Presentaton Skills
Writing a paper and presenting a paper are two completely different things, though the
information in both is the same. The way to think about presenting requires a different kind of
approach.
Presenting is in person visual and audio story telling. With this in mind, understanding
how a presentation looks and sounds is key to the success of any presentation. There are six
elements to keep in mind.
(1) Design
Design is not decoration or an augmentation; it is the basis of a presentation. At the same
time, design should not be obvious. “Design starts at the beginning not at the end; it’s not an
afterthought. If you use slideware in your presentation, the design of those visuals begins in the
preparation stage before you have even turned on your computer.”
You need to consider your topic and your objectives, your key messages, and your
audience. From this you will create the design of your presentation. Too much "PowerPoint
design," as you know very well, is nothing more than a collection of recycled bullets, corporate
templates, clip art, and seemingly random charts and graphs which are often too detailed or
cluttered to make effective on-screen visuals and too vague to stand alone as quality
documentation. Do not fill slide with text or multiple charts and graphs. The simpler the slide, the
more the audience is likely to listen to you.
(2) Story
Facts, information, data: most of it is available on-line or can be sent to people in an
email, a PDF attachment, or a hard copy through snail mail. Data and "the facts" have never been
more widely available. Cognitive scientist Mark Turner writes, “Most of our experiences, our
knowledge and our thinking is organized as stories.” “Story” is not just about storytelling but
about listening to stories and being a part of stories. We are all born storytellers (and
“storylisteners”). As kids we looked forward to “show and tell,” and we gathered with our friends
at recess and at lunchtime and told stories about real things and real events that mattered, at least
they mattered to us.
The best speakers do not just go through material or facts but put their own personality,
character, and experience into the material in the form of a narrative which is illuminating,
engaging, and memorable.
© The Writing Centre, Saint Mary’s University, 2012
This handout is for personal use only. Reproduction prohibited without permission.
Presentaton Skills
(3) Symphony
Focus, specialization, and analysis have been important in the “information age,” but in
the “conceptual age” synthesis and the ability to take seemingly unrelated pieces and form and
articulate the big picture before us is crucial, even a differentiator. This is called symphony.
“Symphony...is the ability to put together the pieces. It is the capacity to synthesize rather than to
analyze; to see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields; to detect broad patterns rather
than to deliver specific answers; and to invent something new by combining elements nobody
else thought to pair.” Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind
The best presenters can illuminate the relationships that we may not have seen before.
They can “see the relationships between relationships.” Symphony requires that we become better
at seeing, truly seeing in a new way. “The most creative among us see relationships the rest of us
never notice,” Pink says. Anyone can delivery chunks of information and repeat findings
represented visually in bullet points on a screen, what is needed are those who can recognize the
patterns, who are skilled at seeing nuance and the simplicity that may exist in a complex problem.
Symphony in the world of presentation does not mean dumbing down information into sound
bites and talking points so popular in the mass media, for example. Symphony is about utilizing
our whole mind — logic, analysis, synthesis, intuition — to make sense of our world (i.e., our
topic), finding the big picture and determining what is important and what is not before the day of
your talk. It is also about deciding what matters and letting go of the rest.
(4) Empathy
Empathy is emotional; it is about putting yourself in the position of others. It involves an
understanding of the importance of the nonverbal cues of others and being aware of your own.
Good designers, for example, have the ability to put themselves in the position of the user, the
customer, or the audience member.
We can certainly see how empathy helps a presenter in the course of a live talk. Empathy
allows a presenter, even without thinking about it, to notice when the audience is “getting it” and
when they are not. The empathetic presenter can make adjustments based on his reading of this
particular audience. You may have also suffered along with others in the audience when a
presenter seemed not to empathize with his audience at all, even droning on past his allotted time,
oblivious to the suffering he was causing. The presenter with empathy — who empathizes with
his audience — will never go over time, and in fact may finish a bit before his time is up.
© The Writing Centre, Saint Mary’s University, 2012
This handout is for personal use only. Reproduction prohibited without permission.
Presentaton Skills
(5) Play
University of Pennsylvania professor, Brain Sutton-Smith, says, “The opposite of play
isn't work. It's depression. To play is to act out and be willful, exultant and committed as if one is
assured of one's prospects.” Each presentation situation is different, but in many public speaking
situations playfulness and humor can go along way. This does not mean “jokiness” or clown-like
informality. But many of the best business presentations or seminars that I've attended over the
years have had elements of humor. As Pink points out, “Laughter is a form of nonverbal
communication that conveys empathy and that is even more contagious than the yawn...”
(6) Meaning
Without sounding cloying, a presentation is an opportunity to make a small difference in
the world. While a presentation gone badly can have a devastating impact on your spirit, a
presentation that goes well can be extremely fulfilling for both you and the audience.
Audiences are so used to death-by-PowerPoint that they have seemingly learned to see it
as “normal” even if not ideal. However, if you are different, if you exceed expectation and show
your audience that you have thought about them, done your homework and know your material,
and demonstrated through your actions how much you appreciate being there, chances are you
will make an impact and a difference, even if it is just in the smallest of ways. There can be great
meaning in even these small connections.
Adapted and quoted: “From design to meaning: a whole new way of presenting?” Internet,
August 30, 2006 http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2006/08/from_design_to_.html
© The Writing Centre, Saint Mary’s University, 2012
This handout is for personal use only. Reproduction prohibited without permission.
Presentaton Skills
17 Tips for Presentations
1. 10-20-30 Rule – Powerpoint presentation should have no more than 10 slides, last no
longer than 20 minutes and have no text less than 30-point font. Spell out the important
information in a few minutes, a few slides and only several words a slide.
2. Be entertaining – Speeches should be entertaining and informative: the audience expects
an appeal to their emotion. Simply reciting dry facts without any passion or humor will
cause the audience to pay less attention.
3. Slow down – Nervous and inexperienced speakers tend to speak quickly. Consciously
slow your speech down and add pauses for emphasis.
4. Eye contact – Match eye contact with everyone in the room. Do not focus on your
instructor in your presentation.
5. Elevator speech – Can you summarize your idea in fifteen words? If not, rewrite it and
try again. Speaking is an inefficient medium for communicating information, so know
what the important fifteen words are so they can be repeated.
6. Do not Read –Powerpoint makes presenters think they can simply read the slides. If you
don’t know your speech without cues, it doesn’t just make you more distracting, it shows
you don’t really understand your message; a huge blow to any confidence the audience
has in you.
7. Speeches are about stories – If your presentation is longer than twenty minutes, explain
your points through short stories, quips and anecdotes. Great speakers know how to use a
story to create an emotional connection between ideas for the audience.
8. Project your voice - Nothing is worse than a speaker you can’t hear. Even in the hightech world of microphones and amplifiers, you need to be heard. Projecting your voice
doesn’t mean yelling, rather standing up straight and letting your voice resonate on the air
in your lungs rather than in the throat to produce a clearer sound.
9. Do not plan gestures - Any gestures you use need to be an extension of your message
and any emotions that message conveys. Planned gestures look false because they do not
match your other involuntary body cues. You are better off keeping your hands to your
side.
© The Writing Centre, Saint Mary’s University, 2012
This handout is for personal use only. Reproduction prohibited without permission.
Presentaton Skills
10. “That’s a Good Question” – You can use statements like, “that’s a really good
question,” or “I’m glad you asked me that,” to buy yourself a few moments to organize
your response. Will the other people in the audience know you are using these filler
sentences to reorder your thoughts? Probably not. And even if they do, it still makes the
presentation appear smoother than “ums” and “ahs” littering your answer.
11. Breathe in not out – Feeling the urge to use presentation killers like ‘um,’ ‘ah,’ or ‘you
know’? Replace those with a pause taking a short breath in. The pause may seem a bit
awkward, but the audience will barely notice it.
12. Come early, really early – To not fumble with Powerpoint or hooking up a projector
when people are waiting for you to speak, come early, scope out the room, run through
your slideshow and make sure there will not be any glitches. Preparation can do a lot to
remove your speaking anxiety.
13. Get practice – Prepare your talk or presentation well in advance, and then practice it.
Practice it with your friends, family, and to the mirror. Ask to feedback, and use the
feedback to make your talk better.
14. Do not apologize – Apologies are only useful if you’ve done something wrong. Do not
use them to excuse incompetence or humble yourself in front of an audience. Do not
apologize for your nervousness or a lack of preparation time. Most audience members
cannot detect your anxiety, so do not draw attention to it.
15. Do apologize if you are wrong – One caveat to the above rule is that you should
apologize if you are late or shown to be incorrect.
16. Put yourself in the audience - When writing a speech, see it from the audiences
perspective. What might they not understand? What might seem boring? Use WIIFM
(What’s In It For Me) to guide you.
17. Have fun - Sounds impossible? With a little practice you can inject your passion for a
subject into your presentations. Enthusiasm is contagious.
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/18-tips-for-killer-presentations.html
© The Writing Centre, Saint Mary’s University, 2012
This handout is for personal use only. Reproduction prohibited without permission.
Presentaton Skills
Distracting Mannerisms
Voice
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“um,” “uh,” “okay”
everything sounding like a question (raising voice at the end of sentences)
nervous laugh at the end of sentences
clearing the throat a lot
Body language
 flipping hair back
 playing with pen/pointer/chalk, etc.
 rolling and unrolling paper (notes)
 pushing sleeves up and down
 playing with keys or coins in pockets
 stepping back and forth/tapping foot
 rocking body
 touching face/adjusting glasses
 turning rings on hand
 waving hands around
 tugging at shirt
Visual aids
 flipping overheads/slides too fast
 talking to the screen
Ways to Reduce Anxiety
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Practice – this will give you confidence
Just before going up, breathe deeply – it can reduce your heart rate
Think about your nervousness – it may sound silly, but focusing on the fact you are
nervous can help you forget about it and/or calm down
Consider being the first person to present (if you have the option) – this can help you
avoid the anxiety of thinking that everyone before you was better
Put up an overhead or visual at the beginning – the audience will look at the visual
instead of you, allowing you to start without everyone staring at you
Even if you know what you’re going to say, have an outline in front of you in case you
freeze up – this can reduce worry that you’ll forget what you have to say
Eat bananas – the potassium helps to calm butterflies
© The Writing Centre, Saint Mary’s University, 2012
This handout is for personal use only. Reproduction prohibited without permission.