Guidelines for Giving Effective Formal Presentations

Rule 1: Plan & Practice Without planning presentations appear thrown together Without practice you appear unprepared

Rule 2: Use the Spell-Checker There is no excuse for misspelling! Why should your customer trust your analysis if you have no quality control over your presentation?

Rule 3: Don’t Read or Memorize How would you like it if professors read from the textbook? l Guaranteed to produce boredom l Use bullets to trigger thoughts l Speak extemporaneously l Practice out-loud in front of your teammates l Requires planning ahead (see rule 1)

Rule 4: Avoid “um”, “and uh”, “ya know”, etc. This habit stems from not practicing enough (see rule #1) l Slow down your speech l Deliberate as you speak l Don’t apologize for being nervous Your audience will appreciate your delivery much more

Rule 5: Be Honest and Forthright Fallacy: “If you can’t dazzle ’em with brilliance, baffle ’em with BS.” l People know when they are being bamboozled l Speak with sincerity and integrity l If you don’t know the answer to a question, admit it

Rule 6: Display Confidence l Expect to be challenged on your ideas l Don’t take questions as a personal attack l Defensive Response = Added Attack l Open Response = Greater Latitude

Rule 7: Don’t be Apathetic or Nonchalant l If you don’t care, why should your customer care? l If you don’t care, why should your manager support you? l If you don’t care, why should your audience listen? An apathetic presentation is a waste of everyone’s time

Rule 8: Show Professional Courtesy l Be on time for other presentations l Give your full attention to the presentations of others l Avoid an air of aloofness or unpreparedness

Rule 9: Anticipate Questions You know your project better than anyone l Think about the parts which will raise questions l Think about the areas in your presentation which may be unclear. l Plan ahead (see rule1) and prepare some holdback slides l Demonstrate foresight and initiative.

Rule 10: Expect Equipment Failure Fancy equipment is impressive...unless it doesn’t work! l Know how to use your equipment l Keep a set of hardcopy slides just in case l Have an extra bulb for the overhead projector

Rule 11: Design Readable Slides l 20 point font size or larger l 7 bullets or less l 7 words per bullet or less l Separate complex ideas onto multiple slides

Rule 12: Dress Professionally n Appearance defines first impressions n Professional appearance commands greater respect from the audience n Professional appearance implies that the speaker takes the presentation seriously n Professional Appearance = cleanliness + neatness + clothing + posture

Other suggestions n Don’t stand in front of the screen where you block the view. n Don’t look at the screen (or the rostrum monitor) and talk to the screen – look at and talk to the audience. n Don’t read from the screen (or the rostrum monitor) – screen should show brief bullet points that help focus attention on the right topic, but won’t contain the meat of the presentation. n Make the text on the screen short and sweet – a whole line is too long!