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Presentation Skills for STUDENT’s

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1. Developing Great CONTENT

2. Preparing Great DESIGN

3. Conducting Great DELIVERY

Contents

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Content

Three Elements of Great Presentation

Design

Delivery

Great Presentation !

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Developing Great CONTENT

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Steps in Preparing Content

Analyzing

Your Audience

Gathering

Relevant Data &

Information

Converting

Your Data into

an Outline

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Analyzing Your Audience

• Needs

• Knowledge level

• Attitude – how do they feel about the topic?

• Demographic Information – this may include the

age, gender, culture, and language of the audience

members

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Gathering Relevant Data & Information

• Before you start your research to gather relevant

information, there are three questions should be

considered :

• What do I want my audience to gain?

• What might they already know about my topic?

• What is the objective of the presentation?

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Converting Your Information into an Outline

• There are three steps to creating an outline :

1. Determine the outline style

2. Group your raw data

3. Arrange into outline format

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Outline Style

Chronological Shows events in order as they occurred

Takes the audience on a journey through a

flowing presentation

States the problem, the why’s, your

solution, and a summary

States the cause and explains the effect(s)

Narrative

Problem/ Solution

Cause/ Effect

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Outline Style

Topical Divides the general topic into several subtopics

Uses some or all of the what, who, where,

when, why, and how questionsJournalistic Questions

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Outline Format

Introduction

Body

Conclusion

Outline

Format

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Outline Format

• Introductions

• Should include an agenda and clarify the goals and

objectives of your presentation.

• Can include an overview of a situation, a statement

of the current situation of the organization, or a recap

of history.

• Can use the strategies that help an introduction get

attention: a quote, a question, humor, a creative

image, an anecdote, or a sharing of emotions.

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Outline Format

• Body

• Chronological

• Narrative

• Problem/Solution

• Cause/Effect

• Topical

• Journalistic Question

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Outline Format

• Conclusion

• Summarize the main points of your presentation

• Provide closure, and leave an impression

• Can consist of recommendations, future directions,

next steps to take, and so forth

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Building Great DESIGN

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Presentation Design

Key Rules when Creating Bulleted Text:

• Use one concept per slide

• Use key words and phrases

• Make your bullet points consistent in structure

• Capitalize properly – capitalize the first letter of

the first word only

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Three Keys of Great Design

1. Layout

2. Consistency

3. Color

Great Slide Presentation

Design

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Layout

1. Layout

• Consider your layout to be like the skeleton of your

presentation….Just as our skeleton support our

bodies, your layout should support your message and

provide structure.

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Consistency

2. Consistency

• You must be consistent in the following design elements:

• Your placement of text and images

• Your fonts style and sizes

• Your background

• The sytle and treatment of your imagery

• Your charts

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Color

3. Color

• Use high contrast to increase legibility (e.g., black text

on clear and yellow on dark blue)

• Colors should not clash – they should have a high

degree of harmony

• Avoid clutter by using no more than four colors

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Consistent Fonts

• The two main classifications of fonts are serif and sans serif

fonts

• Serif fonts have small flourishes extending from the main

strokes of each letter (examples : Times New Roman, Book

Antiqua, Bookman Olds Style, Garamond). Sans serif

don’t; they are straight and clean (examples : Arial,

Verdana, Helvetica)

• Sans serif fonts are best suited for electronic

presentations

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Tips for Planning Great Slides

• Use slides sparingly. Avoid the overuse of slides or

unnecessary slides.

• Make slide pictorial. Graphs, flowcharts, etc., all give the

viewer an insight that would otherwise require many words.

• Make text and numbers legible. Minimum font size for most

room set-ups is 20 pt.

• Make pictures and diagrams easy to see.

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Design Guidelines

Avoid this

This is better

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Effective Charts and Graphs

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Avoid slide like this one……

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Conducting Great DELIVERY

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Delivering Your Presentation

Voice

Language Usage

Movement

Body Language

Great Delivery

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Managing Your Voice

• Try to sound natural, so your rhythm and tone is

appropriate to the message you are delivering

• Develop three important qualities:

• Volume

• Intonation

• Pacing

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Managing Your Voice

Volume

Avoid to speak in monotone. Put more

feeling into your voice and make it livelier by

changes in your intonation.

Speak loudly enough to reach all the

members audience without overpowering

those closest to you.

Intonation

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Managing Your Voice

For most of us, this is natural – except when

we are nervous or excited. Practice, and you

can figure out what sounds natural and

appropriate for the points you are making.

Pacing

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Language Usage

• When you speak, convey confidence and show interest in

what you’re presenting. Speak with feeling.

• Use short sentences and short, simple words.

• Speak slowly and clearly enough that everyone in your

audience can understand every word.

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Movement

• If possible, “work the room and work the audience”

• Move appropriately and with purpose – don’t move

simply because you’re nervous

• Your movements should be natural and support your

words and the rest of your presentation

• Don’t move constantly. Pause for effect. Stand still to

make an important point

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Body Language

• Stand straight, but not stiff. You should radiate energy

• Be relaxed, be casual, but don’t be lazy

• Use your hands, arms and gestures. Just let your body

react to how you feel

• Make good eye contact – the rule of thumb for eye

contact is three to five seconds per person

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Body Language

• Do not keep hands in your pockets

• Do not keep hands “handcuffed” behind your back

• Do not keep your arms crossed

• Do not put hands in “fig leaf” position

• Do not wring your hands nervously

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In advance of your presentation

• Practice – a lot. Don’t just think your presentation through :

act it out, in front of friends, or family. Time each section of

your presentation and develop a schedule.

• Memorize the first two minutes of your presentation, so

you breeze on through the time when the butterflies are

most active.

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In the hours before presentation

• Think positive thought : visualize yourself feeling at ease

with the audience

• Use affirmation (e.g., “I can do this. I am prepared. It will

go well”)

• Make sure all the equipment is working properly

• Remember that the people in your audience are human too,

just like you. They want you to succeed !

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When you enter the room:

• Focus on making your movements fluid and confident,

neither too slow nor too fast

• Find a few friendly faces in the audience, for reassurance

• Smile. Show that you want to be there

• Be yourself

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How to Handle Tough Situations

Problem :

• Know-it-all – A participant who feels like more of an expert than

you.

Solution :

• Don’t fight it. Involve know-it-alls in your presentation.

• They may have some great information to contribute. Allowing

them to participate and share their thoughts will not only show

how confident you are, but also help them get more out of your

presentation.

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Problem :

• Unprepared participants – Those who haven’t prepared for the

presentation as you requested.

Solution :

• Be flexible. Take something out of your agenda to allow the group

time to get up to speed.

• Keep in mind your overall objective of the presentations.

• Don’t force your agenda; modify it to meet your objective.

How to Handle Tough Situations

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Problem :

• After-lunch nap time – One of the toughest times to keep people

engaged.

Solution :

• If you have anything to do with planning the lunch selections, go

light – and no heavy desserts.

• If you really need to get everyone going again, get out those

icebreakers.

How to Handle Tough Situations

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Problem :

• Non-stop talker – A participant who carries on conversations

during the presentation.

Solution :

• Take a few moments to share what you talked about. This usually

makes the talker feel more involved and want to stay engaged

and participate with you instead of others.

How to Handle Tough Situations

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Planning for the Questions

• Anticipate the questions that might come up

• Listen carefully to the questioner

• Repeat or rephrase the question

• Answer clearly and concisely

• Go to the next question

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Dealing with Disasters

• You find out that the time allotted has been reduced. At the

very worse, you can make your points, support the with the

essentials, ask and answer the most likely questions on your list.

• The slide equipment fails. You know then saying, “The show

must go on”. Apologize to the audience and then add something

like “Now return with me to a distant past, before Powerpoint,

when all we had for presentations was our notes and perhaps a

blackboard or flipcharts.” Then, make the most of your primitive

tools.

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Dealing with Disasters

• You tell a joke that falls flat. Ouch! Just shrug your shoulders

and apologize: “I am sorry. I got that joke at a Henry Youngman

clearance sale.” (You can choose your own comedian).

• You get nervous and flustered and lose track of where you

are. Figure out where you are from your slides and notes. If you

can’t, just be honest : “My brain has derailed. Who can back me

up so I can the on the track again?”

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Recommended Further Readings:

1. Jennifer Rotondo and Mike Rotondo, Presentation Skills for Managers,

McGraw Hill

2. David A. Whetten and Kim S. Cameron, Developing Management Skills,

Harpers Collins Publisher.

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