Planning and Delivering Effective Presentations: A Comprehensive Guide - Prof. Brian O. Wr, Study notes of Computer Science

Download Planning and Delivering Effective Presentations: A Comprehensive Guide - Prof. Brian O. Wr and more Study notes Computer Science in PDF only on Docsity! Presentation Concepts Yes, this is a computer applications class, but before we can discuss how to create a Slide Show presentation using an application like PowerPoint, we first need to discuss the steps that must be taken to plan what will be covered in a presentation. Planning Your Presentation You should plan your presentation just as you would plan a written document. First consider your purpose, audience, and situation. Planning in advance will improve the quality of your presentation, make it more effective and enjoyable, and save you time and effort. The purpose of your presentation should be the first thing you think about. Is the presentation’s purpose to inform, to persuade, to demonstrate a skill, or train?  Informative presentations are used to provide an audience with background information, knowledge, and details about a topic. Your goal should be to provide useful and relevant information to your audience.  Persuasive presentations are usually focused on influencing how an audience feels or acts regarding a position or plan. These presentations may be sales-oriented or motivational in nature.  Training presentations provide audiences with an opportunity to learn new skills or obtain new knowledge about a specific task. Also to consider are the needs of your audience. What is it that you want your listeners to walk away with? Describing the audience’s desired outcomes of the presentation may be useful in planning your basic approach. Other factors to consider are the demographics of your audience such as age, gender, education level, and knowledge of your topic. Knowing your audience will help you adapt the content of your message to the appropriate level. This helps ensure that the information you provide will be useful, interesting, and relevant. The setting and location of your presentation will also dictate the level of formality. In advance, be sure to find out information about the locale you will be presenting in such as size and shape of the room, the seating arrangement, and the size of your audience. These factors may also influence the type of medium you use and the size of your visuals. Developing Your Presentation Once you’ve defined the purpose of your presentation and have analyzed your audience’s needs and expectations, you need to plan the content. First, identify the major points or main ideas that are most relevant. As you brainstorm, capture ideas, concepts, and information to be presented. Then, group those ideas into natural associations based on the material. Give each category a name or title. Next, organize those groups in order of how they should be presented to your audience, from most important to least important. Any remaining information can be used to fill in other parts of the presentation or in a question/answer period. The Introduction The introduction allows you to first capture the audience’s attention. This is probably the most important part since it provides the audience with a first impression of you and your presentation and sets the tone for the rest of the presentation. Effective introductions enable you to create a positive relationship with the audience and provide your listeners with an overview or preview of what’s to come. Examples of ways to grab the audience’s attention are:  Anecdotal stories or personal experiences  Surprising facts or questions about the topic  Quotations, familiar phrases or definitions If your audience is unfamiliar with you, you should first introduce yourself and briefly list your credentials if it will help establish credibility with your audience. (Be careful, though, not to boast or distance yourself from the audience.) Next, give a general overview of your presentation to prepare your listeners for what will follow. Also, tell the listeners how the information presented will benefit them so they will know what they have to gain by listening to you. The Body The body of your presentation contains the message you are trying to deliver. Your information should be well-organized and should follow a logical manner so your audience can easily follow your ideas. It’s important to keep the information simple and relevant. Substantiate the main points of your presentation with evidence from specific examples, data, or supportable facts or expert opinions. As you shift from one point or topic to the next, always provide a smooth transition. Effective transitions help the listener mentally summarize what you have just discussed and prepare them for the next subject. This also allows you to pause briefly to refer to your notes or reestablish eye contact with your listeners. The Conclusion The conclusion of the presentation is perhaps the most powerful part of the presentation; however, it is often the most overlooked in the planning process. Summaries and conclusions give you an opportunity to reemphasize your main points. This gives the audience a final impression of you and your presentation. Be sure to have a clear, obvious transition as you move into your conclusion. This signals to the audience that you are about to conclude. Repeating the main points of your presentation will help your audience to remember what you have 2 Useful Guidelines for Giving a Good Presentation 1. Preparation – This is the key to a relaxed and effective presentation. a. Begin with a script to help prepare yourself in what you are going to say and how you want to say it. b. Observe other presenters; make notes of what you like and try to implement those things into your own presentations. c. Think positively about the presentation; the audience wants to see a good presentation and wants to listen and learn. d. Give yourself plenty of time; avoid rushing around before the presentation; arrive early and devote a few minutes of time to relax and review your notes. e. Tell your story in an interesting way to inspire enthusiasm. f. Practice speaking with your audience, not at them. Remember to practice with your visual aids. g. Practice, Practice, Practice!!! This helps build confidence. 2. Addressing Your Audience a. Focus your presentation on the listener. b. When you first stand up, look at the audience and smile. c. Don’t read that speech! Reading your speech word for word does not allow for natural delivery. d. Be sure to use proper grammar and pronunciation; avoid filler words such as “um,” “like,” and “ya know.” e. Establish eye contact. This helps establish a positive rapport with your listeners. It also allows you to judge how things are going based on the audience’s reaction to your message. f. Pause for emphasis after key thoughts or numbers. g. Breathe! 3. Vocal Security a. Speak naturally, confidently, and inspirationally; deliver your message at about 80% of the pace of normal speaking. b. Vary the pitch, rate, and volume to avoid a monotone delivery. c. Repeat yourself with different words at a different pace and volume level for emphasis. d. Good posture improves the quality of your voice. e. Breathe deeply to help you speak properly. 4. Non-verbal Communication. Over ½ of human communication is non- verbal. If your body communicates enthusiasm then you message will, too. Body language: a. Makes the message more meaningful and memorable. b. Punctuates your presentation; body language is like grammar to the written language. c. Relieves nervous tension. 5 d. Also includes good grooming; a sloppy appearance is never appropriate. There are 5 main elements of body language: 1. Posture – exudes confidence, enthusiasm, and control; allows you to breathe properly. Do not lean on the podium. 2. Gestures – can tremendously enhance your presentation. The types of gestures are: a. Descriptive – to promote clarity or illustrate b. Emphatic – to show emphasis (clench fist, pound podium) c. Suggestive – to create a mood (shrug your shoulders) d. Prompting – to evoke a response (raise your hand; applaud if you want the audience to do the same). Be sure to use gestures naturally and suit the gesture to the occasion. 3. Body Movement – most visible movement. It can attract the audience’s attention, reinforces your message, and helps burn up nervous energy. Audiences stay more alert with a speaker who moves, but too much movement can distract. Never move without a reason. Don’t walk, sway, or pace. 4. Facial Expressions – reflect attitude, feelings, and emotions. Smile during your presentation at appropriate times to convey a warm, sincere attitude. Remove nervous mannerisms such as biting lips, tightening jaws, etc. 5. Eye Contact – the second most powerful tool for communicating after voice. Your eyes bind you to or separate you from your audience. Eye contact makes the listener feel like you are talking to him or her. It signals sincerity. It also allows you to monitor visual feedback. If the audience is not looking at you, they are probably not listening either. 6. Use of Humor – Humor is universally appreciated, but timing is everything. The best time is at the beginning or end of a presentation to relax the audience or raise spirits when needed. Do not make humor the subject; use it merely as a garnish. Never allow humor to contain a put down (unless you are talking about yourself). 7. Visual Objects – can make great visuals, but you must handle them well. a. Introduce them at a key time. b. Use the object to reinforce your message. c. Don’t allow them to distract from your presentation. Using PowerPoint in Multimedia Presentations Multimedia presentations are not always appropriate. It is important to first assess the audience and situation when determining which delivery medium you will use. Multimedia presentations are often useful in training situations to enhance people’s ability to understand and process information. If this is the medium you wish to use, PowerPoint is a wonderful tool for creating effective 6 multimedia presentations. There are certain things you should be aware of regarding the use of multimedia in presentations:  It is the presenter’s job to change the audience; don’t let the presentation take that away from you. You are attempting to get some message across to the audience. It is the message that is important, not the slide show.  The slide show can divert the attention of the audience and speaker from the message; the slide show can become the center of the presentation.  PowerPoint can be a real time waster; hours can be spent refining a slide show, fine tuning fonts, resizing bullets, etc.  Multimedia has a strong appeal to visual learners, which make up roughly only about 40% of the audience. In reality, visual learners do not learn from reading words on a screen (text with clip art), but instead from pictures (such as graphs, charts, and diagrams).  You are expecting the audience to absorb information form both the ear and eye – a very inefficient way of learning. If you hand out printouts of your slides, this makes it worse. Now you are asking them to absorb information from three sources.  Most people clean up their presentation and transfer it to slides; this can become a crutch for a nervous presenter. This practice allows speakers to take a back seat to their visuals. In order to effectively use PowerPoint, keep the following points in mind:  You have to be the driving agent behind the presentation; the slides are a visual aid and only a visual aid. Their job is to make your presentation interesting, add emphasis, and show things in a different way – not to be the presentation.  Keep it simple and keep it moving. Use animation and slide transitions to keep the audience’s attention.  Choose visuals only after you know what you are going to say.  Limit the amount of text on a screen.  The presenter should be the prime focus; visuals should be used sparingly and only to reinforce what the speaker says.  Handouts can be used to provide background information; slides should be brief and to the point. Don’t make your slides into handouts – too much content.  Visuals (PowerPoint) should come at the end of the speech preparation process. The visual aid (slide) must aid in the clarity of the presentation. If it doesn’t, then don’t use it. 7