Construction Management and Supervision Course 2008

Training of Trainers – Effective Presentations

Preparation

The two most common mistakes in communication are made already before a presentation
or training session begins

1. I start with myself instead of my listeners

2. I do not have a clear objective with my presentation before I start my preparation

1.
If you prepare your manuscript based in your own logic – you risk that your audience can-
not follow your logic and your presentation. They will find your lecture unintelligible, bor-
ing, or not relevant

If you pack your manuscript with all you know, i.e. if you ”overload” to display your
knowledge, you risk that your audience find your lecture unintelligible, irrelevant, boring
or boasting.

Start with your audience:

• Who are they? What is their background?

• Why are they here? How much do they know about my subject?
• Who has chosen the subject of my presentation?
• Why am I the person to give this presentation?
• What is their opinion of me?
• What do they expect from me?
• What happened before? Where do I fit in?
• What will their reaction be?
• What is most important for my audience just now?

2.
If you do not have a clear objective with your presentation before you start you risk over
preparing and use too much time in unnecessary preparation.

If your purpose is not clear you will not be able to know where to put your emphasis or
know if your presentation was a success or not. You will not be able to learn what to im-
prove in your next presentation.

If you start out with objectives that are too vague, i.e. that your audience should know
something about your field of work, you leave it to coincidence if your presentation is a
success.

Formulate your objectives as clearly as possible:

• What is the objective with my presentation?

• What is my message?
• What must they be able to do, know or what opinion must they have after my presenta-
tion?

Must they:
- be informed about my subject, know something about my subject?
- be able to describe, recognise, define?
- be able to calculate, give examples, explain in own words
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Construction Management and Supervision Course 2008
Training of Trainers – Effective Presentations

- be able to use, chose

- be able to prove, identify, compare?
- be able to combine, organise, perform?
- be able to evaluate, estimate?

The Elements of Preparation:

The art of speaking is called “Rhetoric”. It is an ancient discipline which is usually divided
into four parts

Inventio - to invent
Dispositio - to dispose
Elecutio - to formulate
Memoria - to memorise

To invent
To invent is about finding the correct approach and the right arguments.

You must begin by finding out who your listeners are. Normally listeners have expecta-
tions to your presentation which you must adjust to. Ask about their expectations. If that is
not possible, look at the invitation to speak or at the synopsis. Your rate of success im-
proves the better you know the expectations of the audience.

Make it clear to yourself what you want to speak about. Create expectations in your audi-
ence that correspond to what you are going to deliver.

A limited subject is much better than a vast fluffy one, because it enables you to control
your presentation, go into depths and being concrete. I.e. talk about “functions in the open-
ing page of Microsoft” rather than “IT-systems”.

Next you find arguments and facts to support your message. Chose arguments, facts and
examples that are relevant to your audience! Mostly you will present topics where you al-
ready have sufficient facts. Concentrate on finding examples and arguments to give your
presentation life by expressing you personal experience or referring to the everyday experi-
ences of your listeners.

To dispose
To dispose is about organizing and controlling your material:

Sequence
Main emphasis
Planning time
Beginning and Ending, ie. Introduction and Conclusion

It normally takes 3 minutes to present one page of text (125 words per minute).

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Construction Management and Supervision Course 2008
Training of Trainers – Effective Presentations

When you plan time and organize your material remember it is better to go into detail with
a few important points than including too much

Get an attention catcher into your introduction, something that refers to their situation. It
makes the presentation more relevant to them.

To formulate
The language that you use must be forceful and convincing. Avoid “doubt”-words:
“Maybe, it is believed, possibly, excuses, oaths, written language, difficult words and im-
personal expressions. They take away your forcefulness.

Use words that show that you yourself believe in what you say: “We”, “I”, “you”, “they”
are more personal than “people say”, “it is generally known “.

Direct and personal language demonstrates enthusiasm and makes you connect with your
audience.

If you can create pictures, use metaphors or examples to underline your main objectives it
is very effective. Use examples or metaphors from situations that your listeners are familiar
with.

To memorise
To memorize is to find the best way to remember your material and your disposition.

Step one is to go through your material several times before your presentation.

Or your can use one of these aids:

Training Plan/Presentation Planner – (Course in September)

Index Cards –

Topic, Key Words No.

Examples

Sub Topic – Key word

Illustration or aid

Mind Map