Week 6: Preparing Business

Presentations & Midterm Review

Planning Your Presentation:
- Public speaking skills are important in the professional environment and university is the perfect
time to practice and hone this skill.

Three steps to presenting (The best tip is preparation)

Know your audience- One effective way to address this is to focus on ways to reach, interact,
or stimulate your audience. Ask yourself these questions to determine how well your
presentation will meet the needs of the audience

- How will this topic appeal to this audience?

- Does the presentation meet my audience’s needs?
- What activities will encourage the audience to remember the main points of the
presentation

Create a presentation outline- To be successful in your presentation you will need two
outlines. A preparation and a speaking outline.

Preparation Outline- This includes all the content and information required for your
presentation.

Speaking Outline- This outline includes notes to guide you, and which isn’t shared to the
audience.

Organizational Model- This model will help determine how you will structure your preparation
outline.

Develop the content- There are many steps to developing your presentation which involve
Attention Statement- An engaging statement that will cause the audience to listen and take
notice
Introduction- Giving the audience a little teaser of what to expect, just like a free sample at
Costco
Body- Contains your research, main points, and other information
Conclusion- The ending, basically summarize the main points, in a way of how you want the
audience to think or feel after your presentation
Residual Message- Optional, but the final message you want the audience to embrace and
take with them

Storytelling- Can be an effective way to get your message across to the audience, stories can
resonate with listeners because they are apart of the human “experience”
Hook and Introduction- We use these in order to catch the audience’s attention and make
them pay attention and be interested in our presentation.
(Example) The next 20 minutes could impact your life severely.

Designing Effective Slides

Visual aids can enhance your presentations significantly- Adding visuals into your speech
that complement your words will put you in a different league then other speaker

What can PowerPoint provide as a presentation tool-

- Organize and structure your presentation
- Create a professional and consistent format
- Provide an illustrative backdrop for the content of your presentation
- Animate your slides to give them greater visual impact

Slide Design Tips

- Use at least 30 pt font
- Keep it one concept a slide
- Keep it simple
- Spend one minute per slide
- Make sure the grammar is perfect
- Remember to cite the sources you use!

Use The 3 T’s

Touch- and look at the screen, give audience time to read it
Turn- and face towards the audience
Talk- to the audience not your presentation or visual

Be Aware Of Your Position

- Avoid standing Infront of the screen to avoid blocking anyone’s view
- When gesturing towards the visuals keep your hands open and do not point
- Keep eye contact with the audience throughout the presentation
- Don’t hide behind your visuals, you are the presenter

Different Types Of Business Presentations

Briefings- Members of a project come together to discuss and trade information together
Podcasts- Podcasts are audio presentations that are recorded and posted online for the
audience to view
Virtual Presentations- Virtual presentations are presentations that are used when members of
a business team can’t come together, so they present online.