Learn to Make
Effective Presentations
A presentation
basically conveys information from a speaker to a number of audiences. Mostly
students do not have knowledge of effective presentation. There are certain
tips or strategies to make the presentation good and effective.
1.
Show the Passion and Connect with the Audience
During
presentation, it’s very difficult to relax your mind but you have to do that.
You have to overcome your nervousness. The great presenters across the globe,
time and again, said that audience should be the main focus of the presenter.
The best way to connect with the audience is to show your passion for the
topic. You have to be honest with your audience that what is important to you
and why it matters. You have to stay enthusiastic and honest, your audience
will surely respond to you.
2.
Focus on Audience’s Needs
Your focus must
be on the thing that what audience will learn from your presentation. While,
preparing presentation, you focus must be on the preference of the audience not
on your telling of the facts or your knowledge. While giving the presentation
you should also focus on the response and reaction of your audience.
3.
Keep the Content Simple: Focus on Core Idea
When you are
planning your presentation, you have to keep the question in mind. What is the
key message that you have to tell to your audience? You have to communicate
that message in brief form. Some expert presenters recommend that it should be
of “30-seconds elevator summary”, other recommend to write it on the back of
your presentation card, or say it less than 15 words.
4.
Smile and Maintain Eye Contact with the Audience
This is a very
essential aspect of presentation. It seems very easy but mostly presenters fail
to do it. If you are smiling that you are helping your audience to connect with
you and your topic. It will decrease your nervousness because you will realize that
you are talking to individuals not great mass of unknown people. You have to
make sure that both you and your slides are visible to your audience.
5.
Start Strongly
The start of
the presentation is very important you have to grab the attention. Audience will
give you few minutes’ grace and you have to hold them. Instead of making the
audience dull or boring try to entertain them. Don’t waste your time on telling
that what you are. Start by entertaining them by telling a story or an
attention grabbing image on the slide.
6.
10-20-30 Rule for Slides
This tip is given
by Guy Kawasaki of Apple. He suggested that
slideshows shouldn’t be
more than 10 slides;
more than 20 minutes; and
Use a font
size more than 30 point.
This last is
important as it stops you to add too
much information on any one slide.
7.
Tell Stories
Human beings naturally
respond to stories. Stories help students to pay attention, and also to remember
things easily. If you are able to use stories in your presentation, your audience is more likely to
engage and to remember your points afterwards. It is a good idea to start your presentation with
a story.
Finding The
Story Behind Your Presentation
To effectively
tell a story, focus on using at least one of the two most basic storytelling elements in your presentation:
Focusing On
Characters – People have stories; things,
data, and objects can not. So ask yourself “who” is directly involved in your
topic that you can use as the focal point of your story.
For example,
instead of talking about cars (your company’s products), you could focus on specific characters like: The drivers the
car is intended for – people looking for speed and adventure. The engineers who
went out of their way to design the most cost-effective car.
A Changing
Dynamic – A story needs something to change
along the way. So first of all ask yourself “What is not as it should be?” and
answer with what you are going to do about it.(or what you did about it).
For example… Did
a complicated and confusing food labelling system lead you to establish a color-coded
nutritional index so that anybody could easily understand it.
8.
Use your Voice Effectively
The spoken word
is actually a pretty inefficient for communication, because it uses only one of
your audience’s five senses. That’s why presenters tend to use visual aids, too.
But you can deliver presentation by using your voice effectively. Varying the
speed at which you talk, and emphasizing changes in pitch and tone all these
help to make your voice more interesting
and hold your audience’s attention.
9.
Use your Body Too
It has been
estimated that more than three quarters of communication is non-verbal. That
means that as well as your tone of voice, your body language is important to
get your message across. Make sure that
you are giving the right messages: you should avoid body language includes
crossed arms, hands held behind your back or in your pockets, and pacing the
stage. Make your gestures open and confident, and move naturally around the
stage, and among the audience too, if
possible.
10.
Relax, Breathe and Enjoy
If you find
presenting difficult, it can be hard to be calm and relaxed about doing it. One
option is to start by concentrating on your breathing. Slow it down, and make
sure that you’re breathing fully. You should pause for breath occasionally
during your presentation too. If you can
bring yourself to relax, you will certainly present better.. If you can
actually start to enjoy yourself, your audience will respond to that, and
engage better. Your presentations will improve exponentially, and so will your
confidence. It’s well worth a try.
0 Comments