Delivering an effective presentation

Speaking in front of a group of people is a frightening prospect for most people. However, it isn’t all that difficult, when given a complete understanding on the subject your making a presentation on. Making a presentation puts you on public display. An audience not only listens to your ideas, it also responds to the way you use your voice and your body.

You need more than a well written presentation to make an impact. The way you speak, the way you project your ideas leaves an impact while you’re presenting your views. Here are few tips that will help you deliver a more effective presentation.

You need to be prepared enough to know what you are going to talk about, but make sure your presentation flows naturally instead of sounding memorised. Usually if you ask experienced speakers what you shouldn’t do, they’ll tell you not to rehearse your presentation too much because then it won’t sound natural.

Be familiar with your material but don’t memorise. If possible, stand up in a room and deliver your presentation to the walls. Get used to hearing your own voice filling a room. Familiarise yourself with the words and phrases in your presentation. Play around with different volumes and see how well you can hear your own voice. Above all, familiarise yourself with the main thrust of your argument and explore how the individual elements of your presentation piece together.

This will help you to keep to your chosen objectives and avoid distractions when it comes to your actual delivery. Make contact with your audience: You need to interact with your audience and create a conversation. An easy way to do this is to ask them questions as well as letting them ask you questions.

If you ever wondered where you should be looking when presenting, the answer is right in front of you. Don’t just single out one person, but instead try to make eye contact with numerous people throughout the room. If you don’t do this then you aren’t engaging the audience, you are just talking to yourself. This can result in an utter lack of attention from your audience.

One of the key challenges faced by the presenter is to establish links with her/his audience. Making contact helps to maintain an audience's interest and encourages them to believe that you are genuinely interested in talking to them.

Gestures

People use their hands in every day conversation to add emphasis or to help describe events. Presenters will therefore look rather awkward if they keep their hands in their pockets or rooted firmly at their sides. Use gestures to welcome your audience, to add emphasis to your main points or to indicate an ending. Try to use open gestures which move away from your body, extending them out to your audience. Make sure that all gestures are controlled and precise; too much movement will appear nervous and unfocussed. Always watch against distracting your audience from the content of your presentation.

Focus

No one is impressed by a presentation that rambles. Rambling happens when the speaker is both self-indulgent and unorganised. Your purpose must be specifically directed to interests of your listeners. Even if you hit upon a topic of interest, you will lose them quickly if they can't follow the logic of your ideas. Outline the structure of your presentation in a way that people can follow easily.

Air your personal thoughts

A presentation that does not offer something new is no different than the presentation given by the next person. Your audience understandably does not want to hear about same things over and over again. Let them know your take on things. Offer your personal opinion and do remember to back it up with a valid justification.

Although your opinions should be prepared in advance, introduce them in the presentation in such a manner that it appears that you just thought of them on the spur of the moment. This will grab the attention of your audience and make them sit up.

Experiment with human behaviour

Try new approaches to engage your audience or make them laugh. Research different ways to make your presentation interactive. Public speaking does not have to be the demon in your life. Remember that in order to be successful, you will need to speak in public. And you may be required to speak very often! With practice and experience you will soon be on the path to giving the most engaging and lively presentations.

Assert yourself

An effective presenter needs to be assertive, not aggressive. There are two important Ps.

Posture: It is important to appear confident at all times. Different postures create different moods. A very formal, upright and still posture will create a very different atmosphere from a relaxed and active one. Remember to match your physical behaviour to the objectives underpinning your presentation.

Presence: Have the confidence to fill your space in front of an audience. You must be confident that the audience wants to listen and that you have something interesting to tell them. Don’t be afraid to wait for an audience to settle down before you start speaking. View your audience differently View your audience in a way that will help you relax.

Use visual aids

Make your PowerPoint slides visually appealing. But, do not read every point off the slides. Use them as starting points only and elaborate on them. You can also pass handouts amongst your audience that will help them grasp the core of your presentation.

Whatever your visuals may be, keep them simple and don’t put too many words on them. The audience isn’t there to read your slides; they are there to listen to you present.

PowerPoint, visuals and video are powerful presentation tools when used correctly. But they can be disastrous distractions when misused. They should never replace you as the provider of expertise. Don't ever let your audience feel they would have been better off if you had just emailed them your presentation.

Ask yourself if a slide or video is truly necessary before adding anything. Visuals are good for making an emotional connection only if they are relevant and required, otherwise best to just leave the projector off and focus more on your presentation and performance skills.