Matchett Group GuideYour Presentation: Make It Count

Matchett Group GuideYour presentation: make it count

Good presenters are made, not born.

This short guide will help you to:• Be confident • Make an impact• Win over your audience• Enjoy the experience

2

ForewordI do hope you enjoy this free guide.

The ability to present effectively is a key skill. Matchett Group is committed to developing excellence in presenting and we have trained in this area for the last forty years. We have a uniquely personalised approach proved by our track record in thousands of successful programmes. Please use this guide as you wish and I encourage you to pass it on to friends and colleagues. Do please contact us with your business training requirements and we will be delighted to help!

Letitia BlakeHead of ContentMatchett Group

For more information please call us on +44 (0)20 7549 8620 or email the Matchett team at info@matchettgroup.com

22

Contents

4Key Elements

5What Works

Best

6Your Audience:

Before the Presentation

7Your Audience:

During the Presentation

8Your Audience:

After the Presentation

9The Content:

Before the Presentation

13The Content: During the

Presentation

14The Content:

After the Presentation

15You:

Before the Presentation

16You:

During the Presentation

17You:

After the Presentation

3Contents

3

Key elementsPresentation skills can be learned. You don’t need to inherit the ability to present through your DNA!

Everyone can present well, with the right knowledge, training and practice – it’s just like acquiring any other skill.

Athletes don’t simply turn up at an event and hope to win without putting in a spot of work first, and it’s the same with presenting.

There are three elements to a presentation:

• Audience• Content • You

These overlap but you must consider all three and you’ll find each of them covered here. Most people focus on just one area, but they are all important.

Also, you should view each presentation as part of a process over time, rather than a one-off event. You need to plan each part of the sequence:

• Before your presentation• During your presentation• After your presentation

It’s best to start at the end. What do you want the audience to be compelled to do as a result of your presentation? What do you want them to feel and think? What would make it successful in your terms? You can then work back from that to construct your presentation for your specific audience.

As we look at each element, you will see that the actual presentation is only about 10% of the whole process.

Good presentations don’t happen by accident. They are deliberate, considered and crafted. The keys to a successful presentation are:

• Be prepared• Be present• Be yourself

If you stick to those three points, the audience will give you their attention. They don’t want to think they are wasting their time so they want you to do well. And if they enjoy it, you will too.

What works

Being present

Allowing for the unplanned

Feeling what is happening now

Focusing on what you communicate

Being with the audience

Being 100% present from the start

Being yourself

Allowing people to think

A few simple points, made clearly

Controlling your key messages

Crafted presentation

Making sure you don’t have to rush

Listening

Generous

Showing

Soft-sell

Pride in your presentation

Being with what is happening

Telling the truth

Sincerity

Treating the audience as people

Being focused

Receiving acknowledgement graciously

Feeling empowered

Being relaxed and confident

Being equal with the audience

Apologising

Being impressive

4

What works bestNow that so much instant information is available, your presentation should not repeat what can be easily found elsewhere. Instead, you should make that information easy to understand, emphasise your own interpretation of it, and show your personality.

Here is a guide to what works and what doesn’t. As you read through the list, think about your past presentations and what you want your future ones to be like.

What works

Being present

Allowing for the unplanned

Feeling what is happening now

Focusing on what you communicate

Being with the audience

Being 100% present from the start

Being yourself

Allowing people to think

A few simple points, made clearly

Controlling your key messages

Crafted presentation

Making sure you don’t have to rush

Listening

Generous

Showing

Soft-sell

Pride in your presentation

Being with what is happening

Telling the truth

Sincerity

Treating the audience as people

Being focused

Receiving acknowledgement graciously

Feeling empowered

Being relaxed and confident

Being equal with the audience

Apologising

Being impressive

What doesn’t

Being distracted and detached

Trying to change

Thinking about the past

Fretting about what you communicate

Worrying about the audience

Waiting until you relax

Pretending

Worrying about what people think

Too many points, confused

Not controlling your key messages

Uncrafted presentation

Rushing

Ignoring

Stingy

Telling

Hard-sell

Pride – as in the seven deadly sins

Interpreting what is happening

Lying

Manipulation

Treating the audience as prospects

Blanking out

Ignoring acknowledgement

Feeling debilitated

Being cocky and arrogant

Being superior or inferior

Explaining

Trying to impress

5

6

Your audienceBefore the presentation

Preparation is vital and the more you can find out about your audience the better. Your research into their requirements will help you to construct a presentation which will achieve the result you want.

An audience wants to be engaged. The individuals who go to make up an audience are persuad-able. They like to participate. That doesn’t mean being hauled up to the front for some possible humiliation as in audience-participation theatre but, like any theatregoer, they want to be giving their full attention to an absorbing event.

Whatever the context of your presentation – conference, sales meeting or seminar, for example – you will be able to fine-tune the following points to suit your needs.

Preparation checklist

Audience profile

If possible, ask for a list of delegates. Do you know any of them – or know someone who does?

What organisations do they come from? Look them up on the internet and check LinkedIn profiles of individuals and groups.

If you can get to meet audience members beforehand, find out as much as you can about their expectations.

How many people will be in the audience? From your point of view, is there any significance in their age range, background, political stance, education, gender or mother tongue? Will they have common interests? Will they want you to use jargon?

Will they understand your cherished metaphors? Or will they think you’ve bowled them a googly?

Setting expectations

Send the organiser your CV, presentation summary and any publicity material; if appropriate, send this to audience members too and say that you are looking forward to meeting them.

7

Other speakers

Find out what any other speakers are covering and get in touch with them if possible.

Venue

Allow plenty of time to get to the venue and check matters such as security access, transport, parking, catering and the layout of the room itself.

Audio-visual presentation

If you are showing slides or film clips, it’s a good idea to email your file to the organiser before-hand. Memory sticks may be temperamental, and what works well in your own office or home system may be regarded as an enemy alien by your host’s system.

If you need a zapper to control your presentation remotely, will it be provided or should you bring your own?

Check if you will be filmed (for podcast, YouTube or a website, for example). Are others watching by video conference? Will you be using teleprompters?

Audio-visual enhancement

Find out if there are people who have visual or hearing requirements that need to be accommo-dated.

Microphone

If you can project your voice enough to be heard clearly without a microphone, you will create a more immediate bond with your audience. But when a microphone looks inevitable, practise using one if you are not already familiar with its tricks and foibles. You want to look as if you are in charge of the microphone, not the other way round.

It needs to be adjusted to the right height, and at the right distance away from you to avoid dis-tortion. Many people forget that if you turn aside from a microphone your audience won’t be able to hear you properly.

Publicity

If conference packs are being prepared by the organisers, make sure your card and any other rel-evant information are included. Provide enough copies of your contact details and publicity materi-al for the audience. Prepare press packs for any journalists who may be present.

Fees and copyright

Clarify your fee and any expenses. Make sure you retain your intellectual property – that is, your copyright – in any presentation notes, illustrations, recordings and so on.

Your audienceDuring the presentation

You are on show to your audience as soon as they start filtering in to the room, so act accordingly. If their presence makes you nervous, remember why you are there, and that you have every right to be there.

At the beginning of your presentation, greet the audience and thank them for attending. Imagine them as a group of individuals, not as a hostile creature called an audience. Make eye contact with individuals. Talk to them as if you were speaking to just that one person so that you build up your connection with the audience.

The microphone

Is your microphone really necessary? Is it friend or foe? If you’re unfamiliar with it, you’ve already practised using one by now. Don’t hunch over it or strain up to reach it – adjustments can be made. Keep your distance from it – not too close, not too far away.

After your talk, no matter how euphoric you are feeling, remember that your muttered asides can be heard until it is switched off.

Visuals

Can everyone see the screen? Does anything need adjusting? Make sure the lights are turned up/down when necessary – don’t leave people in the dark when the slides are over. If a projector is no longer needed and is just making an irritating noise, turn it off.

The audience is on your side

Audiences want presenters to do well. They will support you as long as they are not being bored, confused, insulted, sold to or patronised.

Involve your audience

Invite questions, ask them questions, ask for a show of hands, set them mental exercises, engage them with stories and pictures. An audience can take away only so much from a presentation, so keep their attention by focusing on your main points.

Watch the time

Don’t overrun, even if other speakers have already done so. Don’t apologise if you haven’t got all your points across. Ask the chairman and the audience for permission to speak a little longer, if you think that might be tolerated. Afterwards, you can make up ground by sending any missing information to the audience and the organisers.

Late-comers

Try to have some spare seats near the entrance for late-comers. Resist any temptation to break off and fill them in on what they’ve missed.

8

Mobile phones

Other devices are likely to be used (silently, you hope) by the audience while you are speaking. It may look off-putting, but just imagine that they are taking notes, or tweeting about your interest-ing presentation. The days of saying ‘Please turn off your mobile phones’ are over.

Your audienceAfter the presentation

The benefits of your presentation do not stop when you sit down. You can capitalise on the con-nections you have made by following up carefully.

Contacts

Talk to individuals afterwards, swap business cards, get referrals. Send copies of your presentation to members of the audience; connect with individuals and groups on LinkedIn. Follow up ques-tions that individuals have asked. Network with any other speakers who were present.

Publicity

Keep in touch with journalists who were there – or should have been – and offer articles or comment based on your presentation.

Organisers

Thank organisers for the opportunity to speak and follow up any connections they may have to provide you with similar opportunities elsewhere.

9

The contentBefore the presentation

Only agree to give the presentation if you know the subject and have somethinginteresting to say.

Getting the content right is vital. Crafting the presentation will give you confidenceand shows the audience that you respect them.

What’s the INTRO?

This simple mnemonic will help you to construct what they – and you – want.

• Impact, interest – keep them awake.

• Needs (what is in it for me?) – fulfil the audience’s expectations.

• Timing – stick to what you’re given.

• Range, routemap – cover the territory without going astray.

• Objectives – get what you want to achieve.

Preparation checklist

Purpose

What do you want to achieve from your presentation? What is the commercial imperative?

Messages

What are the key messages for your audience? Create a 20-word summary.

Structure

It’s a cliché but it works: tell them what you are going to tell them, thentell them, and finally tell them what you have told them.

Beginning, middle, end

Construct a strong opening, a clear and simple middle and a strong conclusion. Make sure everything links together and do not worry about repetition. Make things memorable by using impactful images. Create pictures in the mind.

10

Tell stories

Stories work. Use anecdotes and practical examples; dramatise; talk from personal experience. Aim for impact and ideas that will inspire.

Timing

Find out how long you have to speak and whether there will be a question and answer session. Keep to the allotted time and don’t cram in too much material. Isolate some sections of your talk which you could leave out if the event is over-running.

Audience

Your research into the audience and their level of understanding will enable you to pitch your language, technical terms and speed at the right level.

Visual aids

How often have you been bored rigid by a slide presentation?

Don’t use slides at all unless they really add to what you are saying.

You should be your own visual aid!

If you really need PowerPoint or some other system, use slides to create themain headings of your presentation. Cut words to the minimum. Use impactful images and clear, large type. Don’t use too many slides, and don’t use them for showing complex data.

Above all, don’t slavishly read out the words on a slide or in a handout which your audience already has.

Identify yourself

Have slides at the beginning and end of your presentation with yourname and significant contact details (such as your website address).

Notes

Make sure your notes – if any – are in good order and very legible: you don’t know what the lighting will be like on the day. Use short prompts rather than read out notes word for word with your head buried in the paper.

11

Hand-outs

Make sure there are enough copies and that the audience have them before you start.

Don’t apologise

Don’t profess that you don’t know enough about the subject or say you lack time to present all the details. Just communicate your key messages. The audience has invested its time in you and doesn’t want to think that time has been wasted.

Questions

Anticipate questions you may be asked – especially the hard ones. Prepare answers and keep them short. Have some questions of your own ready.

Changes

Keep an eye on whether there are going to be any changes in the agenda.

Use your own material

It’s best to write your own content. If someone else writes it for you, change it if necessary to make sure it conveys your personality and natural way of speaking.

Feedback forms

Prepare feedback forms for audience and colleagues. Keep them short and simple, but plan the content carefully.

What do you want to find out from a feedback form? For example, you might be seeking:

• tips on how to improve your performance

• endorsements

• data including special interests and contact details

• potential sales leads

• ideas for a different presentation

• clues on how to develop what you are offering

12

The contentDuring the presentation

Do not think that the content you have prepared so meticulously is fixed. Things may happen on the day which require you to be flexible. You should expect this and be willing to go with the flow. Check the news in your sphere of activity on the day.

Be prepared to change

Listen to your audience and watch them as you go along, so that you can tailor what you have to say to their reactions if necessary. Good preparation will give you the confidence to be spontane-ous, to improvise and to change your presentation as you go along without being flustered.

Time

Keep an eye on the clock. If there is danger of over-running, make the cuts which you have previously marked. This applies even if other speakers at the event have over-run before you. The audience will be grateful. You can always ask permission to continue, and/or make sure that any missing material is sent on to the audience and organisers afterwards.

Visual aids

Give audience time to read any slides.

Hand-outs

Refer to them as necessary, but give the audience time to findthe right part and to read it.

Less is more

There is only so much an audience can take in.

13

14

The contentAfter the presentation

There is a lot to learn from the reactions of your audience and colleagues. Make notes of what worked and what didn’t, to improve your next one.

Feedback

Collect any feedback forms you have distributed, or write to the audience for feedback. Consult any of your colleagues who were there.

Review any audio or video record of your presentation objectively, and ask others to do the same.

Think about how things can be improved and rewrite the content as appropriate.

YouBefore the presentationWhat you say, and the way that you say it, creates the audience’s lasting impression of you.

You cannot be over-prepared. Allow yourself plenty of time before the date of the presentation to consider every detail. If you don’t feel secure about your performance, it’s a good idea to re-hearse, even if it’s just to a family member.

Watch your gestures and posture. Video your rehearsal if you can and study it critically with others.

Quick checklist

• Dress smartly; avoid anything gimmicky or distracting.• Be realistic about footwear: if your shoes hurt, it will show in your face, voice and movements.• Take a device to record your presentation, and make sure you know how to use it.• Arrange for a colleague to watch your presentation and give feedback.• Check your notes are in order.• Meet the chairperson/host/co-presenters in person, or at least telephone them, before the day.• Decide how you want to come across to your audience. Choose three qualities such as calm, clear, confident, engaging, entertaining, authoritative. Pick the ones that work for you.

On arrival• Check audio-visual equipment.• Check where the loos are.• Check your appearance in a mirror.• Drink still water (avoid fizzy).

15

YouDuring the presentation

After all your preparation, now is the time to enjoy yourself. You have become familiar with the audience and taken care to craft what you have to communicate. You know how you want to come across.

Be present. Focus on a positive outcome.

Breathe slowly. Take enough breath to complete each sentence without running out.

Vary the pitch, pace and sound of your voice. Can everyone hear you? Don’t gabble.

Take your time. More haste, less speed. During a presentation, your perception of time may change. Use the time you have been given. Don’t rush. Leave space around the points you want your audience to absorb.

Smile.

Use silence – don’t be afraid of it.

Adapt to the audience. Adjust your speed, energy, volume and projection depending on their reaction. It’s not their fault if they don’t laugh at your jokes.

When you are asked a question, repeat it to make sure that everyone in the audience has heard it.

Enjoy yourself.

Show your personality.

Don’t apologise.

Don’t just read out your notes.

Make eye contact.

Trust the content you have prepared.

Pitch the presentation to the audience that you have researched.

Pay polite attention to other speakers when it’s their turn.

Receive acknowledgement, thanks and compliments graciously.

Be energised.

16

YouAfter the presentationSit back and acknowledge your achievement. Now is the time to relax!

Then, once you’re back in harness, review your performance. There is something to learn from every presentation.

This mini-checklist will help with your review. Give yourself a mark out of 10 for each question:

• Did the audience take away your key messages?• Did you connect with the audience?• Were you really present?• What was the quality of the presentation in terms of: - enthusiasm? - confidence? - expertise? - attention paid by the audience?

Don’t worry if they didn’t laugh at your jokes. There’s nothing wrong with an alert silence, indicat-ing that they want to hear what you are going to say next.

Making a presentation is all about communication, which is an act of sharing. A presentation isn’t you against the world, or us against them. What should stick in your mind afterwards is the com-munality of the presentation – the feeling that you were all taking part in a joint activity, based on knowledge and enthusiasm.

17

Contact UsPlease contact us for more information or visit our website.

Tel: +44 (0)20 7549 8620

Website: www.matchettgroup.com

UK address: 6-14 Underwood Street, London N1 7JQ

You can also follow Matchett on Facebook and Twitter.

Author

Mark Solon

Mark Solon is a solicitor, an Attorney at Law in California (1991) and has an MSc from the City University. Mark trained with the City law firm Clyde & Co. In 1992, he founded Bond Solon which was subsequently acquired by Wilmington in 2001. He also founded La Touche Training in Dublin in 1995, also acquired by Wilmington. Mark founded the Expert Witness Institute in 1996. In 2014 he became the Managing Director of Wilmington Legal. He has written numerous articles and several books relating to evidence and he frequently appears on television and radio dealing with evidential and legal education issues as well as speaking in public on many occasions. One of his responsibilities is the Matchett Group.