Presentation Skills
for Business
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Contents
1. Developing Great CONTENT
2. Preparing Great DESIGN
3. Conducting Great DELIVERY
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Three Elements of Great Presentation
Content
Design
Great
Presentation !
Delivery
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Developing Great CONTENT
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Steps in Preparing Content
Analysing
Your Audience
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Gathering
Relevant Data &
Information
Converting
Your Data into
an Outline
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Analysing Your Audience
•
Needs
•
Knowledge level
•
Attitude – how do they feel about the topic?
•
Demographic Information – this may include the
age, gender, culture, and language of the audience
members
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Gathering Relevant Data and Information
•
Before you start your research to gather relevant
information, there are three questions should be
considered :
•
What do I want my audience to gain?
•
What might they already know about my topic?
•
What is the objective of the presentation?
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Converting Your Information into an Outline
•
There are three steps to creating an outline :
1. Determine the outline style
2. Group your raw data
3. Arrange into outline format
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Outline Style
Chronological
Shows events in order as they occurred
Narrative
Takes the audience on a journey through a
flowing presentation
Problem/
Solution
States the problem, the why’s, your
solution, and a summary
Cause/ Effect
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States the cause and explains the effect(s)
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Outline Style
Topical
Journalistic
Questions
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Divides the general topic into several
subtopics
Uses some or all of the what, who, where,
when, why, and how questions
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Outline Format
Introduction
Outline
Format
Body
Conclusion
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Outline Format
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Introductions
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Should include an agenda and clarify the goals and
objectives of your presentation.
•
Can include an overview of a situation, a statement
of the current situation of the organisation or a recap
of history.
•
Can use the strategies that help an introduction get
attention: a quote, a question, humor, a creative
image, an anecdote or a sharing of emotions.
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Outline Format
•
Body
•
Chronological
•
Narrative
•
Problem/Solution
•
Cause/Effect
•
Topical
•
Journalistic Question
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Outline Format
•
Conclusion
•
Summarise the main points of your presentation
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Provide closure, and leave an impression
•
Can consist of recommendations, future directions,
next steps to take, and so forth
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Building Great DESIGN
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Presentation Design
Key Rules when Creating Bulleted Text:
• Use one concept per slide
• Use key words and phrases
• Make your bullet points consistent in structure
• Capitalise properly – capitalise the first letter of
the first word only
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Three Keys of Great Design
1. Layout
2. Consistency
3. Color
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Great Slide
Presentation
Design
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Layout
1. Layout
•
Consider your layout to be like the skeleton of your
presentation….Just as our skeleton support our
bodies, your layout should support your message and
provide structure.
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Consistency
2. Consistency
• You must be consistent in the following design elements:
• Your placement of text and images
• Your fonts style and sizes
• Your background
• The sytle and treatment of your imagery
• Your charts
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Color
3. Color
• Use high contrast to increase legibility (e.g., black text
on clear and yellow on dark blue)
• Colors should not clash – they should have a high
degree of harmony
• Avoid clutter by using no more than four colors
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Consistent Fonts
• The two main classifications of fonts are serif and sans serif
fonts
• Serif fonts have small flourishes extending from the main
strokes of each letter (examples : Times New Roman, Book
Antiqua, Bookman Olds Style, Garamond). Sans serif
don’t; they are straight and clean (examples : Arial,
Verdana, Helvetica)
• Sans serif fonts are best suited for electronic
presentations
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Tips for Planning Great Slides
• Use slides sparingly. Avoid the overuse of slides or
unnecessary slides.
• Make slide pictorial. Graphs, flowcharts, etc., all give the
viewer an insight that would otherwise require many words.
• Make text and numbers legible. Minimum font size for most
room set-ups is 20 pt.
• Make pictures and diagrams easy to see.
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Design Guidelines
Avoid this
This is better
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Effective Charts and Graphs
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Avoid slide like this one……
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Conducting Great DELIVERY
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Delivering Your Presentation
Voice
Language Usage
Movement
Great
Delivery
Body Language
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Managing Your Voice
•
Try to sound natural, so your rhythm and tone is
appropriate to the message you are delivering
•
Develop three important qualities:
•
Volume
•
Intonation
•
Pacing
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Managing Your Voice
Volume
Speak loudly enough to reach all the
members audience without overpowering
those closest to you.
Intonation
Avoid to speak in monotone. Put more
feeling into your voice and make it livelier by
changes in your intonation.
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Managing Your Voice
Pacing
For most of us, this is natural – except when
we are nervous or excited. Practise, and you
can figure out what sounds natural and
appropriate for the points you are making.
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Language Usage
•
When you speak, convey confidence and show interest in
what you’re presenting. Speak with feeling.
•
Use short sentences and short, simple words.
•
Speak slowly and clearly enough that everyone in your
audience can understand every word.
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Movement
•
If possible, “work the room and work the audience”
•
Move appropriately and with purpose – don’t move
simply because you’re nervous
•
Your movements should be natural and support your
words and the rest of your presentation
•
Don’t move constantly. Pause for effect. Stand still to
make an important point
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Body Language
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Stand straight, but not stiff. You should radiate energy
•
Be relaxed, be casual, but don’t be lazy
•
Use your hands, arms and gestures. Just let your body
react to how you feel
•
Make good eye contact – the rule of thumb for eye
contact is three to five seconds per person
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Body Language
•
Do not keep hands in your pockets
•
Do not keep hands “handcuffed” behind your back
•
Do not keep your arms crossed
•
Do not wring your hands nervously
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In advance of your presentation
• Practise – a lot. Don’t just think your presentation through:
act it out, in front of friends, or family. Time each section of
your presentation and develop a schedule.
• Memorise the first two minutes of your presentation, so
you breeze on through the time when the butterflies are
most active.
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In the hours before presentation
• Think positive thought : visualise yourself feeling at ease
with the audience
• Use affirmation (e.g., “I can do this. I am prepared. It will
go well”)
• Make sure all the equipment is working properly
• Remember that the people in your audience are human too,
just like you. They want you to succeed!
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When you enter the room:
• Focus on making your movements fluid and confident,
neither too slow nor too fast
• Find a few friendly faces in the audience, for reassurance
• Smile. Show that you want to be there
• Be yourself
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How to Handle Tough Situations
Problem :
• Know-it-all – A participant who feels like more of an expert than
you.
Solution :
• Don’t fight it. Involve know-it-alls in your presentation.
• They may have some great information to contribute. Allowing
them to participate and share their thoughts will not only show
how confident you are, but also help them get more out of your
presentation.
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How to Handle Tough Situations
Problem :
• Unprepared participants – Those who haven’t prepared for the
presentation as you requested.
Solution :
• Be flexible. Take something out of your agenda to allow the group
time to get up to speed.
• Keep in mind your overall objective of the presentations.
• Don’t force your agenda; modify it to meet your objective.
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How to Handle Tough Situations
Problem :
• After-lunch nap time – One of the toughest times to keep people
engaged.
Solution :
• If you have anything to do with planning the lunch selections, go
light – and no heavy desserts.
• If you really need to get everyone going again, get out those
icebreakers.
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How to Handle Tough Situations
Problem :
• Non-stop talker – A participant who carries on conversations
during the presentation.
Solution :
• Take a few moments to share what you talked about. This usually
makes the talker feel more involved and want to stay engaged and
participate with you instead of others.
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Planning for the Questions
• Anticipate the questions that might come up
• Listen carefully to the questioner
• Repeat or rephrase the question
• Answer clearly and concisely
• Go to the next question
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Dealing with Disasters
• You find out that the time allotted has been reduced. At the
very worse, you can make your points, support the with the
essentials, ask and answer the most likely questions on your list.
• The slide equipment fails. You know then saying, “The show
must go on”. Apologise to the audience and then add something
like “Now return with me to a distant past, before Powerpoint,
when all we had for presentations was our notes and perhaps a
blackboard or flipcharts.” Then, make the most of your primitive
tools.
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Dealing with Disasters
• You tell a joke that falls flat. Ouch! Just shrug your shoulders
and apologise: “I am sorry. I got that joke at a Henry Youngman
clearance sale.” (You can choose your own comedian).
• You get nervous and flustered and lose track of where you
are. Figure out where you are from your slides and notes. If you
can’t, just be honest : “My brain has derailed. Who can back me
up so I can the on the track again?”
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Recommended Further Readings:
1.
Jennifer Rotondo and Mike Rotondo, Presentation Skills for Managers,
McGraw Hill
2.
David A. Whetten and Kim S. Cameron, Developing Management Skills,
Harpers Collins Publisher.
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