Presentation Skills

Introduction to presentations: No matter what business you are in, at some point you will need to present information to your team, a client or your superior. There are many activities that can build up your presentation skills. These activities can be used in a presentation class or in a group of peers looking to improve how well they make presentations. The importance of being ready for: Meetings, team briefs, conferences, sales, media, interviews

Presentation Skills
1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Activity: Solid Synopsis Steps: Make groups of 7 to 9 Give them the themes below They practice and display it in the form of a skit in 3 to 5 minutes The topics can be given to more than one team Themes: How to influence a person Attending an interview A team meeting Fund raising for an underprivileged school Stopping and argument A news report from different parts of the world about the end of the world

Presentation Skills
Take away for the students:
For the professional speaker Dos Think carefully before the event: what does this audience want to hear? Hint: they are not interested in hearing how great you or your company are, they want to learn new things that can make THEM more successful. Find a story about people (yourself and/or others) that illustrates your message and tell it with passion. Storytelling always beats lectures! Start by urging the audience not to take notes, say that you will post your presentation online immediately afterwards. The presentation that you post should be complemented by short texts, speaker notes describing your pictures (since you show very little text during your presentation!) Keep an eye contact with the audience, and move around the stage, dont hold on to the speaker stand! Use a remote clicker to control your presentation. Remember that 70% of your communication is in your body language! Speak slowly to increase the understanding and respect for what you are saying. Never try to cram a 30 minute speech into a 20 minute time slot! Be visual, use pictures and videos that illustrate your points. Read my lips: less text, more visuals! You can do great presentations without any visuals, but then you have to me a master storyteller. Avoid monotony by using variation and surprises in your slide styles during your presentation. Engage the audience! Ask questions and have them put their hands up. But dont insult them with silly game play. Focus on 1, 2 or maybe 3 things that you want to talk about. Explain the problem you are working with and then tell the story and visualise the solution. Construct your presentation based on the classic drama: Start with a Set-up, then Present the problem(s), then proceed to the Confrontation and finally the Resolution. This has worked for thousands of years! Hire a speaker coach that helps you trim you body language and voice. Use a spell checker on all your slides. Takes only a minute, improves your image. Use a dark background on your slides, as it is easier to read for the audience and better for the video cameras. If you present in another language than your native, consult a language tutor to improve your pronuncation as much as possible. Getting your message out is about being understood and respected. Test your presentation on other people beforehand and videotape yourself. Listen to their feedback and watch yourself: would you understand and appreciate your presentation? End by showing a slide with a key question or action point aimed at the the audience, to encourage discussions afterwards. Also show you contact details and the link to your documentation on your blog or on an internet service like Slideshare. This documentation should NOT just be your slides from the presentation! Instead post special slides with your highlights explained with relevant post-analysis for the audience. Make sure that all the links to web sites that you have mentioned are active.

Presentation Skills
Donts Dont read word by word from your script. You will sound like a robot and miss the all-important eye contact with the audience. Instead use stiff cue cards with key words and starter sentences. Dont talk too fast and try to cram a 45-minute presentation into a 30-minute time slot by speaking at machine gun pace. You might just as well stay at home. Never use acronyms without spelling them out and explaning what they mean. Dont read from text bullets in Powerpoint. If you have to use text bullets, keep them very short and very few per slide, then first let the audience read it and then, on your own words, expand on the subject. Dont use complete sentences in your slides. Your voice shall tell the story and the slides shall only support it. Dont start talking immediately on top of your slides. Let the audience interpret the slide for a while, then add your comments. Dont use hard-to-read fonts or garish backgrounds that obscures the text. Dont use cute or unusual photos that are not illustrating exactly what you are talking about. It distracts the audience, nobody will hear what you are saying. Dont use effects, such as texts that fly into the slide or ANY other disturbing transitions. Youre not running an amusement park, the interesting stuff should be in your content, not in your fireworks. Dont waste you audiences time by presenting the history and organization of your organisation. Unless it is essential in order to understand your presentation, which is very, very seldom. All essential facts mentioned need to also be visual. Dont mention tips like be sure to check out the website www.fancynewstuff.com, it has great features without displaying a slide with both a picture of the web site and the URL in big letters + a note stating that the URL will be in your posted presentation. Dont hide behind the computer or speaker stand. Make sure the audience see you and maintain eye contact with them.

Presentation Skills

Tips to engage audience: Stories Questions and hands-up feedback Pictures, cartoons and video-clips Diagrams Sound-clips Straw polls (a series of hands-up votes/reactions which you record and then announce results) Inviting a volunteer to take the stage with you (for a carefully planned reason) Audience participation exercises Asking the audience to do something physical (clapping, deep breathing, blinking, finger-snapping, shouting, and other more inventive ideas) Asking the audience to engage with each other (for example introductions to person in next chair) Funny quotations (be careful not to offend anyone) Inspirational quotations Acronyms Props Examples and case-study references Analogies and fables Prizes, awards and recognising people/achievements Book recommendations Fascinating facts (research is easy these days about virtually any subject) Statistics (which dramatically improve audience 'buy-in' if you're trying to persuade) Games and exercises (beware of things which take too much time - adapt ideas to be very very quick and easy to manage) Quirky ideas - (use your imagination - have everyone demonstrate their ringtones at the same time, or see who has the fastest/slowest watch time, or the most pens in their pocket/bag - depending on the occasion linked or not to the subject) and your body language, and the changing tone and pitch of your voice.

Activity The tower

1. Props: - Plastic cups 1. Instructions: - Make the tallest tower in teams - Time taken 7 minutes

Working in teams
Take away for the students:
#1. Commit to something big. DON'T just meet and listen to status updates. DO create a shared goal and make it happen. #2. Mix and match talents irrespective of roles. DON'T be limited by your roles. DO discover each other's talents and use them. #3. Clarify who's got the lead. DON'T assume you know who will do what. DO clarify your expectations and assumptions. #4. Share personal success and challenges. DON'T just talk about projects and work tasks. DO encourage individuals to share challenges and successes. 5. Open up the sandboxes. DON'T let team members indulge in turf protection. DO encourage individuals to collaborate on projects. #6. Watch each other's backside. DON'T let a faltering teammate hang out to dry. DO give helpful feedback and advice. #7. Study your mistakes. DON'T allow team members to ignore a failure. DO talk about what the team will do differently next time. #8. Keep track of actions needed. Don't leave a meeting with out document decisions made. DO ask someone to take notes and distribute. #9. Have fun. DON'T just grind away at work every day. DO make time to laugh and play together.

Working in teams
Take away for the students:

Dos: At first, it is to build a well rapport with all the members of the team. Keep yourself clear about your position and speech. Mental strength is required at any negative situation. Think positively, whatever you are doing or going to do. Understand the situation first, then speak and do not let it go as wiliness. Finally, try your best to finish the work successfully. Donts: Never pass ones word to another. Do not mention the weakness of others to leader to prove your ability. Do not turn back from your promises because of situation. Do not stay inactive, confirm your participation. Do not make the team work boring; make it enjoyable by your skill.

Email etiquette - Cases

You have been reporting late to work for the past three days and your boss makes a point about it in front of your teammates. Write to your boss explaining the reason for your late coming. Write an email to your teammates where you explain the revisions you made to your project as decided in the team meeting, the previous day. Write to your Team Lead requesting leave, as your mother has taken seriously ill all of a sudden. Your project is due in two days

Email etiquette - Cases

You are in a project in which you dont have much expertise and need some guidance from your Team Lead. Write to him/her explaining it and request a meeting so you can discuss the issue. You and your team have been keeping very long hours recently, in your attempt to complete a project before the deadline. This has had an effect on your health and your doctor has advised you to get enough sleep everyday in order to relieve the stress. Write to your Team lead explaining the situation and request him/her to let you go early.

Email etiquette
Take away for the students:

1. Always greet your addressees. A simple, Hi, How are you? or Hello. I hope all is well. 1B. See #7 regarding when its better to just pick up the phone instead of emailing back-and-forth. 2. Never Reply All in group threads when the reply is only applicable to one person. 2B. Example: Subject: Happy Birthday John! If youre CC-ed on a similar-type email, be sure that you do not select Reply All just to say, Happy Birthday buddy! again. Take this email offline so that only John is addressed. 3. Speaking of being CC-ed if your name is in the CC field, never reply before the person in the To field. This shows impatience and a disregard for an unstated hierarchy. 4. Always keep your signature line up-to-date. See #4B 4B. Many people often use your signature line for their address book so ensure that all of the essentials are available in your signature: name, title, company, email address (this is debatable because many can often find this information from the email itself), company mailing address and website link, phone/fax number, direct line (preferential), social media handles (its 2012!).

Email etiquette
Take away for the students: 5. Always RE-READ an email before you reply. Make sure any questions you raise, havent already been answered in the original senders email. 6. Always RE-READ emails before clicking SEND. Check spelling, grammar, flow, sentence length, content, etc. etc. Do not rely solely on the spell check to capture incorrect word choice, especially if the word is spelled correctly. Example: Hi Jane, it was great meeting you at the Dog Show last weekend. Based on our discussion, I plan to meet with my CEO to see if there is an opportunity for partnering among our two firms. By the way, your dog was adorable! He reminded me of old yellow. I look forward to talking with you again soon. Take care! Spell check will not correct this sentence to read He reminded me of old Yeller. What could have been a potential business lead, may actually turn out as a turn off. While the follow-up email was intended to bring home a sale, whos to say that this minor mistake doesnt prove to be a costly one. 6B. Remember, email is now just 1 step away from SMS/text messaging so the body of an email should not be written as if it were a dissertation. If you find yourself typing and typing and typing, pick up the phone. See #7 7. If you find yourself going back-and-forth with someone (either in a negative or positive way), remember that emails are READ and everyone READS (interprets) differently. There is no clear text for tone (aside from yelling, which is ALL CAPS), or interpretation. Remember, there is nothing like a human voice. So when all else fails, its often MUCH easier (caps here are used for emphasis and not for yelling) to pick up the phone. 8. Always thank someone for his or her time and cooperation. A simple Thank you tagged at the end of your email will suffice. Some people choose to include Thank you in their signature line (again, this is preferential). 9. Attachments: keep your audience in mind when sending attachments. Think of the line of business theyre in: are they in the government sector, which typically has small inbox storage? Do they use older email services such as Lotus Notes, which may not be image/picture-friendly? Ask yourselves these questions before clicking Attach. 10. NEVER, EVER, EVER reply to an email when youre upset, angry, or emotional. It sounds clich, but the best thing you can do in this situation is wait. Start typing the email (but dont include anyone in the To field (see bonus tip #11). Then save it in your drafts. Wait 24 hours and then re-open the email. If you still feel the same way, send it. Alternatively, you can still trash it, jot down a few key points from the email, and then schedule an appointment with the other person involved. Meeting face-to-face will decrease any additional chances for miscommunication. Bonus Tip 11. Most email services do not offer an Un-send button. Have you ever clicked Send before adding that last piece of information? Ever click Send and realize you sent it to the wrong person? How can you resolve this issue? Dont address your email to anyone until youve re-read the content and are 110% sure its ready to be sent. This will eliminate the possibility of sending it prematurely. Leave the

What is your learning?

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Questions

Thanks to the people who share their knowledge resource

1. The Google

2. National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation 3. Dr. Allan Thomas - Assistant Professor
4. Prof.P.M.Valli - Registrar, GITAM University 5. Ms. VINITA GOSWAMI