Presentation Skills Dr. Norma Ryan

Greatest fears 3,000 surveyed Public speaking (41%) Heights Insects, Financial problems Deep water Illness Death “Public speaking a fate worse than death”

Exercise: The good and the bad Before you show the picture Ask What makes a good presenter What makes a poor presenter Then how long does it take to make a good impression.

Overview Audience Focus Key Message Connectedness

Audience focus Audience Focus

Typical attention an audience pays to an average presentation The attention curve Start Conclusion Audience Attention Attention span is best at the start when the audience is primed and ready and gradually reduces as the presentation continues. The Audience sits up and pays attention when the speakers utters the words in conclusion… So you have two key times in which to ready connect. Learn off your introduction and conclusion Do not read your name and title of the talk from the slide – know this. Also have your few concluding sentences learnt off. Time Typical attention an audience pays to an average presentation

Ideal attention curve Audience Attention Intermediate conclusions Time Introduction Theme 1 Theme 2 Theme 3 Conclusion Audience Attention Intermediate conclusions If audiences like introductions and conclusions – give them more of them Divide your talk in a number of key themes Good idea to have mini intro and conclusions for each theme, No more then 3-5 themes/points keep drawing their attention back in Time Ideal attention of an audience when the speaker divides the talk in recognisable parts, each summarised by intermediate conclusions

Learning styles Thinkers Reflector (feeling) Theorist (thinking) Doers Observes & reflects Theorist (thinking) Wants to understand underlying reasons, concepts, relationships Doers Pragmatist (watching) Likes to “have a go” try things to see if they work Activist (doing) Prefers doing and experiencing Get a show of hands for each of the 4 styles. Explain in any audience all four types are represented. So you need to include something small to address all four styles.

The rule of three Friends, Romans, Countrymen Stop, Look & Listen The good, bad & the ugly Short term memory only remember 3-5 things – so work your presentation to this knowledge and make it memorable.

Engage the brain Bird Harder to remember a word on its own Easier to remember if a picture is added.

Picture superiority effect BIRD Remember 72 hours later 10% 65%

Window of opportunity 2.5 – 5% of your total communication time On a bad day, Friday afternoon at 4.00, you have to work harder

Key Message Key message When preparing your talk know the difference between What an audience must know at the end What would be nice to know. Give priority to what they must know and keep nice to know for Questions.

The Four Ps Plan Prepare Practice Present Simple steps to planning a presentation.

Organisation/structure Make it work Live, visuals Delivery styles Organisation/structure Content PRESENT PRACTICE PREPARE PLAN Plan What content, how much info, timing, level of expertise Prepare Research content, meat substance, be careful of too much info. Consider how best to get information across (visual, words, language etc), need to consider how you will structure your presentation, how much time have you got, what do you consider the main points. How are you going to delivered what aids will you be using, size of the audience room etc what support systems are in place to assist you. All the audience see is the final stage don’t realise the work gone on before. (Lisa b. Marshall)

Where to start Brainstorm for Plan Prepare Practice Present Why Who What How When Where Plan Prepare Take time to gather your thoughts. This is not wasted time - you need time to think around a topic. Why are you making this presentation, what idea or concept to you want to convey, what is most important aspect. Who is the presentation for, adopt the correct language. What angle do you want to take, what is your key message How will you deliver the talk, what aids/ visuals/stats/ case studies/ demonstrations will you use, When and Where: are the logistics, a room can make or break a presentation Think in terms of the most important points, do not go off in tangents, constantly refer to back to the main objective of the presentation. Practice makes perfect and ensure that where you are presenting is correct and aids using most useful. Think about it at times when you are doing something routine etc. Jot down notes and collect all material together. Practice Present

Plan – the core message Define objective of talk based on: Why? Reason for presentation Impact on audience What action Post-it on side of laptop with objective written on it What is my reason for presenting this? What am I hoping to achieve? What is my purpose? To inform , persuade educate, sell an idea motivate to action WRITE DOWN YOUR OBJECTIVE at this stage and keep referring to it during the remaining stages. Why should the audience listen? Who will they be - level of expertise/simplify ?

Guess who’s coming to dinner Pitch to audience - size - age/gender - knowledge of subject (ratio of experts to non experts) - bias - cultural make-up Talk to your audience rather than at them

Introduction Body Summary Shape the talk Tell’em what you’re gonna tell’em Tell’em At this stage you will have substantial information - Core material - essential to the talk Disposable material - extra examples Supplementary material - can be used if there is time to spare or in answering questions. How this is classified - Back to OBJECTIVE, Is this relevant? Does it help make my point? Good Structure will hold interest, help understanding Tell’em what you told’em

Stages to building a presentation Thinking Sketching Scripting Building slides Rehearsing Rehearsing is very important Leave time over to do this Go to the lecture hall and practice there Video tape yourself – see your body language

The production Story board Craft the words

Emotionally charged event “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” Maya Angelou

Connectedness Connectedness

Delivery style: don’t ask to be zapped!

Communication is three dimensional 55 % Visual/body language 38 % Voice/tone 7 % Verbal/words 93% of communication is non verbal

Big NO, N0 Mono tone and mumbling or pet words e.g. em, em No Movement

Visuals Exercise Describe Marilyn Monroe From the neck up Write down descriptions Ask if different age groups attended this talk who would think this is? Make the point at the end People understand words from their own perspective depending on Gender/Age Socio economic background Educational level Nationality/culture Etc. Visuals help them to understand material from your perspective

Supports not crutches Flip Charts and White Boards Overhead Projector PC & Data Projector Video/Multimedia Handouts Attract attention Help understanding Picture aids retention Slides/ Flip Charts - prepared or Blank Projectors - pull down page to reveal points or overlay other slides Only Aids not to take over A – interactive/brainstorming, never turn your back when you are talking, use colours blue, black red or green B- ensure you know how to use it correctly, ensure notes are in order in sequence, turn on in silence, place slide on first check once in silence, if you need to read from it read from screen. Biggest mistake people stand in the shadow of the screen. C not too many gimmicks, better prepared more simultaneous, do not read from cards or screen. D use only sparingly ¾ minutes E old fashion but do have something that people can take away and use later. Dangers - can go wrong, darkened room, may appear too slick for some crowds.

Tips for effective slides Keep it simple (6X6 rule) One idea per slide Good visuals are visible 10% of men: red/green colour blind “Life span” of each visual (keyboard B) Not too many Not too complicated 6 words per line 6 lines per slide Not handwritten Never have red and greed together. Turn it off – button b on the laptop will make the screen go blank Mix with graphic material - pictures, charts, diagrams etc. Don’t crowd too many words Keep handouts until the end - except in exceptional circumstances. The art of science communication: using PowerPoint effectively. http://ian.umces.edu/pdfs/science_comm_powerpoint.pdf

Dress up numbers 1,000 songs in your pocket 5 GB

Q&A pointers “What questions do you have?” vs “Any questions?” Most interactive part Eliminate barriers Repeat or restate Respond simply and directly Chance for the audience get involved move out from podium down to the audience and Handle Q’s in the same presentation style as you delivered the talk Don’t get defensive

Spot the difference

Thank you Email: n.ryan@ucc.ie