the nervous energy within you. Rather place it on a
lectern or desk or better still have a PowerPoint or other electronic
presentation that negates the requirement to hold anything.
o Don’t have any change or keys in your pocket in case you start jangling them.
This can be done sub-conscientiously and can prove very annoying to the
audience.
o Don’t worry about ‘pauses’ in your speech. They can be up to several
seconds long and if timed right (that is, not too long) they actually come
across really well in a live environment adding to your sense of gravitas and
credibility.
o Don’t pace around the room or continuously step forwards and backwards.
This provides an indication that you are nervous. You certainly don’t have to
be rooted to the spot, but if you decide to move around the ‘stage’ make sure
that it is a purposeful action (for instance, to point at something or to grab
someone’s attention) rather than a general aimless wander.• Quick reference guide. I often find it useful to refer to a quick reference guide on
how to present well. So here are some tips that I hope you will find very useful:
o Provide an overview of what you are going to speak about to provide context.
o Be passionate about the topic you are presenting.
o Be interactive; obtain audience engagement, perhaps through asking
questions.
o Use eye contact wisely. Don’t just focus your attention on the CEO! Keep
everyone engaged and feeling a part of the meeting/event.
o Use your footwork wisely. If you are going to walk around the stage limit the
number of walkabouts you undertake and make them work for you. Use
them to re-engage the audience (if it is a large crowd). However, don’t walk
around too much as you’ll tire them out.
o Use arm gestures, but again make these controlled and infrequent.
Continuous arm gestures make it look like you are flapping (literally).
o Keep your hands out of your pockets (it looks untidy and you may jingle the
keys or change you have housed there).
o Don’t hold anything in your hands if you are nervous (it will shake)
o Don’t be mono tone. Change the pitch of your voice, otherwise you may send
the audience to sleep.
o Think about the speed of delivery. There’s no need to rush through your
presentation. If time is tight say less, more important things.
o Don’t be negative. Don’t say “I feel nervous” or “I don’t feel prepared”. This
puts you under pressure from the start.
o Speak clearly with a strong resonance (a strong voice).
o Remain natural when you speak. Don’t force your voice or manner.
o Introduce yourself if no-one else has.
o Smile. Everyone likes a smiley rather than grumpy individual.
o Be informative. Make the points as interesting as possible.
o Don’t use acronyms or abbreviations that members of the audience won’t
understand. You risk them getting lost on the way.
o Have some clear takeaways for the audience to remember.o Above all, be memorable (for the right reasons).
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