Presentation Skills

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 Agenda

• The Nature of Communication

• Mastering Speaking Stress

• Organizing the Presentations

• Platform Skills

• Using Audiovisual Aids

• Audience Psychology

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 Nature of communication

3 Dimensions of communication

• Accuracy

• Time efficiency

• Good feeling (exceptions to be explained later)

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 Nature of communication
Whenever communication takes place,
we have
• Sender

• Receiver

• Encoding

• Interference

• Decoding

• Feedback
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 Nature of communication
Non verbal communication categories

• Environment

• Proxemics Physical Distance

between bodies

• Postures Static Body positions

• Gestures Moving Body positions

• Facial Behavior Head, Face, Eye, ...

movements

• Vocalic Aspects of the Voice

- Paralanguage-
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 Nature of communication
Posture tips
• Stand or sit up straight

• Spread your weight evenly

on both feet

• Adopt poses which look

and feel natural

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 Nature of communication
Gesture tips
• Use your hands to
reinforce, emphasize and
support your words

• Avoid “CLOSED” gestures;

use “OPEN” gestures to
minimize barriers between
you and listeners

• When appropriate, move to

reduce the distance
between you and listeners

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 Nature of communication
Eye Contact
• Listeners tend to equate EYE CONTACT with
SINCERITY and lack of eye contact with lack of
sincerity
• Strong EYE CONTACT draws your listeners to you and
compels them to pay attention
• Don’t forget those in the BACK and the FRONT
• Divide your EYE CONTACT evenly between LEFT and
RIGHT
• If you feel uncomfortable looking listeners in the eye,
look at their noses or foreheads instead; they will not
know the difference!
• Pay attention to the length of each period of eye
contact
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 Nature of communication
Dress and mannerisms
• Dress neatly and well
• Don’t play with keys or coins
• Don’t fidget
• If you are not sure what to do with your
hands, leave them at your side or resting
lightly on the podium
• Moving away from the podium is fine, but
steady pacing annoys the audience
• If you have a mannerism you want to
avoid, write yourself a note in very large,
colored letters
• Video recording will help you to locate
and correct mannerism
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 Mastering speaking stress

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 Mastering speaking stress
Stage fright or speaking stress

• Stage fright is the fear arousing in an individual who

will perform or speak in front of an audience.

• Reasons are different but the symptoms are alike:

> Weak and shaky legs
> Tense muscles refusing to obey
> Dry mouth if not suddenly filled with cotton
> Cold and clammy hands
> Butterflies beating wings in the stomach.
> Heavy perspiration
> Even vomiting

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 Mastering speaking stress
Stage fright or speaking stress

• It is not pathologic. Have no reliance

with neurotic- tendencies.

• “Any actor who claims he is immune

to stage fright, is either lying or else
he's no actor.” Otis Skinner.

• Actors know how to take the

advantage of stage fright by using
the adrenaline as an energy source.

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 Mastering speaking stress
The 3 “P”s

• Practice

• Preparation

• Positive thinking

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 Mastering speaking stress
Physical tactics (before presentation)

• Thorough preparation

• Content

• Audiovisual aids

• Handouts, documentation, references

• Audience analysis:
Who will be present?
What are their backgrounds?
What are their expectations?

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 Mastering speaking stress
Thorough organization

• Does each section flow naturally?

• Pay special attention to transitions between

sections

• Write yourself a note on any habits you want to

avoid

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 Mastering speaking stress
Practice

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE !!!

• On video

• With a friend or
colleague

• In an empty conference
room

• Anywhere else in
private

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 Mastering speaking stress
Practice
Where is the only place NOT to
practice?
IN FRONT OF YOUR AUDIENCE !
Anticipate
• What are the 5 most likely events that would require
you to adopt on the spot?
How would you cope if any of these occur?

• Check projector, light switch and all other equipment

in the room for proper functioning (in advance);
practice operating it!
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 Mastering speaking stress
Mental tactics
Put your anxiety in perspective
• What is the worst that could happen?

• If the worst happened, how would that affect my job,

my family, my health or any other part of my life?

• Even if things go badly, it is not “the end of the

world!”

VISUALIZE YOURSELF IN CONTROL

• At each point, I know what the next
step is and I know when to take it
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 Mastering speaking stress
Look forward to succeeding
• I am glad to have this opportunity
to show what I can do

• I know what has to be done

• I am going to do it

REMEMBER: YOUR ANXIETY

WILL PASS QUICKLY
• By the time the first 2-3 minutes of your well-prepared
presentation have passed, you will be so involved in
the presentation that you will forget to worry

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 Mastering speaking stress
By the way, the overwhelming majority of
your listeners are on your side.
They are not your enemies. They want and
expect you to succeed in your presentation.

DON’T DISAPPOINT THEM!

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 Mastering speaking stress
Physical tactics (during presentation)
• Slow, deep breaths
• Force yourself to speak slowly and
clearly when you start
• Don’t eat a big meal before speaking
• A strong opening helps to put every
one at ease (including you) and to
establish your credibility
• If something goes wrong, don’t panic!
Your listeners expect a well-prepared
and well-delivered presentation.
However, they do not expect you to
foresee and avoid every conceivable
difficulty.
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 Organizing the presentation

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 Organizing the presentation
5 parts of a presentation
an OPENING
to grab their attention

an OVERVIEW
of what is to come
(a road map of the presentation)

the BODY
a handful of narrowly focused key points together with
the supporting structure you need to get the message across clearly
and ensure that the audience remembers it

a S U M M A R Y to
- review key points
- let them know what actions you want

a CLOSING
to provide a memorable and professional ending

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 Organizing the presentation
Presentation objectives

Entertain

Motivate

Convince

Educate

Inform

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 Organizing the presentation
Characteristics of objectives

Measurable

Time element

Realistic

Challenging
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 Organizing the presentation
Levels of communication

Audio
-- What the audience is hearing

Visual
- What the audience is seeing

Thought patterns
- What the audience is thinking

Are you guiding them through a clear,

easy-to-follow channel at each level?
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 Platform skills

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 Platform skills

To make contact
with your listeners

...you must build a bridge

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 Platform skills

Act yourself
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 Using audiovisual aids

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 Using audiovisual aids
Projector
Tips for using charts / slides
• Be sure lens is clean and a spare bulb available

• Check position and focus in advance and during

presentation

• Position for standing, writing and talking

• Avoid crossing or standing in the beam

• Unmask each point as you come to it

• An alternative to masking is the revelation or overlay
technique
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 Using audiovisual aids
Projector

Tips for preparing charts / slides

• Professionally prepared vs. homemade
• Generous use of graphics and symbols
• Not too much information on each slight
• Use colors, highlight key points
• Letter size: Be sure they can be READ from the back
of the room

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 Audience psychology

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 Audience psychology
Memory – Look forward to recalling
O: Outstanding or unique event

A, B, C: Associations or Links

Point in time where 1 hour 2 hours

learning starts point in time where learning ends
Recall during learning: Graph indicating that we recall more from the beginning and ends of a learning period. We also
recall more when things are associated or linked (A, B and C) and more when things are outstanding or unique (O).
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 Audience psychology
Memory – Look forward to recalling
high points
of recall recall curves
when planned
breaks are taken

100%

recall curve when

no breaks are taken
75% for two hours

50%
recall curve when
no breaks are taken
25% and learning continues
for more than two hours

0%
Point in time where 1 hour 2 hours
learning starts point in time where learning ends

Recall during learning – with and without breaks. A learning period of between 20-50 minutes produces
the best relationship between understanding and recall
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 Audience psychology

The overwhelming majority of your

listeners are on your side. They are not
your enemies.

BUT IF . . . .

Be prepared to demand somebody to

“leave the room” – You are the only
authority to decide.

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Tips for an effective presentation
> The fact that you know the subject you are going to
present does not ensure an excellent presentation. On
the contrary, it may jeopardy your presentation.
> You have to prepare yourself as per “Presentations Skills”.
> You have to know the audience before the presentation
happens. Don’t forget the audience is “your customer”.
> Who are they? What are their backgrounds? What are their
expectations? etc.
> Before the presentation, you have to figure out which
messages of your speech you will emphasize and how.
> Use of the volume and the frequency of your voice –never
underestimate the “pause” to highlight something
> Posture, gestures. mimics
> Your objective(s) w.r.t your presentation should match
the expectations of the audience.

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 I wish you success in
your presentations

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