ROLE OF

BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS
ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
TABLE OF CONENTS
CHAPTER 1: EVOLUTION OF BUSINESS
PRESENTATIONS
CHAPTER 2: STYLES&TYPES OF BUSINESS
PRESENTATIONS
CHAPTER 3: OBJESTIVES OF BUSINESS AS A
WHOLE AND IMPORTANCE OF PRESENTATION.
CHAPTER 4: PRESENTATIONS IN 21st CENTURY
CHAPTER 5: PRESENTATION OUTLINE
CHAPTER 6: HOW TO MAKE AN EFFECTIVE
PRESENTATION
CHAPTER 7: SOME BEST PRESENTATION
PRACTICSES
CHAPTER 8: GUY KAWASAKI’S 10/20/30
RULE
CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 1

EVOLUTION OF BUSINESS
PRESENTATIONS
EVOLUTION OF BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS
Presentation of business goods and services can be seen from the early
days of human civilization. From times of Babylonian, Sumerian , Indus
valley civilizations mankind has been involved in business activities and
the principles of presenting their goods and services are still relevant in
our modern times.

The first revolution which brought radical change in the commercial

realations of men is the invention of agriculture. There used to be
markets where the farmers and different artisans sold their products.
There the oral efficiency of man played a major role. A man who had
the capacity to persuade the buyer to buy his product trough his
presentation skills succeded.

The second revolution that entirely changed whole human life is

industrial revolution. It brought huge changes that no one had dreamed
of. In the early days of industrial revolution the buying and selling of
goods mostly happened within the nations. As time passed the growth
of machinery increased along with the production. This lead to search
for new markets all over the world . This indeed increased the role of
presenting goods and services.

After two world wars the concept of globalization came into picture
where whole world became a single market providing each nation to
sell her goods and services. Due to globalization the role of business
presentations has increased a large extent. Now in our modern days
the success of any business is entirely depended on how it is presented.
The competition in the market is very high if we have to survive we
must present our ideas, products, services and everything in a clearly
and effectively.
CHAPTER 2

STYLES&TYPES OF
BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS
STYLES OF BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS

Formal vs. Informal Presentation Style

Presentations are a necessary part of business and there will be times
when you will be asked to present about a topic. Sometimes you are
given time to prepare a structured presentation and other times you
might be asked to give an impromptu presentation with little or no time
to prepare. Each of these presentation styles requires good
communication skills but there are unique expectations when
delivering a formal vs. and informal presentation.

Formal Presentations

A presentation is considered formal when you have been asked to

share ideas with an individual or group and you have been given time
to prepare. Formal presentations require a very different approach
than presenting to your team during a weekly meeting.
-Set clearly defined goals.

In order to deliver a successful formal presentation you need to be

very clear about what it is you want your audience to learn. You need
to write down the main points of your presentation and use this as a
guide for your outline.
-Know your audience.

Are you presenting in front of 100 people or are you presenting in front
of a smaller group? Are you presenting to managers and executives or
are you presenting to clients? Are you presenting to people who are
familiar with the topic? You must know your audience so you can tailor
your presentation to meet their needs. You might need to include a
hand-out for your audience or perhaps an infographic that summarizes
your key points.
-Create an outline.

When you are giving a formal presentation it is expected that you will
be well-prepared and well-rehearsed. You have been given time to
prepare so your audience is expecting a well-structured presentation.
Therefore, you need to create an outline of your presentation so you
will have an order in which to follow.
-Use visuals.

Again, when you have been given time to prepare it is expected that
you will have some visuals for your audience. Formal presentations
usually include a PowerPoint or slideshow of some sort so your
audience can follow along.
-Include questions for audience interaction.

A formal presentation should engage the audience. You can end a

formal presentation with a Q&A session or you can ask questions along
the way after each point.

Informal Presentations

It is fairly common for business meetings to include impromptu

presentations. These types of presentations are usually prepared in a
short amount of time and do not require the same organizational
methods as a formal presentation.
-Prepare your material.

Your boss might give you just a few hours to put together an informal
presentation but you still need to spend some time jotting down your
main points and a few notes about the topic. While you don’t
necessarily need to write a complete outline, you need to have a clear
understanding of your main points.
-Understand the purpose.

The purpose of formal presentations is to provide information to a

group of people with a few questions at the end. Informal
presentations, however, are about providing information, listening to
the reaction, and generating a discussion. It becomes more like a
conversation and the audience will be more involved.
-Keep visual aids to a minimum.

If you have time to prepare a quick slideshow it certainly wouldn’t hurt,

but informal presentations do not require lengthy visuals. It would even
be acceptable to write on a whiteboard during an informal presentation
as opposed to creating a formal slideshow.
-Consider a hand-out.

Formal presentations usually include a slideshow that audience

members can access for reference. However, since you don’t have as
much time to prepare such a formal slideshow, it is usually effective to
use a hand-out of some sort in an informal presentation.
-Interact with your audience.

Formal presentations are more about the audience listening while

informal presentations are more about interacting with the audience. It
is perfectly acceptable to generate discussion throughout an informal
presentation and allow the audience to provide input and feedback.
-You can dress more casually.

Typically informal presentations do not require the suit and tie that
formal presentations do. You still want to look professional, but men
can ditch the tie and women can wear a more casual dress. It would
also be acceptable to sit or stand during an informal presentation.
Types of Business Presentations

There are basically four types of business presentations stated below:

Group Presentations

The findings of a team are communicated by the group presentations.

Generally, these types of presentations remain informational in
structure and seek to convince the people for accepting new programs
and strategies.
Presentation Aids

Nowadays, the computer programs such as Flash and PowerPoint are

used by the presenters for enhancing their presentation. Even the
simple blackboard can augment the business presentations by
capturing the feedback and questions of the audience
Persuasive Presentations

The main motive of a persuasive presentation is to convenience the

audience for supporting certain views. Generally, it outlines an
organization goal or problem and then follows it by the statements for
detailing the present state of affairs.
CHAPTER 3

OBJECTIVES OF BUSINESS
AS A WHOLE AND
IMPORTANCE OF
PRESENTATION
Most important objectives of business may be classified are
as follows:

1. Economic objectives,

2. Social objectives,

3. Human objectives,

4. National objectives,

5. Global objectives.

Objectives represent the purpose for which an organisation has been

started. Objectives guide and govern the actions and behaviour of
businessmen. According to William F. Glueck, “Objectives are those
ends which the organisation seeks to achieve through its existence and
operations.”

Business objectives are something which a business organisation wants

to achieve or accomplish over a specified period of time. These may be
to earn profit for its growth and development, to provide quality goods
to its customers, to protect the environment, etc.

Classification of Objectives of Business:

It is generally believed that a business has a single objective. That is, to

make profit. But it cannot be the only objective of business. While
pursuing the objective of earning profit, business units do keep the
interest of their owners in view. However, any business unit cannot
ignore the interests of its employees, customers, the community, as
well as the interests of society as a whole.
THE FOLLOWING ARE THE OBJECTIVES: A. Economic Objectives B. Social
Objectives C. Human Objectives D. National Objectives E. Global
objectives
A. Economic Objectives:

Economic objectives of business refer to the objective of earning profit

and also other objectives that are necessary to be pursued to achieve
the profit objective, which include, creation of customers, regular
innovations and best possible use of available resources.
(i) Profit Earning:

Profit is the lifeblood of business, without which no business can

survive in a competitive market. In fact profit making is the primary
objective for which a business unit is brought into existence. Profits
must be earned to ensure the survival of business, its growth and
expansion over time. Profits help businessmen not only to earn their
living but also to expand their business activities . In order to achieve
this primary objective, certain other objectives are also necessary to be
pursued by business, which are as follows:

a. creation of customers

b. regular innovations

c. best possible use of resources

B. Social Objectives:

Social objective are those objectives of business, which are desired to

be achieved for the benefit of the society. Since business operates in a
society by utilizing its scarce resources, the society expects something
in return for its welfare. No activity of the business should be aimed at
giving any kind of trouble to the society.
С. Human Objectives:

Human objectives refer to the objectives aimed at the well-being as

well as fulfillment of expectations of employees as also of people who
are disabled, handicapped and deprived of proper education and
training. The human objectives of business may thus include economic
well-being of the employees, social and psychological satisfaction of
employees and development of human resources..
D. National Objectives:

Being an important part of the country, every business must have the
objective of fulfilling national goals and aspirations. The goal of the
country may be to provide employment opportunity to its citizen, earn
revenue for its exchequer, become self-sufficient in production of
goods and services, promote social justice, etc. Business activities
should be conducted keeping these goals of the country in mind, which
may be called national objectives of business. The following are the
national objectives of business.

(i) Creation of Employment

(ii) Promotion of Social Justice

(iii) Production According to National Priority

(iv) Contribute to the Revenue of the Country

(v) Self-sufficiency and Export Promotion

E. Global Objectives:

Today because of globalisation the entire world has become a big

market. Goods produced in one country are readily available in other
countries. So, to face the competition in the global market every
business has certain objectives in mind, which may be called the global
objectives.
Importance of Business Presentation

Business presentations are often utilized by the organizations and

companies as a way to sell an idea or product for motivating the
audience or training purposes. The presenter needs to prepare and
rehearse before a business presentation for becoming confident.
Connecting A memorable bonding experience between the audience
and the presenter is created by the interactive business presentations.
This type of presentations involves the audience and helps in the
driving home the overall message.
Informing A great presentation leaves the audience with a good piece
of information that should be eye-opening and enlightening.
Inspiring It is very important that a business presentation should be
able to capture the attention of the audience and inspire them.
Appealing the presentation must appeal the audience by presenting
effectively
CHAPTER 4

PRESENTATIONS IN 21st
CENTURY
 Business presentations aren't just for big, formal business meetings
anymore. Today business presentations—a series of screens (or
printouts of screens) containing headings, subheads, bullets, and
graphics—are used for a wide range of corporate communications.
They appear at the most mundane staff meetings, in lieu of reports, as
part of business plans, as marketing collateral materials, sales props,
and more. In short, business presentations have become the business
communications medium of the 21st century—corporate haiku to
express ideas, simple or complex, quickly and (we hope) effectively.

The emergence of software like Microsoft's PowerPoint has made

pretty painless the process of producing a business presentation with a
slick, polished look. With myriad backgrounds and foregrounds, fonts
and typefaces, bullet styles, graphics, clipart libraries, charts, screen
effects, and more, it is easy to take to produce an attractive
presentation.

But just as easy-to-use word processing programs don't turn every user
into an effective writer, so too presentation tools like PowerPoint don't
automatically enable you to turn out effective, compelling
presentations. To the contrary, often the capabilities of the
presentation tools mask weak ideas and poorly conceived and delivered
messages. The attractiveness of the resulting presentation actually is
superficial and any impact is decidedly short-lived; as soon as anyone
looks beyond the production and examines the content of the
presentation, the weaknesses become apparent. The presentation may
be banal or utterly predictable or downright confusing. Often it
undercuts the very messages the presenter wants to communicate.
This does not need to be the case. Although creating an effective
business presentation is a serious communications challenge, any
reasonably intelligent person can do it. That is what this guide is
intended to do—to show you how to:
Combine a persuasive, logical narrative with engaging delivery to
create an effective business presentation
Identify and focus your message

Support it with tight, succinct writing and appropriate graphics

Involve the audience and motivate them to take action

The result is a business presentation that becomes a powerful

mechanism to advance the organization's objectives as well as the
presenter's career.
CHAPTER 5

MODEL PRESENTATION OUT

LINE
Model Presentation Outline

The following is an outline template for a general presentation such as

would be given at a professional or industry conference.
Part I: Introduction

What this presentation is about

Why it's important

Presentation agenda

What you are going to tell them

What they will get out of it

Your credentials for talking about this

[engage the audience, pose a provocative question]

Part II: Background

Review the issue

Why we are talking about this now

Introduce references, citations for validation, substantiation

Reference appropriate research

[invite audience discussion]

Part III: the Main Point

Introduce your main point in a series of screens and bullets

Add supporting material to back up your point

[add anecdotes, examples, demonstrations]

Invite questions
Parts IV, V, and Beyond

Introduce subsequent points in order of importance

Relate the discussion to your main point and primary message

Add appropriate supporting material for each point

Invite questions following each point

Conclusion

Summarize your main message and key points

[pose a provocative question, invite discussion]

Take any remaining questions

Direct audience members on their next move

Thank the audience.

Obviously, the specific topic, material, and situation will dictate the
content and flow of the presentation. Feel welcome to use this
template as a starting point and modify it as you please.
CHAPTER 6

HOW TO MAKE AN
EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION
Start with the Audience

Most people start creating a presentation by jotting down their main

message points or laying out a PowerPoint screen format. I start by
analyzing the audience and the situation.

The key question: who is the audience? The audience may be the board
of directors, a group of department heads, the CEO, some dithering
committee, your project team, a roomful of professional peers, bored
reporters, prospective clients, consumers, government regulators, the
general public, almost anyone.

Whoever it is, you must thoroughly understand the audience and its
likely attitude toward the message of your presentation. At the least,
you need to assess:

How much they already know about this subject or issue

What else they need or want to know about it

Why they should care

How receptive or resistant they will be to your message

What are their objections, concerns, and interests

What you want them to do when they leave the presentation

These questions make a good start. You can and should go deeper. How
technical is the audience? How distracted will they be? How tired? The
list is endless, but you get the picture. In short, you want to know as
much can about the audience so you can address them on their terms,
not yours.

It also helps to know the situation. Is the presentation to be made

before a small, informal gathering or in a large forum? Private or
public? Friends or strangers? Supporters or adversaries? Will the
audience be fatigued or bored? How long will you have to speak? Are
questions allowed? Encouraged? Prohibited? Who else will be speaking
and what are they likely to say?

Once you've collected as much information about the audience and

situation as you can and analyzed it, you're ready to work on the actual
content of your presentation. Now you can jot down ideas.
Solid Ideas Make Good Presentations

A smart creative director at a large advertising agency exhorted his staff

to make the layouts rough and the ideas finished. This, of course, runs
counter to the prevailing ad agency practice when, even today, ad
agencies try to disguise the flimsiest of ideas with lavish production.
The same is true with business presentations; many attempt to mask
weak ideas with dazzling computer graphics and special effects.

To paraphrase the creative director, for business presentations you

want to make your screen designs rough and your ideas finished. The
business presentation must start with something worthwhile to say and
then say it persuasively.

Business presentations work best when you are introducing new ideas
or information or insights. Business presentations usually are
promoting an idea or a product or a position and should reflect
topnotch salesmanship in the best sense of the word. (Tutorials—how-
to presentations—are a different beast and should reflect the best
pedagogy.) To make sure your business presentation message is
worthwhile, put it to the following test:

Why am I talking about this—what is the problem or issue to be

addressed?

What am I adding to the discussion—is it new or illuminating or

provocative?

What does it mean in the end—what value will people walk away with?

So what—does your message create a sense of urgency, importance,

involvement, excitement?

Start formulating your message as an outline. The outline, a sequence

of headings and successively indented subheadings, enables you to
assemble a cogent message without the distraction of types, fonts,
graphics, and all the rest. It allows you to concentrate on what you have
to say and to organize it in a coherent way. If your message comes
across as confusing or vacuous in the outline form, all the dazzling
presentation graphics in the world won't disguise it for long.
Straightforward narratives tend to work best; digressions will lose the
audience unless you make it clear you are taking them off on a tangent
and how it is related to the main message. And should you digress, be
sure you bring the audience back to the main point. Don't leave them
lost and abandoned in some wilderness.

Presentations work best when they focus on one primary message.

Subsequent messages should support the primary message. Once you
have laid out your main and secondary or supporting messages, fill
them in with proof points, details, and examples. Audiences generally
like specifics.

Then you're ready to put your message into presentation format. The
outline easily translates into a finished slide presentation. In general,
each section of the outline represents a section of the presentation.
Each heading is a screen. Third-, fourth-, and fifth-level indented
subheads become screen bullets. Then you can throw in charts,
graphics, and effects that clarify and amplify your message. A sample
outline is provided below.
Avoiding Audience Boredom

The use of business presentations is so pervasive and the number of

poorly conceived and executed presentations is so great that audience
fatigue—eyes glazed over—is a real concern. This fatigue factor must
be one of the issues driving the use of increasingly spiffy graphics and
animation, but even that solution has its limitations. It doesn't take long
for the graphical pyrotechnics to overwhelm the business message and
undermine any hope for effective communication.

The fatigue factor results in part from rigid, unimaginative adherence to

the repetition rule. However, this needn't be the case. Here are some
of the tricks I prefer to spice up a presentation:

Engage the audience right away—ask provocative questions, take a

poll, play a game, anything to actively involve the audience. (One
manager starts his technology presentations by leading the audience in
a brief yoga exercise.)

Invite questions throughout the presentation—don't wait for questions

at the end.
Insert a demonstration—where the topic allows, try some hands-on
activity.

Use anecdotes and humor—there is no rule that presentations, no

matter how serious, have to be utterly dry. Personal anecdotes and
natural humor keep the audience engaged.

Dramatize the issue—rather than talk about the issue use role-playing
to actually dramatize it. You can even draft audience members to play
some of the roles.

Look beyond a talking head—take the time allotted to the presentation

to run a panel discussion or stage a skit. (One executive of a major
telecommunications company based his keynote address on the late-
night TV talk show format with himself in the Jay Leno/Dave Letterman
role, all cleverly scripted of course.)

Obviously not every topic, situation, or message lends itself to these

approaches, but wherever you can break with usual presentation,
within reason, you are better off. Your message will stand out, and your
audience will appreciate the change.
CHAPTER 7

SOME BEST PRESENTATION

PRACTICES
Focus—clearly define the problem or issue that is at the heart of the
presentation so everyone understands what this presentation is about
Audience — keep the audience's needs, interests, concerns, and
attention foremost
Importance—establish the importance or urgency of the issue so the
audience knows why they should care
Authority—establish your credibility on the topic

Validation—cite third-party studies, research, data, and references

that reinforce your message
Experience—cite real life examples, case studies, and testimonials
that illustrate your message
Interaction—find opportunities to directly engage the audience in the
presentation
Graphics—include charts, images, diagrams, media to amplify and
clarify your message points
Response—direct the audience members on what they can or should
do next in regard to the subject of the presentation
CHAPTER 8

KAWASAKI 10/20/30 RULE

10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint.

A PowerPoint presentation should have ten slides, last no more than

twenty minutes, and contain no font smaller than thirty points. This
rule is applicable for any presentation to reach agreement: for example,
raising capital, making a sale, forming a partnership, etc.

Ten slides. Ten is the optimal number of slides in a PowerPoint

presentation because a normal human being cannot comprehend more
than ten concepts in a meeting—and venture capitalists are very
normal. (The only difference between you and venture capitalist is that
he is getting paid to gamble with someone else’s money). If you must
use more than ten slides to explain your business, you probably don’t
have a business. The ten topics that a venture capitalist cares about
are:

Problem

Your solution

Business model

Underlying magic/technology

Marketing and sales

Competition
Team

Projections and milestones

Status and timeline

Summary and call to action

Twenty minutes. You should give your ten slides in twenty minutes.
Sure, you have an hour time slot, but you’re using a Windows laptop, so
it will take forty minutes to make it work with the projector. Even if
setup goes perfectly, people will arrive late and have to leave early. In a
perfect world, you give your pitch in twenty minutes, and you have
forty minutes left for discussion.

Thirty-point font. The majority of the presentations have text in a ten

point font. As much text as possible is jammed into the slide, and then
the presenter reads it. However, as soon as the audience figures out
that you’re reading the text, they reads ahead of you because they can
read faster than you can speak. The result is that you and the audience
are out of synch
CHAPTER 9

CONCLUSION
BIBILIOGRAPHY