Presentation Skills Clara McCabe

Objectives At the end of this session you will be able to: Describe the qualities of an effective presenter Plan a presentation Develop learning objectives for your presentation Use effective visual aids Adopt several methods and tools for presenting Use positive presentation style behaviours

Qualities of an Effective Presenter Appearance Interesting Voice Attitude Knowledge Good Eye Contact Enthusiasm Confident Manner Audience

Planning a Presentation Why are you speaking? Who will be in the audience? How long do you have to speak? Clear objective Plan the content: introduction, middle, summary Prepare visual aids Prepare briefing notes Rehearse

The Audience What are they expecting to hear? What do they know already? Will they have strong opinions? Will it be clear why the subject should matter to them? Do I have support or opposition from particular people?

Audience attention span – 20 minutes

Communicating to Convince Set a clear objective Structure according to the objective Put together your notes Create visuals Opening Attention Grabber Deliver the body of your presentation Summarise & conclude Respond to questions & objections Suggest next steps End with an energetic statement

Understanding Objectives What is the main purpose? What do I want the audience to do as a result? What will be my overall message? What are the main points I need to get across?

Opening Attention Grabbers Facts Rhetorical Questions Arresting Statements Quotes Jokes Short anecdote or story A statement of your objectives

Why Use Visual Aids? Of the information that is remembered: 85% is through seeing 11% is through hearing 4% is through the other senses Researchers have found that: Only 10% of presentation is remembered Increases to 50% if visual aids are used 70% if both visual aids and participation is used

The Trouble with Visual Aids Many people simply put too much information into a visual aid and then compound the situation by saying something like ‘you probably can’t read this’ and then trying to talk through an awkward description of what is on the screen. The other problem is that people will automatically read anything that is put in front of them. So if they spot something on the slide that mentions something unrelated to the presentation, e.g. ‘your flies are undone’ (admittedly this doesn’t come up in a presentation that often) people stop thinking about what the speaker is saying and their mind drifts away to this new topic. To test this, we predict that most men will check that they are properly dressed within the next fifteen minutes.

Tips on using Visual Aids Use simple words, short bullet points Remember space = Legibility Large typeface is easier to read Pictures enhance the visuals

Presentation Style Good posture - open hand and arm movements Control of distracting mannerisms Eye contact with all the audience Voice - good speed, pace, tone, pitch and varied modulation Energy and enthusiasm Controlling nerves

Summary 8 qualities of an effective presenter How to plan a presentation Take your audience into consideration Understand objectives Attention grabbers! Tips on visual aids Your presentation style