MAKING AN EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION

Highlights from Harvard Manage Mentor Plus

A. The Purpose of Presentations

Presentations are a powerful way to communicate your message to a group. They are an opportunity to
gather your audience together in one room to engage in a two-way dialogue. Use presentations to

 persuade the audience to take a particular course of action

 convey something you want the audience to know
 tailor information to meet the needs of a particular audience
 provide a forum for discussion of controversial or challenging ideas
 find out how people are reacting to a situation or an idea
 gain commitment and alignment
 get an audience to participate in designing a solution to a problem

Do you take the time to understand your audience before you prepare a presentation?
Do you open presentations with a "hook"—such as a relevant story—to get your audience's interest?
Do you use visual aids in your presentations?
Do you rehearse your presentations? Do you know your material so that you don’t have to read the
slides?
Do you make your presentations conversational and avoid using a script?

Sharing detailed information is not a good use of a presentation. Audiences will not remember detail. You
can use a presentation to inform an audience about a major change or initiative, but use written forms of
communication for the detail.

B. Determining Content and Structure: Decide what to say

Many of us have experienced the paralysis of knowing what we want to accomplish, but having trouble
putting down the actual words and ideas. Usually, the easiest way to proceed is to divide the work into
stages.

Stage one. Define your key message: what you want people to remember and what action you want
them to take. You can have a number of supporting arguments, ideas, and facts, but only one key
message.

Stage two. Next, identify the arguments that support your message. Avoid excessive detail but be sure to
talk about more than JUST the facts. It is important to identify and address the emotional underpinnings
of your message. WHY should the audience care about it?

Stage three. Finally, identify where it is important to get audience participation, reactions, agreement, or
buy-in.

After you have generated your initial set of ideas on content, you are ready to review and refine them.
Consider the following:

 Is the key message you have selected really the most critical? Does it support the objectives of
the presentation?
 Are the arguments you have marshaled understandable to all levels of your audience?
 Will your content convince the audience to agree with you?
 Are logical connections explicit?
 What arguments need to be developed?
 What contrary arguments do you need to neutralize?
Remember: Include only those details that will persuade. If you are not sure about the impact of a point,
leave it out.

Steps for Creating a Presentation

1. Brainstorm key ideas.

2. Identify your message and supporting facts.
3. Select the number of points that will make the case to your audience within the given time.
4. Organize your points.
5. Prepare a list of possible questions and objections, and decide how you will address them if they
arise.
6. Prepare your visuals and support materials.

C. Organizing Your Presentation

Once you have the raw material for your presentation, you need to organize it. A well-organized
presentation will make the audience’s listening job as easy as possible, boosting the likelihood that you
will accomplish your objective. All presentations have four parts: the opening, the problem or need, the
solution, and the action step.

During the opening, use a "hook"—a comment, question, relevant story, statement, or example—to get
your audience’s interest and attention. Click for an example of engaging the audience.

You also use the opening to do the following:

 Define the purpose of the presentation.

 Establish your credibility. Ask yourself "Which of my credentials will impress this particular
audience?" and emphasize those. Or, if appropriate, have another person with authority or
credibility, introduce your presentation.
 Describe the importance of the topic for the audience: What’s in it for them?
 Preview very briefly the main points to be covered.

The second part of your presentation is the need or problem statement. Here you should

 make it clear to the audience why it should care about your message
 develop a clear need or problem that you and the audience will solve together
 incorporate relevant arguments, examples, and a variety of supporting material to sustain interest
without distracting from the point
 involve the audience by asking for their suggestions and addressing their needs and issues
 test acceptance by asking for feedback, if appropriate

The third part of your presentation, the solution, makes it clear to the audience how you think the
problem should be solved or the need satisfied. Here you will

 help the audience visualize the benefits of the solution

 involve the audience in developing a path forward
 phrase your solution in terms of the audience's needs
 make sure the urgency of your solution matches the need

To wrap up you need a strong call to action. Here you will want to

 reiterate the presentation’s key message

 integrate your opening points into your closing comments
  recommend action
 suggest agreement
 obtain commitment or buy-in
 provide closure

How to add interest

To keep your audience’s interest level high, incorporate some of the following:

 variety in pitch, time, speed, and body language

 personal stories
 analogies
 humor
 examples
 quotes
 illustrations
 expert testimony
 statistics
 charts and graphs
 audience involvement
 your energy, body language, and eye contact

Make your presentation persuasive

Use a combination of logic, emotion, and personal credibility to convince your audience. Your
persuasiveness is largely a product of your enthusiasm and personal belief in the subject.

How long should a presentation be?

Often, you have to fit your presentation into a timetable developed by others. For example, you may be
granted 30 minutes to deliver a sales presentation to a buyer. In other instances, you are in control of the
timing, and you can determine the optimal length for your presentation. The following guidelines are
helpful in both situations:

 Make the presentation as long as it needs to be to convey your key message clearly and
completely.
 Make it only long enough to be clear and complete within the allocated 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.
 Ending early is better than not completing the talk or rushing through the talk at the end.
 Plan on what to delete if your time is cut short.
 Allow time at the end for questions as a basic courtesy.

Tips for Organizing a Presentation

 Make the logic of your presentation clear at all times.

 Place your strongest point first or last. Do not bury your best ideas.
 State in the opening where you are headed and what you want to prove or demonstrate.
 At appropriate intervals, note what you have already covered and where you are about to go.
 Summarize your main points and present your conclusions in the close.
D. Using Visuals

Everyone has a preferred learning style, but most people respond better to visuals than to the spoken
word alone. Research has shown that people gain 75% of what they know visually, 13% through hearing,
and 12% through smell. In addition, a picture is three times more effective in conveying information than
words alone. Words and pictures together are six times more effective than words alone.

Use visual aids to help your audience

 maintain attention
 remember facts
 understand ideas, relationships, or physical layouts
 recognize that you are moving on to a new topic

Visuals always help emphasize a point, but there are several areas where they are particularly effective.

 To open. Help your audience focus on the purpose of the presentation.

 To present the agenda. List the key elements of what is to come.
 To highlight key points. Use memorable words and phrases or illustrate points with charts or
graphs.
 To review a structured process. Analyze the whole process and relevant key points.
 To close. End with a powerful image of the message you want the audience to carry away.

Remember, however, that when the audience is looking at a visual, it is not looking at you—keep visuals
to a minimum. And, do not use a lot of word slides as a speaker's outline; instead, know your speech
thoroughly.

Choose the media for your visuals

You have many choices for your visuals, including overheads, slides, PC-based slides, flip charts, and
handouts. When selecting from among these media, you need to consider flexibility, cost, and
appropriateness for your presentation.

Media Pros Cons

Overheads  Flexible  Can be awkward putting up and
 Easy to create switching between overheads
 Can allow light in the room for  Old technology
continued eye contact
 Good for both formal and
informal situations

Slides  Easy to create  Take time to produce

 Good for formal presentations  Require a darkened room and allow for
minimal eye contact

PC-based  Easy to create, update, transport  Do not always project clearly

slides  Technology can break down, so you
need to have a backup set of overhead
slides
Flip charts  Flexible  Not effective for large groups
 Easy to create  Difficult to transport
 Encourage interaction

Handouts  Useful for informal, short  Can become the audience’s focal point,
presentations distracting them from listening to you
 Provide a place for note-taking
and a takeaway for later
reference
 Can contain supplemental
background information

If you do choose to use handouts, either alone or in combination with another type of visual, you should
distribute them after the presentation, so that the audience has a summary of your key points to review.
Avoid handing out reading material during the presentation. It detracts from your presentation.

Effective visuals

Not all visuals enhance a presentation. A picture is worth a thousand words. To be effective, visuals
should

 be simple
 use key words, not full sentences
 use graphics, icons, and symbols to reinforce or communicate a concept
 contain only one concept per slide or overhead
 contain only three to six ideas on each flip chart sheet
 use color, where possible, but not excessively

Tips for Creating Visuals

Use a single idea with no more than six lines per slide.
Be selective with your words.
Use pictures where possible.
Don’t use vertical lettering.
Use a maximum of two sizes of type per page.
Use bullets, not numbers, for nonsequential items.
Use uppercase and lowercase letters.
Only use all uppercase for titles or acronymns.

E. Rehearsing

Overcome your fear of presenting

Even professional speakers get nervous. The key to successful presenting is how you handle the fear.

 Rehearse your presentation and know it well.

 Understand your audience.
 Get to know audience members individually, by telephone before the presentation, or in person
as they come into the room.
 Anticipate the questions and objections that are most likely to arise.
 Prepare physically and mentally.
Rehearse for the presentation

 Rehearse with the equipment and visuals you will actually use at the event.
 Rehearse the entire presentation each time you practice.
 Rehearse out loud and, if possible, in front of a friend or colleague. Otherwise, practice with a
tape or video recorder.
 Rehearse until the presentation does not sound memorized.
 Concentrate on the subject and your desire to communicate, not on your notes.

Prepare mentally and physically

 Visualize yourself giving a successful presentation. Repeat positive statements to yourself, such
as "I am relaxed and ready."
 Use breathing techniques and tension-relieving exercises to reduce stress.
 Ask yourself, "What’s the worst that can happen?" and then be prepared for that possibility.
 Accept nervousness as natural and do not try to counteract it with food, caffeine, drugs, or alcohol
prior to the presentation:
 Food may be hard to digest or affect your vocal cords.
 Caffeine dries your throat and may give you the shakes.
 Drugs and alcohol affect your speech and your alertness.
 Drink warm herbal tea or warm water to soothe and relax your throat.

F. Presenting Effectively

Once you’re actually in the room with your audience—you’ve prepared your messages, your materials,
and yourself—you can focus on delivering the most engaging presentation possible. You will achieve your
best performance if you speak effectively, use your voice effectively, and project a positive image.

How to speak effectively

 Make your presentation conversational.

 Do not talk from a script. Talk from your notes only if you have to.
 Avoid the use of jargon or terms that may be unfamiliar to the audience.
 Face your audience and make eye contact. Avoid standing behind a podium, if you can help it.
 Walk around your audience or use movement when you want control, more involvement, or to
become one of the group.
 Watch the audience for nonverbal clues about their response.
 Gesture in a relaxed, natural way and do NOT jingle keys or coins in your pockets.
 Breathe. It helps you relax and reduces filter language such as "um" and "er."

How to use your voice effectively

Voice and tone account for one-third of the emotional aspect of the message that your audience receives.
So working on your voice and how you project it can have a significant positive impact.

 Keep the tone of your voice natural and conversational.

 Speak loudly enough for everyone to hear if you do not have a microphone. Check the acoustics
when you rehearse.
 Use a microphone for a large group or a large space, and practice beforehand to find a
comfortable speaking volume.
 Avoid rapid-fire or drawn-out speech. Practice with a tape recorder or a colleague to get
feedback.
 Be expressive: Don’t speak in a monotone. Raise and lower your voice to make your point.
 Enunciate: Pronounce words clearly.
How to project a positive image

Your confidence in and commitment to your message are reflected by your demeanor and body
language. To optimize your effectiveness, make sure to do the following:

 Project confidence through your dress and presence.

 Make sure your facial expressions convey interest in the audience. If you are too nervous to look
at the entire audience, focus on individuals instead.
 Make and maintain eye contact with audience members.

Tips for Presenting Effectively

Do not talk from a script. Talk from notes.

Face your audience and make eye contact.
Walk around your audience when you want control, more involvement, or to become one of the group.
Do NOT jingle keys or coins in your pockets.
Use gestures in a relaxed and normal way.
Use your voice effectively.
Keep your focus on your message and your audience.

G. Handling Questions

Preparing for questions

Some people feel that if there are no questions, the presentation is a success. However, if your listeners
are engaged and are working with you, they most likely will have questions for you. Be prepared to
answer their questions.

 Anticipate questions by focusing on your listeners’ concerns and how your presentation might
strike them.
 Go through your talk with someone else and ask for his or her questions
 Let your audience know when you will take questions and why.

When should I answer questions?

Taking questions at the end of your presentation allows you to complete your talk and be sure the
audience has the whole picture. This is the typical approach.

 Be sure to make the transition to Q&A clear.

 If the audience is large or the presentation is being taped, repeat the question for the audience to
hear.
 Maintain control of the Q&A session by rephrasing the question and giving the answer to the
whole group, not only to the questioner.

Taking questions during the presentation keeps people engaged and gives you feedback about how well
they understand your message. However, this approach may cause you to lose control of your talk.

 If you choose this approach, you can either take questions as they come up, or you can structure
interim question breaks into your presentation.

Taking questions at specific points during the presentation provides you the best of both options. Such
times might include when you want people’s reactions or when you want their ideas.
  If you choose this approach, be sure to identify these points ahead of time and flag them in your
presentation so you do not forget to stop for questions.

What if I don’t know the answer to a question?

If you don’t know the answer to a question, direct the person to a source for the answer or offer to get the
answer.

Tips for Handling Questions

If you know the answer, keep it clear and brief.

If you don’t know the answer to a question, direct the person to another source, offer to get the answer, or
ask if someone in the audience can answer the question.
Anticipate questions and arguments. Don’t deny or gloss over them.
If questions are beginning to disrupt the flow of your presentation, record them on a white board or flip
chart and address them at the end of the meeting.

H. Evaluating Your Presentation

Evaluating your presentation is an important part of understanding its impact. You can evaluate your
presentation at different stages of the process.

Evaluate prior to the presentation

Prior to the 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.

Evaluate during the presentation

During the presentation, look for cues that will help you gauge audience reaction. Body language can
indicate interest or boredom: Are listeners nodding their heads in agreement or sitting with their arms
crossed? The questions they ask can help you identify areas of your presentation that need clarification.

If possible, have another person in the audience take notes on audience reaction for you. You can make
notes on those issues immediately after the presentation while it is still fresh in your mind. In many
situations it is appropriate to directly ask the audience how it’s going. For example, "Does this make
sense so far?"

And yes, evaluate after the presentation

After the presentation, assess its overall effectiveness. Ask for feedback from credible participants. Note
what went well and what needs to be improved.