PRESENTATION SKILLS

The way you speak in a personal context is not the same as addressing an audience on a professional platform. Presenting your innovative ideas to an audience and gaining their attention and making them remember your key message afterwards is the aim of effective communication in a professional context and this ability is called presentation skill. Here are the important principles you have to follow while presenting a topic in an academic context. Go through the list and make sure you check all the points when preparing for and delivering your speech.

1. Have empathy with the audience: Think carefully about how you present yourself to your audience:

a. Is your body language affirmative?

b. Are your presentation slides unambiguous?

c. Are you dressed appropriately for the situation?

All these visual aspects influence how your audience perceives you and your reliability.

Also think about how you sound to the audience:

a. Are you audible?

b. Are the audience native English speakers?

c. What is the age group of the audience?

d. What are their levels of knowledge and confidence?

e. What are the probable questions from the audience?

f. Are you speaking fast because you are nervous?

g. Are you amplifying your breathing and mouth noises when close to the mike?

2. Know and remember your objectives: Before you start composing your presentation, consider what you are saying and why you are saying it:

a. What is the back ground history of the topic you have chosen and how can you connect it to the audience needs?

b. What would be a positive conclusion for you? What recommendations you want to give at the end?

c. What message do you wish your audience to take away with them?

d. Why are you speaking at this occasion, are you an expert in this industry?

3. Be proficient and have an outline: Make sure you have the core knowledge in the topic of the presentation, prepare an outline of the speech, including relevant facts and statistics. Use visual aids that will assist in the delivery of the presentation like slides, handouts etc. to make it effective. In this process, you'll need to consider:

a. The length of the presentation

b. The audience size and demographic

c. The central part of the message

d. The mode and manner of presentation

4. Work out the outline for your presentation: Preparing an outline makes your presentation structured and constructive. The following check list assists you in preparing an outline for your presentation.

a. What three main points do you want your audience to remember?

b. How can you frame your presentation around these points?

c. How can you elaborate these points in the introduction and conclusion

d. Should you cover the three points jointly or in a reasonable order?

5. Ensure the audience support till the end: The aim of the presentation is to hold the attention of the audience till the end. Techniques like telling relevant stories, posing questions, puzzles are effective in achieving this. In this context, you have to consider the things like:

a. Include a table of contents to help the audience follow along?

b. Breaking up the presentation into small sections, with the relevant headings mentioned on each slide.

c. Follow the sequence of sections, with suitable illustrations and details.

d. Interact with the audience occasionally and allot time for their clarifications.

6. Rehearse aloud and get feedback: Practice is the key to successful communication. Try and rehearse with friends, in virtual reality and to individually; and record the session. You need to consider:

a. Introspect to find your strengths and weaknesses.

b. Get constructive feedback from trustworthy friends for modifications.

7. Win every one: Never forget your modesty. Earnestness is not easy to be identified, so be sure to thank the audience for their time and persistence and be courteous while answering audience questions; irrespective of their unfriendliness.

8. Keep it simple: No matter how diverse your presentation might be, try to use words and analogies simple for the audience to understand. Stick to the following:

a. Clarity of narrative with a comprehensible outline

b. No (or few) acronyms if possible

c. Explain any diagrams used

d. Keep content to the minimum in brief points, to facilitate your audience follow you

9. Be passionate: Be wholehearted in your speech in order to hold the audience attention. It's particularly important to make an attention-grabbing introduction and an inquisitive conclusion, so focus on those two areas. You'll need to think about:

a. Volume of your voice.

b. Keeping your body language optimistic and smiling.

c. Unrelenting energy throughout the speech.

d. Note key areas to pause and emphasize.

10. Be original: Originality only brings credibility to your presentation. Try to explore unfamiliar data related your topic and convey it in your presentation.

It's important to remember certain points about the presentation:

a. Your identity

b. Your research

c. Purpose and message

d. Occasion