Presentation Skills

Presentation Skills Course

2007-02-25T16:36:00.002+01:00

This web site is for participants on my training course on Presentation Skills for international organisations based in The Hague.

Here you will find notes on the course workshops and additional material on presenting skills.

This site has been adapted from a former life as a blog. For the list of posts, see right. Each opens in a new web page.

Thanks to all former participants who have contributed ideas to this course. If you would like to add your own experiences and ideas to this site, please let me know.

Rob Oliver
Course Leader

Notes on Final Assignments

2007-02-25T15:26:00.001+01:00

In the final workshop you are invited to do a presentation to your colleagues on a topic of your choice. You can choose any subject you like, not necessarily one related to your professional life. However, try to choose a topic that you know well and can improvise on.

Previous presentations on the course have covered a wide range of topics, including:
*the Mountains of Pakistan
*Trees
*Rock Climbing
*Flea Markets in The Netherlands
*Women Suicide Bombers
*The Films of Pedro Almodovar
*Security Training
*The Lost Children of Lebanon.

We have even had a presentation called 'Doing (and Surviving) a Presentation'.

Here are some of my notes on previous final assignments given on this course, with a focus on some of the practical issues in presenting:

* Start strong and clear. Presenting skills are nearly always more effective if audiences feel involved and have a clear orientation to your topic. This is why the first 30 seconds of a presentation are crucial. Regardless of how nervous you are, it is important not to rush at the beginning. Make sure that your 'hook' and topic overview are clear and that your keywords are accessible to the audience. Don't overwhelm the audience with too much information at the start.

* If you use prepared visual resources such as PowerPoint, be ready to improvise if an audience has a question or something is not clear. In every presentation there will be unplanned moments. Don't be surprised when they come. Often it is a good idea to have a flipchart handy to write down words (especially words from another language or technical words) which audiences may not know.

* Previewing can work wonders in focusing an audience's attention: 'In this presentation I will first tell you about.....and then go on to give you some examples of....' This kind of language settles an audience and prepares them for your material.

* Audiences can also be reassured by limited focus. You may need to narrow down your field. For example: 'This is obviously a vast topic, and today I will limit myself to only two aspects of it....'; 'I know that there is too much information on this slide, but I just want to draw your attention to one detail here.....'

* If you use PowerPoint, remember the two channels of communication - seeing and listening - that the audience is engaged in. The presentation is not what is on the screen, but the interaction between what you say and what the screen shows. If you look at a slide or point to something, this has special significance for the audience. You are highlighting or pointing out some detail. But if you do this for every slide the PowerPoint tends to take over your voice.

However, reading and listening at the same time can overload an audience's attention. If you use text-intensive slides make sure that you give people a chance to absorb the textual information on the slide as well as hear your voice.

If you are presenting a series of bullet points, work through the points in the order shown on the slide, or introduce the points visually one by one. Make sure you pause between points. Edit out unnecessary bits of text.

* Remember that audiences can easily listen and watch at the same time - you do not need to repeat everything that is on a slide. The best PowerPoint presenting occurs when we are engaged with a speaker's voice and the screen provides illustration. The voice does not repeat the screen, but develops it and extends it.

* If you use PowerPoint, stand outside the light source to the left or right of the screen. Too many shadows can interfere with an audience's attention. If you point, don't touch the screen. Use an illuminated pointer if you can get hold of one.

* Be ready for technology to break down. It can happen, even with the best equipment. Check your PowerPoint slide sequence just before you present, and make sure that you have a print copy of your speaker's notes.

For major presentations, carry with you overhead transparencies (OHPs) of your slides, just in case. If possible, check equipment (including microphones) before you present and find out where you can get technical assistance if needed. This is especially important if you are presenting away from home or you wish to show a piece of video or online material.

Expect the unexpected. Always be ready to speak without technology. See Catina's story under 'Presentation Stories' for a classic example of how technology can let a presenter down at the last moment.

* Never underestimate the power of the human voice to get people interested in a topic. Presentations can succeed with few or no visual aids.

* Eye Contact: make sure that you give both sides of the audience - left and right - equal attention as well as those in the middle. It is easy to slip into a 'rightward' or 'leftward' gaze when presenting, or to look only at the people seated in front of you. Practise this by consciously changing your body stance and eye direction.

* Pause (1...2....3.....) at transition points and when introducing (new) keywords (1...2). These pauses refresh the audience's attention.

* Practise standing in open space rather than close to a table or wall. It is tempting to use furniture as a 'support' but presenting is usually more effective if you are able to move your hands freely and you are not leaning or resting on anything. If you need to sit for personal or medical reasons, make sure that you sit in a central position with good sight-lines to as much of the audience as possible. Avoid slouching forward and putting your hands too close to your face.

* If you use notes, put them on cards which are easy to hold. Avoid having lots of pieces of paper. You may have noticed in the past that many presenters have notes but rarely or never refer to them. Notes can be useful for quick reminders only.

* Rather than having pages of notes, try using a one-page overview plan (see Dubravka's diagram at 'Organising Material').

* If you feel more comfortable reading from prepared material, fine - but make sure that you look up after each sentence and check that the audience is with you. Use opportunities like giving examples or highlighting a detail to depart from your script. The combination of scripted/unscripted talk can be very engaging.

* Objects can have a powerful effect during presentations. The shift of attention from speaker to object - or from screen to object - can be memorable and get a point across much more effectively than a slide.

* Involving an audience does not have to mean asking direct questions. Look out for opportunities to ask indirect questions using 'you': 'Many of you may have seen the film.....'; 'I'm sure that all of you have heard about the problem of global warming....'; 'If you live in The Hague you may be familiar with..'

This kind of language recognises the audience's experience and invites them into your topic. However, watch out for exclusive phrases: 'I'm sure you will all agree with me...'; 'There can be no doubt that...' These can be misleading.

* Handouts can be a good way of supporting your presentation and giving the audience something to remember you by. Keep your handouts as brief as possible (one or two pages) and always include the title of your presentation and contact details. If you refer to books or articles or statutes in your presentation, make sure that these are listed on the handout. Bibliographies are often requested after good presentations.

In a medium or longer presentation, referring audiences to your handout ('Could I ask everyone to look at figure 1 in the handout?') can be effective in refreshing attention and changing the rhythm of your talk. For reading long sections of text or quotations, a handout is much more reader-friendly than a slide on a screen.

If you want an audience to respond to something like a text on a handout, remember that they need time to read it and prepare a response. During this reading time, try not to interrupt with additional comments and try to keep still, preferably using the time to read the same extract yourself.

* Pick yourself up and move on quickly after a mistake or 'glitch'. Everyone has moments in presentations when they momentarily 'break down' - forget a word, need to refer to notes, cough, lose track, or have problems with the voice. The key thing is repairing, getting back on track, and not drawing attention to what you think is a 'mistake'. These small 'breakdown' moments are entirely normal - everyone has them - and moving on is the best thing to do.

Good luck on the course, and in all future presentations!

Presentation Stories

2007-02-25T15:14:00.010+01:00

Here is an account from the UN ICTY's Catina Tanner, a former participant on this course, on surviving - and learning from - a difficult presentation:

When I agreed to give a presentation to 26 soldiers from the former Yugoslavia about the Tribunal, I had no idea so many things could go wrong in a 25 minute presentation. To begin with, I was told that these soldiers were attending a Dutch Military Academy for a semester. Therefore, when I began working on my presentation I modified it to address an audience of young eager-to-learn-about-the-Tribunal 18-25 year olds. So, when I walked into the room full of soldiers between the ages of 40-50 (who probably knew twice as much as I and possibly fought in the conflicts), my brain began telling my feet to run away before it was too late. Yet, somehow I gained control and that was when I began to psyche myself up, much like a boxer would when entering a fight. I told myself repeatedly, "You are the expert, you are the expert, and you are the expert...." Besides, I had my speaker’s notes on the Power Point, overflowing with Tribunal facts. If the worst came to worst, I could always just read from them.

As I was greeting the group, my colleague turned on the presentation again (we tested it earlier). But this time nothing worked. After a few minutes, I thought I would have to do something so I cracked my first joke. I said "Well I guess you can say technology is like women - can’t live with them and can’t live without them." The silence finally broke and they gave loud chuckles. Whew! In the meantime, the presentation was back on the screen and ready to go, BUT my speaker’s notes were missing. My safety net was gone; I was like a tight rope walker without a net. I thought to myself "Take a deep breath and you can do this, this is nothing, and you are in control."

So after a few breaking points, moments of silence and memory loss, I made it through to the end of the presentation to the question segment. I will forever regret asking this group if they had any questions. The first question was about some confidential information. I thought quickly and said "well, if I answer this question for you then I won’t be at work tomorrow." They all began to laugh so I made it through that one OK and the ones to follow were pretty standard.
At the very end, one solider raised his hand and told me how 'politically incorrect' I had been in the presentation. And if hearing it once was not enough, another solider announced to the group that I was also 'incorrect' on another matter. I smiled politely and thanked them for pointing it out. It was a slap in the face! It couldn’t have gotten any worse...As they filed one-by-one out of the room, I smiled through gritted teeth and told them goodbye. I made it...no blood, lots of sweat and thank goodness no tears...

Even though it was a terrifying experience, I am so thankful for everything that went wrong, even for being 'politically incorrect'. Because I survived and no matter what, no presentation will ever be as tough as this one.
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Ken Robinson
See this great example of natural presenting by Sir Ken Robinson, an educationist. His talk, given in 2006, is a powerful plea for creativity in our view of intelligence. Note the use of hand gestures and the way in which the audience's interest is gained for an increasingly serious message.

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Al Gore
Al Gore's presentation skills have made him a global figure (with the help of a certain film...).
Watch this 2006 talk in which Gore combines humour with serious analysis of slides about the environment. Note the many and varied (but not rushed) hand gestures combined with mobile eye contact and voice variation - all hallmarks of great presenting. Note also how he tries to engage the audience in a bi-partisan way.

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Isabelle Allende
Watch this passionate and touching presentation by novelist Isabelle Allende. Though using a script at a podium and remaining relatively still in terms of posture, she creates a lively and animated talk through her voice, audience rapport and powerful examples .
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J.K. Rowling
Watch this speech given by author J.K. Rowling at Harvard University in June 2008. Note the way she uses the start of her speech to break the ice with the audience - and to calm her own nerves.

Notes on Being Nervous

2007-02-19T23:31:00.011+01:00

If you get nervous about speaking in front of an audience then consider yourself entirely normal. Fear of speaking in public regularly comes high up in surveys of human fears.

Unless you do it everyday, presenting takes you out of the 'comfort zones' of daily life. It is the feeling of exposure and uncertainty that leads to the sweaty palms, butterflies in the stomach and shallow breathing.

But feelings of nervousness are essential to our body's preparation for a new challenge. We can't function without the good nerves. They give us energy, expectation and focus. The problem is not the nerves, but the thinking we do about them.

Here are some of my notes on nerves and presenting.

Nerves? What Nerves?

'You were nervous? Well, it didn't show.'

Nervousness usually feels worse than it looks (that's if people notice at all). Your image of yourself may be worsened by nerves, but it probably does not look that way to others. Your sweaty palms and trembling left leg are probably invisible to an audience, even though you may be very aware of them yourself. So your nervousness might not be as bad as you think.

Change your Thinking

Live through your nerves, accept them, know the signs of bad nerves, and change your thinking about them. You need to put something between the nervous symptoms and the negative thinking that they can lead to - if you let them.

Try to focus on your material - not the detail but the 'big picture' - or think about something else entirely.

I had a colleague who always read a page or two from a novel before presenting. This was his way of relaxing - by NOT thinking about his presentation in the moments before it began.

Try thinking about any everyday thing that is not too demanding: What are you going to cook tonight? What shopping do you need? What book are you reading at the moment? Or think of your next holiday.

It's not about You

Although your nerves may try to tell you otherwise, the presentation is not really about you. It is about the topic. You need to focus the audience's attention on the topic and not on you. So begin with composing yourself so that you can direct the audience's attention to your material.

In my experience, audiences are supportive of people who are nervous. The audience is not your enemy.

Think about your audience as your ally. It is not you vs. them. Remember that your listeners want you to succeed. They are not there to trip you up.

Relax

Do some deep breathing, holding the breaths for a few seconds and then letting them out slowly (this helps to make the body look relaxed, even if it doesn’t necessarily feel relaxed). Relax your shoulders. Keep your hands still or do something like reading or making notes.

Start Slowly

Allow yourself to speak more slowly than normal, especially at the beginning, so you can collect your thoughts. Look at people and establish a rapport with the audience, by accepting them into the space that you are in charge of: your presentation.

If you read from a script, look for an opportunity to break from your script early on and talk directly to the audience for a moment.

Forgive Yourself and Move on

Everyone makes mistakes and there is no perfect presentation. All human communication is full of small breakdowns, glitches and repairs ('I'll say that again').

Be forgiving of yourself. You may forget something, make a mistake, cough, forget a word, or lose your bearings momentarily. Don't panic at these moments. Stay calm. Don't let them destroy your presentation. It's only one moment.

Don't let yourself be distracted by individuals in the audience who give you a hard time while you are talking or who constantly interrupt. If this happens, insist on taking questions at the end. Also, don't be distracted by unusual behaviour in the audience. Audiences are, after all, human.

Once somebody in the front row fell asleep and started snoring during a presentation I was doing in Oslo. I managed to wake him up only by quoting him and shouting his name loudly. But really I should not have taken any notice. The rest of the audience, thankfully, did not fall asleep.

Prepare

Go to the room early and make sure you have everything you need (projector, memory stick, paper, water). If you have to use a microphone, test it. Look for wires and other obstacles to avoid.

Plan where you will put your materials and where you will stand so the audience sees both you and your resources.

Don't panic if technology breaks down. Be ready to talk freely if this happens - the audience will be on your side.

For a major presentation, if you use PowerPoint it is worth having transparent overheads with you just in case the projector does not work. (I should know. It has happened to me.)

Take water breaks if you need them, ideally at transition points or when people are looking at something on the screen.

And enjoy..

Try to enjoy your presentation and convey interest, enthusiasm or confidence, even if it's a very serious topic. This will relax you and help to get the message across more clearly.

Structuring a Presentation

2007-02-19T20:49:00.000+01:00

During a presentation you need to have some idea of the structure and sequence of your ideas. If you have a sense of direction and purpose, the audience is more likely to follow you. You will hesitate less and come across as more confident.

Also, the more familiar you are with your structure the less likely it is that you will run out of time. You may also improvise more if you know your general direction.

However, it is easy to lose your way when you are standing up in front of an audience. If your notes are too detailed you will probably not have time to look at them during a presentation. You need a quick, at-a-glance overview.

The diagram above (click to enlarge) shows one way of structuring a presentation so that you can quickly remind yourself of where you are going.

The red shaded sections indicate the main overview elements:

* topic overview

* midway summary

* final summary

You need to be sure of these points when you present. It is also sometimes helpful to have a preview just after the topic overview, or combined with it (see 'Organising Material' for more on these terms). A typical preview might be:

After giving you a brief account of the background to the current situation in xyz, I will go on to describe four main aspects of the problem and then offer some possible solutions.

The midway summary gives the audience a recap of what has been said so far. A typical midway summary might be:

So far we have looked at the background to the problem and considered two main aspects of it: x and y. Let me now go on to look at two more aspects which...

The diagram above is for a presentation with five main sections. Each section ends with a transition point. These points can prove to be crucial in the impact of a presentation. Plan to pause at these points, ask for 'any questions', or change the visual resource you are using. Each section should revolve around a limited number of keywords or information highlights.

The presentation begins with a 'hook' to attract the audience's attention and questions at the end.

With thanks to Dubravka Polic for doing the diagram.

Using Visual Resources in Presenting

2007-02-18T22:27:00.004+01:00

During the course we look at the use of visual resources in presenting, especially PowerPoint. We look in particular at how such resources can be used, in combination with the speaker's voice, to illustrate and strengthen a presentation. The activities focus on the strategic design of effective visuals, not on the technology of PowerPoint.

We also look at some of the pitfalls of visual resources.

General Tips on Using Resources like PowerPoint

1. Don't let the resource do all the talking

It is easy to get carried away with visual resources and overprepare them. Too much text, too many bullet points, cluttered graphs and an excess of visual images - these are all potential problems in using resources when presenting.

Moreover, visual aids such as slides can become a 'comfort zone' for the presenter. They can easily replace human engagement with an audience.

When you are in possession of a lot of material and you wish to transmit as much of it as possible, it is tempting to read directly from slides or flipcharts instead of actually presenting. And it is often very tempting to ask audiences to read lots of text on a screen instead of actually hearing the message presented by a human voice.

This has been called 'Death by PowerPoint'. You may have experienced it yourself.

When presenting, make sure that you do the talking and the resource is exactly that - a resource, to support and illustrate what you say.

2. Exploit the two channels of seeing and hearing

When presenting, we are asking an audience to listen to us. They are also watching us and taking cues from our body and eyes; but it is predominantly our voice that gives the message.

When we add a visual resource such as PowerPoint we are asking people to look at something too. However, it is still our voice that tells them how to look at it or invites them to interpret it in a certain way.

When preparing any visual aid, think: how do I want people to engage with the information?

Instead of thinking about getting the maximum amount of information into the resource, consider how you are going to use it in combination with your voice. A sophisticated visual (eg a PowerPoint slide) can have no effect because the presenter - the one responsible for the resource - fails to highlight the important features or tell people why the visual is significant.

Remember that audiences can take in limited amounts of information from a screen, especially when they are also following a person's voice.

Sight and hearing are different communication channels, but they function together. So as people listen to your voice they can simultaneously look at an image - or even read a small piece of text - and relate the two channels, provided that what you say is relevant to the visual resource being shown.

So it is possible to 'talk over' a visual without explicitly describing everything. There is no need to say everything that an audience can see.

However, there is a limit to this two-channel communication. At key points in a presentation the voice of the presenter and the visual resource need to overlap so that the attention of the audience is focused. Examples might be:

* Summaries
* Key phrases and technical words
* Highlighted information in graphs, charts and tables

At these points the channels of seeing and hearing should come together so that the spoken message and the visual resource combine. These are the points where you hear a word and see the word at the same time.

The key to good use of visual resources is making sure that these key points of illustration and highlighting are effective and spaced out. When preparing how to use a visual resource you need to anticipate the audiences' constant shifting between:

*listening
*seeing
*listening + seeing

3. Resource + Resource: combine and vary

It is sometimes tempting to let powerful applications like PowerPoint do everything to make a presentation work. However, it is worth considering other options in combination with PowerPoint. A steady stream of PowerPoint slides can become monotonous and tiring for an audience. It is also common for presenters to change slides too quickly.

Consider shifting the attention of the audience to another resource at certain points in your presentation. Here are some ideas:

Flipcharts
The trusty flipchart (or flipover) is low-tech but can be very effective as a visual resource, especially good for keywords and technical phrases. If you use PowerPoint, consider having a flipchart nearby. It can also be useful for writing down words as audiences suggest them (called 'eliciting') if you choose to involve an audience in this way.

Handouts
As well as having PowerPoint slides, it is often useful to have a short handout for audiences to consult during your presentation and to take away after it. Some people have trouble reading from screens and prefer to have information on paper in front of them. Also, it often works to direct an audience's attention away from the screen towards a handout if you have a list of data to comment on or a short piece of text to show.

The shift of attention (screen > handout > screen) can be effective in giving your presentation momentum.

At the same time, there is always the danger that people will read your handout instead of listening to you. To prevent this, you could alert your audience to the handout at the start of your talk and prepare them:

You have in front of you a handout which summarises what I am going to say today. I will also refer to this at one point during my presentation and ask you to read a short extract.

Of course, you may also decide to give out a handout at the end of your presentation.

Objects
All the listening and looking that goes on in a screen-based presentation can be tiring after a while. There is nothing like a real object to refresh attention. Look for opportunities to use objects to illustrate a presentation.

Slide Design: Three Types

When designing PowerPoint slides, it is helpful to think in terms of three ways of presenting information:

1. Text-intensive
All or most of the information on the slide is in the form of written text

2. Image-intensive
All or most of the information on the slide is in the form of image

3. Balanced
The information on the slide is a combination of written text and image

When preparing a presentation, look for variation between slides. A series of three or four text-intensive slides may not be as effective for an audience as a combination of text- and image-intensive ones.

See right for examples of each type of design. (Click to enlarge)

Also, the visual 'rhythm' created by the design of your slides is important. If you are presenting a series of three examples to illustrate one point or main idea in your presentation, it is a good idea to design the three slides in a similar way, creating a visual link between them in the audience's mind.

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For the final word on PowerPoint, see the video 'Death by PowerPoint' by comedian Don Macmillan (in menu, right).

Organising Material

2007-02-14T21:56:00.012+01:00

During the course we will do a number of activities which involve re-organising and, in some cases, editing information for presentation in front of an audience.

We will observe and evaluate short presentations and focus on how presenters can structure, sequence and focus material for maximum audience engagement.

Time

Time is a key factor in all presentations. Rarely are you free to speak as long as you like without a time limit. This is often a constraint; but a time limit also concentrates the mind and it is sometimes amazing what you can achieve in a short amount of time.

But it is easy to lose track of time. How can you keep an eye on the time and still give a detailed and interesting presentation?

Know your Time

Before making any presentation you need to be aware of your time allocation and be realistic about how much information you can - or need to - give. Remember that even in a long presentation the main points need to stand out. Choose your examples carefully. Only a small number will be remembered, and you need to ensure that these back up the main points. A handout can be used to reinforce them further or give the audience additional material.

Organise your Material

Write for yourself an overview plan of your presentation, showing the main sections you are going to have and how you are going to transition from one section to another. Allocate time to each section and make sure you know roughly the points when the transitions will occur.

For example, in a five minute presentation you might decide to plan your material around four sections. Let's say that after you introduce your topic and get the audience interested, your first section begins at 30 seconds. This is your first transition point. If each section takes one minute, you will have transition points at 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes 30 seconds and so on, with a final 30 seconds to sum up the topic.

If you are using PowerPoint, you might decide to use two slides for each section. This way you distribute your material equally through the presentation and focus on the main points in each section.

When you have a plan, it is worth trying to visualise it and give it some shape that you can remember. Don't consult the plan too much during the presentation - unless you really do forget where you are - as this will take away the element of improvisation which is necessary in all public speaking.

But Don't Rush!

One problem in presenting is that you can go too fast in an effort to 'say everything' in your time slot. Don't try to say everything. Sometimes less is more.

Also, audiences need pauses to take in visual material or summaries as well as to follow your delivery. Don't sacrifice effective eye contact and audience engagement to time.

Resist Digressions

It is easy to go off on a tangent during a presentation, especially if someone asks you a good question. It is best to avoid digressions (especially ones which involve history or telling a story) if you have planned information that must be communicated during a presentation. Keep to your plan, and use your transition points as time markers.

Practise!

If you are reading a prepared script, practice is essential so that you get some feeling for time. You might even mark on your script how much time is elapsing as you speak and identify the points where you will pause.

Clock

Avoid looking too much at the clock or your watch. If you do need to look, put your watch on a desk in front of you or ask someone to give you a warning signal when you are approaching the last 30 seconds of your time.

Structure and Signals

Audiences respond to some kind of structure or organisation when ideas or information are being presented to them. At the same time, they also appreciate some freedom from structure - improvisation and smooth transitions from one point to another. A too rigid structure can actually work against a presentation.

However you organise your material, remember that there is a limit to how much information people will remember. Watch out for information overload.

A series of three or even four main points may be remembered, but only if they are well connected and key words or images stand out for each point. A list of bullet points may not be effective if there is no over-arching idea or keyword holding them all together. Good presenting does not rely on bullet points.

Hook

At the start of a presentation it is usually a good idea to 'hook' the audience's interest before you embark on any organised material. This should ideally be a reference to something everyone in the audience knows, remembers or can relate to.

Good 'hook' techniques include:

* questions to the whole audience

* reference to a recent event

* a quotation

* a short anecdote (eg about the preparation of the presentation itself)

* a reference to a previous presentation

* a fact or statistic

* an image

* a single word

Overviewing

After you have got an audience's attention, it is usually a good idea of offer an overview of the topic and outline the scope of the presentation. This needs to be short and concise. For example:

In this presentation we will give you a brief introduction to the origins and history of the United Nations and then invite your questions.

This gives the audience an orientation to the topic before any substantive information is given. It is useful at this point to have a background visual (eg picture of the UN Headquarters?) which will be used again later in the presentation when more detail is given.

Previewing

In any presentation of more than a few minutes it is useful to preview the structure of the presentation. This gives an audience a 'map' of what is going to happen. Again, short and concise is better. Previewing is particularly effective if you are presenting with someone else:

I will firstly tell you something about the origins of the UN ICTY. My colleague will then give a brief account of the key events in the Tribunal's history.

In a longer presentation you might find a visual preview (eg on a slide or flipchart) useful.

Transitions

In all presentation there will be transition points marked by shifts of language (and also eye contact, hand gestures and pauses) which tell listeners that you are moving to another topic or point. Typical words used in transition are:

So, Therefore, But, However, Another, Also, Moreover, In contrast, In conclusion

and phrases such as:

Moving on..., Returning to..., Summarising what I have said so far.....

When planning a presentation pay special attention to 'signpost' words and phrases like these.

Moving from one PowerPoint slide to another is also a transition. But don't let the slides do all the talking.

Always look out for opportunities to link points together in a transition:

This leads me to my next point.

As a consequence of x event, two things happened to change the situation.

Questions can also make good transition signals to an audience:

So what exactly happened as a result of this event? Let's take a closer look at the effect it had on the situation.

Recap and Summary

In all presentations it is useful to tell the audience what you have said in the form of a summary. It is also often a good idea to recap the points you have made at a midway point in your presentation:

Let me just remind you of the three points I have made so far.

Make sure that you slow down when giving any summary, and don't overload the listener with too much additional comment. Visual support is particularly useful at summary points. When summarising make sure that you 'echo' the keywords that you have already used in the presentation and avoid introducing new ideas. This kind of repetition helps to make a presentation memorable.

Audience Involvement

Of course you want your audience involved in your presentation. Eye contact, hand gestures and voice variation all help to bring this about. But you can also try to involve an audience by asking questions.

There are several ways of asking an audience questions, with different kinds of impact.

If you know an audience quite well and it is a small audience, you might try some targeted questions. These are questions directed at specific people. This technique can be an excellent way of involving an audience, eliciting words and anticipating questions.

This technique can backfire, however. People may not want to say anything. You may get an answer that throws your presentation off course. Or you may make the audience, or specific individuals, nervous.

If you are not 100% sure, it is better to try rhetorical or open questions instead. These questions are directed at a whole audience, and don't necessarily invite an answer. For example:

What should be done about global warming?

This question could begin a presentation but is unlikely to be answered aloud by anyone in the audience.

Similarly, questions can be used to structure a presentation. They introduce a topic or announce a change of topic:

So when did the United Nations begin?

When involving an audience, watch out for 'exclusive statements' which may not get full consent. For example:

I'm sure you all agree with me that the colour red is a wonderful colour.

This needs to be phrased more as a question and less as a statement. It is assuming too much about the audience. In some situations this could cause hostility or resentment from an audience.

Recognising an audience's experience can also be a way of involving people. For example:

As students of international law, you are probably familiar with the Rome Statute.

This says 'I know my audience'. It can easily be turned into an open question to check on the extent of the audience's knowledge. It also establishes a link between speaker and audience.

Dealing with Questions

In most presentations there will be a moment when a member of the audience asks a question. It may be before, during or after the main body of the presentation.

Question sessions at the end can also be a good way of extending a presentation and often turn out to be the most memorable part of a presentation.

Here are some notes on answering questions effectively:

* Keep eye contact with the person asking the question. When you give your answer, redirect your eye contact to the audience as a whole. Listen well and try to avoid interrupting or talking over a question, unless you feel that the questioner is giving a speech rather than asking a question.

* If you have a large audience, repeat the question so that everyone is clear what it is about.

* Manage your time well if you take questions at the end. Announce how much time you have for questions and tell the audience that you can take only one more question when you are approaching the end of your time. Use this final question to wrap up your presentation - look for ways to end on a high note or refer your audience to further resources, a web site or your handout.

* If asked during the middle of a presentation, decide if a question can be answered quickly or not. If a long answer is needed, defer the question until the end of the presentation.

* Try to use questions to support your presentation. Look for opportunities to link the question itself, or your answer, to the main points you are making:

That is a good question because it underlines what I said earlier....

Your question highlights one of the main issues in......

Thanks for asking that question. I'm sure it's one that many people have.

Or use the question to anticipate:

I'll be coming to that in just a moment when I look at.....

* Don't lose your thread. Keep to your plan if you get a question mid-way and don't allow questions to distract you.
* If you get a difficult question, try one of the following:

- Rephrase the question rather than try to answer it quickly. Avoid getting drawn into a 'yes/no' answer unless you are 100% sure.

- Recognise the question but say that there are no easy answers. Connect the question to broader issues.

- Partly agree with the questioner or agree 'to a certain extent'.

- Recognise the question, but say that you will get back to the questioner later with an answer (this is useful if you get a very technical question which may not interest the rest of the audience).

- Say that you don't know but you will find out.

- Refer to your handout or a web site for more information.

- Decline to answer, giving a brief reason ('That question falls outside the scope of my presentation today') and then move on to a different question.

- Say that you don't know an answer, but refer the audience back to something else in your earlier presentation, or connect the question to another one which you can answer.

- Refuse to answer if you consider the question to be too personal, and then move on, switching your eye contact elsewhere.

If you get a malicious or unpleasant question, remember that you must protect your own position and welfare above all. Most of the audience will be with you. Refuse to answer ('That question is not relevant to our presentation today') or simply move on ('I'm not going to answer that, but does anyone else have a question relevant to the presentation?'). Don't dwell on malicious questions.

Anticipate

In the preview to your presentation, let the audience know how you are going to handle questions. There is a big difference between:

I am happy to take your questions, please feel free to interrupt me at any time.

and

I will speak for about 15 minutes and then take your questions at the end.

Handouts

Having a good handout can be a useful resource for anticipating questions as well as making sure that people take something away with them from your presentation. Often questions can receive quick answers if you refer to a handout.

Keep your handout to two pages maximum if possible, and include:

* your name and your affiliation (if relevant)

* the title of your presentation

* the date and occasion (if a conference or seminar)

* email address

* web site address and/or links

* books, statutes or other references used in the presentation

* a summary of your main points

* data such as tables, graphs, maps etc.

You might also like to make available your PowerPoint slides as a handout, especially if your presentation includes audience interaction. Alternatively, put your slides on a web host such as SlideShare and give people the address.

A Note on Scripting

Using a script in your presentation can be effective, provided that you keep eye contact with your audience, pause regularly and don't speak too fast. The script should not become a comfort zone that prevents you from developing a relationship with your audience.

Sometimes a script is a great help when you are presenting, especially in situations where you want to stay 'on message'. In a press conference, for example, you might use a script to ensure that a message is presented, word for word, the same as a written press release.

You might also use a script to calm your nerves or to ensure that you keep to time. If you are presenting in a language in which you are not fully confident you might try scripting your introduction and conclusion.

However, even if you tightly script a presentation, you should remain spontaneous in how you relate to the audience. Mark on your script the points where you will pause and look up, ask the audience a question or improvise (eg when telling a short story or giving an example).

To see great scripted presenting, see the video of Isabelle Allende under 'Presentation Stories'.

Presenting: the Basics

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In the first two workshops on the course we look at some of the basic techniques of presentation. We will experience most of the six skill areas on which this course is based:

* Use of the Body, Eye Contact and Voice
* Organisation of Topic
* Delivery
* Clarity of Message
* Use of Resources
* Response and Feedback

Eye Contact
In any presentation it is important to make eye contact with as many people in the audience as possible. During this course make a special effort to look at everyone in the group as you present.

If you keep eye contact there is a better chance that people will feel involved in your presentation and give a response.

Making good eye contact is not just about the eyes. You usually need to use your body too. Relax your shoulders when you present - this is the place where tension collects and makes your body rigid. Eye contact is greater when you are relaxed and able to freely move the top half of your body.

Try moving your eyes across an audience as you talk, or moving from right to left. Look out for transition points in your presentation - these are often good points to change your eye direction.

If you use notes, try not to read word-for-word but improvise within a prepared framework. This will ensure better and more varied eye contact. If you do need to read (eg a quotation) make sure that you look up before resuming your talk.

Hands
Body language punctuates our conversation all the time. Just watch two people talking and see how much their bodies are 'talking' in combination with their voices.

In presenting, hands are particularly important. During the course try to use some 'open hand' gestures to emphasise points or to indicate transitions during your presentations. Avoid pointing at the audience. If you show visual material, use display gestures with your hands but only point if you are picking out detail.

If you naturally speak fast you might find that making more deliberate hand gestures will slow your delivery down. Hand movements are often used during pauses or when a speaker moves from one section to another.

Try to avoid touching your face in public presentations, especially if you are being filmed. Folding your arms for long periods of time when presenting can be offputting for audiences. And when working with a screen, avoid actually touching the screen - use a pointer if you wish to pick out detail.

As you observe others on the course notice how hands are being used to communicate. And watch how experienced presenters such as Al Gore use their hands to get a message across.

Voice
The human voice is infinitely varied and subtle. Your voice is part of your personality.

In presenting, try to exploit the power of your voice to vary the tone, pitch and rhythm of your speech. Variety is the key. But also speaking naturally as much as possible. In conversation we vary our voices all the time. Some of this conversational fluency is an asset in a presentation. This is why being too nervous does not help when you present: it can flatten your voice and prevent it from having variety.

Look out for marked opportunities to vary your voice. Questions, examples and transition points are all good places for voice change.

On the course be prepared to experiment with your voice.

Sequence and Transitions
It is easy to lose your way when presenting. You need some plan, however rough, of how your presentation will unfold. If you know where you are going an audience will probably follow you.

Organise your material into sections - for example, in a five-minute presentation you might have four or five sections - and make sure you pause between them when you actually present. In a longer presentation consider using a visual aid near the start to show your audience how your material will be structured.

Don't overdo this, however. In every presentation there needs to be an element of improvisation.

Sequencing your material will stop you from trying to say everything in the first minute.

Remember that audiences need a 'lead in' to a topic, maybe an example or a short anecdote or a quotation which they will recognise.

Always bear in mind that although you may know a topic inside out, an audience may know nothing about it.

Clarity
Audiences will not remember everything from a presentation. Instead, they will remember certain words and images. You need to organise your presentation so that the 'keywords' or 'headline ideas' are clear and memorable.

This can be done visually, using a Powerpoint slide for example. But frequent repetition of your keywords also helps. In the first workshop exercise, the keyword is a person's name. Using the name three or four times in different sentences (instead of 'he' or 'she') ensures maximum audience recall.

Back-references ('as we saw earlier', 'as I mentioned a few moments ago') can also be effective in creating clarity.

Summaries are another way of focusing audience attention on a limited number of ideas or facts. In a longer presentation consider giving a 'midway' summary ('let me sum up the three points I have made so far') as well as a summary at the end.

Examples
A good way of starting a presentation, and keeping interest during it, is to give an example or a concrete detail. Audiences may well remember this more than abstract words.

For example, instead of saying that someone 'enjoys photography' you could say that he or she owns five different cameras, or they have their own photo blog, or they enjoy photographing cities. Details often speak volumes. And an image can speak more than words - or in combination with words.

For more on these and other tips please see the handout 'Ten Tips for Presenting'.

About the Course

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Doing a presentation is an increasingly valued skill in the workplace. Whether used in introducing a new procedure to colleagues, reporting back information from a project or a mission or proposing a new initiative, presenting skills come into play. They are also increasingly used in recruitment alongside interviews.

During this course we will define these skills and practise them in different situations. The course has two key aims:

* to enhance your personal confidence in presenting to an audience

* to help you to develop a range of techniques for effective presenting

Course Overview

The course consists of six two-hour workshops. The workshops focus on some of the key skills of presenting:

* how to get and keep an audience's attention and interest

* how to organise and sequence material for maximum effect

* how to use visual aids effectively

* how to make full use of the voice and body to communicate

* how to anticipate and answer audience questions

* how to make sure that people get the main message and remember your presentation

These skills will be practised through mini-presentations (30 seconds – 1 minute) using provided examples.

The final workshop will be a practical session where you will be invited to do a short presentation to the group (up to 5 minutes) and answer questions. You will also receive feedback on your presentation. You can present on any topic. During the first week of the course you might like to choose a topic and begin preparing material.

A Note on Powerpoint....

Although we will discuss the use of Powerpoint, the course does not deal with the technical side. Training on this may be available through your IT training programme.

This course does, however, address issues of design in the use of Powerpoint slides, and other visual resources, in presentations.