Giving Effective Presentations

1. Giving Effective Presentations Dr. Lisa G. Bullard CHE 395

2. Outline • Overcoming the fear factor • Types of presentations • Knowing your audience • Format options • Delivery and tone • Visuals • Handouts • Handling Q&A • Conclusions

3. Overcoming the Fear Factor 1. Public speaking 2. Death 3. Heights 4. Spiders 5. Snakes

4. Overcoming the Fear Factor What are we afraid of?

5. Overcoming the Fear Factor How do we overcome that fear?

6. Outline • Overcoming the fear factor • Types of presentations

7. Types of Presentations • Low stakes vs. high stakes • Short vs. long • Informal vs. formal

8. Purpose of Presentations • To inform • To persuade • To build good will

9. Informative Presentations • Reporting • Bringing the audience up to date • Status report • Explaining • Providing information • Products • Procedures • Rules • Operations data

10. Persuasive Presentations • You want to convince the audience to… • Buy your product or service • Support your goals or concepts • Change their minds or attitudes

11. Good Will Presentations • To build respect for a person, an organization, or a product • Awards ceremony • Special recognition • Celebrations • Toasts

12. Outline • Overcoming the fear factor • Types of presentations • Knowing your audience

13. Knowing Your Audience • You must know • Who they are • Why they are there • What they expect to get • How they will react

14. Strategies for Defining Your Audience • What is the size of the group? • What is the age distribution? • Is the audience mostly men, mostly women, or mixed? • How do audience members rank within their organization?

15. Strategies for Defining Your Audience • Why are people attending? • How familiar are they with the topic? • What is the level of education? • What kind of reaction can you expect?

16. Believe it or not… • Audiences want and expect presenters to succeed • But they are also thinking, “What’s in it for me?”

17. Outline • Overcoming the fear factor • Types of presentations • Knowing your audience • Format options

18. Questions To Ask Yourself • What does my audience expect to gain? • What do they already know? • What is the purpose of this presentation (persuade, inform, entertain, or a combination?) • What are my key points? • What one thing do I want them to remember most?

19. “A speech has two parts. You must state your case, and you must prove it.” - Aristotle • Tell your audience what you’re going to • tell them • 2. Tell them • 3. Then tell them what you told them This doesn’t mean repeat yourself three times.

20. Opening • Greeting • Short list of facts or figures • Question • Appropriate quote • Shocking statistics • Humor • Personal anecdote • Challenge or call to action

21. Body • Discuss the theoretical background behind an experiment, review the experimental design, and discuss the results of the experiment. • Describe the components of the chemical process from raw materials to products • Chronological progression

22. Body • Explain the symptoms of a problem. Go through possible solutions. Show how they don’t work. Then give a solution that will work. • List all the pros of an idea, plan, or product. Then go through the cons, showing how they are outweighed by the pros. • Organize your presentation around three aspects of the subject.

23. Conclusion • Summarize the message • Repeat your key points • Ask for an action • Make a recommendation

24. Conclusion • Recreate the verbal imagery you used in the opening, but with the addition of the solution • If you began with an anecdote, end with another, but with a play on words or some memorable twist • End on a positive note, even when the message is a difficult one

25. Outline • Overcoming the fear factor • Types of presentations • Knowing your audience • Format options • Delivery and tone

26. Why Involve the Audience? • To use up stored energy for people who have been sitting too long • To wake people up • To help the audience members master a task • To give the audience members hands-on experience with your product

27. Delivery Details • Reading your speech vs. using notecards or an outline • Keep your notes in a folder • Type your notes, if needed, with triple spacing in a clear font • Use appropriate gestures

28. Delivery Details • Keep your notes in a folder • Type your notes, if needed, with triple spacing in a clear font • Stand tall • Smile naturally

29. Delivery Details • Pause before beginning, and breathe between sentences! • Establish eye contact • No hands in pockets or change jingling • Don’t sway • Avoid speech mannerisms (um, uh, like)

30. Delivery Details • Enunciate • Speak at a slower pace than feels natural • Stand to the side of the screen • Avoid reading the slides • Target 30-45 seconds per slide, average

31. Outline • Overcoming the fear factor • Types of presentations • Knowing your audience • Format options • Delivery and tone • Visuals

32. Visuals are important when… • The message is abstract or complex • The key message is visual in nature • You want to add emphasis to a key point • The presentation is a how-to session involving several steps • The presentation includes numbers or calculations

33. Photographs Graphs or plots Symbols Colors Tables Video clips Maps Diagrams Cartoons Props Visuals include…

34. Tips for Visuals • Use if you can, but don’t force it • Don’t make the slide too busy • Try to limit to 5 lines of type per page • Dark backgrounds are more readable • Use Arial or Helvetica fonts

35. Tips for Visuals • Make font large enough (this is 28 pt) • Don’t get too many colors on one slide, or change colors too often • Watch red and green together (color blind) • Avoid annoying animation (or sounds)

36. Outline • Overcoming the fear factor • Types of presentations • Knowing your audience • Format options • Delivery and tone • Visuals • Handouts

37. Handouts • Clarify your message • Make the message easier to understand • Reinforce key points • Mechanism for taking notes • Take home information

38. Outline • Overcoming the fear factor • Types of presentations • Knowing your audience • Format options • Delivery and tone • Visuals • Handouts • Handling Q&A

39. Asking Q • Types of questions • Clarification • Fact checking • Correction • Application or extension • Affirming • Softball • Attack • Left field

40. Giving A • Be prepared by anticipating questions • Be familiar with the whole talk (not just your part) • Thank them for the question (beginning or end), or reinforce the questioner • Restate and confirm the question

41. Giving A • Give short, direct answers…don’t wander • Don’t pass the buck, but after giving your best answer, you might refer them to another team member • If you don’t know, say so…don’t bluff • Ask them if you have answered their question

42. Outline • Overcoming the fear factor • Types of presentations • Knowing your audience • Format options • Delivery and tone • Visuals • Handouts • Handling Q&A • Conclusions

43. Assignment 6 reminders • 10 minute presentation • 5 minutes Q&A • Professional dress (interview level)

44. Conclusions • Poor delivery cannot compensate for lack of content, but it can damage or bury good content. • Some people are “natural” speakers, but everyone is capable of learning and enhancing their own skills. • To improve, you can: • Seek opportunities to practice • Seek and incorporate feedback • Seek out good examples and learn from them

45. References • Daria Price Bowman, Presentations: Proven Techniques for Creating Presentations That Get Results (1998).