Ø How can you make a good
presentation even more effective?
This page draws on published
advice from expert presenters around the world, which will help to take your
presentations from merely ‘good’ to ‘great’. By bringing together advice
from a wide range of people, the aim is to cover a whole range of
areas. Whether you are an experienced presenter, or just starting out,
there should be ideas here to help you to improve.
1.
Show your Passion and Connect with your Audience
It’s hard to be relaxed and be
yourself when you’re nervous.
But time and again, the great
presenters say that the most important thing is to connect with your audience,
and the best way to do that is to let your passion for the subject shine
through.
Be honest with the audience about
what is important to you and why it matters.
Be enthusiastic and honest, and
the audience will respond.
2.
Focus on your Audience’s Needs
Your presentation needs to be
built around what your audience is going to get out of the presentation.
As you prepare the presentation,
you always need to bear in mind what the audience needs and wants to know, not
what you can tell them.
While you’re giving the
presentation, you also need to remain focused on your audience’s response, and
react to that.
You need to make it easy for your
audience to understand and respond.
3.
Keep it Simple: Concentrate on your Core Message
When planning your presentation,
you should always keep in mind the question:
What is the key message (or three key points) for my audience to take
away?
You should be able to communicate
that key message very briefly.
Some experts recommend a 30-second
‘elevator summary’, others that you can write it on the back of a business
card, or say it in no more than 15 words.
Whichever rule you choose, the
important thing is to keep your core message focused and brief.
And if what you are planning to
say doesn’t contribute to that core message, don’t say it.
4.
Smile and Make Eye Contact with your Audience
This sounds very easy, but a
surprisingly large number of presenters fail to do it.
If you smile and make eye contact,
you are building
rapport, which helps the audience to
connect with you and your subject. It also helps you to feel less nervous,
because you are talking to individuals, not to a great mass of unknown people.
To help you with this, make sure
that you don’t turn down all the lights so that only the slide screen is
visible. Your audience needs to see you as well as your slides.
5.
Start Strongly
The beginning of your presentation
is crucial. You need to grab your audience’s attention and hold it.
They will give you a few minutes’
grace in which to entertain them, before they start to switch off if you’re
dull. So don’t waste that on explaining who you are. Start by entertaining
them.
6.
Remember the 10-20-30 Rule for Slideshows
This is a tip from Guy Kawasaki of
Apple. He suggests that slideshows should:
· *Contain no more than
10 slides;
· *Last no more than 20
minutes; and
· *Use a font size of no
less than 30 point.
This last is particularly
important as it stops you trying to put too much information on any one slide.
This whole approach avoids the dreaded ‘Death by PowerPoint’.
As a general rule, slides should
be the sideshow to you, the presenter. A good set of slides should be no use
without the presenter, and they should definitely contain less, rather than
more, information, expressed simply.
If you need to provide more
information, create a bespoke handout and give it out after your
presentation.
7.
Tell Stories
Human beings are programmed to
respond to stories.
Stories help us to pay attention,
and also to remember things. If you can use stories in your presentation, your
audience is more likely to engage and to remember your points afterwards. It is
a good idea to start with a story, but there is a wider point too: you need
your presentation to act like a story.
8.
Use your Voice Effectively
The spoken word is actually a
pretty inefficient means of communication, because it uses only one of your
audience’s five senses. That’s why presenters tend to use visual aids, too. But
you can help to make the spoken word better by using your voice effectively.
Varying the speed at which you
talk, and emphasising changes in pitch and tone all help to make your voice
more interesting and hold your audience’s attention.
9.
Use your Body Too
It has been estimated that more
than three quarters of communication is non-verbal.
That means that as well as your
tone of voice, your body language is crucial to getting your message across.
Make sure that you are giving the right messages: body language to avoid
includes crossed arms, hands held behind your back or in your pockets, and
pacing the stage.
Make your gestures open and
confident, and move naturally around the stage, and among the audience too, if
possible.
10.
Relax, Breathe and Enjoy
If you find presenting difficult,
it can be hard to be calm and relaxed about doing it.
One option is to start by
concentrating on your breathing. Slow it down, and make sure that you’re
breathing fully. Make sure that you continue to pause for breath occasionally
during your presentation too.
If you can bring yourself to
relax, you will almost certainly present better. If you can actually start to
enjoy yourself, your audience will respond to that, and engage better. Your
presentations will improve exponentially, and so will your confidence. It’s
well worth a try.
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