1. Effective Presentations
Anyone can give a good presentation.
Preparation and practice are the keys to success.

2. Contents Key features of a good presentation Preparation and planning
The audience
Structure of an oral presentation
Use and preparation of visuals
Body language
Voice and pronunciation

3. Key features of a good presentation
A well-organised structure
Appropriate visual aids
Good technique

4. Preparation and planning
Essential preparation and planning checklist 1. What is my aim? 2. Who am I speaking to? 3. What is my title? 4. What are the main points I want to make? 5. How long is my presentation? 6. What do I want the audience to do after listening to my presentation?

5. The audience What do they know about my organization?
What are their expectations in terms of technical detail?
What size is the audience?
Is my audience made up of different ages and backgrounds?
What is their probable level of specialist knowledge?

6. Structure of an oral presentation
Three parts – beginning (introduction), middle (body) and end (conclusion)
Beginning – most important part – establish rapport with audience and get its attention
- Greet the audience and introduce yourself
- Give title and introduce subject
- Refer to how long you intend to speak
- Refer to the scope of your talk
- Sketch the structure of your talk
- Refer to any visual aids you will be using

7. Making an effective opening
Give the audience a problem to think about
(Suppose you ………… Why is it that ………)
Give some amazing facts
(Did you know that ………………… )
A story or a personal anecdote, briefly
Use a citation
Make a funny remark

8. The main body
Content – What information should you give in your talk? Remember you are limited by time!
Quantity – How much information should you give? Enough to develop your ideas clearly.
Sequence your ideas

9. Signpost or signal where you are
List information
Link ideas, sections/make transitions

10. Exercise
Which of these phrases refer to a) an earlier part of the presentation b) a part that has not been reached yet?
As I mentioned earlier ……
I will speak about that …….
Let’s go on to …….
I’ll return to that ……
This leads me to my next point ……
I’d just like to look again at …

11. Stating the purpose Follow the introduction after greeting and opening
E.g.
Good morning/afternoon/evening, everyone. Thanks for coming. I’m (name).
Today I’m going to talk to you about the use of green technology in building design.

12. End or conclusion Summarise your main points
Give a brief conclusion – a message that logically comes out of the ideas in your presentation, i.e. recommendations, next steps
Thank the audience for listening

13. Invite the audience to ask questions, make comments or open a discussion
Deal with difficult questions
- Make sure you understand the question
- Put question to someone in your team who can answer
- Agree but give an alternative point of view

14. Use of visuals What are visuals? What media can be used?
Graphs, maps, drawings, models, objects, charts, photos, images, video/film
What media can be used?
Transparencies, power point slides, video projection/projector, handouts
What should you put on a visual?
Key words, technical words, lists, examples, diagrams, charts

15. Why use visuals? To attract the audience’s attention
To illustrate points which are easier understood in visual form (e.g. statistics)
To emphasize ideas
To involve and motivate the audience
To serve as a change from aural/oral mode
To save time and to avoid writing on a board
To assist the speaker

16. Preparing visuals Title of talk on first visual
Structure of talk/main headings on second visual
Colour for additional impact
Text should be visible in a colour background
Minimum text – points only
Pictures should match text

17. Presenting a visual Prepare audience for what they are going to see
Draw attention of audience to points you wish to highlight
Give audience time to absorb information on slide by rephrasing your point

18. Slide structure - good Use 1-2 slides per minute of your presentation
Write in point form, not complete sentences
Include 4-5 points per slide
Avoid wordiness: use key words and phrases only

19. Slide structure - bad
This page contains too many words for a presentation slide. It is not written in point form, making it difficult both for your audience to read and for you to present each point. Although there are exactly the same number of points on this slide as the previous slide, it looks much more complicated. In short, your audience will spend too much time trying to read this paragraph instead of listening to you.

20. Slide Structure - Good Show one point at a time:
Will help audience concentrate on what you are saying
Will prevent audience from reading ahead
Will help you keep your presentation focused

21. Slide Structure - Bad Do not use distracting animation
Do not go overboard with the animation
Be consistent with the animation that you use

22. Fonts - Good Use at least an 18-point font
Use different size fonts for main points and secondary points
this font is 24-point, the main point font is 28- point, and the title font is 36-point
Use a standard font like Times New Roman or Arial

23. Don’t use a complicated font
Fonts - Bad
If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written
CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ COMPLETELY CAPITALISED CONTENT.
Don’t use a complicated font

24. Colour - Good
Use a colour of font that contrasts sharply with the background
Ex: blue font on white background
Use colour to reinforce the logic of your structure
Ex: light blue title and dark blue text
Use colour to emphasize a point
But only use this occasionally

25. Colour - Bad
Using a font colour that does not contrast with the background colour - hard to read
Using colour for decoration - distracting and annoying.
Using a different colour for each point - unnecessary
Using a different colour for secondary points - also unnecessary
Trying to be creative can also be bad

26. Background – Bad
Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from
Always be consistent with the background that you use

27. Graphs - Good Use graphs rather than just charts and words
Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain than is raw data
Trends are easier to visualize in graph form
Always title your graphs

28. Graphs - Bad

29. Graphs - Good

30. Graphs - Bad

31. Minor gridlines are unnecessary
Font is too small
Colours are illogical
Title is missing
Shading is distracting

32. Language matters!
Language of books meant for reading – hence rather complex
Spoken language needs to be simple and understandable
Remember KISS principle
Use active verbs instead of passive
E.g. We have achieved our targets.
Our targets have been achieved.

33. Spelling and Grammar Proofread your slides for: speling mistakes
the use of of repeated words
grammatical errors you might have make
Have someone else check your presentation!

34. Body language What is body language?
Eye-contact, facial expressions, posture, gestures, movements
Why is body language useful?
- Natural part of communication
- Clarify meaning
- Vent nervousness
- Maintain interest
- Emphasize a point

35. Positive body language
Eye contact to maintain the attention of the audience
Natural and friendly facial expressions
Posture – stand straight but relaxed
Movement – move forward to emphasize
Gestures
- up and down head movement to indicate importance
- hands back and forth to indicate two possibilities

36. Negative body language
Loss of eye contact: looking at notes or screen or board or at floor
Look blankly into people’s eyes
Sway back and forth like a pendulum
Back turned to audience
Wring hands
Hands in pockets

37. Voice and pronunciation
Correct pronunciation important to be understood correctly
Qualities of voice – loudness, speed, variety, pitch, pauses
Voice important to indicate importance and meaning, to create atmosphere, to avoid sounding monotonous

38. Any questions?