Under Construction
- According to research
by Albert Mehrabian
of UCLA, what makes an
audience feel that a presentation has impact is 7% words, 38% the
quality of the voice and spoken style, and 55% non-verbal elements,
both positive (e.g. effective eye contact) and negative (e.g. picking
your
nose).
- Think of us as pack animals who turn on those who appear weak.
You not only need to BE strong and confident, you need to APPEAR and
SOUND strong and confident. After that, you need to be sure you don't
sound like a moron. So, don't pick your nose and don't
rock
from side to side, like I do :-)
- Be solid and credible without appearing stiff or robotic.
- Stand straight, with your legs slightly apart, hands at your
side
except for specific gestures and movements to accentuate or clarify a
point.
- Walk a step or two (or even further) to emphasize transitions
or
particularly important points.
- If you're forced to be behind a podium,
voice and larger gestures are even more important.
- If you are sitting
at a table, sit straight in your chair with your feet planted on the
floor and hands on the table.
- Be professional - don't be too informal, don't be flippant,
don't be defensive, be moderate in criticism, advance your story by the
power of your presentation and argument.
- Get your notes together -- Use note cards for speaking notes,
unless you need to follow a prepared text. Either way, use large page
numbers in case the cards/pages get mixed up. Pages should be slid to
the side so they don't rattle or catch under the microphone (which
means you can't keep them stapled together).
- Have water handy and use
it to catch your breath or thoughts if you start feeling rattled or out
of breath or feel uncomfortable pausing between points.
- Use silence - especially between main points, before a
particularly important point, or to quiet or still an audience.
- Resolve your accent and language skills - Virtually everyone has
difficulties with accent or grammar or both that can reduce credibility
and clarity. Work with a speech or language coach to make sure your
spoken word is easily understandable by the majority of the audience
and that you systematically eliminate common grammatical errors.
- Talk directly to individuals in the audience. Don't center
on one, but shift your attention among those who appear interested.
STORY
Tell a story - use direct, visual or colorful language to tell
the
story, especially if it helps you connect with the audience.
todo: example
- Signpost
- Follow the cliché: Tell them what
you're going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told
them.
- Everyone in the audience will drift away from your talk at some
point. Signposting makes it easier for them to start paying
attention again.
- Memorize your introduction
- Rapport and credibility-building: you need to
rapidly engage with audience, through an ice-breaker (usually thought
of as a joke or interesting story), strong eye-contact and non-verbals,
and smooth delivery.
- Content: to deliver the boiled-down conclusion and supporting
points --- what is often called the "elevator
pitch". The elevator pitch
then gets used for lots of things outside of the presentation itself.
- Nerves: A memorized introduction will help get you past
any nervousness you might feel.
- Consider your audience - Adjust the story for length,
complexity,
intro (todo), language based on who's listening.
- Consider your objective - Are you persuading, informing,
teaching:
adjust the story.
- Start from first principles: Give an introduction that
informs the audience, rather than assumes knowledge. todo:
elaborate.
- Boil your presentation down into a conclusion supported by
simple, concise,
compelling points.
- Soundbite - try to boil your messages and supporting points down
into memorable phrases: "If the gloves don't fit, you must acquit".
SLIDES
Slides exist to illuminate your points, not deliver them.
- Keep the focus on what you're saying not the slides.
- Use pictures whenever possible.
- Do not distract with too much detail, garish colors, multiple or
overly ornate fonts, or complex animations.
- Keep your text simple - ideally, a single word. Avoid
paragraphs.
- Consider not using slides - Don't be a prisoner of powerpoint --
watch Larry Ellison hold an audience for an hour without slides. Or use
physical props. Or handouts. Or just use two or three slides that show
the data or graph or formula that is too complex to convey verbally.
You can blank out a powerpoint show just by hitting B (for black
screen) or W (for white screen) on the keyboard. The slide will come
back if you hit the same key again, or you can bring up the next slide
with a page-down or mouse click.
- If there is a lot of detail that really needs to be shared with
the audience in conjunction with the presentation or to respond to
expected questions, put them in a supplementary slides section at the
back.
- The magic number for supporting points is three, because it is
difficult for most people in most audiences to remember more than
that.
Never use more than 6. If you feel you need more bullets, use
multiple slides. Keep each bullet
to one line if you can.
AUDIENCES
Class
Follow the guidelines of the instructor and class context. You may find
you need to have lots of fairly detailed slides, for instance if the
slides from the presentation itself must carry the entire content -- in
which case the content of your presentation won't be very well
remembered, and it may be difficult to follow, but those considerations
may not be important for the specific assignment.
Academic
Academic presentations must cover content thoroughly and rigorously.
Ideally, the topic can be approached in a way that follows the
guidelines above, but in some institutions or conference settings the
presentation needs to adapt to other considerations.
Start your talk from first principles. If your audience is technical,
or considers itself to be, you must hurt them with details (todo: link
to a slide proving a theorem) at least once during your talk to earn
their respect.
Management
Really think through your objectives as well as legal and cultural
considerations. Some companies have a culture that looks favorably on
thorough detail and research, while others prefer keeping it short and
sweet. Persuasive speech can often involve ignoring or glossing over
particular issues, which may be appropriate unless you need to be
providing a comprehensive view of objective facts or something that
could ultimately be reviewed in a court of law as can happen in a
corporate setting. Similarly, presentations that are made to the board
or management committee may have specific legal or internal
requirements for what is and is not covered.
Related Links
http://education.umn.edu/TEL/ITfellows/power_point_design/index_design.htm
http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/presentation101.htm
http://www.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/toast/tips.html