Presenting tips

© 2011 IBM Corporation
Presenting
Madrid Centre of Excellence

© 2011 IBM Corporation2
Agenda :
 Plan It
 Prepare it
 Present it
 Conclusion
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Plan It

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Plan it : Where to begin …
 What is the purpose of my Presentation ?
In public speaking, a presentation can serve 2 possible purposes :
- To inform an audience by enhancing their knowledge on a particular topic
- To persuade an audience – through compelling evidence – to believe or do something
 Know your audience :
- To whom am I speaking ?
- What do I want them to understand or do as a result of hearing my presentation ?
- What is the most effective way of organizing my presentation to accomplish my goal ?
 What do I want to say ?
- What do you hope to accomplish with your presentation ?
- What is the central point you want to make to your audience ?
 Research your topic
- The more the better … The ability to present a subject with confidence, directly affects your
audience’s impressions and will keep their attention

Plan it : Build your case …
 There are 3 basic questions any audience will be asking :
- What are you saying ?
- Why should I believe you ?
- Why should I care ?
 Write down you main points
- Your main points should flesh out and support your central idea
 Create a comprehensive outline… KISS
- KEEP IT SIMPLE S…. The content of your slide(s) should be brief, clear simple statements that
sum up the point your are trying to communicate. You may elaborate on your point with your dialogue.
If you keep the slide simple and brief, it prevents you from reading the slide to the audience.
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Plan it : Putting it all together …
 Plan your beginning and ending
- You have about 60 seconds to make a good impression on your audience, what you say during this
minute will often determine how open your audience is to the messages you’re delivering.
- How you leave them at the end is their final impression of the validity of your case.
 Introduction :
- Gain the audience’s attention
- Establish your credibility
- Tell them what you’re going to talk about
 Conclusion :
- Signal the ending
- Summarize/restate your main point(s)
- Deliver a call to ‘action’

Presenting
Prepare it

Prepare it : When to use visuals …
 Once you have your central idea, main points and presentation outline, you need to assess whether or not you
need to develop any visuals to accompany your presentation.
 There are 3 reasons to use visual aids :
- To clarify your message
- To make your material more visually interesting
- To help your audience retain your message
 Used thoughtfully they can be valuable tools
 Used indiscriminately, or constructed poorly, they can detract your message. They can clutter your
presentation and confuse your audience
 Keep the message center stage, not the technology (remember : KISS !)
 Use clip art, animation, video and audio ONLY if it serves the purpose (a picture says more than 1000 words,
clip art is only a drawing, animation distracts audience from listening, …)

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Prepare it : Visual ‘do’s’ …
 Your charts are not your presentation, they are merely a tool to support your presentation
 Backgrounds :
- they should never distract from the presentation
- default white background is hard on the viewer’s eyes
- backgrounds that are light colored with dark text, or vice versa, look good
- dark background with white font reduces glare
- Colors appear lighter when projected. Pale colors often appear as white
- Consistent backgrounds add to a professional appearance
 Design :
- Don’t overload your slides with too much text or data
- Let the picture of graphic tell the story, avoid text
- Number your slides and give them a title
- Strive for similar line lengths for text

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 Visual elements :
- Use clear, simple visuals. Don’t confuse the audience
- Use contrast : light on dark or vice versa
- Graphics should make a key concept clearer
- Place your graphics in a similar location within each screen
 Ensure visuals are large enough and easy to read (think of the last row in audience)
Prepare it : Visual ‘do’s’ (part II) …

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 Text :
- Font size must be large enough to be easily read
- It is distracting if you use too wide a variety of fonts
- Overuse of text is a common mistake
- To much text makes the slide unreadable. Stick to a few words
- If your audience is reading the slides they are not paying attention to you
- Don’t forget to run ‘spell check’
 Numbers :
- Numbers are usually confusing to the audience. Use few as possible and allow extra time for
the audience to do the math
- If you have more then 12 – 15 numbers per slide, that’s mostly to be too many
- Using only 1 number per sentence helps the audience absorb the data
 Statistics :
- Use the same scale for numbers on a slide (don’t compare thousands to millions)
- Cite your source on the same slide as the statistic, using a smaller size font
Prepare it : Visual ‘do’s’ (part III) …

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 Charts :
- Charts need to be clearly labeled
- Numbers in tables are both hard to see and to understand
 Bullets :
- Keep bullet points to a minimum
- Just use key or essential words to express your point (no need for full sentences)
- Keep bullet points simple
Prepare it : Visual ‘do’s’ (part IV) …

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Present it

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Present it : Timing – Practicing your presentation …
 Talk through your presentation to see how much time you use for each slide
 Rehearse, rehearse and … rehearse !
 Make a list of key words/concepts for each slide
 Don’t attempt to memorize your text, your words will probably be different each time your practice
 Think about the ideas, and your words will follow naturally
 Do not read from your slides
 Describe what is taking place in the graph or chart
 Practice out loud
 Practice in front of a real audience, similar to your target audience
 Spend more time on the speech opening and closing

Presenting
Present it : Delivering your talk …
 Pre-Talk Preparation :
- Plan to get there a few minutes early to set up
- Dress appropriately for your audience
- Turn off your cell phone
- Have a back up of your presentation prepared, just in case
 Opening :
- Jump right in and get to the point
- Give your rehearsed opening statement, don’t improvise at the last moment
- Use the opening to catch the interest and attention of the audience
- Briefly state the problem or topic you will be discussing
- Briefly summarize your main theme for an idea or solution

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Present it : Delivering your talk (II)…
 Speaking :
- Talk at a natural, moderate rate of speech
- Project your voice (speak to persons farthest away from you)
- Speak clearly and distinctly
- Repeat critical information
- Pause briefly to give your audience time to digest the information on each slide
- DON’T READ the slides aloud (your audience can read them far faster than you can talk)
Body Language :
- Keep your eyes on the audience
- Match eye contact with everyone in the room (3-second method)
- Don’t turn your back to the audience
- Don’t hide behind the lectern
- Standing, walking or moving about with appropriate hand gesture or facial expression is
preferred
- Avoid looking at your notes

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Present it : Questions …
 Questions :
- Always leave time for a few questions at the end of the talk
- If you allow questions during the talk, the presentation time will be about 25% longer
- Relax. If you’ve done the research you can easily answer most questions
- If you can’t answer a question, say so. DON’T APOLOGIZE… ‘I don’t have that information, I’ll try to
find out for you.’
- ‘That’s a good question’ or ‘I’m glad you asked me that’, gives yourself a few moments to
organize your response

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Present it : Demeanor (or the way in which you behave) …
 Show some enthusiasm. Nobody want to listen to a dull presentation
 Involve your audience. Ask questions, make eye contact, use humor
 Don’t get distracted by audience noises or movements
 You’ll forget a minor point or two. Everybody does
 If you temporarily lose your train of thought you can gain time to recover by asking if the audience has any
questions
 Have fun !

Conclusion

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Conclusion …
 Don’t abuse your visuals
 Look at the audience
 Show your personality
 Make them laugh
 Talk to your audience, not at them
 Be honest
 Don’t over prepare
 Show some movement
 Watch what you say
 Differentiate yourself

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Thanks and enjoy …

Presenting tips

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