Presentation Skills for Technical Professionals

Achieving Excellence

Naomi Karten

• Publisher: IT Governance Publishing
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9781849281553
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Meetings & Presentations
• Index: Business

Expert advice for technical professionals looking to improve their presentation skills

Your technical skills and professional expertise are evidence of your ability to accomplish difficult tasks. Strong presentation skills can help you further advance your career. The ability to present articulately to customers, management, peers and others can significantly enhance your credibility, clout, and professional status. Delivering presentations at work or professional events is an unbeatable way to gain a reputation as a valued employee and an expert in your field.

If you have ever tried to get out of giving a presentation because of nerves, or if you feel there is room for improvement in your presentation techniques, then Presentation Skills for Technical Professionals is for you.

Invaluable tips

This book gives you invaluable tips on how to make your presentation clear and accessible, how to interact with your audience and how to retain their interest while keeping your anxiety under control. Naomi Karten has used her vast experience — both positive and negative — on the front lines of public speaking to provide key advice (and many chuckles!) in this engrossing read for the technical professional.

By following the advice contained this book, you can take the stress out of the exercise and start delivering presentations that will engage your audience and make your ideas and arguments memorable.

Read this book and...

• Make your presentation easy to absorb. This book shows you how to structure your information and ideas to ensure you communicate your message to your audience.
• Learn the pitfalls to avoid. However much time you have put into preparing the presentation, if you irritate your audience you can ruin all your hard work. This book reminds you of the bad habits, like mumbling or speaking in clichés, which you need to avoid if you want to make a good impression.
• Use PowerPoint effectively. Presentations are often let down by slides which are dull or cluttered. Over-reliance on PowerPoint can mean that the slides become the focal point of the presentation, instead of helping to make what you are saying easier to grasp. This book shows you how to make intelligent use of PowerPoint. Presenting text in small chunks and using a readable type size are two simple ways to keep your audience listening.
• Deliver successful presentations to managers and customers. Different audiences require different approaches. This book contains essential advice on how to deliver presentations both to high-ranking executives and to customers. Get to the point, and satisfy your superiors. Speak the customer's own language, and you are more likely to make the sale.

Presentation Skills for Technical
Professionals

Achieving Excellence

Soft Skills for
IT Professionals

Presentation Skills for
Technical Professionals

Achieving Excellence

NAOMI KARTEN

Soft Skills for
IT Professionals

Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publisher and the author cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the publisher or the author.

Microsoft and PowerPoint are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Apple and Keynote are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publisher or, in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licenses issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publisher at the following address:

IT Governance Publishing
IT Governance Limited
Unit 3, Clive Court
Bartholomew’s Walk
Cambridgeshire Business Park
Ely
Cambridgeshire
CB7 4EH
United Kingdom

www.itgovernance.co.uk

© Naomi Karten 2010
The author has asserted the rights of the author under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

First published in the United Kingdom in 2010
by IT Governance Publishing.

ISBN: 978-1-84928-155-3

ABOUT THE SOFT SKILLS FOR IT PROFESSIONALS SERIES

IT is often seen as a ‘hard-skill’ profession where there is no place for soft skills. Yet the importance of soft skills for the IT professional should not be underrated; they underlie all behaviours and interactions. Both IT and non-IT professionals need to work together and learn from each other for effective business performance. All professionals, be they in IT or elsewhere, need to understand how their actions and reactions impact on their behaviour and working relationships.

This series of books aims to provide practical guidance on a range of soft-skills areas for those in IT and also for others, including those who deal with IT professionals, in order to facilitate more effective and co-operative working practices.

Each book is written by an experienced consultant and trainer. Their approach throughout is essentially practical and direct, offering a wealth of tried and tested professional guidance. Each chapter contains focused questions to help the manager plan and steer their course. The language used is jargon-free, and a bibliography is included at the end of the book.

Angela Wilde
IT Governance

FOREWORD

“Oh drat,” you think. “I’ve got to do a presentation!”

Nevertheless, you smile and ask, “Oh, sure – what’s the date?”

Presentation Skills for Technical Professionals to the rescue!

Out comes Naomi Karten’s splendid book. You open it, eager for your session with your personal presentation skills coach. You are easily captivated by Naomi’s clever style and practical guidance on presentations, and grateful for the online references and resources that supplement the text. Reading this book not only prepares you for your upcoming presentation, it also helps you get in the groove and enables you to gain confidence as you prepare. You actually enjoy the process!

I was flattered when Naomi asked me to write the foreword for her latest book. I view Naomi as one of the best technical writers on the planet. Her writing encapsulates hard-nosed wisdom and pragmatic advice in an easy, approachable style. And, Naomi is a consummate presenter with an abundance of experience speaking to technical audiences.

My first big speaking engagement at a major conference was a life-draining experience for me. I practiced until I was bored, worried for weeks, and was incredibly nervous the night before (I barely slept). It all went fine – and was life changing for me. I learned I could do it! I enjoyed the challenge and recognized that delivering presentations is essential to my personal and professional development.

But I can tell you without doubt that I would have benefited greatly from the calm wisdom in this book. Now with a few presentations under my belt, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book to learn more from a first-rate guide.

You can read this book front to back for a holistic immersion or dive into a topic that tickles your fancies or fears, such as sections entitled Physical mannerisms, How stories make facts interesting, Dress to unstress, or Speak – don’t die. With Naomi at your side, whispering wisdom and lighthearted stories in an empathetic tone, you’ll find a friend in her voice, a coach in her advice, a confidant in her stories.

This book is practical, pragmatic, and a joy to read: concise, clever, captivating and compelling. It allows you to settle down, focus, find your voice and confidence; it reminds you of the undisputable humanity of your audience, yourself, and all the other wary presenters who came before. It allows you to take pride and joy in the outcome.

So free your fears, halve your heartache, unravel your uncertainties, and set your mind at ease. I can think of no better guide for a technical person seeking excellent presentation skills than Naomi Karten’s Presentation Skills for Technical Professionals.

Ellen Gottesdiener

EBG Consulting, Inc.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

As a highly experienced professional speaker and seminar leader, Naomi Karten draws from her psychology and IT background to help organizations improve customer satisfaction, manage change, and strengthen communication and presentation skills. She has delivered seminars and presentations to more than 100,000 people throughout Europe, the US, and Canada, and is well-known for delivering serious material with a light touch.

Naomi’s e-book, How to Establish Service Level Agreements, has helped organizations worldwide establish successful SLAs. Her other books and e-books include Changing How You Manage and Communicate Change, Communication Gaps and How to Close Them, Managing Expectations, and How to Survive, Excel and Advance as an Introvert.

Naomi’s website, www.nkarten.com, features more than 100 articles on a wide range of topics, including strengthening customer relations, improving communication, gathering customer feedback, and enhancing teamwork.

Naomi’s newsletter, Perceptions & Realities, is highly regarded for offering serious advice in a lively, chuckle-generating manner. Numerous issues of this newsletter are posted on her website. In addition, she has published more than 300 articles in print and online publications.

Before forming her training and speaking business, Naomi earned degrees in psychology and gained experience in technical, customer support, and management positions.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am forever grateful to all of you who have invited me to give presentations and have attended my presentations. Without you, I would never have gained the experience to write this book.

In addition, many people responded to my request for input. Thank you for taking the time, providing valuable information, and sharing my enthusiasm for this book: Szifra Birke, Eric Bloom, Carol Brumwell, Miquel Casas, Fiona Charles, Jutta Eckstein, Andre Gous, Payson Hall, Francesco Ientile, Kim Laursen, and Johanna Rothman.

Numerous other people became contributors to this book when they made a comment, told me a story, or described an experience that, unknown to them, was exactly what I was writing about. Thank you for giving permission to use your comments: Rex Andre, Selena Delesie, Dale Emery, Tobias Fors, Judith Marx Golub, Sherry Heinze, Neil Lapham, Rob Peck, Jude Rajan, Lou Russell, Jeff Switzer, and Becky Winant.

And several people eagerly and graciously reviewed parts of the book and gave me invaluable feedback. Thank you, Roy Atkinson, Szifra Birke, Fiona Charles, Sherry Heinze, Helen Osborne, Adrian Segar, Greg Stoltz, Shannon Stoltz, and Becky Winant. Each of you provided suggestions that I immediately applied.

Finally, thank you, Mark Tatro, my favorite illustrator (www.rotategraphics.com), for cartoons that capture the whimsical side of public speaking.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: Please Join Me in Welcoming

What’s in it for you?

Naomi as a formerly panicked speaker

Thus, this book

“But I’m not a performer”

Introverts and extraverts as presenters

If I can do it

PART I: BECOMING A SKILLED PRESENTER

Chapter 1: Overview of the Basics

Get started

Develop the presentation

Prepare for the presentation

Give the presentation

To recap

In conclusion

Chapter 2: Finding Your Voice

Dare to aim high

Be yourself

Believe in yourself

Recognize the imposter syndrome

Understand the 3 Ps of presenting

To recap

In conclusion

Chapter 3: Attributes of Good and Bad Presentations

An example of a good and bad presentation

The excellent, the mediocre, and the let-me-out-of-here

Attributes of the worst presentations

Attributes of the best presentations

Learn from role models

To ...

Table of contents

• Start