Day 21- Presentation Skills

Today lecture was about presentation skills. Module lecturer Mr. Eranjan discussed main components that will be useful for an effective presentation.I have done this post from the areas that discussed in the today's lecture. 

There are different types of presentations. Such as, lectures, academic conferences, various business presentations (sales presentations, product design presentations, pitch presentations, client presentations, policy presentations etc. ) and project presentations. 

Figure 1: Presentation Skills (Presentation team, 2012)

According to Blare (2012) "A Presentation is a fast and potentially effective method of getting things done through other people. In managing any project, presentations are used as a formal method for bringing people together to plan, monitor and review its progress."

A presentation should be,

• Brief
• Precise
• Effective
• Interesting

How to make a good first impression?

 In a presentation first impression is something very important because from that can get the attraction of the audience. Also the speaker's responsibility to make a good first impression and maintain till the end of the presentation. Below has mentioned some of the tips which helps to make a good first impression at a presentation.

• Take a moment to gather your thoughts and ideas
• Do not read the first few paragraphs of your presentation from your paper. Because if u read from the paper at the beginning of the presentation audience will get bad impression of the speaker and also it shows the speaker is not prepared to the presentation.
• Maintain good eye contact with the members of your audience.
• Control your voice.
• Pause when you are speaking.- This helps speaker to think what he/she has to speak next and prepare for it.
• Do not speak fast. - Because audience will not be able to understand what speaker is talking.
• Act natural through out the presentation. Do not show you are nervous to the audience.
• Avoid items and topics that are not directly a part of your speech.
• Summarize your main points. (Recap)

How to open a presentation?

Following techniques can be used to open a presentation.

• Surprising facts
• Story
• Question
• A joke
• A quote

Preparation

Preparation leads to a successful presentation. 

1. Prepare the structure of the presentation. -Opening(Introduction and content), presentation body, conclusion (recap and objective) and follow up.
2. Be familiar with the presentation- DO NOT read from the script, prepare cue cards with key points if in case your forget some points while presenting the speech.
3. Oral Communication- Rehearse

Speaker

Speaker is the key role player in a presentation. A speaker should manage and and know himself/herself for an effective presentation.

• Know the audience
• Professional attire
• Confidence
• Keep eye contact
• Power of pause
• Body language and gesture- But too much of body language is not suitable for the presentation
• Avoid jokes
• Keep to time

Delivery

Below has mentioned some of the key points that will be useful for a successful delivery.

• Speak clearly
• Do not rush or talk deliberately slowly.- Be natural
• Do not keep something more than five minutes on the screen because audience will get bored.
•  Change your delivery depending on the importance of point.
• Use body language to emphasize points.
• Look at the audience but do not fix on an individual.
• Leave time for discussion.

Learning Outcomes:-

Today lecture was very effective and important which discussed about presentation skills. Presentation skills are useful for my projects and will be useful for in future when I am in industry. From today lecture I understood some of the mistakes that I have been doing in my past presentations. Presentation is not just a speech speaker should prepare for the presentation, need to gather enough information to present and should be able to manage the audience without letting them get bored. If a speaker successful in these areas it means  presenter/ speaker has been able to deliver a successful and effective presentation. 

References:-

Blair, G.M. (2012). Presentation Skills for Emergent Managers. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ee.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art1.html [Accessed 27th August 2012].

Presentation team. (2012). Presentation Skills. [Online]. Avilable at: http://www.presentationteam.com/images/presentation-skills-public-speaking.jpg 

 [Accessed 27th August 2012].