Presentation Skills Training
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Presentation Skills Training
How to Plan a Presentation for Maximum Effect
Thankfully gone are the days when presentation skills training courses were all about how to put a power point slide show together.
We now realize that although the power point or other visual aids are a vital part of presenting, the success of the presentation is about you and how you get your message across to the audience.
Just think of this, you suddenly receive an email requesting you to give a 15-minute presentation on your role in the company to the Board of management. Where do you start?
To keep things simple you should consider what some presentations skills training courses refer to as the 2 P's that stand for Plan and prepare.
When we look at planning a presentation, the type of questions we should be considering are as follows:
Who are the audience?
What are their expectations?
What do I need to cover?
What do they already know?
What do I want them to do after the presentation?
I love that last question as that determines how to structure the presentation, for example if after the presentation you are hoping that they will see you as an integral part of the organization you can get this message across. If on the other hand you are just giving them information for an update your presentation can be based with the goal in mind of sharing information.
What do I need to cover? This is an area where so often on presentation skills training courses delegates make mistakes. They believe they need to cover everything, when in truth this is normally overkill and you should be prioritizing what you need to cover by using 3 simple questions:
What must I tell them?
What could I tell them?
What would be nice to know, but only if time permits?
Many people on presentation skills training courses start off by putting the subject of the presentation in a circle on a sheet of paper and then working from that. This can be achieved by either brainstorming or as a mind map. Once the paper is full they then prioritize the most important messages that need to be covered.
The next crucial step is to put the messages they have decided to cover in some form of logical order, which will make sense to the audience. From there you can develop headings and sub headings and start thinking of how you can reinforce your message with the use of visual aids.
When it comes to visual aids always remember the word visual, all too often we see presentations on power point with words, words, and more words.
Thankfully gone are the days when presentation skills training courses were all about power point slides.
About the Author: Frank O'Toole from Premier Training Courses has been teaching people to get their message across through coaching and presentation skills training that works. Sales Training Courses from Premier Training Courses, let's achieve.
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Presentation Skills Tips You Need to Know
Presentation skills training is not all about the presentation, good training courses also cover other factors that can impact on the presentation.
Some of these things are the venue and the seating arrangements. I have listed below the key areas all presenters should consider when delivering a presentation.
It is important to consider where the presentation is going to take place. There may not always be a choice of venue, but it is useful to see it beforehand, especially if you have not spoken there before. The ideal venue is:
- Quiet and without distractions like picture windows, noise, interruptions, etc.
- Large enough for your audience
- Equipped with the facilities you and your audience will need
- Comfortable, but not too comfortable
- Laid out in a way that suits you, your audience and your objective
Always try to have a trial run of the presentation in the venue before the official presentation, particularly for the use of microphones etc
Seating layout
There are many variations of seating arrangements and you may not have control over the layout. The following are some of the many variations possible - there are advantages and disadvantages to each.
Theatre Style
- People sit in rows, best suited to raised stage/podium or raked seating
- Most commonly used for large audiences (Over 40)
- Suit oblong rooms
- Formal atmosphere
- Eye contact difficult
Curved Rows
- Less formal than theatre
- Suit medium to large audience (18 - 80)
- Similar problems to theatre
Horseshoe or "U"
- Single row of people arranged in an open "U" (6 - 16)
- Suitable for small to medium groups
- Informal
- Conducive to participation
- Maximum eye contact
Boardroom
- Used in in-company presentations
- Formal
- Poor sightlines
- Confrontational
Round Table
- Suitable for very small groups (under 6)
- Informal
- Not suitable for projected visual aids
Cabaret Style
- Audience sat in groups at round tables
- Used in conference situations
- Useful if you want discussion / working groups
- Difficult to manage or focus audience attention
If you do not get the venue and the seating arrangements correct it can and will impact on your presentation.
As taught on numerous presentation skills training courses, if you cannot control the venue or the seating the first question you should ask before starting the presentation is 'where should I position myself'?
Presentation skills training will teach you that you must position yourself in a place where you can make eye contact to engage the audience but also allow your audience to see the visuals you use without too much hassle.
Source: Frank O'Toole, Premier Training Courses
by uktraining
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