Business Presentation Skills 2002, Edinburgh University Presented by Brian Hood Representing

Aims of the training  Build on existing experience of presenting  Introduce key concepts of presenting  Build confidence

Training content  Advantages of presenting  Six steps to presenting effectively  Common failings of presenters  WIIFM factor  Structuring the presentation  Five key techniques & first few minutes  Visual aids  Presentations: Putting it all into practice!

Advantages of presenting  Address the multiple senses  Increase your credibility  Effective use of time  High profile  Persuasive

Six steps of presenting effectively  Decide what your purpose is  Think about the audience  Gather data  Apply suitable structure  How open?  How close?

Common failings of presenters  Not bold enough  Rejecting the audience  Showing nerves  Poor use of visual aids  Speaking for too long  Poor preparation  Being clever!

The WIIFM Factor

Structuring the presentation 1. Tell them what you are going to tell them 2. Tell them 3. Tell them what you just told them

Five key techniques  The interesting fact  The challenging rhetorical question  The relevant quotation  The shared history  The personal story / your expert opinion!

First few minutes Be aware of:  Negative body language  The unfunny joke  The overbearing expert!

Handling questions...  Know your audience as best you can  Recoginse influential/expert members of your audience at the outset  Paraphrase back to ensure understanding  Answer honestly, get back later if necessary  Respond in a focused way  Check you have answered the query

Visual aids Information taken in through the senses:

Visual aids  Make use of facilities at hand i.e. PowerPoint  Don’t over use the technology  Make your slides clear and not too detailed  Utilise other visual aids such as flipcharts, whiteboards etc

Conclusion Refining your ability to present will become increasingly important every day of your working life and is an assessable part of your project.

Summary  Advantages of presenting  Six steps to presenting effectively  Common failings of presenters  WIIFM factor  Structuring the presentation  Five key techniques & first few minutes  Visual aids

Presentations: Putting it all into practice!  Split into 3 groups  Choose a topic you all agree on i.e. the collapse of the SPL, The benefits of studying CS at Edinburgh University  Take ½ hour to prepare a short 5 minute presentation using acetates  Identify 1 person to present your topic  We will then have the three presentations followed by feedback from the group and myself  Remember: this is a no risk environment and is aimed to give you some practice with the key techniques