Presentations for Business

Presentations skills are very useful - for business, sales, training, public speaking and self-development. Presentations format, media and purpose vary a lot - oral, multimedia, short impromptu presentations, long planned presentations - but in every successful presentation the principles explained here are used. Aside from presentations techniques, confidence and experience are big factors. You are not alone if the thought of speaking in public scares you. Giving a presentation is worrying for many people. Presenting or speaking to an audience regularly tops the list in surveys of people's top fears - more than heights, flying or dying.

A common physical reaction to having to speak in public is a release of adrenaline and cortisol into our system the equivalent to drinking seven cups of coffee. Our brain shuts down normal functions as the 'fight or flight' impulse takes over. Good preparation is the key to confidence, which is the key to you being relaxed. Will be reduced your nervousness by 75% as a result of a proper preparation and rehearsal, and the likelihood of avoiding errors will be increased to 95%.

Preparation and knowledge are the pre-requisites for a successful presentation, but confidence and control are just as important. Remember and apply Eleanor Roosevelt's maxim that "no-one can intimidate me without my permission". Remember also that "Depth of conviction counts more than height of logic, and enthusiasm is worth more than knowledge". People retain more if they are enjoying themselves and feeling relaxed. You have 4 - 7 seconds in which to make a positive impact and good opening impression, so make sure you have a good, strong, solid introduction, and rehearse it thoroughly. Try to build your own credibility and create a safe comfortable environment for your audience. Don't start with a joke unless you are supremely confident - jokes are high risk things at the best of times, let lone at the start of a presentation. The average attention span of a an average listener is only 6-8 minutes, so intersperse your material with ‘spice’ and a variety of stimuli, media and movement to maintain maximum interest. Memorize a couple of good quotations, and always credit the source. It is important to give your presentation depth and texture, as well as keeping your audience interested.

Be daring and bold and have fun. Use props and pass them around if you can. The more senses you can stimulate the more fun your audience will have and the more they'll remember. Examples of 'spice' that can be used to bring your presentation to life and keep your audience attentive and enjoying themselves are the following:

· Stories

· Questions

· Pictures, cartoons and video-clips

· Sound-clips

· Audience participation exercises

· Quotations

· Props

· Examples

· Analogies

· Statistics (which dramatically improve audience 'buy-in' if you're trying to persuade)

· Your body language, and the changing tone and pitch of your voice.

For longer presentations, if you're not an experienced speaker, you must schedule a break every 45 minutes or so for people to get up and stretch their legs, otherwise you'll be losing them regardless of the amount of spice you include. Take the pressure off yourself by not speaking all the time. Get the audience doing things, and make use of all the communication senses available. For instance; the use of visual aids generally heightens retention of the spoken word by up to 70%.

Extensive sections of text can be read more quickly in serif font because the words have a horizontal flow, but serif fonts have a more old-fashioned traditional appearance than sans serif. If you need to comply with a company type-style you'll maybe have no choice anyway. Whatever - try to select fonts and point sizes that are fit for the medium and purpose. Use no more than two different fonts and no more than two size/bold/italic variants or the whole thing becomes confused. If in doubt simply pick a good readable serif font and use it big and bold for headings, and 14 - 16 point size for the body text. Absolutely avoid capital letters in body text, because people need to be able to read word-shapes as well as the letters, and of course upper case makes every word a rectangle, so it takes ages to read. Upper case is just about okay for headings if you really have to.

See 'tricks of the trade' in the marketing and advertising section for lots of tips and secrets about presenting the written word. Create your own prompts and notes - whatever suits you best. A single sheet at-a-glance timetable is a great safety-net for anything longer than half and hour. You can use this to monitor your timing and pace.

When preparing to the presentation, clearly identify your subject and your purpose to yourself, and then let the creative process take over for a while to gather all the possible ideas for subject matter and how you could present it. Use brainstorming and *mind-mapping. Both processes involve freely putting random ideas and connections down on a piece of paper - the bigger the better - using different coloured big felt pens will help too. Don't write lists and don't try to write the presentation until you have picked the content and created a rough structure from your random collected ideas and material.

When you have all your ideas on paper, organize them into subject matter categories, three is best. Does it flow? Is there a logical sequence that people will follow and you’ll be comfortable with? Use the rule of three to structure the presentation; it has a natural balance and flow. A simple approach is to have three main sections. Each section has three sub-sections. Each of these can have three sub-sections, and so on. A 30 minute presentation is unlikely to need more than three sections, with three sub-sections each. Presentations almost always take longer to deliver than you think the material will last. You must create a strong introduction and a strong close. You must tell people what you're going to speak about and what your purpose is. And while you might end on a stirring quotation or a stunning statistic, you must before this have summarized what you have spoken about and if appropriate, demanded an action from your audience, even if it is to go away and think about what you have said.

When you have structured your presentation, it will have an opening, a middle with headed sections of subject matter, and a close, with opportunity for questions if relevant. Practice it in its rough form. Next you give it a 3^rd dimension by blending in your presentation method. This entails the equipment and materials you use, case studies, examples, quotations, analogies, questions and answers, individual and syndicate exercises, interesting statistics, and any kind of presentation aid you think will work. Take nothing for granted. Check and double-check, and plan contingencies for anything that might go wrong. Plan and control the layout of the room as much as you are able. Make sure everyone can see the visuals displays.

When you start your presentation, you should be firm, confident and in control; the floor is yours, and the audience is on your side. Introduce yourself and tell them what you are going to tell them. Tell them how long it will take you to speak and that they are welcome to ask questions afterwards (if you're nervous about being thrown off-track during your presentation it's okay to ask them to save their questions until the end). By the time you've done this introduction you've established your authority, created respect and credibility, and overcome the worst of your nerves. If you're just giving a short presentation then by the time you've done all this you've completed a quarter of it! Remember, if you are truly scared, the only way to overcome your fear is just to do it. One thing should be kept in mind: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." (Friedrich Nietzsche)

Remember also, initial impact is made and audience mood towards you is established in the first 4-7 seconds. Be aware of your own body language and remember what advice you got from your friend on your practice run. You are the most powerful visual aid of all, so use your body movement and position well. Don't stand in front of the screen when the projector is on. If people talk amongst themselves just stop and look at them. Say nothing, just look. You will be amazed at the effect, and how quickly your authority increases. (This silent tactic works with an entire unsettled audience too.) If you want a respite or some thinking time, asking the audience a question or involving them in an exercise takes the pressure off you, and gives you a bit of breathing space. Pausing is fine. Knowing that a pause now and then is perfectly fine will help you to concentrate on what you're saying next, rather than the pause. Keep control, no-one will question your authority when you have the floor, so don’t give it up. If you don’t know the answer to a question say so and deal with it later. You have the right to defer questions until the end (on the grounds that you may well be covering it in the presentation later anyway, or just simply because you say so). Close positively and firmly, and accept plaudits graciously.

Exercises

I. Match the words and word groups from the first column with their translation from the second column:

II. Before doing the following exercise, revise the grammar material regarding the two non-finite verb forms - Infinitive and Gerund. Complete the sentences with the correct form given in brackets and translate into Russian.

1. We must… you that your payment is overdue. (inform /to inform/informing)

2. We have … overtime. (do/to do/doing)

3. Do you mind … the window? (open/to open/opening)

4. Catherine managed … an important customer. (acquire/ acquire/acquiring)

5. We look forward … from you soon.(hear/hearing)

6. Jane is busy … invitations for our company's anniversary celebration.(write/to write/writing)

7. Could you let me …my sentence? (finish /to finish/finishing)

8. It is hard … certain customers. (please /to please/pleasing)

9. Let me begin by … you something about our company's history. (tell /to tell/telling)

10. We risk …a lot of money. (lose /to lose/losing)

Text B