Presentation Skills Know your Audience: A ssessment - Who are they? - - PDF document

Know your Audience:

Assessment - Who are they? How many will be there? Understanding - What is their knowledge of the sub- ject? Demographics - What is their age, gender, educational background? Interest - Why are they there? Who asked them to be there? Environment - Where will I stand? Can they all see & hear me? Needs - What are their needs? What are your needs as the speaker? Customized - What specific needs do you need to ad- dress for this audience? Expectations - What do they expect to learn or hear from you?

Presentation Skills

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Did you know?

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Mind Mapping is a useful pro- cess that can help you:

• Plan your presentation in a short time
• Easily decide what to include / exclude
• Quickly organize material in a logical or-

der

• Reduce the need to refer to notes
• Properly Structure your presentation

Mind Mapping is a useful technique that helps you improve the way that you record information. By using Mind Maps, you can quickly identify and understand the structure of a

• subject. You can see the way that pieces of information fit together, as well as re-

cording the raw facts contained in normal notes. More than this, Mind Maps help you remember information, as they hold it in a format that your mind finds easy to recall and quick to review.

Presentation Skills

To draw a Mind Map, follow these steps:

• 1. Write the title of the subject in the center of the

page and draw a circle around it.

• 2. Draw and label lines out from this circle for ma-

jor subdivisions or subheadings of the topic.

• 3. Keep adding lines from each of these subhead-

ings to further identify the ideas or facts that you want included in your presentation.

• 4. A complete Mind Map may have main topic lines

radiating in all directions from the center. Sub- topics and facts will branch off these, like branches and twigs from the trunk of a tree. You don't need to worry about the structure you produce, as this will evolve of its own accord.

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• Choosing the right images to support

your presentation text is critical, with fo- cus on quality of resolution & simplicity.

• 90% of all information transmitted to our

brain is visual.

• People remember 80% of what they see

but only 20% of what they read.

You, or your audience should not be reading the text on the slide. The image should sup- port the spoken words.

When text is included, avoid center aligning all of your text and images. Instead, align supporting text on the left of the side, with supporting imagery on the right. Use white space to crate slides that are balanced, and attract the eye to the visual

• displayed. White also implies sophistication and improves readability.

Choosing the right font

24 For easy readability

36

For titles

72

For easy readability from the back of the room

Image Selection

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Storyboarding:

Use post it notes to storyboard your presentation before even turning on your computer . Start laying out the content and flow of your presenta- tion based on your Mind Mapping activity. Creating a presenta- tion storyboard will allow you to visual- ize the flow of your presentation. Storyboarding involves creating rough sketches that plot how a certain story will progress. Each sticky note will serve as a single slide for your Pow- erPoint deck. Rearrange the notes in any order you’d like. After sketching out your ideas, you can now step back and review your presentation storyboard. Scrutinize how each panel is con-

• nected. Figure out if this sequence helps in building a logical nar-

rative for your core message. Does every panel contribute to the point you want to drive home? Are your points supporting the argument you’re trying to make? Be discerning and edit out details that you don’t need. From this stage, you’ll come out with a blueprint to guide you with your PowerPoint deck.

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Get People’s Attention Getting your audience’s attention from the beginning is the most important thing one can do in starting a presentation. Yes, you want to introduce yourself and complete the formalities as quickly as possible, but without grabbing their attention, you’ve al- ready lost them. Remembering the importance of capturing the attention of who you’re speaking to will set you up for the many other strategies we convey. Opening Technique options:

 Incite curiosity  Shock the audience  Make a provocative statement  Tell a story  Be authentic

Closing Techniques:

 Quote an influential person  Use the word “imagine”  Ask a question  Use silence  Use humour

Inspire! Have a call to action Repeat the important stuff Build up to something, have a climatic ending Circle back around to provide closure

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Presentation Anxiety

Presentation anxiety is a response to fear and it manifests itself in a num- ber of ways. Presentation Anxiety tips:

 Its not simply the act of giving a speech that induces the stress, it’s the

element of social evaluation that causes the stress. When people are judging you, and how you perform, you are almost guaranteed to have a stressful reaction.

 Get used to speaking in front of others. Not necessarily practice with

the specific speech or presentation, but practice in general can help. Make toasts in front of family and friends as an example. The more public speaking you do, the less anxious you will feel. Physically, in blushing, shaking, dry mouth, butterflies in the stom- ach, pounding heart, stuttering, sweating, being tongue tied. Mentally in being mud- dled, feelings of not making sense, losing the thread.

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Show your passion: Be passionate of the subject matter. Let your enthusi- asm come through in your delivery. It can be contagious and the perfect way to engage your audience. Be a storyteller: People love stories, so the more anecdotal you are, the more memorable your presentation will be. Practice simplicity: Confidence grows to the extent that you keep your presentation visuals as simple as possible. This forces you to interpret them to your audience in an enthusiastic, conversational tone rather than "reading" them—which is a quick route to boredom for all concerned. Eye To Eye Contact With Audience Members: Picking different people in the audience to speak to can ease nerves. Start this at the beginning of your presentation speaking to them directly. Pick different people to speak to in the room and everyone will think you are talking directly to them. Imagine that you are having a brief discussion with individual participants for 3-5 sec-

• nds at a time.

Try Breathing exercise: Concentrate on your breathing to defuse anxieties. Voice Tone and Projection: Increasing the volume of the voice assists in in- creasing the overall enthusiasm factor. It is rare that a facilitator is criticized for being too loud. Projecting your voice toward the back of the room is one way of ensuring that the overall volume is appropriate. Increasing the volume of the voice typically makes facilitators sound more convincing. Varying the pitch of the voice makes it more interesting to the learner. Pre- senters should alternate voice tones more than they would do in a one on-one conversation. Listen to your voice on audio-tape in order to identify specific things you can do to improve vocal performance. You will notice traits regard- ing your tone, volume, and enthusiasm of ex-

• pression. As well, you’ll be made aware of dis-

tracting mannerisms such as pet words (okay)

• r non-words (um, uh).

TIPS FOR DELIVERING A MEMORABLE PRESENTATION BY ALYSSA GREGORY

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Memorize Your Opening Line: In general it is not a good idea to memorize your entire speech. It is however a good idea to memorize the beginning 4 – 10

• sentences. This is critical because it allows you to feel confident and ride the

wave of confidence as you continue your presentation. Most people think the best presenters wing it. While this is true, they typically practice and memorize the beginning and ending of their talks. This is a professional practice you should always leverage to your advantage State how you want to deal with questions: Always remember to let the au- dience know how you will handle questions. If you are in a marketing or sales presentation, give them the free will to ask questions when they best see fit. Appearance: The nature of your speaking environment often dictates how you will appear (e.g. formal dress for a formal dinner). Plan how you will appear. Think carefully about what message your appearance and attire will convey to your audience: will your appearance enhance the transmission of your ideas or distract the audience from your message? You are the speaker: you need to be seen. Evaluate anything that might make you “invisible.” For instance, if your long hair falls

• ver your face when you are presenting con-

sider tying it back. People will be able to see your face, and you will not be distracted by having to push your hair out of your face. Pronunciation: Do you mumble? Mispro- nounce words? Have an accent or dialect? Have trouble with certain consonant sounds? Communication Skill: Do you talk too fast? Do you talk too slowly? Do you die off at the end of your sentences? Do you say “um” or “like” or use fillers a lot? Do you go on and

• n and on without getting to the point? Do

you talk too much? Do you give too much detail? Do you give enough detail?

TIPS FOR DELIVERING A MEMORABLE PRESENTATION BY ALYSSA GREGORY

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Stance, Position, Movement: Stand in the neutral posture; that is, with your hands at your sides. It is recommended that the speaker assume centre stage – the place of influence – when starting a presentation. Use as much of your platform as is comfortable. Use the platform from right-to- left, forward and backward. Not only does centre stage capture attention, it also is the best viewing position for both the learners and the speaker. Be careful not to get rooted in one spot, because doing so will affect the degree to which you are able to maintain eye contact evenly around the room Practice: Run through your presentation in full several times before the big day. You may even consider video taping yourself so you can self-critique and fine- tune. Prepare your own visuals: Confidence comes from knowledge. Preparing your own slides or overheads forces you to master your

• subject. Your confidence improves to the de-

gree that you approach the title of every visual as an argument and every word and chart on that visual as an opportunity to support that argument. Anticipate objections: Review your presenta- tion from your audience's point of view. Try to locate holes in your arguments. When you identify weak points, return to your presenta- tion and provide additional data. Equally im- portant, look for opportunities where your au- dience might question your facts or interpreta-

• tions. Be ready with facts to support your argu-

ments and conclusions. Nothing disarms an objection better than a presenter who smiles mischievously and says: "I'm glad you asked that!" and proceeds to confidently address the objection!

TIPS FOR DELIVERING A MEMORABLE PRESENTATION BY ALYSSA GREGORY

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Start on time: Unless absolutely necessary, never delay the start of your

• presentation. Start on time. Your nervousness is at a peak just before your

presentation begins. Do yourself a favor and begin on time. Once you begin your presentation, your nervousness will disappear as you begin to enthusiastically develop your points one-by-one. Familiarize yourself with the presentation environment: Arrive early and test out all equipment. Locate the room lighting switches and find out how to smoothly raise and lower lighting levels. Focus the slide projector before the au- dience arrives and familiarize yourself with its remote control. Check sound lev-

• els. If you are using a wireless microphone, find out how to turn it off.

Look for your champions: Locate "allies" or “champions” as you introduce yourself to your audience and as you observe your audience during your presen- tation; notice how some people smile, nod their head or take notes. Project to

• them. Let them build your confidence. Acceptance creates confidence. (Make

sure you don’t fixate on just your champions – make eye contact with the audi- ence) Never take walk-outs seriously It's inevitable that, at some point, somebody is going to get up and leave during your presentation. Don't take it seriously. The indi- vidual leaving may be leaving simply because they have a sched- uled phone call or are taking a na- ture break. Your confidence will likely plummet if you take walk-

• uts as a reflection on your argu-

ments or your presentation abili- ties, rather than a reality that pro- fessional speakers face every day. Leave something behind Handouts are a great way to drive home your message and give at- tendees something to refer to after they leave. Be sure to include your contact information and invite the audience to contact you with ques- tions.

TIPS FOR DELIVERING A MEMORABLE PRESENTATION BY ALYSSA GREGORY

P.Faubert / 03Jul18