Effective Presentation

Presentations skills and public speaking skills are very useful in many aspects of work and life. Effective presentations and public speaking skills are important in business. Developing the confidence and capability to give good presentations, and to stand up in front of an audience and speak well, are also extremely helpful competencies for self-development too. Presentations and public speaking skills are not limited to certain special people - anyone can give a good presentation, it simply takes a little preparation and practice.

The formats and purposes of presentations can be very different, for example: oral, multimedia, powerpoint presentations,or a talk on a subject to a group on a voluntary basis for pleasure.

"Many are ready to even die in battle, but few can face an assembly without nerves."
(Couplet 723, from Thirukkural/Tirrukural, also called the Kural - a seminal guide to life and ethics attributed to the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, said to have lived between about 200-10BC. )

A common physical reaction to having to speak in public is a release of adrenaline and cortisol into our system, which is sometimes likened to drinking several cups of water.Even experienced speakers feel their heart thumping very excitedly indeed. This sensational reaction to speaking in public is certainly not only felt by novices, and even some of the great professional actors and entertainers suffer with real physical sickness before taking the stage or podium.

Speaking in public is genuinely scary for most people, including many whom outwardly seem very calm.

Our primitive brain shuts down normal functions as the 'fight or flight' impulse takes over.Good preparation is the key to confidence, which is the key to you being relaxed, and this settles the butterflies.Good preparation and rehearsal will reduce your nerves by 75%, increase the likelihood of avoiding errors to 95%.So Prepare, or plan, and practise.

Then you will be in control, and confident.The audience will see this and respond accordingly, which in turn will help build your confidence.

Preparation and knowledge are the pre-requisites for a successful presentation, but confidence and control are just as important.

Remember Roosevelt's maxim that "no-one can intimidate me without my permission".

Good presenting is about entertaining as well as conveying information. As well, people retain more if they are enjoying themselves and feeling relaxed. So whatever your subject and audience, try to find ways to make the content and delivery enjoyable - even the most serious of occasions, and the driest of subjects, can be lifted to an enjoyable or even an amusing level one way or another with a little research, imagination, and humour.

Enjoyment and humour are mostly in the preparation. You don't need to be a natural stand-up comedian to inject enjoyment and humour into a presentation or talk. It's the content that enables it, which is very definitely within your control.

When you have structured your presentation, it will have an opening, a middle with headed sections of subject matter, and a close, with opportunity for questions if relevant.Make sure you have a good, strong, solid introduction.Clearly identify your subject and your purpose to yourself, and then let the creative process take over for a while to gather all the possible ideas for subject matter and how you could present it. Use brainstorming and mind-mapping.

Create a strong introduction and a strong close.Tell people what you're going to speak about and what your purpose is.And while you might end on a stirring quotation or a stunning statistic, you must before this have summarised what you have spoken about and if appropriate, demanded an action from your audience, even if it is to go away and think about what you have said.

Essentially the structure of all good presentations is to:

"Tell'em what you're gonna tell'em. Tell'em. Then tell'em what you told'em." (George Bernard Shaw - thanks Neville Toptani)

Introduce yourself and tell them what your going to tell them. Tell them why your telling them it; why it's important, and why it's you that's telling them. Tell them how long your going to take, and tell them when they can ask questions (if you're nervous about being thrown off-track then it's okay to ask them save their questions until the end).

By the time you've done this introduction you've established your authority, created respect and credibility, and overcome the worst of your nerves. You might even be enjoying it; it happens. If you're just giving a short presentation then by the time you've done all this you've completed a quarter of it!

Remember,"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." (Friedrich Nietzsche)

Be aware of your own body language.

creating and giving presentations - step by step summary
1.     define purpose
2.     gather content and presentation ideas
3.     structure the subject matter
4.     develop how to present it
5.     prepare presentation
6.     practice
7.     plan, experience, control the environment
8.     'dress rehearsal' if warranted
deliver the presentation

Relax, you have practiced and prepared so nothing will go wrong, enjoy it, the audience is on your side.



Points to remember: smile, solid well-rehearsed opening, impact, tell'em what you're gonna tell'em, tell'em, tell'em what you told'em, entertainment, interest, body-language, humour, control, firmness, confidence, avoid jokes/sexism/racism, speak your audience's language, accentuate the positive, use prompts, participation, and have fun!