PRESENTATION

What is a Presentation?
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.
It 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.
To be effective, step-by-step preparation and the method and means of
presenting the information should be carefully considered. 
It requires you to get a message across to the listeners and will often contain a
'persuasive' element.
The Key Elements of a Presentation

A. Context
B. Presenter
C. Audience
D. Message
E. Reaction
F. Method
 Prerequisites of effective presentation

1. Show your Passion and Connect with your Audience

It’s hard to be relaxed and be yourself when you’re nervous.
But time and again, the great presenters say that the most important thing is to connect with your audience, and the best way to do
that is to let your passion for the subject shine through.
Be honest with the audience about what is important to you and why it matters.
Be enthusiastic and honest, and the audience will respond.
2. Focus on your Audience’s Needs
Your presentation needs to be built around what your audience is going to get out of the presentation.
As you prepare the presentation, you always need to bear in mind what the audience needs and wants to know, not what you can
tell them.
While you’re giving the presentation, you also need to remain focused on your audience’s response, and react to that.
You need to make it easy for your audience to understand and respond.

3. Keep it Simple: Concentrate on your Core Message

When planning your presentation, you should always keep in mind the question:
What is the key message (or three key points) for my audience to take away?
You should be able to communicate that key message very briefly.
Some experts recommend a 30-second ‘elevator summary’, others that you can write it on the back of a business card, or say it in
no more than 15 words.
Whichever rule you choose, the important thing is to keep your core message focused and brief.
And if what you are planning to say doesn’t contribute to that core message, don’t say it.
4. Smile and Make Eye Contact with your Audience
• This sounds very easy, but a surprisingly large number of presenters fail to do it.
• If you smile and make eye contact, you are building rapport, which helps the audience to connect with you and your subject. It also
helps you to feel less nervous, because you are talking to individuals, not to a great mass of unknown people.
• To help you with this, make sure that you don’t turn down all the lights so that only the slide screen is visible. Your audience needs to
see you as well as your slides.
5. Start Strongly
• The beginning of your presentation is crucial. You need to grab your audience’s attention and hold it.
• They will give you a few minutes’ grace in which to entertain them, before they start to switch off if you’re dull. So don’t waste that on
explaining who you are. Start by entertaining them.
• Try a story (see tip 7 below), or an attention-grabbing (but useful) image on a slide.
6. Remember the 10-20-30 Rule for Slideshows
Slideshows should:
•Contain no more than 10 slides;
•Last no more than 20 minutes; and
•Use a font size of no less than 30 point.
This last is particularly important as it stops you trying to put too much information on any one slide.
As a general rule, slides should be the sideshow to you, the presenter. A good set of slides should be no use without the presenter, and
they should definitely contain less, rather than more, information, expressed simply.
If you need to provide more information, create a bespoke handout and give it out after your presentation.
7. Tell Stories
• Human beings are programmed to respond to stories.
• Stories help us to pay attention, and also to remember things. If you can use stories in your presentation, your audience is more likely
to engage and to remember your points afterwards. It is a good idea to start with a story, but there is a wider point too: you need your
presentation to act like a story.
8. Use your Voice Effectively
• The spoken word is actually a pretty inefficient means of communication, because it uses only one of your audience’s five senses.
That’s why presenters tend to use visual aids, too. But you can help to make the spoken word better by using your voice effectively.
• Varying the speed at which you talk, and emphasizing changes in pitch and tone all help to make your voice more interesting and hold
your audience’s attention.
9. Use your Body Too
• It has been estimated that more than three quarters of communication is non-verbal.
• That means that as well as your tone of voice, your body language is crucial to getting your message across. Make sure that you are
giving the right messages: body language to avoid includes crossed arms, hands held behind your back or in your pockets, and pacing
the stage.
• Make your gestures open and confident, and move naturally around the stage, and among the audience too, if possible.
10. Relax, Breathe and Enjoy
• If you find presenting difficult, it can be hard to be calm and relaxed about doing it.
• One option is to start by concentrating on your breathing. Slow it down, and make sure that you’re breathing fully. Make sure that you
continue to pause for breath occasionally during your presentation too.
• If you can bring yourself to relax, you will almost certainly present better. If you can actually start to enjoy yourself, your audience will
respond to that, and engage better. Your presentations will improve exponentially, and so will your confidence. It’s well worth a try.
 Format of a Presentation

1. Greet the audience and introduce yourself

Before you start delivering your talk, introduce yourself to the audience and clarify who you are and your relevant expertise. This
does not need to be long or incredibly detailed, but will help build an immediate relationship between you and the audience. It gives
you the chance to briefly clarify your expertise and why you are worth listening to. This will help establish your ethos so the
audience will trust you more and think you're credible.

2. Introduction
Here, you need to explain the subject and purpose of your presentation whilst gaining the audience's interest and confidence. It's
sometimes helpful to think of your introduction as funnel-shaped to help filter down your topic:
1.Introduce your general topic
2.Explain your topic area
3.State the issues/challenges in this area you will be exploring
4.State your presentation's purpose - this is the basis of your presentation so ensure that you provide a statement explaining how
the topic will be treated, for example, "I will argue that…" or maybe you will "compare", "analyse", "evaluate", "describe" etc.
5.Provide a statement of what you're hoping the outcome of the presentation will be, for example, "I'm hoping this will be provide
you with..."
6. Show a preview of the organisation of your presentation
In this section also explain:
• The length of the talk.
• Signal whether you want audience interaction - some presenters prefer the audience to ask questions throughout whereas others
allocate a specific section for this.
• If it applies, inform the audience whether to take notes or whether you will be providing handouts.

3. The main body of your talk

• The main body of your talk needs to meet the promises you made in the introduction. Depending on the nature of your presentation,
clearly segment the different topics you will be discussing, and then work your way through them one at a time - it's important for
everything to be organised logically for the audience to fully understand. There are many different ways to organise your main points,
such as, by priority, theme, chronologically etc.
• Main points should be addressed one by one with supporting evidence and examples.
• Before moving on to the next point you should provide a mini-summary.
• Links should be clearly stated between ideas and you must make it clear when you're moving onto the next point.
• Allow time for people to take relevant notes and stick to the topics you have prepared beforehand rather than straying too far off topic.
• When planning your presentation write a list of main points you want to make and ask yourself "What I am telling the audience? What
should they understand from this?" refining your answers this way will help you produce clear messages.
4. Conclusion
• In presentations the conclusion is frequently underdeveloped and lacks purpose which is a shame as it's the best place to reinforce your messages.
Typically, your presentation has a specific goal - that could be to convert a number of the audience members into customers, lead to a certain
number of enquiries to make people knowledgeable on specific key points, or to motivate them towards a shared goal.
• Regardless of what that goal is, be sure to summarise your main points and their implications. This clarifies the overall purpose of your talk and
reinforces your reason for being there.
• Follow these steps:
• Signal that it's nearly the end of your presentation, for example, "As we wrap up/as we wind down the talk…"
• Restate the topic and purpose of your presentation - "In this speech I wanted to compare…"
• Summarise the main points, including their implications and conclusions
• Indicate what is next/a call to action/a thought-provoking takeaway
• Move on to the last section
• 5. Thank the audience and invite questions
• Conclude your talk by thanking the audience for their time and invite them to ask any questions they may have. As mentioned earlier, personal
circumstances will affect the structure of your presentation.
• Many presenters prefer to make the Q&A session the key part of their talk and try to speed through the main body of the presentation. This is totally
fine, but it is still best to focus on delivering some sort of initial presentation to set the tone and topics for discussion in the Q&A.
Do’s and Don’t of PPT

1. DO: Stay Concise
• The biggest rookie PowerPoint mistake is to copy and paste all your information verbatim into the slides.
• Not only is this incredibly boring, but no one is going to have the time or inclination to read a wall of text. Don’t turn a presentation into
a book.
• There’s no hard rule, but a good general principle is to limit yourself to five words per line and five lines per slide.
2. DON’T: Overdo the Special Effects
• After years of updates, PowerPoint is extremely full featured at this point.
• But, while it can be fun to play with all the bells and whistles, too often they just end up being distractions,
• Avoid overusing animations, flashy transitions, jarring sound effects, busy backgrounds, unnecessary drop shadows, ornate fonts, or
any other effect that doesn’t make your information clearer.
3. DO: Use Humor
• Because the format is so well established and we’ve all seen thousands of them, even the best powerpoint presentations can struggle to
engage audiences.
• Don’t treat a presentation like an open mic night at the comedy club, but the occasional comic, snappy pun, or amusing anecdote will
liven things up, make your arguments more memorable, and prevent monotony from setting in.
4. DON’T: Just Read the Slides
• Your audience, presumably, can already read. They don’t want to have the words on the screen read back to them word for word. Your
slides should support an oral presentation, not just reiterate it.
• Know the material well enough that your bullet points will jog your memory of the finer details that need to be addressed.
5. DO: Look Up!
• Even if you aren’t just reading from the slides and are just referring to them, you should still look up now and then to maintain eye
contact with the audience– how else will you know if they are still awake?

6. DON’T: Rush
• Give you audience ample time to read each slide, but don’t delay so long as to lose their attention.
• Also, don’t start speaking as soon as the next slide loads. Give the audience a few moments to scan the slide and get ready to hear what
you have to say about it.
• Likewise, don’t hit the next slide as soon as you finish discussing the current one. Give readers time to digest the information, and check
out the room to see if they look ready to move on.
7. DO: Be Bold and Direct
• Use bold colors and sharp contrasts, not only because it will enhance legibility but because it imparts emotion and energy into your
presentation.
• Similarly, when it comes to fonts for presentations, bigger is almost always better. A point size of 18 is just about the bare minimum.
Shoot for something closer to the mid to upper 20s. Also, bear in mind, sans serif fonts are considered more legible at big sizes.

8. DO: Save Handouts for the End

• There’s some debate about this one. Some authorities believe following a handout will improve audience recall, but many believe it just
pulls awareness away from the presenter.
• Attendees already have the constant threat of smartphones to distract them. Don’t give them anything else that might overshadow the
main event.
• Be the center of attention at all times. Make your case and make it well, and then provide supplementary materials for people to look over
at their leisure.
9. DON’T: Overuse Statistics
• No one needs to see all the raw data that went into your presentation. They want you to synthesize that information
for them.
• Slides overloaded with too many facts and figures will be tuned out. Besides anyone who needs all the granular
details will ideally be able to get them on your website or handout materials.
• If you have a stat you think is vital to the story you are telling, try to at least format it in a visually interesting way
like a simple chart or graph.
11. DO: Use Bullets and Numbered Lists
• Humans process information better when it’s organized in discrete chunks. Take out information and break it down
into major sections, and then break those down into subsections.
• Information should flow in an orderly fashion and be extremely easy to understand and digest.
• Progressively released bullet points (that pop up one at a time) can also be useful for helping the audience keep
track of where you are in the presentation.
12. DON’T: Be Afraid to Take a Pause
• You don’t have to run through your slides unceasingly. Some presenters prefer to leave questions to the
end, but others allow questions at any time.
• But, if a question arises that causes a digression, consider hitting the letter “B” on the keyboard. This will
pause the presentation and clear the screen,
• If you leave the current slide up many eyes will stay fixated on it even as you are discussing something
totally different.