Presentation skills THE WORKBOOK

Presentation Skills
Presented by
Gerald Pauschmann
Director
PauschManagement
0415 776 669
www.thepresentationcoach.com.au/watpac
There are no boring topics. Boring is an attitude. There are boring speakers.

Program customised for Watpac by Gerald Pauschmann
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Course Outline
• Structures that you can re-use time and again to deliver engaging presentations
• Openings that will hook your audience from the first word
• Stand up the front with confidence and engage your audience
• What to do with your hands – look natural and effortless onstage
• No more “Ums, errs and ahs”
• Preparing perfect presentations in just 20 minutes – follow the formula and you
can’t go wrong!
• Deliveries that will leave a lasting impression
• Develop and deliver a powerful 3 minute presentation
• Handle the Q&A session like an expert
• How to handle hostility from the audience members.

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Time Topic
8.45am
Arrival to training room
Welcome and Program Overview
8.50am Skills needed for a dynamic presentation
9.10am Planning and preparation
9.00am
Presentation design
Objective
Content
Structure
10.15am –
10.30am
Morning Tea
Steps In Structuring Your Presentation
Writing your presentation template.
Developing your introduction
The crucial elements your listeners want to hear
Developing your body
Motivated sequence
Reflective
Proposition to Proof
12.30pm – Lunch
1.15pm
Dealing with a hostile audience
Five (5) ways to handle a hostile audience
Focus energy on positive people
Confront the negative ideas
Never defend your position
Redefine - direct the focus back to your advantage
Open the floor to Q and A
When worst comes to worst…
Developing your assertive responses
The multiple question asker
The conversationalist
The story teller

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2.45pm – Afternoon tea
3.00pm
Putting it all together - Start your presentation with PUNCH
Each participant will deliver a 3 minute INTRODUCTION from
the design template used earlier this morning.
This will be recorded and watched for instant feedback.
4.30pm close

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Welcome
Presentation Skills Training Course:
This 1 day Course will give you the skills to deliver high-impact presentations with
minimal preparation time.
Focusing on how to arrange your ideas, capture your audiences’ attention, tell
memorable stories to leave a lasting impression to get the results you want, this
program is ideal for senior managers, leadership teams and other groups who want to
make immediate improvement in their presentation skills.

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Skills needed for a dynamic presentation
A presentation may be defined as a carefully planned visual and aural event, designed
for the purpose of gaining understanding, agreement or action. A survey conducted by
Crosling and Ward (2002) identified presentations as one of the most common forms of
oral communication expected of business leaders.
For a presentation to reach its objective, three things must happen:
1. the speaker must have a clear aim;
2. the material must be organised in such a way that the aim is supported;
3. and the presentation should be engaging for both speaker and audience.
What do you want to add to ensure you have a dynamic presentation?

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Planning and preparation
Try to empathise with the people in the audience and consider the following:
• What are the needs and expectations of the listeners?
• What are your needs and expectations?
• What do they know already? (for instance, are you merely repeating what has already
been said during previous presentations?)
• What do they need to know in order to understand your presentation?
• What are their likes/dislikes in presentation style, use of technology and format, if any?

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Presentation design
Objective
Just as it is important to make explicit the aim of a written report, the speaker must
define the purpose of his or her presentation clearly and succinctly and then use a
suitable communication framework that supports this aim. For example, in some
presentations the aim may be to persuade the audience to purchase a product or
service. In others, the aim may be to inform, i.e. to present the findings of a particular
company’s strategy or to present a case study analysis and to link this analysis to your
overall vision.
What is the objective / purpose of your presentation?
Content
An important consideration before preparing the content of a presentation is the amount
of time in which you have to present. For example, group presentations may be 30
minutes duration, however, each group member might only speak for five or six
minutes. Therefore, it is important that the content fits within the time available.
It is also important that you rehearse several times before delivering the final
presentation. This will check your timing, further familiarise you with the material, and
give you greater confidence in your delivery.
In terms of content, the first step is to decide on the ideas that are most suitable for the
presentation.

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Structure
Having decided upon the aim and the content, the next step is to structure the
presentation. No matter how interesting the material is, the effectiveness will be lost if it
is carelessly put together. The structure provides the framework for your presentation
and should therefore be simple, clear and logical.
Try to break the topic into its component parts with 3 to 5 main ideas. Any more may
lead to information overload and you may lose the interest of the audience. These main
themes or ideas should also be developed through supporting materials and evidence.
Remember to cite your sources, particularly with regard to direct quotations, statistical
data, charts, diagrams and so forth.
STEPS IN STRUCTURING YOUR PRESENTATION
Step 1 Know your project aim
Decide on the message you are trying to impart (your major theme)
Step 2 Develop a number of supporting sub-themes, ideas or examples
Put these on the outside of the MIND MAP
Select the best 4 of these
Step 3 Re-work each sub theme into a well-developed paragraph
Eliminate irrelevant materials
Step 4 Decide on the most effective order for each topic paragraph
Step 5 Write your introduction (today we will present this)
Step 6 Write your conclusion (today we have presented this)
Step 7 Use linking words to ‘stitch’ your presentation together
Step 8 Convert your presentation to an oral form (signpost and repeat) and
polish your presentation (use a dictionary and thesaurus)

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Writing your presentation template
Developing your Introduction:
Welcome (Use words that inspire enthusiasm)
Impact statement (Fact, humourous, controversial, a quote or a story)
What do you know about your audience, client, participants? (begin with the
phrase: “I know…” or “I realise…” or “I understand…” or similar)
What is the purpose or objective of the presentation?

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So, what are the topics you will be covering today?
Why is this information so important to deliver today?
What is your KEY MESSAGE?
Attention-grabbing statement/visual

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Writing your presentation template.
Developing the body:
There are many ways to organise your information in a presentation, to be more persuasive. Three
techniques include:
A. Motivated sequence
Attention, need, satisfaction, visualisation, and appeal to action.
1. The attention step is designed to gain the audience’s attention, and create goodwill and respect
between the presenter and audience.
2. The need element is developing a general problem and relating it to audience members’ desires.
Remember, the needs are theirs and not yours.
3. Satisfaction is showing how your service or product solves the problem. It points out the features
of your product/service and benefits to audience members.
4. Visualisation is to intensify the desire of audience members to move ahead with the solution you
propose. You describe how things will be after the proposal is adopted, and further explain the
benefits.
5. Lastly, the action step is when you urge audience members to take action – and the objective is
to close your presentation with a sense of completeness, spurring people to act.

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B. Reflective
Present a problem; give several alternatives; evaluate them; select the best. If you already have the
solution, you want to ensure that your information supports that solution. Here are 8 steps a presenter
follows when using this speech organisation method:
1. Introduction
2. Problem (establishing criteria for evaluating the options)
3. Possible solution (evaluate using the criteria; start with the positives and end with the negatives –
making sure that the negatives outweigh the positives)
4. Repeat step 3 again
5. Your choice
6. Possible solution (reverse your approach by mentioning the negatives first, and end with the
positives – making sure that the benefits outweigh the negatives)
7. Review (problem, criteria, and optimum solution)
8. Call to action/memorable statement

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C. Proposition to proof
In your introduction, present your proposition; then prove it throughout the body of your speech. Conclude
with an appeal to accept or act upon your proposition. Here are the 5 steps a speaker uses when using
this method to organise a presentation:
1. Introduction
2. State your proposition (what you want them to believe or do)
3. Proof (give reasons – logical and emotional – that support the proposition)
4. Review
5. Call to action/memorable statement

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Dealing with a hostile audience

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Dealing with a hostility
Sweaty palms… damp armpits… heart fluttering… You’re about to tell your audience
something they don’t want to hear or you may be in the middle of your presentation and
you can sense that things aren’t going to plan. So what’s the best way to handle these
situations?
5 ways to handle a hostile audience
The one thing I know when I am about to deliver a presentation: the audience is on my
side. At least, to begin with… The audience wants me to succeed.
That’s the good news. They’ve voted with their feet, sat in uncomfortable chairs, and
are waiting for me to feed you information. They want success, because it means they
won’t have wasted their time. To begin with, an audience is yours to please. Only if
you let it down repeatedly will it start to get ornery.
But what about those rare audiences that really do want you to fail? From the
start? The opposing camps, the hostile factions, the competitive parts of your
universe?
How do you survive a hostile audience?
Here is what I do…
1. As much as possible I focus my energy to the positive people in the room
This is counter-intuitive, but important, because if you can establish a positive
relationship with a few people in the room, that positive feeling will ripple across the
crowd. We have these things called mirror neurons in our brains that give us essentially
the same experience we see the people around us having. So if we see someone
reacting positively, we will too.

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2. Confront the negative ideas in the room and agree with the (in principle)
If there are some obvious and big objections to what you’re saying, talk them through
respectfully and thoughtfully, first presenting the opposing idea fairly and then why you
disagree. Most often, people with opposing points of view are disarmed simply by being
recognised – fairly.
3. I will never defend
The most important rule to remember in dealing with any confrontation is to never,
under any circumstances, react by defending. A defensive reaction is the most
common, but it almost never works. Watch someone under fire get defensive, and you
see someone who actually appears to be guilty. Little by little, that person will lose
ground and get backed up against the wall. Again, the solution to the problem is to turn
the tables on your adversary. Suppose someone says your solution to a problem is
totally wrong. If you respond with "No, it's not, because..." you've already lost. Now
you're defensive, and your opponent has the opportunity to attack your reasoning. Next
time you are in such a situation, try a response such as "What do you see as being
right?" or "What do you think needs to be done?” With questions like these, you turn the
tables. The spotlight will be on the hostile attendee, who must explain himself and justify
his beliefs - rather than the other way around.
4. Redirect the focus
This point has several levels. Of foremost importance is remembering that you need to
control the situation. Suppose you're asked a "loaded" question (one filled with emotion
or underlying accusations) like, "What is your company going to do about its
reprehensible, blood-sucking personnel policies?" Obviously, this question is intended
to put you on the spot and is not favourable to you or your company.
However, you'd be surprised at how many speakers fall into the trap of responding to
the question as it is presented, making the mistake of emulating the speaker. Instead,
try these ways to turn the situation to your advantage:

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a. Rephrase the question.
You might say something like, "You seem to be asking how our company is working
to better our employees' quality of life. Let me lay out the steps that have recently
been taken in the areas of...."
b. Ask questions too.
Many presenters feel they must answer immediately when asked a question. Not so.
You may need to ask a question instead to clarify an obscure question from the
audience member - or to expose a hidden agenda. For example, if you're asked,
"How can any ethical person come up with policies such as you just described?" you
are being set up for attack. Above all, don't respond to the underlying
presupposition, which is that you are unethical. Instead ask your adversary
questions, such as:
"What are you wanting me to say?" or "Can you explain what you mean?" Your
questions will give you several advantages: They will (1) get the agenda out in the
open, (2) get your opponent to offer specifics that are easier to deal with, and (3)
give you time to think.
c. Use the question to make a transition.
Although you never want to give the impression that you are trying to evade a
difficult question, there are times when you need to take a step off the path you were
on. Develop your own repertoire of transition sentences that will help you move to
more secure territory. Try variations of these:
"The real issue you're discussing seems to be...."
"What you're really saying is…”; or
"What we should ask is.... "
These phrases will take you over the problem area to a topic you can address. At
the same time, saying them gives you time to gather your thoughts. Remember,
credibility is one of your most important assets as a presenter. Don't lose it by
appearing to dodge a question.

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5. Open the floor to Q and A – but save the last 5 minutes for your closing
A common mistake most presenters make is to take Q and A at the end, closing on the
last audience question. But doing so means that you’re at the mercy of the last
question and questioner. Instead, save 5 minutes and hold your best rhetoric for the
end. People tend to remember the last words they hear, so make them your own.
When the worst comes to the worst… What happens when you’ve prepared
thoroughly, but some of your listeners are still not satisfied? How do you deal with those
who openly disagree with you or challenge you?
Stay calm at all costs. If you return the fire, you’ll only encourage more negative
behaviour.
Don’t judge your entire audience by the reactions of a few. They may not represent
the views of everyone. People who interrupt, loudly disagree, or become combative
are likely to offend others in the audience as well.
Be sure to address the issue, not the person. Don’t put the individual on the defensive
and certainly don’t criticise anyone personally.
Look for areas of agreement upon which you can build. That doesn’t mean you
should back down when all your research tells you you’re right. Looking for common
ground is not a form of compromise. You can acknowledge the other person’s point of
view without agreeing with it.
Stay within the immediate discussion. Avoid offering more facts or opinions that could
trigger more disagreement.
Also, avoid becoming bogged down in an adversarial exchange. Once you’ve covered
a topic as thoroughly as you choose to, end the discussion by saying simply that
you’ve explained your position, but now it’s time to move on. You can always offer to
discuss the issue further after your presentation.
Do interrupt when someone with a dissenting view wanders onto another subject or
appears ready to give a presentation of their own. Make it clear that time is short and
that you want to stay focused on the day’s agenda.

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Being more assertive

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How many times have you sat in the audience during the Q&A portion of a presentation
(either live or on the Web or phone), and felt frustrated by one audience member
dominating the questions? Perhaps this person has several questions that go on and
on, or perhaps she doesn't have a question at all and tells long stories.
Either way, you as the presenter are not taking charge of the situation, leaving the rest
of the audience, also with questions, tapping their feet, looking at the clock, and feeling
ignored.
Unlike a true heckler, the person dominating Q&A is not trying to put you down or make
you look bad. Like a heckler, however, this person does want a lot of personal attention,
which, as the presenter, you cannot give at the expense of other audience members.
How do you handle this needy person?
1. The multiple question-asker
When someone says, "I have a couple of questions," one way to deal with it is to take
the first question and ask her if she can save the other until others have asked theirs.
You will immediately nip in the bud the first kind of dominating questioner. If you run out
of time for everyone's questions, let them know you'll stay after your presentation for a
few minutes if people want to talk, or ask them to contact you by e-mail with additional
questions.
The person might not tell you she has more than one question, but you soon discover
that there are multiple questions coming, and it's too late to stop it. In this case, try to
give a general answer that covers some of her concerns, and again, suggest talking
more afterward so you can more specifically address her particular issues. Then move
on.
2. The conversationalist
Sometimes a person asks a question, you answer it, and then he just continues to
converse with you, adding details and sometimes sneaking in a "follow-up" question or
two. This is a difficult situation, because you feel rude if you cut him off mid-sentence,
but you know you have to stop the flow.
When it appears that this person will continue talking or is going to sneak in another
question, don't let it go on and on. Jump in when he takes a breath for air with a
comment like, "That's a really common concern. Thanks for bringing that up. Does
someone else have a question they'd like to ask?" Just do it. Be assertive. Don't be
rude, but cut the cord.
3. The storyteller
This is the person who stands up and starts talking about her own experience, but never

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actually formulates a question. These stories can go on indefinitely. Again, you need to
be polite but firm. When the person takes a breath or when you can sense any kind of
break coming, jump right in with, "Wow, that must have been scary. I'm glad you
survived. Do you have a question?"
If the person cannot put together a question, you need to take control and say, "I'm
going to move on to the next person with a question. If you'd like to talk after the
presentation, I'll be around for a little while."
Being assertive is a skill developed through practice. It's not just about knowing the
answers; it's also about crowd control. Be assertive but caring. Let the audience
member know that you hear him and that you value what he has to say. But never let
someone dominate the room; you will see your audience's eyes glaze over and you will
their interest and risk not regaining it.

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Start your presentation with PUNCH
The primacy effect, when applied to presentations, suggests that we remember more
strongly what happens at the beginning of a presentation.
In order to establish a connection with an audience, we must grab their attention right
from the beginning.
A punchy opening that obtains the audience's attention can engage them quickly.
PERSONAL
Make it personal. I once saw an amazing presentation by the co-founder of Brandplay, a
brand strategy firm. Stacey Kramer also founded Word for Word, a naming and
branding consultancy serving national and global markets.
In 2009, Kramer found herself confronting a terrifying diagnosis: a CAT scan revealed
she had a brain tumour -- the size of a golf ball. She told her remarkable, personal story
at TED2010.
"The next time you face something that's unexpected, unwanted, and uncertain,
consider that it just may be a gift."
Stacey Kramer
There are many ways to make the opening personal, but personal in this case does not
mean a long self-introduction about your background complete with org charts or why
you are qualified to speak. However, a personal story can be very effective opening so
long as it illustrates a key engaging point or sets the theme in a memorable way.
Watch Stacey Kramer as she talks about “The best gift I ever survived”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKbet4RdSo4
What could you add to make it PERSONAL?

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UNEXPECTED
Reveal something unexpected. Doing something or saying something which is not
expected grabs their attention. Even the very fact that you have chosen to eschew the
normal and ordinary (and boring) formal opening of thanking everyone under the sun
and saying how glad you are to be speaking is a happy small surprise. Instead of the
usual formal and slow opening, consider opening with a shocking quote or a question
with a surprising answer or a revealing statistic that goes against conventional wisdom.
Do or say something that taps into the emotion of surprise. This emotion increases
alertness and gets people to focus.
Watch Tom Peters as he opens with “Too much talk, too little do”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UyvJgOCS1w
What could you add to reveal something UNEXPECTED?

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NOVEL
Show or tell of something novel. Get people’s attention by introducing something new.
Start with a powerful image that’s never been seen, or reveal a relevant short story
that’s never been heard, or show a statistic from a brand new study that gives new
insights into a problem. Chances are that your audience is filled with natural born
explorers who crave discovery and are attracted to the new and the unknown. Novelty is
threatening for some people, but assuming the environment is safe and there is not an
over abundance of novelty in the environment, your audience will be seeking the novel
and the new.
OSCON 2005 Keynote - Identity 2.0
Dick Hardt | Founder & CEO, Sxip Identity
Watch Dick deliver a compelling and dynamic introduction on Identity 2.0
and how the concept of digital identity is evolving.
http://www.identity20.com/media/OSCON2005/
What could you add to show or tell of something NOVEL?

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CHALLENGING
Challenge conventional wisdom or challenge the audience’s assumptions. Consider
challenging people's imaginations too: "How would you like to fly from New York to
Tokyo in 2 hours? Impossible? Well, some experts think it’s possible!" Challenge people
intellectually by asking provocative questions that make them think. Many presentations
or lectures fail because they simply attempt to transfer information from speaker to
listener as if the listeners were not active participants. But audiences pay attention best
when you call on them to use their brains — and even their bodies — to do something
that taps their natural curiosity and stretches them.
What could you add to make it CHALLENGING?

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HUMOUR
Use humour to engage the audience emotionally with a shared laugh. There are many
benefits to laughter. Laughter is contagious and an audience that shares a laugh
becomes more connected with each other and with you; this creates a positive general
vibe in the room. Laughter releases endorphins, relaxes the whole body, and can even
change one’s perspective just a bit. The old adage is if they are laughing they are
listening. This is true, though it does not necessarily mean they are learning, so it is
critical that the humour be relevant directly to the topic at hand or otherwise fits
harmoniously with the flow of your narrative without being distracting or derailing you
from the objective of your talk.
The idea of recommending humour in a presentation often gets a bad rap because of
the common and tired practice of opening up a speech with a joke, almost always a
lame one. Usually such jokes get only polite sympathy laughter at best, and at worst the
joke falls completely flat or even offends, either way the presenter is off to a poor start.
But, I’m not talking about telling jokes. Forget about jokes. However, an observation
of irony, or an anecdote or short humourous story that makes a relevant point or
introduces the topic and sets the theme is the kind of opening that can work.
Watch my presentation where I found it difficult to say the word ANONYMITY.
http://www.youtube.com/pauschmanagement
What could you add to make it HUMOUROUS

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Take a chance
There are many ways to start a presentation, but how ever you choose to start your talk,
do not waste those initial, valuable two-three minutes “warming up” the audience with
filler material or formalities. Start strong. The five elements comprising PUNCH are not
the only things to consider, but if your opening contains 2-3 of these approaches then
you are on your way to opening with impact. Of course, it's safer just to do the same old
thing, but part of presenting ‘naked’ means being different and taking a chance to make
an impact. Making a difference and influencing a change always has some risk.

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Presentation Power: Four Ways to Persuade
Aristotle said that all speaking is persuasive speaking.
I agree. After all, who am I to argue with Aristotle?
Regardless of the venue (10 people or 1,000 people, a conference, a sales call, or a
feedback session), we, as speakers, are always trying to sell our credibility and value –
not to mention our ideas. Hence, all speaking is persuasive.
Unfortunately, all too often presenters think they are “just giving information.”
“Information” is often better delivered in written form, giving the audience time to digest
and think about the material.
Just think for a minute how much time would be saved if people read the material in
advance, and the group time was spent answering questions.
That being said, presenting information in a way that shows passion and enthusiasm
not only makes the material more interesting, but the speaker more memorable and
inspirational – even persuasive.
“All speaking is persuasive.”
So, what makes a presentation and presenter persuasive?
There are 4 critical factors. I’ll start with three that Aristotle himself mentioned, and then
add one of my own.

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1. Logos
Translated from Greek, it means logic. Information must make sense – it needs to be organised logically
so people can follow along. Not only is organisation important, so are the facts and figures that make your
case. Information that hits the “head” falls into the logos category. Logic alone, however, isn’t enough to
spur people to action — it’s critical to justify the movement. That’s why Aristotle said that along with logos,
you also need pathos.
2. Pathos
Pathos = emotions. We are moved by our emotions – hitting the heart and the gut. However, we are not
all moved by the same things. Some people are motivated by money, others by prestige or power. The
better you know the people that you want to persuade (their demographics, job levels, reasons for being
there, etc.), the better you can use examples that will move them. Overall, a speaker’s goal is to create a
need – driven by the positives that the people will achieve by doing what the presenter suggests or the
pain they will experience by not doing it.
3. Ethos
Your ethos is your credibility. If people believe and trust you as a speaker, you will have a much easier
time getting them to believe what you have to say. If they don’t like or trust you, it would be rare for them
to buy into your ideas. There would always be an undercurrent of scepticism. This “unearned” credibility
can come from the bio your audience members read before attending your presentation, or in the words
of an introducer reading your prepared introduction.
4. Passion
No matter the content of the message, a speaker must deliver it with passion. Use vocal variation that
makes the message convincing. I have frequently been called a motivational speaker, but I see myself as
a high content speaker who is passionate about my message. Not only is vocal passion critical, it must be
congruent with your visual body language. I have had people say to me, “I can’t be passionate, my topic
is boring …” or, “I am an accountant, scientist,” etc. My answer to them is …

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