GIVING PRESENTATIONS Guidelines for Preparing and Delivering your presentation

The fear of speaking in public is the #1 fear of all fears Almost everyone feels nervous when giving a presentation or speaking in public. If you feel nervous, it is perfectly natural and understandable. If you have prepared and rehearsed well, you will have done a great deal already to reduce nervousness. The nerves will wear off someday, the more oral presenting you do

Try to enjoy your presentation Look on it as a performance. You are a bit like an actor playing a part. Even if you are not feeling confident and at ease, pretend that you are. Look on it as a beneficial experience both personally and professionally.

Experienced speakers advocate rehearsing your presentation as many times as it takes to get it right. They recommend having the first four minutes or so,so well rehearsed that you know every word and gesture for that first few minutes.

Preparing your presentation Find out about the audience ( how much they know about the subject, how many people there will be, why they will be there) Find out about the venue and the facilities ( the room, the seating plan, the equipment) Plan the content and structure Write notes on sheets of paper Prepare visual aids : pictures, diagrams, etc. Rehearse your presentation

Types of Presentation examples Press conference: two chief executives tell journalists why their companies have merged. Briefing: a senior officer gives information to other officers about a police operation they are about to undertake. Demonstration: the head of research and development tells non-technical colleagues about a new machine. Product launch: a car company announces a new model. Lecture: a university professor communicates information about economics to 300 students. Talk: a member of a stamp-collecting club tells other members about 19th century British stamps. Seminar:a financial adviser gives advice about investments to eight people. Workshop: a yoga expert tells people how to improve their breathing techniques and gets them to practice.

Structure of a Presentation Presentations differ from papers because they need to be more repetitive The old advice goes like this: Tell them what you are going to tell them, then tell them, and then tell them what you have told them 1.INTRODUCTION (tell them what you are going to tell them) 2.THE MAIN BODY OF THE PRESENTATION (tell them) 3.CONCLUSION (tell them what you have told them

STRUCTURE A good presentation has a clear structure, like a good book or film. A good presentation has: - a beginning (introduction & preview) - a middle (main message) - an end (review & conclusion)

1. INTRODUCTION 1. welcome your audience 2. introduce yourself 3. introduce your subject 4. outline the structure of your presentation 5. give instructions about the questions

1. WELCOME YOUR AUDIENCE Good morning, ladies and gentlemen Good afternoon, everybody

2. INTRODUCE YOURSELF A title slide can tell your audience what you are talking about, who you are, where you work/study, how you can be reached ( address). Often you’ll be introduced by someone else, in which case you should briefly thank the introducer. ( ‘Thank you, Peter) You introduce yourself. (My name’s James Lupton and I work/study…)

3. INTRODUCE YOUR SUBJECT Introduce your subject with a brief overview of the points you will cover, locating the topic in its wider context. The title is right there on your title slide, so you don’t have to read it to the audience. ‘This morning I’m going to talk about … tell you … show you …. The purpose of my presentation is to …

4. OUTLINE THE STRUCTURE OF YOUR PRESENTATION It is important to clearly structure your presentation and outline this structure to your audience.This will give you, the presenter, a clear path to follow and will provide your audience with a clear route through your argument or themes. Prepare an overview slide listing the major topics in your talk (limit to just a few bullets) Introduction ●Point A ●Point B ●Point C Summary/Conclusion

4. OUTLINE THE STRUCTURE OF YOUR PRESENTATION ‘So, I’ll start off by -bringing you up-to-date on … -giving you an overview of… -making a few observations about… -outlining… And then I’ll go on to -highlight what I see as… -put the situation in some kind of perspective -discuss in more depth ….. Finally, I’ll…..

5. GIVE INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT THE QUESTIONS ‘ Do feel free to interupt me if you have any questions. I’ll try to answer all of your questions after the presentation I plan to keep some time for questions after the presentation. EXPLAIN RULES FOR QUESTIONS

How to get the attention of the audience EFFECTIVE OPENINGS The first three minutes of a presentation are the most important. A good start makes you feel more confident Try to begin with an attention grabber (a startling fact, a cartoon, a dramatic visual aid, interesting statistics) Avoid telling a joke unless you know it is going to work.If it falls flat, so will your confidence. Here’s how the experts suggest you ‘hook’ your audience: 1. GIVE THEM A PROBLEM TO THINK 2. GIVE THEM SOME AMAZING FACTS 3. GIVE THEM A STORY OR A PERSONAL ANEGDOTE

PROBLEM TECHNIQUE 1.‘Suppose……………………………………………………… How would you …… ……………………………………..? 2.Have you ever wondered why it is that…..? You have? Well if I could show you……………would you be interesed? 3.How many people here this morning/afternoon…. …………………..? Well, imagine ………… Do you think that’s possible?

AMAZING FACTS TECHNIQUE 1. Did you know that……………………………….. 2. According to the latest study……………… 3. Statistics show that………………………. 4. I read somewhere the other day that …………

STORY/ANECDOTE TECHNIQUE 1. You know,………………………… When I think about………. I’m reminded of………………… 2. Have you ever been in the situation where… I remember when…………… It turned out……………

Introduction needs to prompt interest and provide an overview of the whole talk.

2. THE MAIN BODY OF THE PRESENTATION Present the subject itself a)Follow the order set out in the introduction b)Provide clear ‘road signs’ (phrases that signal the transition from one point to another in the talk). Here are a few examples: Let’s begin by… OK. To begin let’s look at… Now we’ll move on to… Let’s move on to the second area… Let’s consider this in more detail… As you can see… I’d like now to recap…Time is moving on, so let’s turn to… To start with…later…to finish up…

When you are delivering your presentation, you need to remember your audience! Keep in contact with your audience, look at them, try and make eye contact, look around the room, involve them all Use gestures (hand movements) to emphasize keypoints Speak clearly and loud enough Vary your speed, do not hurry Vary your intonation, do not speak in monotone Sound and look enthusiastic

3. CONCLUSION a)Summarise your presentation b)Thank your audience c)Invite questions

a)Summarise your presentation Provide a summary slide Remind your audience what the main features of your presentatio were To conclude… In conclusion… Now, to sum up… So let me summarise/recap what I’ve said… Finally, may I remind you of some of the main points…

b) Thank your audience Many thanks for your attention. May I thank you all for being such an attentive audience.

c) Invite questions Now I’ll try to answer any questions you may have. Can I answer any questions? Are there any questions? Do you have any questions? Are there any final questions? Questions are a good opportunity for you to interact with your audience.