Presentation Skills

Today presentation skills are required in every field. As a student or as an executive or as a Chairman of a big name organization, we will have to make a presentation on various occasions. Presentation is nothing but sharing our information effectively with others. Presentation may be defined as a carefully planned visual and aural event, designed for the purpose of gaining understanding, agreement or action.

Fight the Fright....!

This is the first thing one has to do for an effective presentation. A Research has shown that more than 40% of people say their top fear was speaking in front of other people. According to one survey, fear of public speaking came before heights, death, illness and other common phobias. The following list of top ten fears is taken from the Book of Lists: 1. Speaking Before a Group 2. Heights 3. Insects and Bugs 4. Financial Problems 5. Deep Water 6. Sickness 7. Death 8. Flying 9. Loneliness 10. Dogs So as a presenter we have to overcome our fear. We have a simple key termed POPTA to drive away ours fear. POPTA can be defined thus 1. Purpose First of all we need to define the purpose of our presentation. It may be to teach, to persuade, to Prove, to Review, to Expository, to Impress, Put to sleep, to entertain... etc.

2. Organization Good organization of our presentation will help us to give effective presentation. Always we should have an outline of our presentation. Tell them what you are going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them Dont just give the data and solution or solution then problem. Make the audience to understand the problem and give the solution. 3. Prepare An unprepared presenter loses the audience before even starting the presentation. Even if we know the purpose of the presentation and organize the presentation well, without practice it will not be effective. So good practice adds perfection to our presentation and builds confidence. Arrive earlier and make sure everything is set up. Slides should be done well in advance. 4. Time We should have a very good idea of the time allotted for our presentation. This time duration should be kept in mind while preparing for our presentation. It is better to end early than to go over. We will never have enough time to tell everything, so it is good to stick the most important points. 5. Audience We should aware of the type of our audience. Try to empathize with the people in the audience and consider the following: What are the needs and expectations of the students? What are the needs and expectations of the lecturer? What do they know already? (For instance, are we merely repeating what has already been said during lectures?) What do they need to know in order to understand our presentation? What are their likes/dislikes in presentation style, use of technology, format, if any?

What adds value to our presentation? A research by Dr.Mehrabian, University of California, Los Angeles shows the following result Body language accounts for 55% of the success of our presentation. The clarity of our voice accounts for 38% of the success of our presentation. What you actually say accounts for 7% of the success of our presentation. Body Language Audience will interpret your body language. The way we use our body will reinforce the message, weaken or even contradict it. So we should aware of our personal appearance, our posture, facial expressions and gestures. The following points should be kept in mind. Voice Dont always speak in low voice, so it becomes boring, nor in high voice, so it becomes disturbing Stress important words Vary the pace Dont speak in such a low voice that nobody can hear Be formal and decent Stand straight. Appear confident. No hands in pockets Make all movements meaningful. Avoid exaggeration.

Information Structure Structuring of information is the key point in preparation of any presentation. It consists of three parts. Introduction o o o o Announce the topic. Give a starting statement. Ask a provocative question. Tell a story, quotation, joke, etc.

Body o o o Define the major points. Organize the ideas. Provide as much evidence as you can

Conclusion o o o Conclude the ideas. Leave an impression. State clearly what we expect from the audience to take with them.

Reference http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/publications/qmanual/ch-11.html http://www.speaking-tips.com/Articles/Overcome-Your-Fear-of-Presenting.aspx Useful Websites http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/dept/Tips/present/comms.htm http://www.effective-public-speaking.com/starting/menu.php http://www.presentationhelper.co.uk/Essential_Presentation_skills.htm http://ergonomics.uq.edu.au/download/presentation.ppt http://kinesiology.boisestate.edu/kines442/tips_for_making_effective_powerp.htm http://www.iasted.org/conferences/formatting/Presentations-Tips.ppt http://www.toastmasters-public-speaking.com/presentation-skills.html L. Selvam Head, Department of Computer Science & Applications