Presentation skills

Editor's Notes

• #2: Jo: Tell story of the plumbing conference lady in yellow jacket - you have to grab peoples attention Screen saver is the first screen of your presentation – will be onscreen while people getting settled n- first impression and its important!Tell people who you are and how to contact youThis will also be your last slide; the audience will recognise it later - but your contact details will be much bigger)
• #3: This is what this presentation covers – and it will be available for download from Slideshare(allows people not to panic about taking notes – they can just concentrate)
• #4: Shape your content to respect the needs of your audienceDefine your audience: who are they – where are they at?Define parameters: delivery mode, how long do you have, whats happening before and after, how long do you have to write this thing,What is the point of the presentation – what do you have to achieve?Think about an elevator pitch or the first sentence in a newspaper story: must contain all the key points: who , what, where, why, and how are a good start.Introduce any special elements ie click here man for extra content)
• #5: 7 basic story plotlines and they all have these 6 key elements:
• #6: Stories engage people : and you need to engage your audience. You want to bring the story from the abstract to the concrete so they can relate to it.Its all about visalization: use metaphors, adjectives, hyperbole to ‘pile it on’, carefully chosen words and active delivery tricks like voice and volume variations, movement, arm actions and pauses.
• #7: Don’t forget to identify ‘the point’ of the story and then the ‘so what’ bit linking the ‘story’ to what it is you want to achieve. What is the call to action?
• #8: Phase 2 : Writing your presentationSo once you know what it is you have to do, and how long you’ve got now you start writing it.Structure is crucial – you are telling a story with 6 parts (although will barely feature), use Powerpoint outline to build the structure, and possibly jot down ideas for the slides as you go – key points or an image but don’t interrupt this phase – get it done and make sure it has a coherent flow (a story) and its complete. Its just a first pass BUT if you suddenly find out ‘you’re on’ you could run with this if you had to. Then when you are satisfied the structure is good go back and write the script in the notes field .. again jotting down ideas for bullet points. Work to your timeframe: if its tight just whack down bullet points to ensure you say everything you have to, if time is good then write a script that can stand alone or be repurposed later.
• #9: Now you can start building up the slidesA few golden rules:People only remember 7 words on a poster or piece of paper – make those 7 words the important onesPeople might read 18 words before they get bored and turn off3 lines good – 6 lines is badUse bullets not paragraphs – and bring them in when you speak to them not before
• #10: Slides are to help you stay on track and tell your story, to illustrate the points you are making and to share information that is best transmitted visually. Do not ever read your slides – ever.Start building up the slide content then edit, edit and edit some moreGet the key points down for each slide that will support your scriptSource your key images – thousand words and all thatSource any links or urls for further info.
• #11: Forget about design until the very end, then make it clean, simple, unobtrusive; you want them to look at you and listen to your message not at your slides,There are heaps of design templates in powerpoint if you don’t have an organisational one. Choose simple design with dark text on plain background but if your venue is not easily dimmed choose a dark background and large white text.Choose a simple font – maybe the heading can be slightly fancier but go easyDeclutter the slide – white space is good - edit edit editUse special effects very carefully and for good reason: this includes transitions, auto slide advance and inserted video or sound footage. Not saying don’t but use it for effectApply a consistency in design : font size, tone of headings, bullets – and depart from it for effectA metaphor can tie a presentation together overall depending on your audience. Could be applied to the headings or design but be really careful. Humour is really, really hard to deliver live
• #12: First up, you want to read your audience. In the first instance match its energy and then bring them to where they need to be: it might be energising a tired one or calming an panicking one.Keep reading your audience throughout; you should know your content well enough, and your slides should allow you, to adapt your script as required.You need to engage your audience as quickly as possible and draw them in. A bio won’t cut it or a boring introduction. What about an image a video clip a big statement or a good story. Use your body and voice Draw them in quickly – not a bio etc – factoid, image or a storyNever read your presentation off the screen – ever - it exists merely to support or illustrate your presentation. The slides should give you the memory jabs to the content of the script your write in the notes.Don’t read the script either if possible BUT if you are called away and someone else needs to deliver your presentation the script is there, and it is there for later reference and repurposing. Printing notes will include the script and the slides.Slideshare is brilliant.
• #13: Changing gear completely now, so have a slightly different – but related slide design…The task for Ema and I to think about was how to mobilisea community into caring about reducing carbon emissions.I don’t know about you but after only a few phone calls I came across obstacles:Its too big an issue,Its too late to achieve anythingWhether we cut our emissions to zero or trebled them it won’t make any difference to the global situation until China and India and Brazil and Russia and the USA do their bitThere is debate around the science; maybe we are just in a natural cycle etc
• #14: We have to read our audience:Horowhenua is a retirement mecca – and Baby Boomers are retiring here in greater numbers. They have been labeled the selfish generation: they have had it all given to them all their life: education, health, housing – not interested in saving the world - its all me, me, me.Generation clash : the Millennials – the first time ever that we have a generation with a shorter life expectancy than its parents, inherited unheard of debt and a world imploding … political astute and work collaboratively – its we, we weGenerational clashes inevitable … but we have to push on because we do have to do whats best for the community and engage this community
• #15: To mobilise our community we have to engage real ‘people’,We need to tell a story – maybe many storiesWe are tribal animals : humans like to belong to the pack, to follow a leader – the story needs to be inspiringWe have to make it personal and local – it has to resonateWe need activities which are achievable - do-ableThere has to be a payback – a win - might be now but might be future for our grandchildren,Appeal to peoples decency: tribal creatures care about each other, survival, a collective futureMost of the people want to do the right thing most of the time
• #18: So that’s it.I wanted to achieve a number of things today:Presentations are just stories – the right stories for the audience, so I gave you a quick run down on the various stages or elements in a presentation,I gave you an approach to crafting a presentation which staged various points from which you could ‘go now’ if you had to, and some tips for putting together and delivering a slideshow that will keep an audience engaged.We then shifted gear and focused on the Management Challenge itself and considered how to mobilise a community, and I suggested a story that may engage people to become interested in the activities we come up with. It could be a useful starting point to work from.I have uploaded the powerpoint to slideshare if anyone wants to follow up on links etcAnd those are my contact details if you want any further information.Thank you.(make it easy for people to follow up – means they don’t have to talk to you after your presentation when you are probably feeling a bit tired. And put only your preferred contact methods: I don’t want phonecalls. I like emails (my timeframe and schedule) and twiitter (140 characters suit me fine) and don’t want letters (which require 1 in return).