EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION SKILLS

INTRODUCTION

DELIVERING EFFECTIVE
PRESENTATIONS

THE 6 CARDINAL RULES FOR

WRITING EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS

A WORD ON STYLE

OVER THE YEARS, I HAVE BEEN ALARMED WITH THE

QUALITY OF OUR PRESENTORS

People present facing the screen

People do not establish eye contact
People present sitting down, with a laptop as a barrier
People present unprepared in appearance and content mastery
People are dressed sloppily
People read every single word on the page, but never give an
opinion or point of view
People are not even prepared to answer the most basic questions
People use filler words
People convey nervousness, a lack of confidence
Body language is tentative or defensive or inappropriate

 AND OUR PRESENTATIONS ARE JUST AS ALARMING

Mistakes have been BASIC

Facts disagree across pages

Typographical errors
Words overlap the logo
Wrong grammar

Writing could have been improved

Poor fit and flow
Unclear context setting

Reader friendliness is lacking

80% - 90% Require

Significant
Rework

Font used is for an eye examination

Page numbers missing
Source and date not identified
Printed copies are impossible to read
Colored copies are not provided
4

INTRODUCTION

DELIVERING EFFECTIVE
PRESENTATIONS

THE 6 CARDINAL RULES FOR

WRITING EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS

A WORD ON STYLE

THE TOP 10 FEARS

1. PUBLIC SPEAKING
2. DEATH
3. SPIDERS
4. DARKNESS
5. HEIGHTS
6. SOCIAL SITUATIONS
7. FLYING
8. OPEN SPACES
9. THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
10. CONFINED SPACES
www.publicspeaking.com

PEOPLE WHO COMMUNICATE WELL,

ON AVERAGE,
GET PROMOTED 6 - 7X FASTER

TSDavid Research

MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, PEOPLE WOULD DESCRIBE

AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATOR AS CHARISMATIC
CHARISMA, defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary:
1. A special magnetic charm or appeal
2. A personal magic of leadership arousing special
popular loyalty or enthusiasm for a person
I broke down charisma into the following 4 components:

Credible
Confident
Concise
Connected
8

1. CREDIBILITY ALWAYS NEEDS TO BE ESTABLISHED UP

FRONT
You need to inform your listeners WHY they should
listen to you
Your credentials will determine the attention span of
your listener
You should never apologize, start with pleasantries or
blather or by saying thank you
You set the tone, the ground rules and command of
the situation from the first minute
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2. CONFIDENCE HAS TO COME FROM YOUR ENTIRE

PERSON
This is a combination of how you speak and how you
carry yourself
In terms of delivery you need to make your voice reach
the back of the room, the last person
In terms of what you do, consider the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Am I dressed appropriately?
Am I groomed properly?
Am I standing in a commanding position?
Are my hand gestures appropriate?
Is my eye contact direct and deliberate?
Am I speaking without filler words?
10

PETER THE GREAT TRANSFORMED RUSSIA FROM

BACKWATER OBSCURITY TO GLOBAL POWERHOUSE
Believed that to ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS, YOU MUST THINK
DIFFERENTLY AND TO DO THAT YOU MUST FIRST SEE YOURSELVES
DIFFERENTLY
Embarked on his great embassy tour of the west realized that
great countries had capital cities and navies
Saw thru benchmarking that Russia was backward in terms of
thinking and customs
He started with the Boyars or noblemen shed long beards, long
hair, long cloaks (for pants)
Posted a model of the German Look on the city gates anyone
who failed to follow was first fined, then jailed

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPACT OF YOUR APPEARANCE

AND ALL YOUR NON-VERBAL SIGNALS.
11

2 CRITICAL POINTS ANTICIPATE QUESTIONS (GREEN

SPHERE) & BE READY TO SAY I DO NOT KNOW, ILL
GET RIGHT BACK TO YOU (RED SPHERE)
WHAT YOU CAN NOT ANSWER

WHAT YOU SHOULD BE

PREPARED TO ANSWER

WHAT YOU ARE

PRESENTING

12

3) BE CONCISE -- IT IS CRITICAL TO GET STRAIGHT TO

THE POINT

Most speakers talk 10 minutes too long

Get to your point

In doing so, never ever READ the page word

for word
People read silently up to 8-10X faster than
reading aloud
Your job is to add color to the page
You are being paid to highlight the most important
information, not to read all the information
13

4) CONNECT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

Know your audience before hand
Once there, work hard to establish a connection
Physical and verbal mirroring is very powerful
Isopraxis
Face your audience, never the screen

Try not to speak when your eyes are reading

Transfer your energy to the rest of the room

Audio and video arrangements must be perfect

14

INTRODUCTION

DELIVERING EFFECTIVE
PRESENTATIONS

THE 6 CARDINAL RULES FOR

WRITING EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS

A WORD ON STYLE

15

LETS AGREE SOME BASIC TERMS

16

This is called a ghost.

THIS IS CALLED A HEADLINE

This is called a Main Bullet 1
This is called a Sub Bullet a
Sub Bullet b

Main Bullet 2
Sub Bullet a
Sub Bullet b

Main Bullet 3
Sub Bullet a
Sub Bullet b

Footer

THIS IS CALLED A BANNER.

Page #
17

THIS TYPE OF PAGE INCLUDES A GRAPH OR DATA

REPRESENTED GRAPHICALLY (BAR CHART, ETC.)

SOURCE

Page #
18

RULE # 1: ALL HEADLINES NEED TO HAVE A POINT OF

VIEW (POV)
The headline tells your story -- if you have something
to say, say it up front
Inform
Persuade

Sometimes the Headline is the only thing your

audience will read and remember
Make sure it is short and punchy
Rarely should it exceed 2 lines or 16 words

There is nothing worse than a headline without a POV

some examples in the succeeding pages
HEADLINES SHOULD BE ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME (IN BOLD FONT AND
WITHOUT A PERIOD AT THE END OF THE STATEMENT).

19

First Gas Power Corporation

Loan Syndication
Loan syndication signed in Singapore on June 25, 1998
General syndication was dented by the currency crisis that swept through most
of Asia, leaving most banks bruised and cautious just as the First Gas deal
was launched into the market. A banker said the timing was a shame as the
power project remained a strong and viable one with good sponsors. -Project Finance International (July 1, 1998)
Three banks with total commitments of US$60 million participated in the
syndication:
US$20 million - KBC Bank (Belgium)
US$20 million - Bayerische Vereinsbank (German)
US$20 million - Bayerische Landesbank (German)

THIS IS A HORRIBLE HEADLINE!

20

J.P. MORGAN IS THE UNDISPUTED LEADER

IN RISK MANAGEMENT WORLDWIDE
Total notional amount of off-balance sheet
interest rate swaps and options outstanding

2007 Awards
Option Finance
Best derivatives bank in the
world

Rank
Best bank for derivatives

Best derivatives bank in the

Americas
#1 in US$ Interest Rate Swaps
#1 in Client Risk Management

#1 in Asian Interest Rate

Derivatives

Best securities firm - Latin

America

Best foreign bank - France,

Chile, Mexico

Best bank overall

Best overall derivatives dealer

#1 in interest rate options

Best in hybrid/structured
products

#1 Exchange Traded Interest

Rate Futures
#1 Sophisticated/Unusual
Structures

Best in credit derivatives

Best in exotic options

Volume
($BN)

Mkt share
(%)

J.P. Morgan

3,217

10.8%

Chase Manhattan

3,175

10.7%

Societe Generale

1,612

5.4%

Swiss Bank

1,540

5.2%

Merrill Lynch

1,500

5.1%

Salomon

1,472

5.0%

Fuji Bank

1,423

4.8%

NatWest Bank

1,400

4.7%

Paribas

1,363

4.6%

Credit Suisse FP

10

1,087

3.7%

Total top 25

29,665

Best in service - U.S. interest

rate derivatives

Source: Swaps Monitor, January 12, 1998

21

THE DASMARIAS-ZAPOTE TL & SUBSTATION WILL BE

COMPLETED BY NOV 2000 THIS WILL INCREASE
CAPACITY TO 2,000 MW
Araneta

TL: some ROW issues

SS: Civil works in
progress.

Zapote
Sucat

Once finished, TL capacity

can be increased to
2,000MW.

Imus
Binan

Dasmarinas

To Calaca/Sta. Rita

IT IS OUR HOPE THAT SANTA RITA CAN BE DISPATCHED AT THE 83% MEQ.

22

RULE # 2: ALL HEADLINES, READ IN SEQUENCE NEED TO

TELL A STORY HORIZONTAL LOGIC
This rule should be applied to all your presentations,
without exception
By ensuring that your headlines agree from one slide to
the next, you also keep your audience engaged,.
. They end up thinking quietly that makes sense...
Best case: you already have all the data and all you
need to do is make it flow
Worst case: your story is not compelling or you have
data or logic gaps
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A PRESENTATION WHERE THE AUDIENCE
ASKED QUESTIONS THAT WOULD BE ANSWERED BY THE NEXT SLIDE?
23

THE BEST PRESENTATIONS FOLLOW THE PYRAMID STRUCTURE

THAT RESULTS IN A LOGICAL STORY THAT IS COMPELLING
WHAT DO I WANT TO SAY?

MAIN POINT 1

SUPPORT

LINK

MAIN POINT 2

MAIN POINT 3

SUPPORT

SUPPORT

SUPPORT

LOGICAL SUBORDINATION REQUIRED.

CATEGORIZATION HELPS.

SUPPORT

SUPPORT

24

PYRAMID, AN EXAMPLE -- A LOGICAL STORY IS COMPELLING

WE SHOULD
INVEST NOW

MARKET IS
ATTRACTIVE

SIZE
MEETS
CRITERIA

FAST
GROWTH

WE HAVE COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE

THE OPPORTUNITY
IS TIMELY

PROFITS
ABOVE
HURDLES

NETWORK
IN PLACE

LOW
COST

2-YEAR
WINDOW

RESOURCES
NOW

25

ALWAYS TEST THE HORIZONTAL LOGIC IF YOU GET

THIS RIGHT, YOU ARE 90% OF THE WAY THERE
WHAT IS THE STORY?
Are headers ideas (rather than topics)? DO THEY STATE A POINT OF VIEW?
Is the horizontal logic clear?
Does the header follow logically from the previous header?

Are the transitions between headers clear?

Are the significant conclusions/recommendations represented in headers
(rather than in main bullets)?

26

RULE # 3: ALL MAIN BULLETS SUPPORT THE HEADLINE

VERTICAL LOGIC
A well supported headline makes the point / page
unquestionable
Conversely, the best headlines summarize the page
There should be a max of 5 main bullets per page,
ideally only 3
If a bullet does not support the headline, remove it
Tenses should be parallel if possible

27

EDC IS COMPLIANT WITH ALL APPLICABLE LEGAL AND

LENDER REQUIREMENTS
IFC, in its March 14, 2011 audit of EDCs environmental
management practices, found EDC to be compliant
All standard specifications and requirement levels of DENR were
met across project sites
- Air quality
- Noise level
- Effluent discharge

The only 2 issues are under control

- Disposal of cooling tower effluent has been addressed
- Drilling pads and sump pits are now illuminated
AS WE MOVE THE PROJECT FORWARD, EDC CONTINUES TO MAINTAIN ITS
VIGILANCE ON ITS ACTIVITIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SOUNDNESS.
28

ALWAYS TEST THE VERTICAL LOGIC

Does the headline summarize the dots/dashes/exhibits?
Do the bullets/dashes/exhibits DIRECTLY AND SUFFICIENTLY
support the header?
Are the bullets/dashes parallel in both logic and language?
Is the order explicit? Or is there a better way to order the
bullets?
Is the argument strategy coherent?
29

RULE # 4: ALL SUB BULLETS SUPPORT THE MAIN

BULLETS VERTICAL LOGIC
Sometimes, bullets need supporting data in this instance
sub bullets are used
Sub bullets are useful also when enumerating

If there is only one sub bullet, then its probably a main

bullet on its own or the idea can be absorbed by a dash
like this
Sub bullets are ideally shorter and punchier than the main
bullet
Resist the temptation to say everything; instead focus on
the main points
30

THE PIPELINE WAS BUILT IN A SAFE & RELIABLE

MANNER
A Construction design standard was adopted
Design standard was American Society of Mechanical Engineers B31.8
Pipeline wall thickness & minimum cover - greater than Code
recommendation
Protection such as concrete slabs at specific segments were added
Line pipes are of superior quality
Manufactured by Kawasaki, a top 3 manufacturer of PLs using no less
than API9, the gold standard in 24-inch pipes worldwide
Strict quality control on line pipes during production
Safety during construction was addressed
McConnell Dowell followed a comprehensive Safety Mgmt. Plan FGH
monitored
No Lost Time Incidents (total man-hours is 474,770 as of 5/31/00)
31

RULE # 5: WHEN USING QUANTITATIVE DATA OR

QUOTES, MAKE SURE YOU NAME YOUR SOURCE IN
THE FOOTER

Footer communicates a very important

message:
IN WRITING THIS PRESENTATION AND PRESENTING THESE
FACTS, I DID MY RESEARCH
I USED THIRD PARTY EXPERTS
THIS DATA IS RELIABLE
YOU CAN QUESTION MY CONCLUSION DO NOT
QUESTION MY DATA

The footer also is a great contextual clue

Source: The Holy Bible
32

MNTC IS THE CHEAPEST TOLL ROAD IN THE REGION

Comparative Cost / Kilometer -- Toll Rates In Asia

P7.24/km
P4.55/km
P3.21/km

P2.31/km*
MNTC
(2005)

Source: MNTC/Transroute
* Assuming P53:US$1

Singapore
(2001)

China
(2001)

Thailand
(2001)

P2.39/km
Malaysia
(2001)

33

RULE # 6: USE CONTEXTUAL CLUES

Contextual clues are items on the page that help

your audience understand better
Where you are in the presentation
Where the data came from
What topic is being discussed

Apart from the ghost and the footer, color is your

friend

Can anyone give me one good reason why we

should not put page numbers?
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The Ghost..

35

Funding Strategy

Where are we now?

Where are we headed?

What are our options?

Recommendation
36

REMEMBER TO PROVIDE OTHER CONTEXTUAL CLUES

Can you articulate an introduction?
Are there mapping / table of contents pages that make the
agenda explicit?

Does the document fulfill the expectations that the table of

contents page creates?
Are verbal and graphic ghosts used to maintain the formal
agenda and to lead the audience?
Do the ghosts serve as accurate indicators of logical
subordination?
37

INTRODUCTION

DELIVERING EFFECTIVE
PRESENTATIONS

THE 6 CARDINAL RULES FOR

WRITING EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS

A WORD ON STYLE

38

RETENTION OF VISUALS AND WORDS IS

600% GREATER THAN WORDS ALONE

Words And Visuals

Words Alone

600%

Retention of Content Over Time

Source: BA&H L&F Handbook

39

FY 2006 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

NET INCOME WAS UP AT US$93 MILLION, OR BY 7%, ON ACCOUNT
OF PANTABANGAN/MASIWAYS OPERATIONS & LOWER EXPENSES
Headline

2011

2010

Difference

Revenues

992

828

164 (+20%)

EBITDA

275

261

14 (+5%)

Net Income

93

87

6 (+7%)

Total Assets

1,732

1,482

250 (+17%)

Total Liabilities

1,026

1,026

Stockholders Equity
(including Minority Interest)

706

457

249 (+55%)

Current Ratio

2.2x

2.0x

Liabilities-to-Total Equity Ratio

1.4x

2.2x

Liabilities-to-EBITDA Ratio

3.7x

3.9x

IT IS BETTER TO PRESENT THESE DATA GRAPHICALLY! COMPARE THIS WITH

THE NEXT SLIDE.
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41

VISUAL DISPLAYS ARE COMPELLING AND ARE CRUCIAL

TO BREAK MONOTONY
Does the graphic (bars, circles or lines, etc.) immediately relay
or visibly support the pages key message?
Does your exhibit/graphic support ONE thought?

Can you easily explain your exhibit/graphic?

Does your exhibit have a title, label, a legend and a source?

Do you avoid visual clutter and eliminate excess data?

Do you avoid distortion (in scales, graphics, bars, axis length,
etc.)?
42

SMALLER COMPANIES OUTPERFORM FPHC IN

TERMS OF GROSS REVENUES
Total Assets (Php M)

FPHC

Tropical Hut
Food Market
South
Supermarket

Honda Cars
Makati

16,750M

633M

952M

608M

Gross Revenue (Php M)

1,784M

2,027M

3,054M

3,884M

# 278

# 259

# 159

# 131
43

Rotating
Brownouts
Projects slow as
Demand / Supply Gap
Tightens (Difficult for
Investors to complete project
plan and Lenders raise bar
for approvals)

Some Contract
Adjustments
(Lenders concerned / upset,
Raise risk profile)

The
Vicious
Cycle of
Power
Crises

Fast track construction

(Even if High Price,
Emergency rules on
Environment)

High Prices (Because of

contracts, low capacity
utilization)

Regulatory review and

Contract renegotiation
(Consumer outrage and
Legislative hearings)

44

THE MARKET MECHANISM WORKS IN THE POWER

INDUSTRY
Over time, the companies that have invested in the
power sector have offered lowered prices to
consumers
This is evident given the comparison of same-company
returns for identical technology
MIRANT: Sual and Pagbilao both coal fired
ENRON: Pinamucan and Subic both oil fired
FIRST PRIVATE POWER Bauang and Panay both diesel
powered

It is clear that over time, competitive pressures are in

play and that the market efficient
THIS CAN BE PRESENTED IN A BETTER WAY --- SEE NEXT SLIDE.
45

Net Income Php M per MW

THE COMPETITIVE MARKET IS AT WORK, AND THE GAME

WILL GO TO THE HEALTHY, THE FOCUSED & THE BEST ABLE
TO EXECUTE
Enron - Bat
8.2

Pagbilao
8.87

First Wave:
Fast Track BOTs

Bauang
5.2

Second Wave:
Negotiated and
Bidded out IPPs
Panay
2.8

SUAL
5.19

Enron Subic
4.05

1990

1996

2001

NEXT WAVE: NPC PRIVATIZATION

46

EDITING IN STAGES RESULTS IN A COHERENT AND

COMPELLING PRESENTATION
OBJECTIVE

INFORM
PERSUADE

HORIZONTAL
LOGIC

WHAT IS THE STORY

CONTEXT > BODY > CONCLUSION

VERTICAL
LOGIC

DO THE MAIN BULLETS SUPPORT

THE HEADLINE
IS THE HEADLINE A SUMMARY OF
THE PAGE

DETAILS

HAVE YOU USED CONTEXTUAL CLUES

IS IT EASY TO FOLLOW

Secure Approval
Deliver Bad News
Ask for resources

Short and Concise Headlines

Big Picture Better than too
much detail
Not merely descriptions

AVOID PAGES THAT ARE TOO WORDY

PARALLEL TENSES &
CONSTRUCTION
IF ITS A MAYBE, ITS A NO

Page numbers, Table of

Contents
Sources of Data Identified
Labels, Titles, Axes
47

CHECK YOUR LANGUAGE FOR CLARITY, BASED ON WHAT

YOU KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE WILL UNDERSTAND
Do you use natural, simple language like spoken English?
The ultimate question is: will my audience understand me?
Did you use active verbs and concrete nouns?
The city council gave its approval to EDC (8)
EDC secured city council approval (5)

Did you establish the correct tone?

Did you use appropriate language and avoid jargon?
Define acronyms the first time they are encountered
Write to be helpful, not to impress
48

CHECK YOUR LANGUAGE FOR CONCISENESS

Avoid prepositions, these are useless
Concerning the dispute,
Beyond these, there are..
Basically, because of.

Avoid nominalizations, turning verbs into nouns

because these require prepositions in order to work

Act : Action by the team

Mechanize : Mechanization of the facility
Rationalize : Rationalization under the Soviet regime
Prioritize: Prioritization emanating from the conference
49

CAN ANYONE GUESS WHAT THE MOST USED BUT

MOST USELESS PHRASE IS?

IS CURRENTLY
ARE CURRENTLY
AM CURRENTLY

EDC is currently pursuing 7 expansion projects.

EDC is pursuing 7 expansion projects.
I am currently bleeding to death.
I am bleeding to death.
CURRENTLY, CURRENTLY DOES NOT ADD ANY VALUE.
50

USE BEST PRACTICES OF LOGIC AND FORMAT AS

EFFECTIVE JOB MANAGEMENT TOOLS
Essential Concepts
Horizontal Logic

Best Practices
Top-Down Approach
Pre-Writing and Structuring

Storyline

Storyboards
Conscious Argument Strategy

Vertical Logic

Logical Subordination
Reasonable Categorization

Writing as Problem Solving

Being Issues Driven

Audience Centered Writing

Settling Expectations
Settling Context Clearly
Being Product Driven:
Answering So What?
51

TODAY, I HAVE PUT YOU ON THE ROAD TO SHARPER

PRESENTATIONS
CLEAR

Logic that is unquestionable

Data that are High Quality

CONCISE

Writing that reflects an economy of words

Reader does not get the sense that presenter is only trying to
impress
Cure Engineer-titis - Writer resists the temptation to say
everything, instead says only what is critical

CONVINCING

Audience is engaged, captivated

This is absolutely essential since we are so reliant on presentations

CONNECTED
52

IN ADDITION, WE SHOULD NOW STRIVE FOR A SINGLE

WORLD CLASS STANDARD FOR OUR PRESENTATIONS
Our presentations are for two purposes
Inform
Persuade

as such there is no reason to have such a wide variety

of styles and methods
We have taken a first step and agreed the basic
framework, format and some ground rules
With these we should all be on the way to writing better
presentations as part of our aspiration to be world
class
53

EVERYTIME YOU HAVE

TO SPEAK, YOU ARE
AUDITIONING FOR
LEADERSHIP
JAMES HUMES
US CONGRESSMAN
SPEECHWRITER FOR 7 PRESIDENTS / PRIME MINISTERS, CEOs
INCLUDING WINSTON CHURCHILL, THEODORE ROOSEVELT, RICHARD NIXON

54

THE END

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