FEARLESS PRESENTER
Jenn Haskell; Training Manager, NA

Upon completing today’s training, you
should be able to:
 Understand best practices to be used when preparing for
presentations
 Understand best practices associated with delivering
effective presentations (In person and Virtual)
 Guide an event through successful completion
 Group contribution
 Using ice breakers or collaborative/hands-on breakouts
 Communicating complex ideas simply
AGENDA

PRESENTATION PLANNING

PRESENTATION PLANNING
Embrace your inner presenter style
 Few individuals are true extroverts
 Fewer individuals are comfortable with public
speaking
 Effective speakers can make people hear the facts
and understand the message
 Do what you need to do in order to feel confident
and comfortable

PRESENTATION PLANNING
“It usually takes more than three weeks
to prepare a good impromptu speech.”
Mark Twain

PRESENTATION PLANNING
Before you present, consider the following:
 Who is your target audience?
 Who are your stakeholders?
 Who are your subject matter experts?

TARGET AUDIENCE
Who is your target audience?What do they know already?
What they want
 They want to feel like you’re an
expert.
 They want you to “look the part”.
 They want to feel like you
understand their needs and are
invested in their success.
 They want to know that their
opinions are valued.
 They want to know that you’re
going to follow-up as needed.
What they don’t want
 They don’t want to be confused.
 They don’t want to be “talked
down” to.
 They don’t want to be provided
with information that is not 100%
accurate.
 They don’t want to be bored!

STAKEHOLDERS
By default, a stakeholder is a person, group,
organization, or system who affects or can be
affected by an organization's actions.
 Stakeholders can be members of your target
audience, but they might also be decision makers
that aren’t attending your presentation
 Don’t assume a stakeholder knows their job
 Get their buy-in and support
 Keep an open line of communication with them
 Influence them

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS
“They want to feel like you’re an expert”
You’re lack of preparation tells them that you have no
respect their time.

Before your presentation:
 Email confirmation/meeting invite to expected participants
 Include an agenda
 Send reminders
 Create timeline for the agenda
 Book the appropriate resources
 Test any equipment being used
 Print off reference materials
PRESENTATION PLANNING

MANAGING YOUR NERVES

Presenting is not a natural activity . . .
You’re going to be nervous!
 The key is to decrease your nervousness
 Use your nervous energy to your advantage
 Communicate enthusiastically, passionately & convincingly
 If you are uncertain about your presentation – your
nervousness will shine through
MANAGING NERVES

MANAGING NERVES
Bruce Willis
Sir Isaac Newton
Julia Roberts
Tiger Woods
Winston Churchill
Aristotle
Oprah Winfrey
Abe Lincoln
King Edward VII

MANAGING NERVES
Conquer your nerves -
 Know your audience
 Set expectations
 Know your material
 Structure your presentation (agenda/timeline)
 Prepare for your presentation
 Practice your presentation
 Calm yourself from the inside

Know your audience
 Define who your target audience is.
 Perform a pre-presentation “discovery”
 Set expectations.
 Share your agenda with stakeholders for feedback
on whether or not there are missing pieces.
 Greet audience members at the door and do a quick
survey of why they are there and what they expect.
MANAGING NERVES

Know your material
 You can’t cover everything
you know within a PowerPoint
presentation
 Use pertinent points
 Use key phrases
 Use scripted notes
 Use visuals
MANAGING NERVES

MANAGING NERVES
Structure your Presentation
1 Philosophy:
Tell the audience what you are going to say.
Then say it.
Then summarize what you’ve said.

Practice your presentation
 Review the slides and script
 Does your PPT have animation?
 Rehearse with props and visuals
 Record through Lync
 Practice with a smaller audience
 Solicit feedback
MANAGING NERVES

MANAGING NERVES
Solicit feedback
 To reap feedback that will improve your
speech, ask open-ended questions like these:
What was your favorite element in the speech? Why?
What would you like to see improved?
How can I improve my speech for next time?

MANAGING NERVES
Prepare for your presentation
“Hmm . . .what am I going to wear?”

MANAGING NERVES
Prepare for your presentation
 Arrive early
 Expect the worst
 Have backup plans established
 Discovery – preparing for questions before they
happen

MANAGING NERVES
Calm yourself from the inside
 Deep breathing techniques
 Drink water
 Smile
 Make eye contact
 Slow your pace
 Practice the art of pauses
 Move around
 Humor
 NEVER let em see ya sweat!

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Communicate effectively:
 Organize and clarify ideas in your mind
 Stay on topic
 Be articulate
 Enunciate
 Use vocal “color”
 Listen actively
 Watch your body language
 Thank your listeners

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Organize and clarify ideas in your head:
 When you are passionate about something, you are more
likely to go on a tangent
 Choose 3 key points
 Practice and reorganize as needed
 Use workflows

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Stay on topic:
 What’s your next sentence?
 Check-in with the audience
 Handling off-topic
questions
 Use presentation notes
 What you have to say
 How you want to say it
 Delivery ques

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Be articulate & enunciate:
 Use simple words instead of complex ones
 Use analogies
 Avoid mumbling
 Watch your accent
 Warm up your mouth

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Use “vocal” color
 Vocal variety – pitch, tone & volume
 Pace
 Rhythm
 Duration
 Verbal imagry

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Listen actively:
Epictetus said:
"We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen
twice as much as we speak."
 Practicing active listening skills is a powerful way to
engage an audience
 Encourages involvement
 Lets you know that the audience understands your
message

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
How do you listen actively?
 When audience members ask questions, don’t finish their sentences.
 When audience members are talking - pay attention, rather than
planning what you are going to say next or rearranging your notes.
 Make eye contact.
 Use non-verbal clues – nodding your head, smiling.

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Watch your body language:
 Use facial expressions consciously
 Avoid negative facial expressions
 Make eye-contact
 Use hand gestures carefully
 Watch your posture
 Controlled walking patterns

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Avoid the following:
 Putting your hands in your pockets, which makes people
trust you less. Research has found that we trust others
more when we can see their hands.
 Jiggling your keys or other items in your pocket. If you tend
to fidget, empty your pockets beforehand.
 Playing with your jewelry, your hair, or your clothing, which
signals that you are nervous.
 Pushing your glasses back constantly.
 Pushing your hair aside frequently with your hand or
shaking your head to push aside your hair.
 Clicking your ballpoint pen.

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Avoid the following:
 Taking the caps on and off your pen or marker.
 Scratching your face, head, or any other part of your
body.
 Checking your watch.
 Drumming your fingers on the lectern or table.
 Tapping your feet or bouncing your legs.
 Facing away from the audience.

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Body Language
Albert H Mehrabian experimented in the late 60’s and early 70’s
and came up with this calculation in terms of how important the
non verbal movements, signals and gestures are when it comes
to the overall effectiveness of our communication in relaying our
message to others.
Launch video
Words account for only 7%
Tone of voice accounts for 38%
Body language accounts for 55%

ADJUSTING YOUR DELIVERY TECHNIQUE
IN PERSON VS. VIRTUAL

VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS
Delivering virtual presentations
A virtual presentation can dramatically change the
way you deliver your presentations.
PROS
 Deliver to more people -
portable
 Deliver an unlimited times
 Can be real-time or recorded
 More convenient
 Cost saver
 A presenter can cheat
 Limit audience interactions
CONS
 Not face to face with the
audience
 Interaction more difficult
 Equipment & technology
 Participants disengage
 Language/cultural barriers

Practice your presentation:
 Review the slides and script
 Does your PPT have animation?
 Set up two logins
 No introductions
 At the beginning of session, set “virtual” expectations
 Let attendees know if you need a moment to prepare something
VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS

Don’t:
 Share private questions
 Games or functionality that needs explanation
 Have email, IM or confidential documents opened
 Let questions go ignored or unacknowledged
 Assume that all training can be delivered virtually
VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS

Do:
 Check your audio
 Perform knowledge-checks
 Perform demonstration/desktop sharing
 Use annotation tools
 Use webcams wisely
 Be aware of learner environments
 Use break-out sessions and surveys
VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS

MAKING AN IMPACT

MAKING AN IMPACT
The Five Cardinal Sins:
 No clear point
 No audience benefit
 WIIFM?
 No clear flow
 Too detailed
 Too long

MAKING AN IMPACT
BE MEMORABLE!

USING ICE BREAKERS AND GROUP
CONTRIBUTION

USING ICE BREAKERS
 Involve the audience
 Get them physically involved
 Make it fun

COMMUNICATING COMPLEX IDEAS SIMPLY

COMPLEX IDEAS
 We over-explain
 We over-complicate
Effective communicators take us on a journey . . .
and make us like it!

COMPLEX IDEAS
Effective Communicators:
 Jack Welch (Former CEO of General Electric)
 Best communication asset: Simplicity
 Tip: Eliminate jargon.
 Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple)
 Best communication asset: Charisma
 Tip: Create and articulate a bold vision.
 Suze Orman (Author, TV Host)
 Best communication asset: Clarity of expression
 Tip: Break down complex information into easy parts.
 Rudy Giuliani (Former NYC Mayor)
 Best communication asset: Ability to make eye contact
 Tip: Spend 90% of the time looking at your audience.

GUIDING AN EVENT THROUGH
SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION

GUIDING AN EVENT THROUGH
SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION
Guiding an event:
 Find out in advance how much time you will have
to present
 If you’re presenting in a competitive situation,
try to be the last presenter
 Start with goals and objectives
* Why will you benefit from this presentation?
* What will be covered during this
presentation?
* How will I be conducting this presentation?
* When can you ask questions?

GUIDING AN EVENT THROUGH
SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION
Effective Communicators:
 Present experiences and lessons learned
 Share customer case studies and success stories
 Summarize the key takeaways and lessons
learned
 Never announce that you’re about to end your
presentation
 End your presentation with a bang

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED?

Now that you’ve completed todays
training, you should be able to:
 Successfully prepare for presentations.
 Delivering effective presentations (In person and Virtual) by
incorporating the best practices discussed in today’s
training.
 Guide an event through successful completion:
 Encourage group contribution.
 Use ice breakers or collaborative/hands-on breakouts.
 Communicate complex ideas simply.
IN SUMMARY

Q&A

CALL TO ACTION
"The secret of success is sincerity. Once
you can fake that you have got it made!“
~ Jean Giraudoux