Delivering Effective Presentations

First Rule of Great Presentations

A great presentation does not just happen. It is planned, rehearsed then delivered with
flair. A good presenter is one who learns the skills of presentations - not one who
hopes for talent to carry them. Public speaking is a set of skills not a talent. You can
be a good presenter if you learn the skills for presentation success. You will be a great
speaker if you learn from every presentation you deliver. Great presenters start as poor
speakers – then they get better.

Learn from other Great Speech Makers

Who are the public speakers you admire? Ask yourself why you admire them. What
techniques do they use in their speeches that you can use? What principles can you
adapt to your presentations? It could be a great political leader, business executive or
innovator. Whether it is a Churchill, Henry Ford or Einstein – ask yourself, “Why
does their delivery work so well? How can I use that technique or principle in my
speech?” Look for the skills they used and make them your own.

Preparing your Presentation

Purpose of your presentation

Imagine that you have been scheduled to speak to a group. An important question for
you to review is “Why am I delivering this presentation?” Don’t answer, “Because I
was asked.” Instead ask why does this group need to hear from you? What message is
so important that you must take their time to speak to them? You must be clear on the
purpose of your speech before you can write it. Have something worthwhile to say. If
you start by knowing what you want to happen then you will begin to create an
effective speech.

Your audience is the reason you are there

Understand your audience. What do they want? Why would they listen to you? If you
want to reach them with your presentation you must reach them through their needs.
While you are talking they are asking themselves, “What’s in it for us?” If you have
not spoken to this group before, interview a few of them before your presentation.
Mention the names of some audience members during your presentation. It will help
you connect with the group.

Design your presentation backwards

The most common way to write your speech is to start at the beginning and write to
the end. That is not an effective way to write a speech. Instead write the speech
backwards. Start with the destination and work back to the opening. You will write
your speech faster and clearer if you start with the end in mind. Know your purpose.
Write the closing line that hammers home your message. Then write the points to
support that close. Then write your opening that launches you into that presentation.
Designing your speech is also a set of communication skills.

Presentation Structure

There are many presentation structures that you can choose from. When you speak to
a business group the most effective approach is to state your conclusions first, the
actions required then follow with supporting information. That would be an effective
business speech.

The most boring and ineffectual presentation style to use with a business group is the
scientific method that many of us learned in school. The scientific method starts with
a problem, followed by a hypothesis, a method, results and conclusion. That sounds
logical but most people in business today do not have the patience to listen to that
litany. We want the answer first. Speak – don’t lecture. The best speech feels like a
conversation.

Illustrating your main points

We need images to understand. A good image for the accountant and numbers type is
a chart. Bankers, financial planners and money folk love charts and graphs. Use pie
charts, bar graphs and piles of coins to illustrate and emphasize your points when
talking to financial types. Images can contribute more to the success of your
presentation then words.

Telling Stories

Tell stories. Paint word pictures that create images in the listeners’ minds. If they can
see it they are more likely to understand and remember your message. The best public
speakers are storytellers Use stories and anecdotes to illustrate and reinforce the main
points of your presentation. Learn to master the skill of storytelling. Listen to
newscasters, entertainers and other speakers.

The best stories are personal. Because they are yours - they are easier to remember
and they make your presentation unique. We listen to stories. We hate lectures. The
way to find personal stories that can be used in your presentations is to write them
down. Make a list of significant things that happened to you and those around you; the
first time… the best, the worst, the biggest mistake, the best break, the greatest ah-ha,
the funniest moment, the most frustrating incident, the dumbest thing you did, the
most embarrassing moment…

The things that hurt you the most make the best stories to tell in your presentations.
Rehearse your stories to edit them down into a short story that is easy to listen to. The
hardest thing for you might be to leave out details. The hardest thing for your
audience is listening to you describe unnecessary details. Just make the point.
Presentation Tips: Delivering your Presentation

Drink Water
Before you give a speech, deliver a sales presentation or make phone calls - drink one
to two glasses of water. It lubricates your vocal chords, helps your voice and gives
you needed fluids that you lose while speaking. Lukewarm water is best. Cool water
is OK. Ice water is not good for your vocal chords. Avoid dairy products because they
create phloem in your throat.

Move away from the lectern

When you address an audience move away from the lectern (often called the podium).
Let them see you as more than just a talking head. You will be both more powerful
and more connected to your audience. If you must see your notes then stand beside
the lectern - and don't lean on it. Stand strong. It will be a stronger presentation.

Last minute details before you begin speaking

Get into the room before your audience arrives to check the setup and get the feel of
the room. This helps to make it your room. Walk around the room and sit in a few
different chairs to take in the feel of your room and how your audience will see you.
Check your equipment and put on your busiest slide to check for readability. Drink
one or two glasses of warm water to both lubricate your vocal cords and hydrate
yourself. Public speaking dehydrates you.

Eye Contact

Talk directly to people. The best presentation is delivered as a conversation to every

person in your audience one person at a time. If you want to be believed – talk to
every individual – looking him or her in the eye. Don’t make the big mistake
committed by many novice public speakers - staring at the spot on the back wall.
This one technique is a powerful element of successful presentation skills.

Emphasizing key points

If you want people to remember something – repeat it at least three times during your
speech. The first time they might hear it. The second time they might mull it over. The
third time it might stick.

Establishing rapport

Talk about things to which your audience can relate. Don’t talk down and don’t baby
them. To build rapport with your audience they must relate to you. Don’t pretend to
be something you are not. But show how you are like them. Be human. Expose a flaw.
Show that you are not perfect. If you pretend to be perfect they will hate you – and
not listen. Remember, humility is the key to any successful presentation.
Show your personality - It doesn’t matter if you are presenting to a corporate crowd
or to senior citizens, you need to show some character when presenting.

Humour is good, but be careful with it. Humour in a presentation works best when it
actually drives the presentation forward. If you find you're using canned jokes that
don't depend on the context of the presentation, eliminate them.

Stay on time

Start your presentation on time and finish on time. If you start all your meetings and
presentations on time people will learn to show up on time. Do not repeat yourself for
latecomers. If there is a small group at starting time then be prepared to ‘start’ with a
discussion instead of your speech. Those that are there will believe that you started on
time and those arriving late will seat themselves quickly feeling a bit guilty for being
late.

Finish on time – even if it means leaving something out. For that reason – always get
your important message out early. Never keep the key message till the end of your
speech. They might be asleep by that time. Position a small clock where you can see it
so you know where you are in your presentation. Don’t commit the sin of asking,
“How are we doing for time?” You should know – you are the speaker.

Help your audience remember the important parts

Repeat the points you want them to remember. Use an anecdote or story to illustrate
the point. Pause just before and after you state the key points.

We find it easier to remember images and feelings. If you want your audience to
remember the key points of your presentation attach those points to images or
emotions. Men tend to connect visuals with memory while women tend to connect
emotions for memory. Be sure to address both needs in your presentations.

Look your best

Smile. You look your best when you smile. You look most trustworthy, friendly and
confident when you smile. We do not want to listen to a speaker who is frowning.
Don’t grin like a fool all the way through your speech. Instead smile before you start.
Smile when you say something important. Smile when you end. Make it a warm
friendly smile. When you smile you look confident and help to improve the
confidence of your audience. Smile.

Sounding your best

Drinking water before you speak will lubricate your vocal chords. Breathing deeply
and slowly will allow you to project your voice and pause when you want to – not
when you need to. Speak slower that you normally speak. The audience needs to hear
you, think about it and internalize it.
Try these simple exercises to get your voice in shape before you speak. Yawn. Yes,
yawning relaxes your vocal chords and opens the voice channel. The second trick is to
hum. Humming seems to set up a resonance within your vocal cavity.

Using equipment and technology

If you are using a computer projector and PowerPoint in your presentation then avoid
the mistakes committed by many presenters. Ensure that your slides enhance your
points. Don’t make the common mistake of designing your presentation around the
slides. Instead, first create your presentation then decide how to illustrate your points.
You might have sat through some horrible PowerPoint Presentations. That happens
when speakers with poor presenters attempt to hide their lack of skills behind a
PowerPoint presentation.

PowerPoint is a trademark of Microsoft. It is like a drug.

It is software that seduces poor presenters into presenting painful presentations.
Maybe you have suffered through some painful PowerPoint Presentations. Maybe you
presented some. Let’s stop the pain.

What can you do to help? You can reject PowerPoint outright – or you can learn to
avoid these PowerPoint Sins. Whatever you do – don’t blame PowerPoint. Don’t
blame Bill Gates. Just become a better presenter.

When you commit the following PowerPoint Sins you inflict one or more of these
three pains upon your audience:
·Boring
·Annoying
·Confusing

These in turn lead to the following pains for you:

·Embarrassment
·Misunderstanding
·Failure

How painful is your PowerPoint Presentation? And how can you stop the pain?

The 13 PowerPoint Sins you must avoid

· Speaker reading what is on the screen word by word

· Hoping for the PowerPoint slide show to cover your lack of preparation

· Too much on the slide

· We cannot read your slide

· Too many colors and graphics

· Too much motion on the screen

· No apparent reason for using the PowerPoint slides

· Items displayed on slide with no clear relationship to each other

· Using the standard clipart that everyone uses

· Printing in all caps or other hard to read fonts

· Printing the standard slides on the PowerPoint handouts

· Displaying lots of numbers

· Displaying too much detail

Ensuring success in your presentation

Your audience does not know your script. Be ready to adapt your presentation to the
audience and conditions. Be prepared to leave something out. It might be tough on
you but your audience does not know what you left out or forgot. Instead focus on
them and your message. If they get it then forget the rest of your speech.

Correcting things that go wrong

If you look and sound calm the audience does not know that anything is wrong. They
might even think that you planned the interruption. When things go wrong, smile,
pause, breathe and sound confident. Adapt your presentation. Never appear to panic.
Instead focus on your message and what you want them to do.

Finish Your Presentation Strong

End your presentation with a strong message. You can choose from several
techniques. A call to action is one of the best endings to get your audience into action
immediately after your speech. Other endings you can use include a rhetorical
question; a positive statement; or a famous quotation. But never end with, “Well that’s
all folks.” That is an extremely weak ending. Instead end on a positive action-
generating note.
Post Presentation

Review your presentation and grow

Ask a trusted colleague to attend your presentation and give you constructive
feedback. Be specific in what you ask from them; e.g. “How well was my point
illustrated? Did my humor work well? Did I connect with them?” When you ask
specific questions you will get specific answers. The most important question you can
ask yourself is, “Did I make happen what I wanted to happen?” If the answer is yes –
it was a successful presentation. Did they buy, were they convinced, did they march in
the direction you pointed? That is the measure of a successful speech. That is the
purpose of your presentation skills in action. Also look at where you might still
improve your skills. And plan to work on this before your next presentation.

When someone compliments you on the presentation be gracious and ask him or her,
“What was the best idea or strongest message that you will take away and use?” You
might be surprised at what they ‘heard’ versus what you ‘said’. The fastest way to
improve your presentation skills is to review every presentation you deliver. What
worked well? What could you change?

Your next presentation

File your notes from the presentation so you can refer to them next time you present.
Include in the file your comments about what you thought worked well and what you
need to improve. Include suggestions to yourself on what to try differently next time.
Remember the great masters of golf and music are continually improving their skills.
They never sit back on rely on talent alone.

Final Words of Encouragement

Public Speaking is a set of skills. It is not about talent. It is a set of techniques

practiced, rehearsed and delivered. You will never deliver the perfect speech. But you
might deliver a powerful and effective speech. I know many wonderful presenters –
but I do not know one who has ever delivered a perfect presentation. The skill of
public speaking is both an art and a science. The more you learn and practice the
science the easier the art will work for you. You can be a powerful and skillful
presenter. But it will take time, practice and energy. And those are the elements of
greatness.

For success with your presentations:

Speak well;
Speak effectively;
Speak with confidence;
Speak to make things happen;
Speak imperfectly – and speak again.
The Nine Presentation Sins
Presentation Sin 1: Wasting time
Start on time and finish on time.

Presentation Sin 2: Boring your audience

Give them key points that they can digest. Don’t read your speech. Package the
information with your voice, body language and style to make it interesting.

Presentation Sin 3: Lacking passion

Believe in your message and let them know how much you believe in it. Passion is
captivating, contagious and more convincing than logic.

Presentation Sin 4: Confusing your audience

Keep your message clear. Eliminate unnecessary information and conflicting
messages. Use words that they understand. Repeat your message three times.

Presentation Sin 5: Insulting your audience

Talk to them and with them - but not down to them. Don’t make jokes about the
audience. Don’t assume that you know what they think, know or have done.

Presentation Sin 6: Not clear about your purpose/message

Ask yourself why you are giving this speech. Be able to state your message in one
short clear phrase. Then build your presentation around that. If you can’t – don’t.

Presentation Sin 7: Information overload

Give them what they need to know to do what you want them to do. Don’t overload
them with too much information.

Presentation Sin 8: Stuck in your rut of delivery – unable to flex to the audience
Be prepared to alter your presentation to reach the audience in the way that is best for
them. It is not about you. You must reach them with your message.

Presentation Sin 9: Using slides that are boring, irrelevant, or confusing

Only use visual aids that reinforce your message. PowerPoint will never rescue you
from poor presentation skills. You are you best messenger.