2. preface
Almost everybody who is employed in a managerial or professional role has to present
information or offer explanations to others. From time to time the presentation will be
before a large audience, in a formal setting. More frequently it will be to a small,
sometimes informal, group of colleagues, subordinates, customers or senior managers.
This chapter will consider the ingredients of a good presentation and what we need to
do to ensure that the presentation is successful. Attention will be focused on :
● Preparation; what we need to do beforehand.
● Getting and keeping interest; what we need to do to involve the audience from the
start to keep them involved until the end.
● Getting the message across.
● Aids to understanding; the use of examples, visual display, and demonstration.
● Closure ; the best way to end the presentation.
3. preparation
A sentiment echoed by Jay (1972), who argues that there is a general law
applicable to any project that the earlier a mistake is made the more profoundly
it will affect the whole project and the harder it will be to recover from.
Presentations are no exception. Thorough preparation is the basis of success.
We need to define the objective of the presentation, research the audience,
identify what information needs to be presented, plan how the presentation is
to be structured, and finally, review the environmental arrangements.
4. 1.Clarifyingobjective
it is a useful discipline to reflect on the purpose of the presentation, to write it
down and to refer to it from time to time. For example, if members of a
management team are planning a presentation on a new bonus scheme, they
may ask themselves whether their objective is to:
● inform those who will be affected that a new scheme is to be introduced;
● explain to them how the new scheme will work;
● persuade them to accept the new scheme in preference to existing
arrangements.
5. 2.Researchingtheaudience
Presentations need to be planned with a specific audience in mind. The
background and experience of the audience will influence how much they
already know about a subject, their level of understanding of technical
vocabulary and the extent to which they will be willing to listen to the
presentation with an open mind. The audience’s past experience of the
presenter may affect the way they interpret what they hear. The status of
the audience may also be important because it may be necessary to restrict
access to certain kinds of information.
6. Before preparing the scipt for a presentation, an essential first step is to
decide what information the listener will need if the objective of the
preparation is to be achieved. This involves identifying the main factors or
categories of information and hwo they relate. For example, if our objective
is to persuade a sales team that a new bonus scheme will be to their
adventage, we may decide that the presentation shoud include information
that will facilitate a comparative review of how the existing and proposed
scheme operate
3.Definingthecontent
7. 4.Structuringthepresentation
Starts with the statement
of a problem and then
moves on consider way
forward or action
Problem-solution
organisation
Moving from cause to
effect or effect to
cause
Casual
organisation
Topical
organisation
Uses territory, space or
geographical location as
the basis for organising
the presentation
moving from topic to topic in
a way that clearly
demonstrates how they are
related
Spatial
organisation
Start with an examination of
the current situation and
moves backwards in time to
explore it origins
Chronological
organisation
01 02 03
04 05
8. 5.Reviewingarrangements
On many occasions we have little choice about venue and the arrangement
of seating and other environmental factors. Even so, it can be worth the
effort to review the arrangements, test the equipment and note the best
place to stand so as to ensure that the audience has a clear view of
whiteboards, flip charts and screens.
The horseshoe, and to a less extent a curved rows arrangement, also
encourages interaction between presenter and audience. This is because
there are fewer barriers (people) between each member of the audience
and the presenter. Eye contact between them is easier and individual
members of the audience feel less isolated. They are able to assess whether
others have the same reaction to what has been said, and therefore they
have more confidence to interact with the speaker
9. Keepingtheaudience’sattention
The lecturer who is teaching a recreational class at night school is
reasonably safe in assuming that members of the ‘audience’ are there
because they want to be there and because they want to hear what
the lecturer has to say.
10. Keepingtheaudience’s
Ley (1983) reports several studies which suggest
that both attending and recall are related to the
length of the presentation.
It was found, for example, that the more information
presented, the more patients experienced difficulty
understanding and recalling the instructions given
to them by doctors
Jay (1972) points to the need for the
presenter to ‘connect up with the
audience’.
Motivating the audience to listen Keeping tehir interest
13. closure
Closure is the management of the end of the presentation. when we
have successfully concluded what we have to say, the transition from
the formal presentation to the question-and-answer session is likely
to take place without any uncomfortable silences and without people
wondering what will happen next. But it is important to remember
that the presentation involves more than a formal speech. It may be
just as important for us to pay as much attention to concluding the
question-and-answer session as concluding the speech.
14. summary
● Most of people are required to make presentation or to offer explanations to
others. People with poor presentation skills can create a bad impression, miss
opportunities, and foster misunderstandings.
● Five presentation skills that help to get the message across have been
identified. These are clarity of expression, the use of examples, emphasis,
sensitivity to feedback, and the ability to answer questions effectively.
● The importance of drawing the presentation to an appropriate conclusion has
also been discussed. It has been suggested that the conclusion should review
the key points of the presentation in a way that contributes to the
achievement of the purpose of the presentation, be it to inform, explain, or
persuade.
