Text 30. HOW TO GIVE A SUCCESSFUL PRESENTATION
1. Read the text:
Practical information
Pre-preparation. Selecting the topic and materials
An essential task at the pre-preparatory stage is to ask yourself the following questions:
· What is the purpose of my presentation?
· What are the main points that I would like to get across?
Start getting ready for your presentation a few weeks before you are due to speak.
Collect the materials on which you would like to base your presentation.
Make a careful selection from the collected materials.
Prepare a reliable bibliography (the author’s name, the title of the article/book, the year of its publication, the website address, when the material was retrieved, etc.).
From the material select the keywords for your presentation and do not forget to put them on the handout.
Preparation
· Make the first plan of the presentation (you can modify it later)
· Remember to give your presentation a logical structure:
Introduction - tell the audience what you’re going to say
Main Body - say it, developing the above mentioned issue(s).
Conclusions - sum up what you’ve just said
· Make the first draft of your presentation. Read it carefully. If any of the information is not related to the topic, remove it.
· If there are issues which you cannot express in a precise or clear way, it is probably because you do not really understand them yourself. So it is better not to talk about them.
· Never read from your notes. You should know the material you want to present well enough not to need your notes. If you don't, perhaps you're not ready to give your presentation.
· Prepare a set of numbered cue cards, on which you can write the main points and/or keywords and which will help you during the presentation. Make sure that on the cue card you've marked the appropriate visual aid (a transparency or slide) which you are going to refer to in your presentation.
· Find time to rehearse again and again! By doing that you will make yourself familiar with your own voice, be able to check and adjust how long your presention takes and see whether the visual aids (if you use them) actually illustrate your presentation and whether you are coordinating them with the points you want to make. If you have problems with the foreign language in which you are presenting the material, it might be better not to use visuals at all. The chances of something going wrong are greater than if you concentrate solely on the oral aspect of the presentation.
· Keep to the time! Do not exceed the time limit. It is better to shorten the presentation by two minutes than to extend it by two minutes. Remember that exceeding the time limit may mean taking the next speaker’s time. And this is really unfair!
· Follow the plan of your presentation! Do not digress! Usually digressions take more time than we think. Successful presenters have “spontaneous digressions” well thought over and well planned.
· Leave time for questions from the audience. Questions may help you to get your message across better.
· Design good visuals to help you get your message across more efficiently. Remember that tatty visuals will leave a similar impression on the listeners. Visual aids should speak for themselves in illustrating your point. Give listeners time to take them in. Reading out what you have written on a transparency or slide is counterproductive. Visuals are always welcome – they may help to catch the audience’s attention, but if you do not feel comfortable with them, give yourself more time for practice.
Visual aids
There are different types of visuals. The choice depends on the type of presentation and your needs.
· OHP transparencies - overhead projector transparencies
· Presentations in PowerPoint
· Flipcharts
· Whiteboard and marker
· Video
· Short episodes or scenes from films
· 35 mm slides
· Real objects, which you can let your listeners explore
Remember that badly prepared and/or badly used visuals can ruin your presentation!
Make sure you know in advance how to connect the equipment and what to do to have the desired slide or diagram on the screen. Sometimes, during real presentations a technician will be there to operate the equipment. In that case, make sure that he understands your signals, for example, to change a slide.
Slides and transparencies should contain the minimum information necessary to illustrate your point. Too much on a slide makes it unreadable and diverts the audience’s attention from what you say.
A slide is said to be readable if it contains no more than ten words in 18pt Times Roman font or bigger and which can be read without a projector from a distance of two meters. Never use pages photocopied from books or other materials as visuals. They are not adapted for such use, not to mention the fact that they do not prove your professionalism.
For transparencies, use multiple colours, but be careful with orange and yellow - they do not come out well on the screen. On slides, the text is often in yellow or white on a blue background. Avoid adding/drawing information on a transparency. While speaking, avoid indicating with your finger or a marker. A pointer and the screen do that job much better.
Turn off the projector if you do not need it for the next few minutes. Two minutes is the maximum time that the same slide should be shown on the screen.