Presentation skills

www.edventures1.com | training@edventures1.com | +91-9787-55-55-44
Workshop on
Presentation Skills

Creating “Knockout”
Presentations

Agenda for next 3 hours
• Presentation basics
• Slide Do’s and Don’ts
– Handouts
– Powerpoint Navigation
• Delivery Do’s and Don’ts
– How to Handle Questions
• Final Thoughts

Disclaimer
I don’t claim to be an expert,
I’ve just had to do a lot of
presentations and have seen a
lot of presentations (both
good and bad)

The Fundamentals
A good presentation
is a “POPTA”
presentation
What does POPTA
stand for?

Purpose
• You need to define your
purpose for giving the
presentation
– Teach, Persuade, Prove,
Review, Expository,
Impress, Put to Sleep,
Entertain?

Organization
• Always have an outline
• Tell them what you’re
going to tell them, then
tell them, then tell them
what you told them
• Problem then solution

Preparation
• An unprepared presenter loses
the audience before even
starting
• Practice makes perfect and builds
confidence
• Arrive early, make sure
everything is set up
• Dress appropriately
• Better to dress up than down
• Slides should be done well in
advance

Time
• Be sure you know how
much time you have while
preparing the presentation
• It is better to end early than
to go over
• You’ll never have enough
time to tell everything so
stick to the most important
• Rule of thumb

Audience
• Be sure you know your
audience well
• Tailor presentation to
your audience
• Watch the audience for
clues

PowerPoint doesn’t give presentations – PowerPoint
makes slides
• Your comments should be
more compelling than the
slides
• You shouldn’t put
everything on the slide
– K.I.S.S. Principle

Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Do include 50% white space
• Do make it obvious which section of your
outline you’re in
• Do make each slide stand on its own
– Generally 1 main point for each slide
• Do use animation
– Don’t overuse it
• Makes it difficult and annoying to navigate

Do include written conclusion for every graph
• Don’t forget to add meaningful labels, titles, captions,
etc. to graphs
Percentage
IndustryAcademia
NoYesNoYes
100
80
60
40
20
0
Percentage of People Needing Presentation Skills
Conclusion - It is important to learn presentation skills!

• Don’t use yellow text
– Do use dark text and bold
• Do use formatting and color to emphasize
(e.g. POPTA)
• Don’t include unrelated pictures

• Don’t do serif fonts (like Times New
Roman)
• Do use sans serif fonts (like Arial)
– or Tahoma

• Do save your file using “embedded fonts”
– File menu->Save As->Tools (in upper right hand corner)-
>Save Options->Embed True Type Fonts

• Don’t just copy formulas and equations
from your work (dissertation, paper, etc.)
– Also known as “equationitis”
– Do use formulas and equations sparingly
– Do explain all notation used

• Do chek yor speling for mestakes
– Typos instantly destroy credibility and convey lack of
preparation
– Do have someone else read through presentation
• Do acknowledge previous work and help
• Do use a template if using PowerPoint
• Do put title slide at the end

• Do use a light background like this

• Or like this

• Don’t use a dark background like this
– Even if using a lighter font color
– Harder to read, especially from the back
– More likely to put people asleep
– Handouts often don’t look very good

• Do use occasional “spice” or “pace breakers”
– Humor
– Pictures
– Sound
– Animation
– Questions (Not just
Yes/No)
– Surveys
– Quizzes
– Videos
– Physical Objects
– Top Ten Lists
– Etc.
For example . . .
A pace breaker can do this for your audience

Handouts
• Use them if they help achieve your
objective
– Especially for technical presentations
– Greatly increases retention
• Often best to pass out at the end
– You want to keep the audience engaged

Navigation in PowerPoint
• Always go through your presentation in
slide show mode before giving it
– Multiple times
• Use keyboard short cuts, not the mouse
• F1 (in slide show mode)
– To bring up the list of all shortcut keys (Escape to
hide the list)
– Use this while practicing to help you learn the
navigation

• To start slide show mode
– F5 (Automatically takes you to start of
presentation)
• To end slide show mode
– Escape

• Home
– To go to the beginning slide
• End
– To go to last slide
• Type the slide #, then Enter
– To jump to any particular slide
• B
– Black screen
• W
– White screen

Delivery Do’s and Don’ts
• Don’t read or “parrot” the slides
– Otherwise, why give a presentation?
• Do use the slides as a cue
– Let audience read
• Do use pointers sparingly
– They magnify nervousness
– Create slides and use animation that
emphasize your points

• Do plan breaks for longer presentations
– 10 minutes for every hour
• Do be passionate about the topic
– Have fun, this is your opportunity
– If your audience doesn’t know why your topic is important,
you’ve lost them
• Don’t forget to practice
– Record yourself, tape yourself, or use a mirror
– Reading through slides does not count as practice

• Do relax, use nerves to your advantage
– Breathe deeply, pause as needed
– Don’t go too fast
– Do watch out for mannerisms
• “Um . . um”
• Do empty your pockets and hands
• Don’t point at computer, point at the
screen

• Do use body language to help make a point
– Purposeful movements
• Do use appropriate posture
– Don’t slouch
– Sitting implies informality
• Do move around if possible
– Don’t pace
– Don’t be hyperactive
– Center yourself, rearrange setup if needed

• Do face audience more than slides
– Don’t talk to the screen or wall
• Do vary your voice
– Don’t speak in monotone
– Most people speak too soft, not too loud
• Do memorize slide numbers for key slides
– Or transition points
• Do get honest feedback from someone you trust

• Don’t forget to smile

Handling Questions
• Welcome them
– Lots of questions are either a sign of:
• Interest in what you are talking about
– Audience internalizing
• Failure to communicate an idea
– Meaning that the person still wants to understand
• Always repeat the question
1. For you to make sure you understood it
2. For audience to make sure they heard it

Handling Questions
• Answer the question to the audience
– Then check back to the individual for
confirmation
• Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”
– Better than mumbling or fumbling an answer

Final thoughts
• POPTA
• Good slides go a long way
• Practice, practice, practice
• Remember that the audience wants you to
succeed
• Use other resources (Books, web, etc.)
• Anyone can learn to be a better presenter!

• +91-97-87- 55- 55- 44
• training@edventures1.com
• www.edventures1.com

Presentation skills

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