1. Business Presentations
CHAPTER 12
Business Presentations

2. Getting Ready for an Oral Presentation
Know your purpose.
What do you want your audience to believe, remember, or do when you finish?
Aim all parts of your talk toward your purpose.
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3. Getting Ready for an Oral Presentation
Organize
the
conclusion
Identify
your
purpose
Organize
the
body
Understand
your
audience
Organize
the
introduction

4. Getting Ready for an Oral Presentation
Understand your audience.
Friendly, neutral, uninterested, hostile?
How to gain credibility?
How to relate this information to their needs?
How to make them remember your main points?
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5. Capture attention in the introduction.
Organizing Content
Capture attention in the introduction.
Grab listeners’ attention and get them involved by opening with a promise, story, startling fact, question, quotation, relevant problem, self-effacing story, or some other tactic.
Identify yourself and establish your credibility.
Preview your main points.

6. Succeeding With Four Audience Types
Friendly
Neutral
Uninterested
Hostile
Click icon for more details.

7. Ten Techniques for Getting Your Audience’s Attention
A Promise
“By the end of my talk,
you will ”
Drama—tell a moving story; describe a problem.
Eye contact—command attention by making eye contact with as many people as possible.

8. Ten Techniques for Getting Your Audience’s Attention
Movement—leave the lectern area. Move toward the audience.
Questions—ask for a show of hands. Use a rhetorical question.
Demonstrations—include a member of the audience.
Samples, gimmicks—award prizes to volunteer participants; pass out samples.

9. Ten Techniques for Getting Your Audience’s Attention
Visuals—use graphics and other visual aids.
Dress—professional dress helps you look more competent and qualified
Appeal to the audience’s self-interest—audience members want to know, “What's in it for me?”

10. Organizing Content Organize the body logically.
Develop two to four main points. Streamline your topic and summarize its principal parts.
Arrange the points logically by a pattern.
Prepare transitions to guide the audience.
Have extra material ready. Be prepared with more information and visuals if needed.

11. Organizing Content Summarize in the conclusion.
Summarize your main themes.
Provide a final action-oriented focus that tells listeners how they can use this information or what you want them to do.
Include a statement that allows you to depart the podium gracefully and leaves a lasting impression.

12. Patterns for Organizing the Body of Your Presentation
Example
Chronology
Describe the history of a problem, organized from the first sign of trouble to the present.
Geography/ space
Arrange a discussion of the changing demographics of the workforce by regions, such as East Coast, West Coast, and so forth.
Topic/function/ conventional grouping
Organize a report discussing mishandled airline baggage by the names of airlines.

13. Pattern Example Comparison/ contrast (pro/con)
Compare organic farming methods with those of modern industrial farming.
Journalism pattern
Explain how identity thieves ruin your good name by discussing who, what, when, where, why, and how.
Value/size
Arrange a report describing fluctuations in housing costs by house value groups (houses that cost $100,000, $200,000, and so forth).
Importance
Organize from most important to least important the reasons a company should move its headquarters to a specific city.

14. Pattern Example Problem/ solution
Discuss a problem followed by possible solutions.
Simple/ complex
Organize a report explaining genetic modification of plants by discussing simple seed production progressing to complex gene introduction.
Best case/ worst case
Analyze whether two companies should merge by presenting the best case result (improved market share, profitability, employee morale) opposed to the worse case result (devalued stock, lost market share, employee malaise).

15. Supporting Your Main Points*
Type
Use
Comments
Example
Illustrate
Clarify
Add interest
Introduce in groups of two or three.
Consider preceding or following with relevant story.
Story
Prove point
Adapt to audience.
Must support thesis.
Control length.
*Supplementary lecture. Not included in textbook.

16. Type Use Comments Quotation Prove point Add credibility Add interest
Cite source.
Paraphrase or read verbatim.
Follow up with restatement or explanation.
Comparison
Improve understanding
Add figurative interest
Link familiar with unfamiliar.
Be sure comparison or analogy is valid.
Statistics
Link to audience needs.
Use sparingly; round off.
Support with visuals, handouts.

17. Building Rapport Like a Pro

18. Building Rapport Like a Pro
Effective Imagery
Analogy – a comparison of something familiar with something unfamiliar
To understand how the heart is divided, imagine a house with two rooms upstairs and two downstairs.

19. Building Rapport Like a Pro
Effective Imagery
Metaphor – an implied, nonliteral comparison
The old office building became a money pit.
Simile – a comparison that includes the words like or as
His mind works like a computer.

20. Building Rapport Like a Pro
Other Ways to Connect With Your Audience
Personal anecdotes
Personalized statistics
Worst- and best-case scenarios

21. Using Verbal Signposts to Transition
Previewing
Now let's look at three reasons
for . . .
My next major point focuses on . . .
Summarizing
As you can see, we have two
primary reasons explaining . . .
Let me review the two major
factors I've just covered. . .
Switching
Directions
Up to this point, I've concentrated
on . . .; now let's look at another
significant factor . . .
I've just discussed three reasons
for X. Now I want to move on to Y.

22. Sending Positive Nonverbal Messages
Look professional.
Animate your body.
Punctuate your words.
Use appropriate eye contact.
Get out from behind the podium.
Vary your facial expressions.

24. Characteristics of Visual Aids
Pros
Cons
Medium
Multimedia
slides
Transparencies
Professional
effect
Graphic options
Easy to make and
update
Requires costly
equipment and
practice to use
Equipment may
fail
Easy to prepare,
update, and use
Readily available
equipment
May seem outdated
Holds speaker
close to projector
Poor photo repro-
duction

25. Characteristics of Visual Aids
Pros
Cons
Medium
Handouts
Flipcharts or
whiteboards
Encourages
audience
participation
Enhances recall
Risks unauthorized
duplication and
loss of audience
control
Inexpensive
Easy to create,
modify, or
customize on the
spot
Requires talent
Difficult to see
Cumbersome to
transport

26. Characteristics of Visual Aids
Pros
Cons
Medium
Video
Props
Accurate portrayal
of content
Suggests serious
preparation
Expensive to
create and update
Incompatibility
issues
Realistic effects
Increases audience
participation
Extra work and
expensive to trans-
port and replace
Limited use with
large audience

27. Preparing a Visually Appealing PowerPoint Presentation
Analyze the situation and purpose.
Live presentation?
Self-running presentation?
Saved on server for anytime viewing?
Analyze the situation and purpose.
Bold colors? Animation?
Sound effects? Bells and whistles?

28. Preparing a Visually Appealing PowerPoint Presentation
Adapt your text and color selections.
6-x-6 rule: Maximum of six bullets per screen, six words per bullet
Combine harmonious colors, borders, bullet styles, and fonts.
Use light text on dark background for darkened rooms.
Use dark text on light background for lighted rooms.

29. Preparing a Visually Appealing PowerPoint Presentation
Organize your slides.
Translate major headings into slide titles.
Use blueprint slides strategically.
Build bullet points with short phrases.

30. Preparing a Visually Appealing PowerPoint Presentation
Compose your slideshow.
Create a template to serve as background.
Avoid visual clichés; find a fresh template that complements your purpose.
Choose layout and design options.

31. Preparing a Visually Appealing PowerPoint Presentation
Compose your slideshow.
Alter layouts by repositioning, resizing, or changing fonts.
Consider adding variety and pizzazz but don’t overdo it.
Numeric information is easier to understand when shown in graphs and charts.

32. Preparing a Visually Appealing PowerPoint Presentation
Compose your slideshow.
Create a slide only if it
helps audience follow your ideas
highlights points you want audience to remember
introduces or reviews key points
provides a transition between points
illustrates and simplifies complex ideas.

33. Preparing a Visually Appealing PowerPoint Presentation
Revise, proofread, and evaluate your slideshow.
Use PowerPoint’s Slide Sorter View to rearrange, insert, and delete slides.
Edit wording to achieve parallel form.
Strive for conciseness and precision.
Check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Are color choices visually appealing?

34. Preparing a Visually Appealing PowerPoint Presentation
Use PowerPoint effectively.
Allow plenty of time to set up and test equipment.
Always bring backups.
Consider transferring your presentation to a CD or a USB flash drive.
Look at the audience, not the screen.
Do not read from a slide. Paraphrase.

35. Preparing a Visually Appealing PowerPoint Presentation
Use PowerPoint effectively.
Leave the lights as bright as possible.
Use a radio remote control to advance slides.
Use a laser pointer to highlight slide items.
Don’t rely totally on your slides. Remember that the audience came to see and hear you.

36. Polishing Your Delivery and Following Up
Delivery Method
If you are using a slideshow, practice thoroughly so that you can speak extemporaneously without notes.
If you are speaking without a slideshow, use notes but try to talk to the audience conversationally.
Beware of reading from a script: BORING!

37. Stomach butterflies Pounding heart Shortage of breath Sweaty palms
Stage Fright Symptoms
Stomach butterflies
Pounding heart
Shortage of breath
Sweaty palms
Dry throat
Unsteady voice
Trembling hands
Tied tongue
Wobbly knees

38. Combating Stage Fright
Just before you begin to talk, take some deep breaths.
Convert your fear into anticipation and enthusiasm.
Select a familiar, relevant topic.
Prepare 150 percent.
Use positive self-talk.

39. Combating Stage Fright
Shift the focus from yourself to your visual aids.
Ignore stumbles; keep going.
Don't admit you're nervous.
Feel proud when you finish.
Reward yourself.

40. Putting It All Together
Before
your
presentation
During
your
presentation
After
your
presentation

41. Putting It All Together
Before
During
After
Prepare thoroughly.
Rehearse repeatedly.
Time yourself.
Dress professionally.
Check the room.
Greet members of the audience.
Practice stress reduction.

42. Putting It All Together
Before
During
After
Begin with a pause.
Present your first sentence from memory.
Maintain eye contact.
Control your voice and vocabulary.
Skip the apologies.
Incorporate pauses when appropriate

43. Putting It All Together
Before
During
After
Show enthusiasm.
Put the brakes on.
Move naturally.
Use visual aids effectively.
Avoid digression.
Summarize your main points.

44. Putting It All Together
Before
During
After
Distribute handouts.
Encourage questions.
Repeat questions.
Reinforce your main points.
Keep control.
Avoid Yes, but answers.
End with a summary and appreciation.

45. END