What is Presentation?

A presentation is a means of communication that can be adapted to various

speaking situations, such as talking to a group, addressing a meeting or briefing
a team.
A presentation can also be used as a broad term that encompasses other ‘speaking
engagements’ such as making a speech at a wedding, or getting a point across in a
video conference.
A presentation requires you to get a message across to the listeners and will often
contain a 'persuasive' element. It may, for example, be a talk about the positive work
of your organization, what you could offer an employer, or why you should receive
additional funding for a project.
To be effective, step-by-step preparation and the method and means of presenting
the information should be carefully considered.

Types of Presentations
1. INFORMATIVE • These presentations are brief and to the point. They
generally stick to the facts and avoid complicated information. • Usually used
to present or to describe facts which are usually best for experts. • Such
presentations are organized from most important topic to least and are best for
breaking down big information into small.
Examples include university lectures, school classes, and research results.

2. INSTRUCTIONAL • These presentations give specific directions or orders.

These presentations are designed to teach something completely new to the
audience. • Such presentations are very thorough, and usually takes a long
time. • It includes all the theories and knowledge from the basic steps to
checking the audience’s understanding.
Examples include tutorial classes, safety demonstrations, and instructional
videos.

3. AROUSING • A presentation designed to make the audience consider the

topic or discussion. To rouse interest and emotions to make audience
receptive. • these presentations usually involve a lot of powerful language and
 enthusiastic discussion. • Often uses stories or real-life examples of the topic
to rouse interest.
Examples include a debate, church sermon, or motivational speech

4. PERSUASIVE • To make listeners accept and agree with the presenter’s

proposal. • Very persuasive, usually showing supporting facts and advantages
to reinforce credibility. • these presentations are often highly emotional•
Presents problem, the presenter’s solution, and all the reasons behind it for
agreement.
Example include political debates, business proposals.

5. DECISION-MAKING • A presentation designed to convince listeners to act

on the presenter’s proposal – usually by giving evidence and pointing out what
can happen if this is not done. •the presenter in such type of presentations
include a description of a problem that the audience/society/certain people
face • Presenters often compare the two predictions about what will happen if
the listeners do or don’t do what they suggest.
Example include business meetings, bank promotions, and law discussion in
the government.

The Key Elements of a Presentation

Context

Before going to present, you should Ask yourself the following questions to

develop a full understanding of the context of the presentation.

• When and where will you deliver your presentation?
Whether it is a small room with natural light and an informal setting OR a huge
lecture room with stage lights. These two require quite different presentations, and
different techniques.
• Will it be in a setting you are familiar with, or somewhere new?
If it is somewhere new, it would be worth trying to visit it in advance, or at least
arriving early, to familiarize yourself with the room.
• Will the presentation be within a formal or less formal setting?
A work setting will, more or less by definition, be more formal, but there are also
various degrees of formality within that.
• Will the presentation be to a small group or a large crowd?
• Are you already familiar with the audience?
With a new audience, you will have to build a connection/bond quickly and
effectively, to get them on your side.
• What equipment and technology will be available to you, and what will you be
expected to use?
In particular, you will need to ask about microphones and whether you will be
expected to stand in one place, or move around.
• What is the audience expecting to learn from you and your presentation?
• The message is affected by the audience’s expectations. For example, if you
have been billed as speaking on one particular topic, and you choose to speak
on another, the audience is unlikely to take your message on board even if you
present very well. They will judge your presentation a failure, because you
have not met their expectations.
All these aspects will change the presentation.

Presenter
The role of the presenter is to communicate with the audience and control the
presentation.
Remember, though, that this may also include handing over the control to your
audience, especially if you want some kind of interaction.

Audience
The audience receives the presenter’s message(s).
However, this reception will be filtered through and affected by different factors
such as the listener’s own experience, knowledge and personal sense of values.

Message
The message or messages are delivered by the presenter to the audience.
The message is delivered not just by the spoken word (verbal communication) but
can be improved by techniques such as voice projection, body language, gestures,
eye contact (non-verbal communication), and visual aids.

Reaction
The audience’s reaction and therefore the success of the presentation will
largely depend upon whether you, as presenter, effectively communicated your
message, and whether it met their expectations.
As a presenter, you don’t control the audience’s expectations. What you can do is
find out what they have been told about you by the conference organizers, and what
they are expecting to hear. Only if you know that,, you will be confident of delivering
something that will meet expectations.

Method
How will the presentation be delivered?
Presentations are usually delivered direct to an audience. However, there may be
occasions where they are delivered from a distance over the Internet using video
conferencing systems, such as Skype. One good example is the current situation.
It is also important to remember that if your talk is recorded and posted on the
internet, then people may be able to access it for several years.

Impediments/Barriers
Many factors can influence the effectiveness of how your message is
communicated to the audience.
For example, background noise or other distractions, an overly warm or cool room,
or the time of day and state of audience alertness can all influence your audience’s
level of concentration.

How to Improve Presentation Skills (Becoming a Better

Presenter)
Development of good presentation skills requires efforts and hard work. To improve
your presentation skills, you must:
Effective presentations are a mixture of a variety of elements. You have to know
what your audience wants. You need to prepare good, interesting and engaging
content. You must be confident in presenting the material, you also have to
know how to manage your environment successfully, and you need to make
sure that your message has maximum impact.

Balancing all four elements is not an easy task. However, you don't have to
remain fearful and stressed by the thought of giving a presentation. With the
right tools and material, along with planning and preparation, you can present
with energy and confidence.

Let's now look in detail at those four key elements of effective presentations:

1. Understanding your audience.

2. Preparing your content.
3. Delivering confidently.
4. Controlling the environment.

Understanding Your Audience

The success of most presentations is generally judged on how the
audience responds. You may think you did a great job, but unless your
audience agrees with you, that may not be the case. Before you even begin
putting your PowerPoint slides together or any other presentation, the
first thing you need to do is to understand what your audience wants. Try
following these steps:
 • Determine who the members of the audience are.
• Find out what they want and expect from your presentation. What do
they need to learn? And what do they already know that you don't have
to repeat?
• Create an outline for your presentation, and ask for advance feedback
on your proposed content.
When what you say is what your audience wants or needs to hear, then
you'll probably receive positive feedback throughout your presentation. If
you see nods and smiles, or hear murmurs of agreement, for example, then
this will motivate you to keep going.

When your audience is satisfied, it doesn't matter if your delivery wasn't

absolutely perfect. The primary goal of the people listening to your
presentation is to get the information they need. When that happens,
you've done a good job.

• It means that you should research the Audience Before Presenting: This will
enable you to better understand the traits of the audience. You can then develop
messages that can be better understood by your target audience. For instance, if
you have analytical audience, you can add more facts and figures in your
presentation.

Preparing Your Content

The only way to satisfy your audience's needs and expectations is to
deliver the content they want. That means understanding what to present,
and how to present it. Keep it in mind that if you give the right information
in the wrong sequence, this may leave the audience confused, frustrated,
or bored.

If you provide the information in a well-structured format, and you

include various techniques to keep the audience engaged and interested,
then they'll probably remember what you said – and they'll also
remember you.
There are a variety of ways to structure your content, depending on the
type of presentation you'll give. Here are some principles that you can
apply:

• Identify a few key points - To help the audience remember the

messages you're giving them, use the dividing principle to organize
your information into five to seven key points. (I mean to divide your
presentation into different portions.)
• Don't include every detail - Good presentations inspire the audience
to learn more, and ask further statements to maximize their
understanding of the issue.
• Use an outline - At the beginning, tell your audience what you intend
to cover, and let them know what to expect. This helps build
anticipation and interest from the start.
• Start and end strongly - Capture people's interest as soon as you
begin, and leave them with a message they won't forget. It's appealing
to put all of your effort into the main body of the presentation. However,
if you don't get people's attention at the start, they'll probably lose
interest, and not really hear the rest anyway.
• Use examples - Where possible, use lots of examples to support your
points. A lecture is often the least interesting and engaging form of
presentation. Look for ways to present things by telling stories, talking
about real-life examples, and using metaphors to engage your audience
fully.
• Structure your Presentation Effectively: The best way to do this is to start
with telling the audience, in the introduction, what you are going to present.
Follow this by presenting the idea, and finish off the presentation by
repeating the main points.

Delivering Confidently
Even the best content can be ineffective if your presentation style
contradicts or detracts from your message. Many people are nervous
when they present, so this will probably affect your delivery. But it's the
major distractions that you want to avoid. As you build confidence, you
can gradually eliminate the small and unconstructive habits you may have.
These tips may help you:

• Practice to build confidence – Some people think that if you practice

too much, your speech will sound rehearsed and less genuine. Don't
necessarily memorize your presentation, but be so familiar with the
content that you're able to speak fluently and comfortably, and adjust
as necessary.
• Be flexible – This is easier to do if you're comfortable with the material.
Don't attempt to present something you just learned the previous night.
You want to know your material well enough to answer statements.
And, if you don't know something, just admit it, and commit to finding
the answer.
• Welcome statements from the audience – This is a sign that a
presenter knows what he or she is talking about. It builds audience
confidence, and people are much more likely to trust what you say, and
respect your message.
• Use slides and other visual aids – These can help you deliver a
confident presentation. The key point here is to learn how much visual
information to give the audience, and yet not distract them from what
you're saying.
• Keep your visuals simple and brief – Don't use too many pictures,
charts, or graphs. Your slides should summarize or draw attention to
one or two items each. And don't try to fit your whole presentation onto
your slides. If the slides cover every single detail, then you've probably
put too much information on them. Slides should give the overall
message, and then the audience should know where to look for
supporting evidence.
• Manage your stress – Confidence has a lot to do with managing your
stress levels. If you feel particularly nervous and anxious, then those
emotions will probably show. They're such strong feelings that you can
easily become overwhelmed, which can affect your ability to perform
effectively. A little nervousness is useful because it can build energy.
But that energy may quickly turn negative if nerves build to the point
where you can't control them.
• Do a lot of Practice: Rehearse but do not go for memorizing the
presentation. Rehearsals reduce your anxiety and enable you to look
 confident on the presentation day. Make sure you practice out loud, as it
enables you to identify and eliminate errors more efficiently. Do not
memorize anything as it will make your presentation look mechanical. This
will also reduce the degree of audience engagement.
•
When you present with confidence and authority, your audience will
likely pay attention and react to you as someone who's worth listening
to. So 'pretend' if you need to, by turning your nervousness into creative
and enthusiastic energy.

Controlling the Environment

While much of the outside environment is beyond your control, there are
still some things you can do to reduce potential risks to your presentation.

• Practice in the presentation room – This force you to become

familiar with the room and the equipment. It will not only build your
confidence, but also help you identify sources of risk. Do you have
trouble accessing your PowerPoint file? Does the microphone reach the
places you want to walk? Can you move the podium? Are there stairs
that might cause you to trip? These are the sorts of issues you may
discover and resolve by doing one or two practice presentations.
• Do your own setup – Don't leave this to other people. Even though you
probably want to focus on numerous other details, it's a good idea not
to delegate too much of the preparation to others. You need the hands-
on experience to make sure nothing disastrous happens at the real
event.
• Test your timing – When you practice, you also improve your chances
of keeping to time. You get a good idea how long each part of the
presentation will actually take, and this helps you plan how much time
you'll have for statements and other audience interactions.
Members of the audience want you to respect their time. If you end your
presentation on time or early, this can make a huge, positive impression
on them. When speakers go over their allowed time, they may disrupt
the whole schedule of the event and/or cause the audience unnecessary
inconvenience. Be considerate, and stick to your agenda as closely as
possible.