Once you have organized your presentation and prepared visuals, you are
ready to practise delivering it. You will feel more confident and appear more
professional if you know more about various delivery methods and techniques to
use before, during, and after your presentation.
You don’t need to memorize an entire presentation to be effective. However, memorizing significant parts—the
introduction, the conclusion, and perhaps a meaningful quotation—can be
dramatic and impressive.
Reading to an audience from a manuscript suggests that you don't know
your topic very well. Doing that prevents you from maintaining eye contact with
the audience. You also can't see the audience’s reactions and consequently you
can't benefit from their feedback.
Neither memorizing nor reading creates very convincing business
presentations. The best plan, by far, is to present extemporaneously,
especially when you are displaying an electronic slideshow, such as PowerPoint.
Extemporaneous delivery means speaking freely, generally without notes,
after preparation and rehearsing. Reading notes or a manuscript in addition to
PowerPoint slides will damage your credibility.
Overcoming
Stage Fright
Nearly everyone experiences some degree of stage fright when speaking
before a group. Being afraid is quite natural and results from actual
physiological changes occurring in your body. You can learn to control and
reduce stage fright, as well as to incorporate techniques for effective
speaking, by using the following strategies and techniques:
Speaking in front of a group will become less daunting if you allow for
adequate preparation, sufficient practice, and rehearsals. Interacting with the
audience and limiting surprises, such as malfunctioning equipment, will also
add to your peace of mind. Review the following tips for a smooth start:
o Prepare thoroughly. One of the most
effective strategies for reducing stage fright is knowing your subject
thoroughly. Research your topic diligently and prepare a careful sentence
outline.
o Rehearse repeatedly. When you rehearse,
practise your entire presentation, not just the first half. You may also want
to include transitional sentences to help you move to the next topic as you
practise. Rehearse alone or before friends and family. Also try an audio or a
video recording of your rehearsals so that you can evaluate your effectiveness.
o Time yourself. Most audiences tend
to get restless during longer talks. Thus, try to complete your presentation in
no more than 20 minutes. Set a simple kitchen timer during your rehearsal to
keep track of time.
o Check the room. If you are using a
computer, a projector, or sound equipment, be certain they are operational.
Before you start, check electrical outlets and the position of the viewing
screen. Ensure that the seating arrangement is appropriate to your needs.
o Greet members of the
audience. Try to make contact with a few members of the audience when you enter
the room, while you are waiting to be introduced, or when you walk to the
podium. Your body language should convey friendliness, confidence, and
enjoyment.
o
Practise stress reduction. If you feel tension
and fear while you are waiting your turn to speak, use stress-reduction
techniques, such as deep breathing.
During Your
Presentation
To stay in control during your talk, to build credibility, and to engage
your audience, follow these guidelines for effective speaking:
o Begin with a pause. When you first
approach the audience, take a moment to make yourself comfortable. Establish
your control of the situation.
o Present your first
sentence from memory. By memorizing your opening, you can immediately establish rapport with
the audience through eye contact. You will also sound confident and
knowledgeable.
o Maintain eye contact. If the size of the
audience overwhelms you, pick out two individuals on the right and two on the
left. Talk directly to these people. Don't ignore listeners in the back of the
room.
o Control your voice
and vocabulary. This means speaking in moderated tones but loudly enough to be heard.
Eliminate verbal static, such as ah, er, you know, and um.
Silence is preferable to meaningless fillers when you are thinking of your next
idea.
o Put the brakes on. Many novice speakers
talk too rapidly, displaying their nervousness and making it very difficult for
audience members to understand their ideas. Slow down and listen to what you
are saying.
o Move naturally. If you have a
lectern, don't remain glued to it. Move about casually and naturally. Avoid
fidgeting with your clothing, hair, or items in your pockets. Do not roll up
your sleeves or put your hands in your pockets. Learn to use your body to
express a point.
o Use visual aids
effectively. You should discuss and interpret each visual aid for the audience. Move
aside as you describe it so that it can be seen fully. Use a pointer if
necessary, but steady your hand if it is shaking.
o Avoid digressions. Stick to your
outline and notes. Don't suddenly include clever little anecdotes or
digressions that occur to you on the spot. If it is not part of your rehearsed
material, leave it out so that you can finish on time.
o Summarize your main
points and arrive at the high point of your talk. Conclude your
presentation by reiterating your main points or by emphasizing what you want
the audience to think or do. Once you have announced your conclusion, proceed
to it directly.
As you are concluding your presentation, handle questions and answers
competently and provide handouts if appropriate. Try the following techniques:
o Distribute handouts. If you prepared
handouts with data the audience will need, pass them out when you finish.
o Encourage questions. If the situation
permits a question-and-answer period, announce it at the beginning of your
presentation. Then, when you finish, ask for questions. Set a time limit for
questions and answers.
o Repeat questions. Although the speaker
may hear the question, audience members often do not. Begin each answer with a
repetition of the question. This also gives you thinking time. Then direct your
answer to the entire audience.
o Reinforce your main
points. You can use your answers to restate your primary ideas (I'm glad you
brought that up because it gives me a chance to elaborate on …). In
answering questions, avoid becoming defensive or debating the questioner.
o Keep control. Don't allow one
individual to take over. Keep the entire audience involved.
o Avoid “Yes, but”
answers. The word but immediately cancels any preceding message. Try
replacing it with and. For example, Yes, X has been tried. And Y works even
better because….
o End with a summary
and appreciation. To signal the end of the session before you take the last question, say
something like, We have time for just one more question. As you answer
the last question, try to work it into a summary of your main points. Then
express appreciation to the audience for the opportunity to talk with them.
Watch Overcoming Nerves When
Giving a Presentation
Organizing Team-Based
Written and Oral Presentations
Whether your team's project produces written reports, slide decks, or
oral presentations, you generally have considerable control over how the
project is organized and completed. Team projects will be harmonious and
productive when members establish ground rules and follow guidelines related to
preparing, planning, collecting information for, organizing, rehearsing, and
evaluating team projects.
Before any group begins to talk about a specific project, members should
get together and establish basic ground rules.
One of the first tasks is naming a meeting leader to conduct meetings, a
recorder to keep a record of group decisions, and an evaluator to determine
whether the group is on target and meeting its goals.
The group should decide whether it will be governed by consensus
(everyone must agree), by majority rule, or by some other method.
When teams first organize, they should consider the value of conflict.
By bringing conflict into the open and encouraging confrontation, teams can
prevent personal resentment and group dysfunction.
An important topic to discuss during team formation is how to deal with
team members who are not doing their share of the work. Teams should decide
whether they will “fire” members who are not contributing or take some other
action in dealing with slackers.
Once teams have established ground rules, members are ready to discuss
the target document or presentation. They should establish the specific purpose
for the document or presentation and identify the main issues involved. If the
report or presentation involves persuasion, they must decide what appeals would
achieve the team's purpose.
For a collaborative business report, they should determine what parts it
will include, such as an executive summary, figures, and an appendix. They
should consider how the report or presentation will be delivered—in person,
online, or by e-mail.
For a team oral presentation, they should decide on its parts, length,
and graphics. They should profile the audience and focus on the questions
audience members would want answered. Teams must schedule time for content and
creative development, as well as for a series of rehearsals.
Next the team should develop a work plan, assign jobs, and set
deadlines.
For oral presentations all team members should have written assignments.
These assignments should detail each member's specific responsibilities for researching
content, producing visuals, developing handout materials, building transitions
between segments, and showing up for rehearsals.
For written reports members must decide how the final document will be
composed: individuals working separately on assigned portions, one person
writing the first draft, the entire group writing the complete document
together, or some other method.
Collecting Information
One of the most challenging jobs for team projects is generating and
collecting information. Unless facts are accurate, the most beautiful report or
the most high-powered presentation will fail.
Assign topics and decide who will be responsible for gathering what
information. Establishing deadlines for collecting information is important if
a team is to remain on schedule.
Organizing, Writing,
and Revising
Team members may review the proposed organization of the final document
or presentation and adjust it if necessary. In composing the first draft of a
written report or presentation, team members will probably write separate
segments. As they work on these segments, they should use the same version of
word processing or presentation graphics program to facilitate combining files.
As individuals work on separate parts of a written report, the team
should decide on one person to coordinate all the parts. The writer strives for
a consistent style, format, and tone in the final product.
For a written report, one person should assume the task of merging the
various files, running a spell checker, and examining the entire document for
consistency of design, format, and vocabulary. Then the entire group meets to
evaluate the final document to see if it fulfills its purpose and meet the
needs of the audience.
For oral presentations one person should also merge all the files and be
certain that they are consistent in design, format, and vocabulary. Teams
making presentations should practise together several times. Consider video
recording one of the rehearsals so that each presenter can critique his or her
own performance. Schedule a dress rehearsal with an audience at least two days
before the actual presentation.
Successful group documents emerge from thoughtful preparation, clear
definition of contributors' roles, commitment to a group-approved plan, and a
willingness to take responsibility for the final product.
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