Delivering Great Presentations

Ever been to a really bad presentation?
You know, the kind where the speaker stands behind the podium, uses
slides that mirror what he is saying directly, and includes lots
of data tables to validate his position.
But. "What's so bad about
that?" you ask. "Isn't that how most presentations are given?"
Yes. That is how most presentations are delivered,
but that doesn't mean that's the most effective way to deliver
them. This kind of presentation risks boring your audience to
the point where they start wishing for a fire alarm to go off so they
can escape. And once you lose someone, it is next to impossible
to bring his or her attention back.
If the information you are presenting is important
enough for you to deliver orally, then it demands an appropriate
amount of planning and preparation so that the information you
present is memorable – for the right reasons. Give a bad presentation
and you'll be remembered all right: It just won't be the type
of impression you want to leave in anyone's mind.
When someone presents well, it sends the message
that the person is capable, confident, intelligent, and competent.
These people get noticed and that type of attention bodes well
for your career. Even if you don't make formal presentations in
your current position, think about the future and keep in mind
that you do have to present your ideas and opinions on a daily
basis. The same basic principles of effective delivery apply.
Four Principles of Great Presentations

Understand Your Audience.
Prepare Your Content.
Deliver Confidently.
Control the Environment.

1. Understand Your Audience
To deliver a great presentation you have to consider the following
audience characteristics:

Profile – Who are they? What is the common element that brings
them together?
Needs – Why are they attending the presentation? What do they
need to know after you've finished?
Wants – What do they want from the presentation? Do they want to
increase knowledge, learn something or be entertained? How can you
connect their interests with your message?
Expectations – What do they expect in terms of content and
length?
Current Knowledge – How much explanation do you need to provide? What assumptions can you make?

When you know your audience, you can prepare content that appeals
to them specifically. If you pass over this first crucial step you
risk delivering a presentation that is content rich and relevance
poor.
2. Prepare Your Content
Now that you know who you are presenting to and why they are
there, you can determine what to present. Here are some tips for
content preparation:

Don't try to cover everything. As Voltaire said, "The secret of
being a bore is to tell all." Great presentations stimulate
thoughts, questions, and discussion. Develop your content so that
it covers the main points but leaves room for the audience to
apply the information to their own circumstances.
Start off well with a great hook – you only
have a few minutes right at the start to fully engage the audience.
Don't use this time to present background information. Get your
audience charged up and eager to listen. Make the relevance
immediately obvious.
Also, start by telling your audience where
you are heading. Don't make them wait for your conclusion, tell
them up front what your premise or purpose is. This helps your
audience stay focused. They may or may not agree with you at
the start, but they will be able to quickly spot all of your
supporting arguments.
Your presentation should have five to seven take-away points. This follows the chunking principle , which you can learn more about here .
Tell a story, make comparisons, and use lots of examples. Be sure to mix up the type of content to stimulate audience interest.
Present your ideas logically using supporting evidence as necessary.
Provide only as much background information as needed.
Outline actions or next steps that are required.
Develop a strong close, including a summary. Bring your conclusions back around to audience need and the hook you created. Consider ending with a question designed to stimulate further discussion.


Tip:
For a similar but a subtly different approach, see our article on the Rhetorical Triangle .

3. Deliver Confidently
There are two main aspects of your delivery: your visual aids and your style. We'll look at them separately.
Slides
Unless your presentation is very short, you will need some sort of
visual aid to keep the attention of your audience. There is a fine
line, though, between drawing attention to your points, and
distracting the audience from what you are saying. Here are some
key factors to consider when designing slides:

Keep slides simple and easy to understand.
When explaining, start with the overall concept and then move to
the details.
The information on the slide should add value to your
presentation or summarize it – it is not meant to be your
presentation.
Ensure that any charts, graphs or tables
you include are very simple and easy to read. Use them sparingly.
Use images (clip art and photos) sparingly and make sure the
image means something and isn't just there to fill up space.
Use pleasant color schemes, high contrast, simple fonts, and
bold and italic to add meaning to words.
Don't use fly-ins, fade-ins or outs or other animations unless
absolutely necessary to really emphasize a point. How many times
have you been put into a hypnotic state watching words or lines
fly into a presentation?


Delivery Style
The way you deliver the content is often what makes or breaks a presentation. Here are some pointers to remember:

Use gestures for meaning, not for comfort. Try not to talk with your hands or move about carelessly. Everything you do should have purpose i.e. gesture to the visual aid to draw the audience's attention.
Pause for effect after main points or after you present a visual aid.
Step out from behind the podium and connect with your audience – make sure you have a remote control device to change slides or cue other types of visuals.
Talk loudly enough for people at the back to hear, or use a microphone.
Make eye contact and hold it for 3 to 5 seconds. Any less and it looks like you are merely scanning the crowd.
Be passionate – show your audience that you care about what you are saying.
Consider putting up a blank or low-content screen between slides – this puts the attention where it should be: on you!
Change your pace and style from time to time.
Be natural – don't try to be a comedian if you're not.
Finish early rather than late.

When you present with confidence and authority, your audience will
pay attention and react to you as someone who is worth listening
to. Fake it if you need to, by turning your nervousness into
creative and enthusiastic energy.
4. Control the Environment
You won't ever eliminate all sources of problems, but through diligent planning and preparation you can mitigate your risks.

Practice, practice, practice: The ultimate goal is to deliver your presentation note-free. Short of that, you want to be sure you are comfortable with the material and that nothing comes as a surprise. Consider practicing in front of a video camera and reviewing your delivery. Don't take short-cuts here because it shows! The point is for the presentation to look effortless – when you struggle, the audience focuses on you, and not on what you are saying.
Keep the lights on: When you darken the room, the screen stands out, not you. And it also encourages sleep, which you want to avoid at all costs!
Always have back-ups and a back-up plan. What if you forget your material? What will you do if the CD won't load? What if the equipment doesn't arrive on time? Plan for as many contingencies as possible.
Dress appropriately for the situation – find out in advance what the dress code will be.
Have a policy for answering questions – let your audience know when they can ask questions so you aren't inappropriately interrupted.
Finish on time, every time. Last impressions are just as important as first ones.


Key Points
Presenting is not a natural activity and to do it well requires
careful thought and lots of practice. You can choose to be
average, or even below average, by simply emulating what most
other presenters do. Or, you can take your presentations to the
next level and leave your audiences with a powerful message that
they remember, while keeping them interested and connected from
start to finish. To do this you need to pay strict attention to
your audience analysis, content preparation, delivery style, and
the external environment. When you control these for optimum
audience relevance, interest, and engagement you are ready to
deliver a great presentation.
The final element you must add is lots and lots of practice. Make
your next presentation great by planning and preparing well in
advance and making it look like it does come naturally to you.