#1: Making a Presentation

Overview of Making a Presentation

 Making persuasive presentations isn’t just a matter of charisma and fancy charts. It requires concrete skills that are vital to keeping your audience engaged and involved.

This topic shows you how to connect what you know about your subject with your audience needs – in ways that clarify and inspire. Learn how to prepare, practice, and present information to achieve the results you want.

Setting Up Your Presentation

1. Define your objectives.

   What outcome do you want? What do you want your audience to do as a result of your presentation? Your objective determines what you say and how you say it.

   • Examine your purpose. Do you want to inform, persuade, or sell? Do you want the audience to understand, learn, or take action? When do you want your audience to take action and how?
   • Be explicit in defining your objectives. The more explicit you are, the more likely you are to design a presentation that supports them. For example: "I want the audience to request that their direct reports dogfood the beta release of the product."
     
     
2. Select a strategy the matches your objective.
   
   
   • For example, making a sale will require a persuasive bent that might include features and benefits and competitive data comparisons.
   • Include whatever information helps you achieve your objective. Omit anything extraneous, distracting, or interfering.
     
     
3. Get to know your audience.
   
   
   • Prior to the presentation, determine your audience’s level of knowledge, interest, and positioning, and their ability to act on what you present.
   • Make sure you know what is in it for them. Keeping your presentation audience-focused is critical.
   • If you are not familiar with the group, ask the liaison for the meeting to give you some background. If possible, try to contact at least one person who fits the audience profile.
     
     
4. Match your presentation to your audience.
   
   
   • For example, a presentation to a technical group of decision makers is going to contain more quantitative detail than a presentation to a group of less technical junior managers.
   • In cases where there is a mixed audience, try to address the different perspectives explicitly to keep everyone interested. For example, "This will affect the product managers like this. . .and the developers like this. . ."
   • In cases where the audience is likely to be hostile, begin by emphasizing concerns you have in common. Turn the negative into a positive, if possible.
   • To energize an apathetic, tired, or hungry audience, open with a startling statement or a vivid illustration.

Creating a Presentation

 

1. Brainstorm ideas.
   
   
2. Identify your messages and supporting facts.
   
   
3. Select the number of points that will make the case to your audience within the given time.
   
   
   • It is better to make fewer points and make them well.
   • If you do not have time to make a point clear or acceptable to your audience, save it for another presentation.
   • If you are not sure how long your talk may run, prepare extra supporting material such as statistics, analogies, or examples that can be omitted if you are running out of time.
     
     
4. Organize your points.
   
   
   • To keep your audience on track, make the logic of your presentation clear at all times.
   • Place your strongest point first or last. Do not bury your best ideas.
   • In the opening, state where you are headed and what you want to prove or demonstrate.
   • In the body, support your main points with examples, visuals, and anecdotes.
   • At appropriate intervals, note what you have already covered and where you are about to go.
   • To close, summarize the main points and present your conclusions.
     
     
5. Prepare a list of possible questions and objections, and decide how you will address them if they arise.
   
   
6. Use visual aids and support materials to help listeners:
   
   
   • Remember facts.
   • Understand ideas, relationships, or physical layouts.
   • Recognize that you are moving on to a new topic.

Practicing and Evaluating

 

1. Rehearse.
   
   
   • Rehearse with the equipment and visuals you will actually use at the event.
   • Rehearse the entire presentation each time you practice, including how you are going to stand, move, and how you are going to use the visuals.
   • Rehearse out loud.
   • Rehearse until the presentation does not sound memorized.
   • Concentrate on the subject or message and your desire to communicate, not on your notes.
   • If the presentation is a high profile one to a large group, you can videotape your practice session to evaluate it more closely.
     
     
2. Gather feedback prior to your presentation.
   
   
   • Practice your presentation on test audiences and get their feedback. Assemble people who are similar to your audience profile. For example, if you are presenting to experts on the topic, get an expert.
   • Test as many features of your presentation as you can: the visuals, logic, etc.
   • Determine the impact you made on the group and ‘tweak’ the presentation as necessary.
     
     
3. Evaluate the progress of your presentation while it is in process.
   
   
   • Look for audience cues such as interest or boredom.
   • If possible, have another person in the audience take notes on audience reaction for you.
   • Make notes on those issues immediately after the presentation while it’s still fresh in your mind.
   • Note questions asked. They may point to areas of your presentation that need clarification.
   • Ask the audience how it’s going, if appropriate.
     
     
4. Evaluate your presentation after you have finished.
   
   
   • Assess the overall effectiveness of your presentation. Was your objective achieved? Did the audience seem engaged and attentive? Note what went well and what needs to be improved.
   • Ask for feedback from credible participants.
   • If you are going to make the presentation again, what changes would you make to improve it?
   • What general lessons have you learned about making presentations?

Answering Questions

 

1. Raise your hand when you ask "Any questions?" or "Next question?"

   Your body language signals that you are in control and that others should raise a hand to be recognized. This can minimize the commotion that can happen when an audience has a strong emotional response to your message.

2. Select a person to ask a question.

   This keeps several people from talking at once. If you gesture, be sure to use an open palm instead of pointing to show you are nondefensive but still in charge.

3. Look directly at the questioner and listen for the issue behind the question.

   This will help you to better understand the question. As you listen, ask yourself, "What's the issue? What's the point here?" Many speakers begin thinking of the answer when they should be listening and, as a result, miss the real question. If you are not sure about the meaning of the question, ask for clarification. Avoid saying that the question isn't clear (it may be clear to everyone but you); rather, say that you do not understand it.

4. Paraphrase the question.
   • Restate if the question is simple and straightforward.
   • Rephrase to simplify a long or complicated question.
   • Rephrase to put a negative or hostile question into neutral words.

   This ensures that everyone hears the question, gives you a few moments to think of your answer and choose your best approach, simplifies the question, and neutralizes it. Be careful not to change the issue when you rephrase a question. The questioner, and others, will recognize this immediately and become suspicious of your motives. The purpose for this type of rephrasing is to get at the real issues.

5. When the question is finished, break visually with the questioner and lock eyes with another person.

   This will help avoid one-to-one conversations and signals to your audience that the answer will be of interest to all. (In very small groups this may not be appropriate.)

6. Look back to the questioner during your answer. When possible, tie your answer back to the key messages in your presentation.

   By looking back to the questioner for part of your answer, you can check for the reaction. Your tie back reinforces your main points.

7. Confirm that that question has been answered, only if you think it may not have been.

   If you see signs of confusion or frustration on the part of the questioner, ask the questioner if you have answered the question. This allows the questioner to rephrase the question, and for you to more clearly understand it.

   Sometimes a questioner may appear satisfied with an answer, but the audience shows signs of confusion. By asking the questioner if the question was answered, you can put the audience at ease by knowing that the questioner is satisfied.

8. End your interaction with the questioner.

   End your answer on the questioner if you see a benefit in doing so. You might want to stay with the line of discussion raised by the question. You might want to show deference to a senior manager.

   To avoid a second question from the same person, finish one thought eye to eye with the questioner, and then move to somebody else to end your answer.

9. Raise your hand for the next question.

   This signals that the question has been answered and others have an opportunity to ask questions. This also allows you to stop answering. If your anxiety level about answering the difficult questions is high, you may want to ramble on, hoping to say something truly brilliant or to construct an answer that pleases everybody.

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