making effective presentations

MAKING EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS

Andrew Aken

Based upon “Preparing Effective Oral Presentations” by Jeff Radel

Prepared by: Andrew Aken21 September 2005

PURPOSE

This presentation is designed to give the student a framework for developing their own presentations.

The ability to create effective presentations has applicability in a variety of situations:

Presenting information in your classes Coordinating group discussion Meetings Business proposals


PRESENTATION DESIGN PROCESS

The process of making a presentation can be broken down into several steps

1. Planning

2. Preparation

3. Outlining

4. Important Elements

5. Practice

6. Day of the Presentation

7. The moment of truth

8. Handling questions


INITIAL PLANNING

Before you begin preparing the presentation, you'll need to determine:

1. The type of talk you will be expected to give

2. The composition of the audience

3. The time allotted for the talk

4. Expectations for information content


PREPARATION

Once you have a general idea of what you want to say, you'll have to decide how to say it Start preparing far in advance by thinking

through what needs to be said Collect material which may relate to the topic

from unusual sources Write a clear statement of the problem and its

importance Identify the issues you plan to address


OUTLINING

Start with an introduction to the topic

Summarize your conclusions early in the presentation

Break the topic into 2-4 primary points

Break the primary points into 2-6 supporting facts, propositions, etc.

Restate your conclusion incorporating the primary points you’ve presented


IMPORTANT ELEMENTS

Keeping these elements in mind as you prepare will result in a more streamlined and effective end product Rate Opening Transitions Conclusion Length


PRACTICE

Practice is the single most important factor contributing to a good presentation. A poorly presented talk reflects upon both you and your attitude towards the material and audience Run through the entire presentation Seek some outside feedback to make sure

you are on the right track


DAY OF THE PRESENTATION

Some things can be done at the last minute which will help ensure a successful presentation Run through the presentation 1 more time Take a tour of the room looking for problems Make sure the equipment works Know how the equipment works Bring an additional copy of the electronic files


THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

Take several deep breaths (quietly)

Visualize your opening statement

State your objectives

Use a natural, moderate rate of speech

Avoid habitual behaviors (pacing, twirling)

Be enthusiastic, but not overly exuberant

Don’t run over your time limit, ever


HANDLING QUESTIONS

The question period often is the part of the talk which influences the audience the most Always repeat each question Reflect on the question Wait for the questioner to finish asking the

question before you begin your answer Avoid prolonged discussions with one person If you can't answer a question, just say so.

Don't apologize.


DO’S AND DON’TS WITH PRESENTATIONS

Do: Express the point of the presentation at the

beginning and at the end Acknowledge other members and contributors

at the beginning Check speling and goodly grammarization Dress appropriately for the audience and the

presentation you are givingDon’t distract from what you’re saying

Enjoy yourself



Don’t Express every word that you are going to say in the

slides. This makes for very uninteresting presentations and difficulty in following along with what you are saying. If you are just reading word-for-word what is on the computer screen, the audience will just focus on the screen and not on the presenter. If you have a large amount of text that’s important to the presentation, make it available on a handout you give out after your presentation so the audience doesn’t have to remember every detail and can have the information to take back with them.



Don’t Use flashy graphics or sounds that just

distract from the presentation



Don’t Use distracting animations or backgrounds

which make the text hard to read or which distract from your main points

Make sure that there is enough contrast in color between the foreground and the background to be able to read your text


CONCLUSION

You should now possess a framework for developing your own presentations.

With practice, you will have the ability to create effective presentations in a variety of situations.


Questions?

making effective presentations

Documents

talk expectations

job talk

general audience

conference presentation

formal presentation

successful presentation

friendly audience

interactive audience