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MAKING GREAT PRESENTATIONS

Guest post by: Ian Windle

Article Overview: Presentations should be fun, entertaining, informative, engaging and useful. So why is it that they are often confusing, boring and unimaginative? I bet more corporate hours are made putting together endless PowerPoint slides than almost anything else these days and to what effect? Of course it is something we all need to do and when progressing up the corporate ladder it is an essential skill to get right. Research on verbal v non-verbal communication is interesting. It suggests that the receiver trusts the non-verbal aspects of the speaker more than the actual words. So hold back on the overuse of PowerPoint slides and make sure you consider the ‘how’ as much as the ‘what’. The following article is a summary of some of the things I think you should consider when you have to make that all important presentation.

MAKING GREAT PRESENTATIONS

1. Introduction

Presentations should be fun, entertaining, informative, engaging and useful. So why is it that they are often confusing, boring and unimaginative? I bet more corporate hours are made putting together endless PowerPoint slides than almost anything else these days and to what effect? Of course it is something we all need to do and when progressing up the corporate ladder it is an essential skill to get right. Research on verbal v non-verbal communication is interesting. It suggests that the receiver trusts the non-verbal aspects of the speaker more than the actual words. So hold back on the overuse of PowerPoint slides and make sure you consider the ‘how’ as much asthe ‘what’. The following article is a summary of some of the things I think you should consider when you have to make that all important presentation.

2. Preparation and rehearsal

When preparing, think about what the audience want to hear and what they should do with the information afterwards. Any presentation should be like a story and as such it must have a beginning, middle and an end. The beginning should grab people, interest them and set the scene, the middle should tell them what it is you want to get across and the end should sum up, conclude and perhaps include a call to action (or next steps). Presentations will contain different types of information; there is analysis (rational information) contained in graphs and charts and descriptions as well is more emotional information in the form of pictures and stories. Research shows us that stories are remembered much more that graphs and charts, so always look to give people examples. If you listened to David Cameron on the 2010 Election campaign trail he had always met a member of the public that day and wanted to share a story. Of course it brought his point to life, showed he was ‘in touch’ and gave it validation.

The best presenter I worked with in one of my clients looked like he did the whole presentation ‘off the cuff’; he was so passionate, covered all the points he needed to make and really engaged with the audience. He only ever glanced down at a few bullets on a piece of paper. I found out later that he spent hours rehearsing! Spend at least twice the amount of time rehearsing as the time given over to the presentation – it will pay off. When rehearsing make sure you do it for real: use your body language, especially your arms and hands to make a point, project your voice, move through your slides and talk to the imaginary room. Enjoy the rehearsal; imagine there are people out there looking at you. If you look like you are enjoying it the chances are your audience will too. Rehearse the timing too it is crucial that you run to time or finish just slightly early.

3. Media

PowerPoint is of course what everyone uses (unless you use Apple and have the luxury of Keynote) but be really careful how much you get drawn into it’s tangled web and functionality and be especially wary of clip Art! Presentations by committee and ones that have been cut down at the last minute are usually pretty horrible, as they don’t hang together. Create your presentation flow separately from PowerPoint and keep the number of slides as short as you can. Use pictures and images and not just words, and where you are using words on the slides, use as few as possible.

Never read directly from the slides, you should know what you have to say and have a few bullet points on a page in front of you. Often the best way to use the slides is to tell stories around them that bring the information to life and allow people to make sense of it. These days you can drop in video very easily which you can grab from YouTube and many other sources, but make sure they're good quality and the sound is good too. Videos are a great way to back up your message(s), but think about what you want people to do or think during the video. I often like to ask people to jot down the key points from the video, that way they are really tuned in to the content and you can have a great debrief afterwards. Make sure the quality of your video, images and sound is high. Poor quality means you end up dimming the lights in the room, which can be a disaster as it allows people to drift away and check their Blackberries in peace!

Posters can be a really good way to theme a workshop, with quotes, verbatim comments etc. Don’t put too much information on them and don’t assume everyone will read them all either. Think of putting them in the coffee area so that people can read them when they arrive and over breaks, this will get them in the right mindset ahead of your presentation.

4. Body Language

Body language is so important. The bigger the group you have in front of you the more you need to emphasise your body language; big gestures for big rooms is the rule. You have to understand that presenting has a certain amount of acting in it and therefore you need to adopt a more exaggerated version of yourself. Make sure you scan the room regularly and have eye contact with your audience. Don’t fix on one person or look over their heads. In really large groups pick out someone you know and engage with them, this shows the audience you know people. This something politicians do all the time, although it’s debatable whether they always know who they are pointing at! In smaller groups walk amongst them and bring people into the conversation if you can (briefing someone in advance is a good plan as it avoids people surprising you with a blank expression and no answer!).

Show passion and belief in your subject and really look as though you mean it. If you don’t show that it is important to you, then your audience is unlikely to think it is important to them!

Movement is very important, but as with everything else it needs to be controlled. When you are making a point stand in one spot and when you are moving onto another point move to a new position. Intonation in your voice is vital; you need to vary your pitch during your delivery otherwise it will sound flat and monotone. The use of the pause…. and silence…. for a second or two can add great emphasis and effect to your presentation. If you do it well people will be waiting for your next point.

Humour is another important part of presentation skills, make sure you get it right though – too much humour can seem to the audience that this is not a serious subject you are dealing with, too little and you may come across as boring and dull. The bottom line is that if you look like you're having fun and projecting some humour your audience is likely to have fun too. One note of caution, unless you are a part-time stand up comedian, steer away from telling jokes!

A couple of specific points about body language. Where do you put your hands when you're not gesturing? Well if you put them behind your back you tend to look like you are trying to be royalty, whereas if you hold them in front of you, below your belt, you can look like a footballer. The best place is to have them just above your waist, loosely coupled together or with all your fingers touching each other, that way they are in a neutral position and you can bring them out to make a point when you want to. Another thing some presenters do is hold something in one hand, perhaps the clicker or a pen that you might then use on a flip chart later.

One thing you must never do when you're presenting is point at someone. You can point in the air or at the ground to confirm how things are going. You might be trying to emphasise a point but it may actually look like you’re saying you're fired! That’s all right if you are Lord Sugar! So do what Barak Obama, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair perfected and that is use the ‘thumb of power’ to emphasise your point.

5. On the day

When people arrive connect with them; circulate and chitchat to a few people, this will relax you and your audience and you can gauge the mood of the room before you start talking.

Organise yourself. Have your notes and timings on one piece of paper each, on a small table at the front. Make a conscious note of where to stand so not to block out the projector beam. Test everything to make sure it all works and finally go over your opening in your head. If you have prepared well, that is all you will need to do to get going.

When you start, make it punchy and lively and engage your audience straight away – perhaps give them something interesting to think about or a story to demonstrate one of the key points of your talk. Then give them an overview of the session, what you will be covering and anything you want them to consider. Also let them know if they will be getting a copy of the slides or a handout at the end, so that they know to take notes or not.

A good way to emphasise a point (as well as good body language, intonation etc.) is to use the power of three. Obama did it really well in campaign speeches in the US. At the beginning of his campaign when he talked about the Whitehouse he would say ‘We’ll reach for it, we’ll work for it and we’ll fight for it’, and on the night he was made President as usual he used it again

‘If there is anyone out there

1. who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; 


2. who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; 


3. who still questions the power of our democracy,

Tonight is your answer.’

The power of three started when we were in our nappies: ABC, 123, three blind mice, three musketeers, etc. So you could say that we are preprogrammed to look for three!

Should you ever ask the audience questions? Well, rhetorical questions are really good, they keep people on their toes as they think you may be about to ask a real question, but be careful if you do ask the audience a real question. For example ‘how are you all feeling today’ might not get the response you want if the last session was awful, or it is early on a Monday morning or after lunch on a Friday! If you want to ask questions here are a couple of tips. You can sign post that one is on the way, so the audience can think about it whilst you carry on talking ‘I’m going to ask you to think about the best thing that’s happened to you this year in a minute I will ask some of you to share your stories, but first…’ This way everyone will be thinking of a story to share (so all will be engaged). Another useful way to engage everyone is with a show of hands and this can then be followed up with a question ‘so if you all think we should go ahead, then why is that?’

Timing your presentation is crucial. Don’t stand up and tell people you will be talking for about an hour, because no matter how good you are, that will feel like a very long time. People will generally know from the agenda how long your session is anyway. The key thing is not to overrun and if possible finish just a little bit early – giving them the gift of time!

6. In summary

So here are my top ten tips for making a great presentation:

a. Start with your audience; who are they, what are they expecting you to say and what do you want to get across.

b. A presentation should be like a story. Plan the flow of the presentation with a start, a middle and an end

c. Tell stories. People remember stories and they bring to life the points you want to make

d. Rehearse for real. Rehearse you’re your whole presentation, including timings, body language etc and imagine it going really well (this will bolster your confidence for the real thing)

e. If using PowerPoint keep it short and as visual as possible.

f. Never read from the slides. It looks like you don’t know what you are talking about and is becomes really boring.

g. Remember to act! Use body language to emphasise points, project your voice and connect with your audience

h. Have fun! Even if you are shaking inside, look like you are enjoying it and you have more chance of your audience enjoying it too.

i. Give the gift of time. Rehearse your timings, never run over and try to finish just a little bit early

j. Give people something they can take away. Be it some ideas they can re-use with their teams, a tool they can run themselves, a synopsis of your talk etc.

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Article Tags: body language, nonverbal communication, powerful presentations, presentation tips



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