Chapter 1
Preparing to Deliver a Great Presentation
In This Chapter
Recognizing the factors that lead to effective presentations
Prepping your presentation
For many people, one of the most frightening and nerve-racking experiences they encounter is being asked to give a formal presentation: speaking in front of a group of people and conveying some kind of important message for a period of time in an organized and interesting way. If you’re part of this crowd, you can probably think of 100 other things you’d rather do than take on an assignment involving public speaking.
Try as you may to get out of it, if you’ve been asked once to give a speech to a group, you’re likely to be asked again. So instead of fighting it, a better tack is to discover how to give good presentations so that you impress your listeners and live to tell about it. Even if you’re one of those rare types of people who doesn’t mind speaking in front of groups or even enjoys it, giving an effective presentation is no small feat.
The emphasis of this chapter is taking one of the greatest challenges of communication — giving formal presentations — and helping you prepare for them.
Hitting the Essentials of Effective Presentations
You’ve probably seen many formal presentations at business meetings within your organization, as well as at various events outside your organization, such as seminars, conferences, and professional association meetings. From observing these various meetings and events, you can find out a great deal about how to give an effective presentation.
You’ve probably noticed that some presenters are organized and confident and, as a result, really engage your attention. You’ve probably seen others who were a chore to listen to and didn’t seem to know what they were doing. You may have even seen professional speakers — people who get paid to talk to audiences — who ranged from highly effective to totally useless.
Learning from other people’s successes and mistakes puts you on the fast track to giving effective presentations, so in the following sections, we explain not only what to do but also what not to do. You’ll come to recognize the importance of preparation and the steps that go into it, which increase your likelihood for success.
What makes a presentation
What are the characteristics that effective speakers display? Consider these tips:
Being well organized: Presentations should flow in a logical sequence. The points expressed connect in an orderly fashion. Thus the presentation is easy to follow.
Getting to the point: The speaker should be direct, clear, and, most important, concise. The audience will walk away understanding and remembering the key points if they are stated succinctly and in language that makes sense.
Displaying confidence: A good speaker sounds authoritative as opposed to authoritarian, knowledgeable but not know-it-all, and definitive rather than hesitant. In both voice and demeanor, the speaker should express his points with certainty and credibility.
Showing sincerity: A sincere presenter’s tone and language come across with care and respect. He conveys believability and genuineness that engage others to want to listen.
Giving a message: After an effective presentation, the audience walks away knowing exactly what was important. Everyone grasps and remembers the main ideas or themes clearly and doesn’t get lost in details.
Sounding positive: The speaker’s verbal and nonverbal messages should match and have an upbeat feel. Points are expressed in the best way possible, and even when talking about tough issues, the speaker makes key points in a positive way.
Relating well to the audience: The presenter needs to understand the issues, speak to them, and do so in language the audience can understand. The listeners should get information that’s useful and relevant.
Having enthusiasm: In his own style, whether low-key or full of energy, a good speaker comes across as animated. He should sound alive and interested in what he’s saying and, as a result, make the topic interesting and worth hearing about.
Using visual aids to support the presentation: Visual aids serve to enhance and work in tandem with the oral message. The speaker should use them as points to talk from or to help make a point.
Use the preceding list as your guide — the to-dos for giving effective presentations. What the preceding checklist points out is that effective presentations involve three key ingredients:
Substance: The content of the presentation
Style: The delivery of the presentation
Supporting materials: The visual aids that enhance the talk
What breaks a presentation
To understand what makes a presentation effective, you must also be aware of what breaks or detracts from a good presentation. Here are the pitfalls to avoid:
Looking or sounding nervous: Sometimes nervousness is apparent when the presenter stands stiffly in one spot ...
