The 5 P’s of Presentations
A simple, step-by-step guide to giving
professional oral presentations
[There is a lot of information here, and it
is all important.]
INTRODUCTION
A well-known
That fear seems to be
prevalent worldwide, especially when people are using a non-native
language. This negative response,
however, can be greatly diminished by following five simple guidelines that
will make you “fearless” (or at least more effective) at your next oral presentation
(sales pitch, corporate speech, lecture, panel discussion, technical briefing,
or any other formal or informal presentation you must give.
That is, if you are
trying to persuade or inform; you are exchanging ideas with your audience;
or when you are leading a
problem-solving meeting) the following five-step process will help you to
become more skillful and more confident when you making a presentation for the
World of Work:
Prepare
Practice
Preview
Present
These are the key
steps to successful presentations and will help to eliminate the fear and
anxiety when you have to speak to an audience of customers, colleagues or
anyone.
A FEW MAIN TIPS
BEFORE STEP 1.
Overall, before
reviewing the “5 P’s” of presentations, it is important to know that generally
there are three major areas to consider as you think about and organize your
presentation:
(a) decide on your topic’s objective/goals and
limit your main points only
to
those which support them,
(b) make those supporting points very clear
and easy to understand, and
(c) use an effective beginning, called a
“grabber” opening (see step 2 Prepare below),
and
finish with an equally effective closing (see step 5 below).
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STEP 1) |
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First, decide on
the objective/goal of your presentation.
Do you want to inform, give recommendations, state conclusions, or
something else? To obtain the needed
information, you may have to plan how to conduct your research, gather
information, and organize it. |
Always remember to follow the 4
steps to an effective message. |
Then, analyze your audience,
before you organize the
strategy for communicating your main points. |
Next, organize your
main points in this way: a) wWrite
an outline of the main ideas you want to communicate – according to the time you are allowed or
the time you wish to give to the presentation. [Note:
Also plan for possible changes in the time, because of problems with the
agenda of the meeting, lateness of arrivals and similar disruptions – see Step 2a below in PREPARE for details] b) write sentences based on these ideas, and use transitions,
examples and conjunctions to see
how one idea connects to the other after it.
This tactic will give you a smooth flow of information from start to
finish. It will also show you were
your flow of ideas is weak and
needs more work. CAUTION: This does not mean you will write sentences and then memorize
them. No. This tactic is only to get the ideas you want
clearly in mind and then on paper. In fact, I do not recommend memorizing sentences for
presentations – rather, it is much more effective to
understand your points very clearly and organize your presentation according
to main points. [see (c) below and Step 2, Prepare
below]. |
c) Prepare your
power point slides (only special key words and graphics you need) that will
help you to remember what you want to say in your own words. DO NOT memorize every single word of
your presentation, because if you forget a few phrases or sentences, you
will be “out of luck” and will not be able to remember how to get back to
your main points. NOTE:
the only parts of your presentation to MEMORIZE WORD BY WORD are the “Grabber
Opening” and the“Professional Closing”. [See step 2 PREPARE
below] |
NOTECARDS: What if you need to remember a formula, a quotation word
by word or some other information that you’re having trouble with? The answer: Not everyone needs to use note cards, but
they are a good safety measure, just in case. Keep them with you and refer to them when you need to. |
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End of Step 1 -- PLAN |
Organize your
information and presentation elements very effectively by clicking here:
http://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/mgm/danielm/Questions%20to%20ask%20yourself%20in%20presentation.mht
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STEP 2) PREPARE |
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Most importantly,
you must prepare how you will make your presentation. |
HOW
TO BEGIN? Use a grabber opening that
will capture the attention of your audience right from the start. GRABBER
OPENING: It is OK to start with “This morning,
gentlemen, I will speak about . . .” or the equally boring “My presentation
today focuses on . . ..” They are not wrong – but there is a
better way. Business and
technical professionals are more interesting and clever than this, so act
that way in your oral presentations. You can use your
imagination. Put yourself in the place
of the audience and “grab” their attention and interest with an effective
opening. |
EXAMPLES Grabber Openings Question: “Would you like to know how to work less and get more done each
day?” (a presentation about time
management) Shocking Statement: “Millions of people are spending billions of riyals every year to
kill themselves!” (a presentation about the evils of smoking) Personal Story: “When I was parking my car at my house late one
night, I looked up to my 8-year-old son’s bedroom and saw red hot flames
leaping out of the window.” (a presentation about children and fire safety
from personal experience – or, you are selling home fire safety systems) You can think of
other grabbers, I am sure, to relate to your topic. Perhaps you could make a grabber from
statistics, facts, research report summaries, a
headline from the news and so on. CAUTION: Make sure, though, that your grabber
opening relates directly to your topic. Just saying something to get the attention
of the audience, but not related to your topic will be very ineffective and
make your credibility low. |
Next, ask
yourself: v What room will I speak in? v Is it too big, too small? v Where am I going to stand? v Will I use a table, an overhead
projector and transparencies, the chalkboard or a flip-chart, slides,
pictures? v Will I sit or stand and when? v Do I need a pointer, a
microphone? Go to the room
ahead of time to answer these questions for real, because you are in the room
and can see everything there. Think about these questions and any others related
to your objective, and all the steps that you will take from the first moment
you enter the room until you say your last words in front of your
audience. NON-VERBAL -- Also prepare yourself by thinking about the gestures you will use to emphasize your words. It is very
important to understand how non-verbal communication
affects the outcome of your presentation. Non-verbal
communication (body movements called kinesics, voice, space
around you & physical surroundings which is called proxemics, and also clothes, and time) can strengthen or
weaken your message. (See “How to Add
Power to Your Words.”) |
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And, prepare your words
to be effective by: [see points a – h] |
a) KEEPING TO THE TIME
– Remember that a professional keeps to the time, and is ready for any last
minute changes to the time by the boss, the customer or some other
factor. PERSONAL EXAMPLE – 30 minutes were cut to
15 minutes One time I was to give a presentation
with a time of 30 minutes. When I entered the meeting room,
suddenly I was told to “cut it short; we only have 15 minutes for you!” With a confident smile on my face I said,
“No problem, I can do that.” . Why was I not worried?
Because I had prepared for this problem ahead of time: SOLUTION: I prepared 3 sets of slides for 3 different time
limit possibilities and, so should you: (1) on the time
of 30 minutes; (2) shorter than
the time (10-15 minutes) with less examples, details, visuals; and (3) longer
than the time (40-50 minutes) with more examples, details, visuals [TIP:
In general, though, always plan your information so
that your presentation is always a little “short”, to allow for
interruptions, delays and other events that may take away from your time limit.] |
b) BE
CLEAR – Use easy to understand language. Make sure you explain any
specialized/technical words or terms that would not be known by your
audience. c) PERSONALIZE YOUR MESSAGE – Remember the effectiveness of the personal story. Use examples from your own or another’s
life. Audiences can relate to this
very well. d) USE APPEALS -- After analyzing
your audience, you can target which appeal
will be most effective to reach your communication goals/objectives. Whether you audience is hostile, friendly
or indifferent, using appeals is always effective. e) CHECK YOUR APEARANCE
– The “first impression” you make when you enter the room or when you go to
the front of the room to start speaking, lasts. A good appearance is important to your
initial credibility. So, be ready
before you enter, or before you get up from your chair and walk up to face
the audience. |
f) IMAGERY – Think in pictures and communicate that way. It’s easier for your audience to get the
idea. Instead of just saying “ABC
company’s revenue last year was $24 billion,” it is more effective to say
“ABC’s revenue last year was $24 billion – more than the total budget of all
by five nations of the world.” Or,
another example. Instead of just
saying “XYZ company installed 16,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable,” it is
more effective to say “XYZ installed 16,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable,
which is the same distance as traveling from g) TRANSITIONS – Use verbal transitions to connect your points, to
guide the audience from one idea to the next.
The ones from writing are excellent to use in your oral presentations,
such as first, next, then, afterward, similarly, and in contrast. h) GESTURES and ENUMERATION – Gestures with you our hands and arms
(called kinesics) are important skills that can emphasize your
points. Opening your hands and arms wide
makes an idea bigger, for example.
Making a fist as you give your point adds strength to what you are
saying. [see gestures for more
details] Enumeration (using your fingers as you say first, second, third of your steps, points, facts, or ideas) is also an excellent tactic. This skill has two parts: “show” and “tell.” With show, you hold up one hand at shoulder height and display the proper amount of fingers (keep your points to five, if possible) and say “there are five facts to remember.” Then, with tell you say what each fact is by saying “first . . .” and holding up one finger, then “second . . .” and holding up two fingers, and so on to the last point/fact/idea. End of STEP 2 -- PREPARE |
After you have
organized your main points and have written them on note cards for future
reference, then you can begin actually practicing. Find a place that is quiet, and practice
alone.
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STEP 3. PRACTICE. |
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v To check your body and face movements,
stand in front of a tall mirror and give your oral presentation (complete
with visuals if you can). v If possible, use a tape recorder to
check your voice – are you speaking too quickly? too
softly? v A video camera is also a good way to
check, as well as a PC-cam. |
BENEFITS: By using these methods you will be v able to see and hear yourself as others will see and
hear you. v You can check to see, for example, if
you are shifting from one foot to the other too much, v not using your hands to express yourself or using them
too much so they become a distraction to the audience (see Gestures). |
KEEP
IN v the size of the room, v how many people in the audience, v the arrangement of the room and other non-verbal
factors that will affect your presentation.
v Also remember the points of Step 1,
the planning stage, regarding your purpose. |
TIME
YOURSELF [Tip: Also
practice the “short” and “long” versions of your presentation, just in case
there is a sudden change in the time allowed to you. (See Step 2a above).] Do not get upset if
your first attempt is less than perfect.
THIS IS WHY YOU |
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End of STEP 3 --
PRACTICE |
Step 4 PREVIEW
is different from Step 3 Practice, because now you will have a real audience.
After you have
practiced enough, and you feel confident, get some fellow students, friends
or relatives to be your audience.
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STEP 4. PREVIEW |
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USE AN AUDIENCE You may think that
they will not be an effective audience, because they do not know about your
subject. However, they will
be able to notice if you are nervous, awkward or speaking too quickly, loudly
or softly and how effectively your gestures are communicating. |
MAKE IT THE REAL
THING Give [preview] your
presentation, with the visuals, note cards just like the real thing. Use your laptop, or
PC. If you have a projector use that
(perhaps you can use one of the rooms in Building 24 with some classmates). |
FEEDBACK IS
IMPORTANT Ask your audience
for their feedback about your verbal and non-verbal skills that you showed
during the presentation. If you can get Mgt
210 students to review your presentation with you, and you can review with
them, that
would be effective too. |
IMPROVEMENT IS
THE PURPOSE Accept criticisms
and try to correct your mistakes and weaknesses. Also, accept their
compliments and use the strong points that they pointed out to you. |
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STEP 5. PRESENT |
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USING
YOUR NERVOUSNESS FOR SOMETHING POSITIVE. If you are nervous,
you should know that even experienced professionals get nervous too. However, they make that nervousness Yes, you can turn
the negative side of nervousness into something positive. The energy that
your body produces when it is nervous, can be used
to make you more alert, more awake and more lively when you speak and use
gestures and body language. [NOTE: when you try to stop this nervous energy, instead of
using it to your own
advantage, this is when your hands and legs start to shake. The good energy of excitement is too much for them, so use that
energy in your gestures, voice and enthusiasm for your topic/subject as a positive outlet for the
energy.] |
THE ENDING. Just as beginning
effectively is important, so is ending your presentation
strongly. WHY? The “Audience Attention Curve” shows that the highest level of attention is at the
start and end of a presentation, speech, meeting or other oral communication
event. In the middle of a
presentation, for example, audience attention slips downward. As a result, it is important for a
presenter to use this information to his advantage. That is why a
strong beginning and ending (and
concise points, evidence, variety of voice, gestures and careful planning are
important in the middle of
your presentation) are important to your success. |
HERE’S HOW TO
END. Merely stopping
when you are finished speaking and saying “Well, that’s all I have to
say, any questions?” is very weak.
Notice the
non-verbal gesture that is made when you say these words. Are your arms
outstretched and your palms held upward?
These are very weak
gestures. Instead, try using key words
& phrases or “signal words” that signal you are at the end, such
as . . . And, now, to conclude For my last point Finally To sum up To close this presentation These above are standard ones that are effective. But, remember . . . For a summary use “To sum up.” If you are saying the last point, then use “For my last point.” These key phrases
and words, too, will gain back the attention of your audience, because you
are indicating that you are near the end of your presentation. |
EFFECTIVE
FORMULA FOR A PRFOESSIONAL CLOSING There is a most
effective way to end a presentation. Here it is: KEY/SIGNAL WORD
+ FORMULA ENDING = Professional
Closing. 7
EXAMPLES OF FORMULA ENDINGS 1) End with a
positive and emotionally appealing statement This new system
is the answer to our problem, but it will take our best efforts. When we work
together as a team, I know we will make this project a big success. 2) Briefly
summarize the major point, the main objective of your presentation. As you can see,
the new system is more effective, safer and saves money. It is clear from
my presentation that our only choice is to begin using this system tomorrow .
. . or even better, today! 3) Refer back to
the beginning. To repeat what I
said at the beginning of this presentation, you can do better with this new
system, and you have seen the evidence of its effectiveness and
usefulness today. 4) Refer to the
positive (+) using If/then. If you implement
this new system I have discussed, then you will enjoy all the benefits
I have shown 5) Refer to the
negative (-) using If/then. If you do not
implement this new system I have discussed, then you will lose a great opportunity to enjoy all the
benefits I have shown. 6) Refer first
to the positive, then the negative. If you implement
the new system I have discussed, then there will be many benefits, but if you do not, then you will lose a great
opportunity to save time and money. 7) Refer first
to the negative, then the positive. If you do not
implement this new system then you will lose a great opportunity to save time and money, but if you do implement
it, then you will gain these many benefits. |
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End of STEP 5 --
PRESENT |
PROCESS
AFTER STEP 5
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AFTER PRESENTING |
ASK FOR
QUESTIONS |
AFTER THE
QUESTIONS |
FINAL WORDS |
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After you have
finished your professional closing, say “Thank you.” Wait for a moment at
the front of the room (do not run off to the side or back to your chair or
out of the door) and face the audience.
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Then, say, “I would be
pleased to [click the link for extra help] answer any questions
you may have.” This is the
Question-and-Answer period of the presentation, or Q & A. |
Follow
up – After the Q&A,
say your follow up statement (the main point of your presentation, or simply
a re-statement of your professional closing from earlier). |
A simple “thank
you” and friendly face are effective. Make sure to turn
off the projector, pick up your papers and other materials, and end your
presentation. Depending on the purpose
of your presentation, then you would either . . . v sit down and join the other meeting
participants v walk out the door and go to your next
customer v stand for a while and chat with
members of the audience v discuss points with your colleagues or
teammates |