Preparing the Presentation

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Preparing the Presentation
Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
PRESENTATION
SKILLS

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Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
The Course Topics series from Manage Train Learn is a large collection of topics that will help you as a learner
to quickly and easily master a range of skills in your everyday working life and life outside work. If you are a
trainer, they are perfect for adding to your classroom courses and online learning plans.
COURSE TOPICS FROM MTL
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Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

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Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
INTRODUCTION
The nightmare of Logorrophobia - a dread of public speaking
- is the fear of standing in front of a critical, hostile audience
unprepared, and with nothing to say. Nothing could be
worse than the spotlight on us with no idea what to do or
why we're there. Success in presentations comes from
confronting this nightmare in the only way possible: through
thorough preparation. When you prepare correctly, you set
yourself up to succeed; when you fail to prepare, you
prepare to fail.

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MTL Course Topics
THE STEPS IN PREPARATION
There are seven steps in moving from the germ of a
presentation to being ready to deliver.
They are:
1. Plan at Your Desk: think through your presentation with
pen and paper
2. Gather Material: research and collect material you need
to use which relates to the purpose of your talk
3. Write The First Draft: at this stage you can either write
out the presentation in full or in note form
4. Produce Cue Cards: cue cards are the hints you need to
take you through your talk
5. Prepare The Room: this means ideally visiting the room
where you are going to speak or, if you are unable to,
preparing the layout on paper
6. Rehearse: for a slick performance, you should rehearse
until you are sure of what you want to say
7. Now Forget It until you need to prepare yourself just
before the talk.

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MTL Course Topics
DESKTOP PLANNING
The initial steps in preparing for a presentation can all be
taken at the desktop. This means either working on your
own at your own desk or planning with others around a
number of desks.
Desktop planning aims to deal with 4 main questions:
1. What is the purpose of the presentation and hence the
subject, title and audience?
2. Who will be present? Not just in the audience but others
giving the presentation.
3. Where and when will the presentation be held?
4. How is the best way to go about planning the
presentation, delivering it and evaluating whether it has
been worthwhile?
When planning the time of your presentation, remember
that people are often sluggish just after lunch. A mid-
morning or mid-afternoon timing often works better.

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MTL Course Topics
THE CORE STATEMENT
The core statement is the first thing you should write out
and check with your sponsor or the person who has asked
you to speak.
The core statement is a summary of the purpose of your
presentation and serves as a reminder throughout your
planning of what is important.
The statement consists of the title, subject and purpose and
who the presentation is intended for.
For example:
Title: Belt up!
Subject: Car safety for passengers
Purpose: To get children to always use their passenger
safety belts in cars.
Audience: A group of 8-year-old schoolchildren.

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MTL Course Topics
ATTENTION SPANS
Research indicates that most people's attention spans start
to decline after about 17 minutes of non-stop listening.
Research also shows that attention is higher at the start and
end of a talk than in the middle.
This means that you should time a once-off presentation to
last no more than about 20 minutes. If your subject requires
you to speak longer, think of using suitable breaks, intervals
or a change of pace and style.
"No one can say just how long a message should be, but you
rarely hear complaints about a speech being too short. The
amateur worries about what he is going to put in his speech.
The expert worries about what he should leave out. An
artistic performance is concentrated, has a central focus."
(Edgar Dale)

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MTL Course Topics
CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS
As actors and politicians know only too well, it is notoriously
difficult to guarantee success when you speak. One day, a
talk goes down well; the next it fails to raise any response.
In the planning stage, it is helpful to think about how we
might judge the success of our presentation, even if we
have to acknowledge that hitting the target every time may
not be possible.
1. the success criteria of a retirement speech are an
appropriate level of humour, sincerity and tone
2. the success criteria of an informative talk is how much
people remembered
3. the success criteria of a sales talk is the level of new
orders.
4. the success criteria of an after-dinner speech is how
much people laughed.

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EVALUATING YOUR TALK
There are three ways you can measure how successful your
presentation has been:
1. Results. Did we achieve what we set out to achieve? If we
aimed to sell, did they buy?
2. How they felt. Since a presentation involves a
relationship between you and your audience, a measure of
success is, "did they like you?"
3. How you felt. It is equally important to say how you felt
about your talk, whether you enjoyed it or not.
Even if your talk failed, there is a lot you can learn: "Do not
be too timid or squeamish about your actions. All life is an
experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.
What if they are a little coarse and you may get your coat
soiled or torn? What if you do fail and get fairly rolled in the
dirt once or twice? Up again, you shall never be so afraid of
a tumble." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

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GATHERING INFORMATION
The preparation stage between desktop planning and the
first draft of your speech is the information-gathering stage.
It is the stage when you research, gather, organise and play
around with the material that you will use in your talk.
There are five steps:
1. Research your information. You can do this by collecting
it at first hand, gathering ideas from others, or reading it up
from written sources.
2. Arrange the information. This means assigning headings
and sub-headings to your material.
3. Filter the information. Now you need to select the pieces
of information which you would like to include in your
speech together with anecdotes, jokes and stories.
4. Organise the information. This is where you will outline
your speech and decide what you will say where.
5. Put it all together: for example on a 1-page mind map or
review.

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BRAINSTORMING
It is very daunting to sit down and face a blank piece of
paper and start to write a speech. The solution is "don't":
use brainstorming instead.
Brainstorming is a way to see all the information you have
gathered at a glance. It uses "nutshell ideas", or summaries
of bigger ideas, and simply puts them all down on a blank
page. The process of brainstorming is random, free-flowing
and disorderly and this allows the brain to choose its own
connections from amongst the information you have stored.
Once you have filled up a page with ideas for your speech,
you can start to see what comes first, second and so on;
what is most important; what can be left out; what needs
elaborating. Gradually the presentation will take shape in
front of your eyes. The brainstorming will then have
whetted your appetite to begin the first draft proper.

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THE FIRST DRAFT
Opinions are sharply divided as to whether it is a good idea
to write out a speech in full during the preparation stage.
There are arguments in favour and against.
Pros: A written speech...
1. helps to clarify your ideas
2. is a safety net in case you get lost during delivery
3. helps rehearsal
4. can be learnt by heart
5. adds to your confidence
6. is a way of making sure you cover everything.
Cons: A written speech...
1. may sound artificial and contrived
2. may sound like a lecture
3. lessens the likelihood of audience contact
4. may tempt you to just read it, in which case you could
have given your audience the talk as a handout.

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SOUNDS RIGHT
Whether you use notes or write out your speech in full, the
delivered words must sound right.
1. avoid "ums" and "ers"
2. avoid "basically", "as it were", "really" fillers
3. avoid abstract words such as "quite nice"; say what you
mean
4. avoid long descriptions; break them down into
manageable digestible chunks
5. avoid the wrong word; select the right ones.
In his book, "Successful Presentations", Patrick Forsyth
recalls a talk in which the speaker started off with "we offer
a fragmented range of services". The audience couldn't get
the word "fragmented" out of their minds from then on.
What on earth did he mean, they wondered then and for a
long time after.

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MTL Course Topics
CUE CARDS
Cue cards are the reminder cards which prompt you through
your speech. They can either be cues for a speech which you
have learnt by heart or cues for a speech which you know
well enough to deliver off-the-cuff.
Cues should be "fast food for the eyes"; in other words, easy
to digest.
1. use a numbered sequence so that you can put the cards
in the right order
2. write the main points clearly and visibly so that they
stand out
3. summarise each main point
4. use a diagram, flow chart, numerical sequence, or some
other memorable pattern
5. put important points in colour, bold, underlines, capitals
6. indicate where you will use visual aids
7. dog-ear the lower right corner so that you can turn over
the page easily.

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MTL Course Topics
TEAM OR SOLO?
One way to inject more variety and interest into a
presentation is to use a team of presenters rather than
presenting by yourself. This approach has advantages and
disadvantages.
Pros:
1. a team presentation enables everyone to concentrate
on what they each do well
2. teams reduce the levels of logorrophobia by sharing the
stress
3. if well-rehearsed, the talk can look slick.
Cons:
1. a team presentation is likely to be longer than a solo
presentation and risks being repetitive.
2. an audience is likely to compare the speakers with each
other. Not everyone in a team will be a good speaker.
3. more time will be needed to rehearse.

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MTL Course Topics
PREPARE THE ROOM
An important part of the preparation for a presentation is to
check the room where you plan to speak.
You should check your room for...
1. size (big, small, shape)
2. seating (fixed or movable)
3. acoustics (high or low ceiling)
4. heating, lighting, ventilation
5. equipment (video, TV, microphone, projector, flipchart,
lectern)
6. any outside distraction (eg is it on a busy plane flight
path?)
If you are a visiting speaker and can't get to the room before
the day of your talk, arrange to get there early to prepare it
the way you want it. Don't settle for second-best; your
credibility is at stake.

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SEATING STYLES
There are three basic kinds of audience seating:
Theatre style. Theatre-style seating is necessary for large
audiences and lecture-style talks. You need to make sure
that in any theatre-style arrangement, you can see everyone
in the room and they can see you.
Horse-shoe Shape. Horse-shoe shapes, with or without
seat-tables, are best when you have a group of up to 15 and
you want participation. This shape is quite intimate since
you are in uninterrupted contact with your audience.
Village-style. Village-style seating works best when you
want to involve the audience in small group work. It is
however much harder to keep order with small groups at
separate tables.

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MTL Course Topics
REHEARSING
Rehearsing - or "re-hearing" - is an essential part of
preparing your speech. There are three ways to rehearse
and you should use all three.
1. To Yourself. Internal rehearsal can be done anywhere at
any time, even in bed before you go to sleep. It means
visualising yourself giving your speech, mouthing the words
and going through each move.
2. To The Mirror. Rehearsing in front of a mirror, ideally full-
length, enables you to see yourself as others will see you;
and to try out the moves and sequences of your talk.
3. Dress Rehearsal. You should practise your speech "for
real" either alone or with an audience of colleagues. This
allows you to time yourself. Do this well in advance of your
presentation so that you can make changes.

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MTL Course Topics
SHARING YOUR TALK
Sharing your talk means rehearsing with a trusted friend or
friends, so that they can give you honest feedback on how
you come across. Here's what to do.
Tell your listener...
1. that you want them to imagine they are part of the
actual audience
2. that you are interested in the impression you give and
how your ideas come across
3. that they should listen to the whole talk before
commenting.
4. that you want honest and helpful advice
5. that you want their reactions to length, structure,
logical progression of ideas, interest and boredom
levels, humour, props, visual aids, timing, voice
6. that you want to know how you could improve your
technique.

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MTL Course Topics
FORGET ABOUT IT
If you have followed all the earlier planning steps leading up
to your presentation, you should have no problem with the
last step of preparation: "forget about it“, (though not,
“forget it”!).
Forgetting about your speech works because, if you have
followed all the previous steps, you will have completed all
the necessary work and last minute cramming can only
induce panic, stress and nerves. When you know you've
done all you need to do, the last thing to do is to truly let go
and enjoy it.
It's the same as the advice to pre-examination planners:
"Before an examination study copiously. Then the day
before, fling away the book and say to yourself: "I won't
waste another minute on this miserable thing and I don't
care an iota whether I succeed or not. You will certainly then
succeed." (William James)

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MTL Course Topics
A PLANNING TIMETABLE
A whole plan from inception to delivery can be drawn up for
the presentation. If a 30-minute presentation is being given,
one day for each stage can be allowed as follows:
7 days ahead, complete your desktop planning
6 days ahead, complete the gathering of information
5 days ahead, complete the first draft
4 days ahead, complete the cue cards
3 days ahead, complete the room preparations
2 days ahead, complete your rehearsals
1 day ahead, forget about it and relax.
Demosthenes, the Greek orator, planned his speeches
meticulously. He would retreat to a cave for three months
and shave the right side of his head. Only when his hair had
grown - on average a period of three months - would he
emerge to give his speech.

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Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

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Presentation Skills
MTL Course Topics
THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn

Preparing the Presentation

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