Professional Year Program

Professional Meetings &

Presentations

Presentation Skills
This module addresses the following elements:
 Introduction to meetings and presentations
 Reflect on what makes a presentation effective
 Identify and use logical presentation structure
 Identify positive, culturally appropriate body language
 Practice signposting language and presentation language
 Understand effective pace and rhythm of speech
 Plan an individual presentation for delivery

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Meetings and Presentations
Activity 1.1: Essential Skills

Effective presentations and meetings ulitise many skills. What skills are demonstrated in
both meetings and presentations?

Activity 1.2: Influence and Persuasion

Influence and persuasion are important tools used in the workplace. By using specific
techniques and methods we can greatly increase our level of influence on others.
In groups, brainstorm some everyday scenarios where you may apply these skills:

Activity 1.3: Principles of Persuasion

“I think the power of
persuasion would be the
greatest superpower of all
time.” – Jenny Mollen (Actress
and NY Times best-selling
author)

Robert Cialdini is a professor of marketing, business, and

psychology. He is best known for his book Influence: The
Psychology of Persuasion.
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 Watch an interview with Robert Cialdini and take notes according to his
responses.

A. What is persuasion and why is it helpful?

B. Is the skill of persuasion something we are born with or is it something that we learn?

C. What are the principles identified in the process of persuasion? Take notes on each.

Principle 1:

Principle 2:

Principle 3:

Principle 4:

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Principle 5:

Principle 6:

Principle 7:

D. What is the difference between persuasion and manipulation?

Follow-up: Give specific examples of how the principles of persuasion could be

applied in the workplace.

Presentation Skills

Activity 1.4: Introduction to Presentations

Presentation skills are essential for career
success. Whether you’re required to get up in front of audiences on a
regular basis, or you simply have to make your voice heard in a meeting,
you'll need to have effective presentation skills.

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 1. What experience do you have in giving presentations? Describe.

2. What do you like/dislike about presenting?

3. Who is someone you admire as a confident presenter? What skills do they use?

4. In what situations may you need to deliver a presentation at the workplace?

5. Are presentations usually formal, informal or both?

Activity 1.5: Analysing the Audience

Understanding the purpose of your presentation and understanding the needs of the
audience are paramount to its success. The purpose of presentations fall under (or a
combination of) three main categories; a) to entertain b) to inform c) to persuade.
You will be assessed on your ability to individually create a short presentation on a topic
which will support professional development.
1. Who is your audience?

2. What topics would benefit your audience?

Activity 1.6: Effective Presentation Techniques

//

What effective techniques

do strong presenters use?

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/

Activity 1.7: Present like an Expert!

Words have the power to inspire, motivate and influence millions of people. Who do you
think have been the most powerful presenters of all time?
Can you put a name to the following faces? What did they promote during their
presentations? What other people could be added to this list of famous presenters?
/////

/Activity 1.8: Techniques used by Steve Jobs

/
The following video clip shows presentation techniques
used by Steve Jobs.

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 List the techniques below:

/Activity 1.9: Creating Presentation Slides

What do you know about creating effective presentation slides?

In groups, create a list of recommendations.

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/

Activity 1.10: Presentation Structure

Presentations need to be very straightforward and logical. It is important that you avoid
complex structures and focus on delivering your message as clearly as possible. Use
clear transitions and sign-posting language to link and move between points, helping
your audience to understand and follow your presentation.

An ideal structure for a presentation includes:

/
/Activity 1.11: Creative Presentation Openings

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 Can you think of creative and memorable ways to start a presentation? Think outside the
box and create a list.

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//

Activity 1.12: Presentation Language

Study the useful language below. This is also known as ‘sign-posting’ language as it
functions to create a clear transition between the different sections of your presentation.

Introduction
Welcome
OK, let’s get started. Good morning everyone and welcome to….
Can everyone see?
Before I begin, I’d like to thank (name) for inviting me here today.
It’s good to see so many people here today.
/I’m very happy to be here.

Personal introductions
Let me start by introducing myself. My name is …
Just a few words about myself…

Objective
The title of my presentation is…
Today I’m going to talk about…
The aim of my presentation is…

Audience attention, interest and involvement

Let me ask you a question…
Hands up how many people who have…
Did you know that… (+ surprising statistic)?
Somebody once said… (+ quote)

/Audience benefit

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 I hope this presentation will enable you to…
By the end of my talk you will…

Structure
I’ll speak for about 7 minutes…
I’ve divided my talk into three main parts… first I’ll talk about… then I’ll move onto…
Finally, I’ll talk about…
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask at the end of my presentation.
OK, let’s begin with the first slide/point which is…

/Body
Signposts
OK, let’s move on to…/ turn our attention to… / take a look at…
This leads me to my next point which is…
Earlier I mentioned…
I’ll say more about this later / I’ll come back to this in a moment
Just to digress for a moment…

Develop a topic
It might be useful to give a little background here.
Let’s examine this in more detail.
Let me explain with a concrete example.
/My own view on this is…

Focus
Basically,… / To put it simply…
I think there are three questions to focus on…
I would like to stress / emphasise that…

Rhetorical Question
What is the reason for this? The reason is…
So, what can we do about this? We can…

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/Refer to visuals
As you can see on this next slide…
I’d like to highlight two things on this table / chart / diagram…
What is interesting on this slide is…
I’d like to draw your attention to…

/Conclusion
Signal the end
Right, that brings me to the end of my presentation.

Summarise
Just to summarise the main points again..
/So, to summarise. We looked at three main points. I began by telling you a little
about…, then I talked about…, Finally, I explained how…

Conclude
I’d like to finish by saying…
So, in conclusion, I hope this talk has given you…
Thank you all for coming, I hope it’s been useful.

Invite questions
Do you have any questions? Yes, the gentleman / lady over there...
/Now, if you have any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them.

Deal with questions

That’s a very good question. I’m glad you asked me that…
Sorry, could you repeat that again?
That’s an interesting question. What’s your own opinion?
I think that’s outside the scope of this presentation, but I’m happy to discuss it with you
afterwards.
OK, I think there’s time for one last question.

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 //Activity 1.13: The One Minute Presentation
You will have the opportunity to practise presentation language through creating a one
minute presentation on something that you are passionate about.
The goal is to use your body language, tone of voice, and a strong structure to keep your
audience engaged for 50-60 seconds.
The presentation will have a fixed opening, and then contain three pieces of
information about your topic followed by a memorable summary before you close the
presentation.
Use the presentation language you’ve studied to plan your one minute presentation. The table
below can be used to help arrange your ideas.

Welcome

OK, let’s get started. Good morning everyone and my name is ……………and
welcome to my presentation.

Objective

Today, I’m going to talk about……….

Timing and questions

I’ll speak for about one minute. If you have any questions, feel free to ask at the
end of my presentation.

Structure

I’ve divided my talk into three main parts… first I’ll talk about… then I’ll move
onto… Finally, I’ll talk about…

Body

Firstly……. Secondly…… Finally……

Conclusion

In summary / in short…..

Thanks

Thank you for your attention.

Invite questions

Do you have any questions?

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 /Assessment – Make a Presentation Preparation
(PMP: MAPP)
You will be assessed on your ability to prepare and deliver a presentation on a
professional development topic (7 minutes presenting + 5 minutes questions and
feedback). Important: You must be professionally dressed for your presentation.

Your presentation must demonstrate the following:

Greeting
Warmly greets and acknowledges audience
Structure
o Introduce self, the speech and the structure of the talk
o Provide a logical order of the topics
o Summarise key concepts and include concluding remarks
o Used appropriate sign-posting language to good effect
Prepared for audience
o Language and subject matter is at the right level for the audience
Maintained audience attention
o Including compelling anecdotes, visuals and/or materials
o Used a creative presentation opening
Body language
o Eye contact was aimed at the whole group
o Presenter faced the audience
o Uses positive and appropriate body language – without crossing arms or slouching
Use of voice
o Use effective pace and rhythm of speech for ease of listening
o Use an interesting tone of voice (not monotone)
o Demonstrate pausing for effect
/Handled questions professionally
o Answer questions which he/she knows the answer to or proposing following up
o Acknowledge questions
o Rephrases questions or seeks clarification if required

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 /Assessment – PMP: MAPP
Before creating your slides, it is important to plan the content of your presentation. This
will help to ensure you achieve your objective and follow a strong structure with a logical
flow. An electronic copy of this table is available on eGrad to download for completion.

Topic:

Title:

Key area # 1 Key area # 2 Key area # 3

Content Content Content

  
  
  
  
  

What will the audience BENEFIT from my presentation?

What is the TAKE HOME MESSAGE from my presentation?

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 /Activity 1.15: Create Your Slides
Using your planning document as a guide, spend time creating your presentation
slides. Remember to keep your slides clear and consistent. They should be high on
images and low on text. Have fun!

Activity 1.16: Practise Your Presentation

You can’t deliver an effective presentation if you read from a script, rely too much on
notes, or use your slides as cue cards. You have to rehearse well enough so you can
give all your attention to the audience. 
/
Q: How can we rehearse our presentation
effectively?

/ Remember to come professionally dressed for your

presentation!

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References

Principles of persuasion https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/persuasion-

marketing-examples/

7th Principle of persuasion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Af7Yqe_54w

Analysing the audience http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/audience-analysis/

Kwong Yue Yang - "Fortune https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx8dJztEM_g

Cookie" - 2nd-Place Winner

Make a Presentation Like Steve https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYMBntzoKwQ)

Jobs

Presentation Language Business Vocabulary Builder / Paul Emmerson

Kahoot Quiz https://create.kahoot.it/

ImagesRemember to come Google

professionally
images dressed for your
presentation!

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