Presentations

"Presentations skills are one of the most important skills you will learn in

business"

How do we feel before a presentation?

Managing emotions• Your stomach has a lot to say!

– Enteric Nervous System

– Interacts with the brain• via Vagus Nerves • Link to our emotional system

• +100 Million Brain cells in the gut• When you die the gut keeps working for a time• More brain cells in your gut than in a cats head

• Adrenalin!

Avoiding Tension• Voice

– Deep breathing– Chew a very large toffee– Tongue twisters

• How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?

– Big Yawn

• Body– Shake the hands roll the shoulders– Run on the spot/ take a brisk walk

• Mind– Think happy thoughts - consider 3 reasons for audience

attention

Using emotion to your advantage

• Energy• Hand gestures• Voice intonation

• Best advise I was ever given "Go Big"

If (last verse)Try saying these with

different emotions

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,If all men count with you, but none too much;If you can fill the unforgiving minuteWith sixty seconds' worth of distance run,Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Planning

• Three distinct parts– Start – Middle – Finish

How much time should we spend planning each section?

Where is the maximum interest going to be?

Start

• Goal is to relax the audience, gain interest and make a good 1st impression

• Title– imaginative or surprising

• Rhetorical Question– "What have the romans ever done for us?"

• Quotation – "We never step into the same river twice" Heraclitus

• Statistic– "90% of students who attend all lectures achieve a 1st"

• Also need to explain the format of the presentation

Finish

• Referring back to opening– "....as we identified at the start

• Summary • Quotation

– "90% of project managers say that managing the client's expectations is the most important part of project management"

• Pertinent question– "What do we feel is the most important part of project

management?"

Middle

• Use the "power of 3" format– I came, I saw, I conquered– location, location, location– lies, dammed lies, and statistics

– Metaphors• "Breaking through the glass ceiling"

– examples– Stories

Basics

• Use appropriate language • Check the room and equipment - bring a memory

stick • Spell check and use UK English• The presentation starts when you enter the room

and finishes when you leave.

Presentations skills are one of the most important skills

in business

– Relax and enjoy it!– Practice makes ..... (well almost) perfect