Delivering a presentation

Delivering a presentation

The big day dawns 

The day of the presentation can produce early morning nerves. Anyone who tells you that they don’t get nerves beforehand either hasn’t got any or is being less than truthful. It is natural and a good thing.

The first thing to do is to relax and imagine that you are already there. Think about the room, the people in it and then see yourself delivering the presentation.

Make sure that you arrive early and if possible go into the room and check all the last minute details. Mentally go through your routine one more time.

Your priorities in the first few minutes are to introduce yourself, set the scene and relax the audience. Look confident and smile at your audience. Once you reach the lectern or table look at the audience and pause. Settle yourself down and build a little anticipation. You are now in control and you can set your own pace.

Establish eye contact and start talking. Start with the introduction you have learnt and don’t try to ad lib at this stage.

Getting to the podium

  • Remember your body language, smile, look and be confident
  • Remember your notes
  • Step up to the lectern confidently and set out your notes
  • Look at the audience; find some smiling faces and smile back
  • Set your watch (especially if it is a timed presentation)
  • Pause and commence.

    • If you have prepared notes use them but don’t read from them. You should have rehearsed your presentation enough times that you need only use your notes as ‘aide memoirs’.

    Try to make sure that you keep the speed of your presentation as you had planned. Not too fast and not too slow. Start slowly and emphasise your early words.

    A good presentation will have you varying the speed of your delivery, sometimes pausing to allow a particular message to sink in and moving more quickly over the less important items.

    If someone interrupts you then take this with good humour. Never lose your temper. Explain that you will take questions at the end of the presentation. If necessary say that you will come on to that point later – and then make sure that you do. Make a note if you wish – this shows that you are listening and taking your audience seriously.

    Keep your sentences short, no more than 15 words and vary the pitch in your voice. Also change the volume, speaking up when you want to make a strong point. Try to avoid your voice from tailing off at the end of a sentence and don’t let it ride up as if asking a question.

    Points to avoid in presentations

  • Never apologise – “I am not really qualified”
  • Avoid false humility -“We believe we have tried to..”
  • Avoid triteness – “It’s nice to be here in Serbia, er…Peru”
  • Never dither – “I think that’s all I’ve got to say”
  • Forget clichés – “At the end of the day”, “I am sure you will agree..”
  • Eliminate extra words – essentially, crucially, actually
  • Never, ever swear.

    • Beware of the language you use. Keep words short and simple and never use bad language. Treat the audience as if they were your best friend and keep the presentation friendly.

    Try to avoid mannerisms that might distract, such as adjusting your clothing, scratching your ear or nose, or brushing back your hair.

    Use visual aids as a prop not a crutch. The worst sorts of presentations have slides with masses of words. The best sort of presentation might have ten slides but never more than twenty slides in total. Your slides should use graphics. In one large UK Company the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) has forbidden any words from appearing on a slide.

    Work to your strength. If an audience wanted to read the words you could have given them a briefing paper. Instead they want to hear what you have to say.

    That is why any good course on presentations places a lot of emphasis on making a presentation without visuals. If you can describe the subject in ‘word pictures’ you will make far more impact than putting it on a slide.

    Many people ask how they should stand, what they should do with their hands and whether they should move about. There are no hard and fast rules but these are the best practices.

    Body tips

  • Never put your hands into your pockets. It looks lazy and is inconsiderate to your audience
  • Use your hands to good effect. If using visuals then scan the point you want to make on the visual with your hands. Always point to the screen never to the OHP slide
  • Don’t let your hands become a ‘windmill’. Use of hand gestures are good but should not be expansive. Try to avoid using the same gesture over and over – the audience will start looking at your hands rather than listening to you. Keep things in moderation
  • Don’t adopt a rigid body position. The worst are the ‘fig leaf’ or reverse ‘fig leaf’. These are where you clasp your hands firmly at waist level either at the front or the rear of the body
  • Do move about – but not too much. This author often switches to different sides of the audience and sometimes (just to keep them awake!) moves towards the audience. Again do this in moderation. Whilst there is no hard and fast rule perhaps three or four moves during a ten minute presentation is about right
  • If you are presenting from a lectern then rest your hands lightly on the sides of the lectern. It steadies your body and will stop you from rocking your body about too much
  • Remember that a lectern, desk or any other furniture between you and the audience is like creating a barrier. It is best to avoid this as you want to empathise with your audience as much as possible.

    • Handling Nerves

    When launching Windows 95 Bill Gates experienced a bad case of nerves; he lost his cool and started shouting at the technicians.

    Most people get some nerves during a presentation. Don’t worry; it is a natural reaction that can be controlled. In fact if you feel in total control then you are probably not trying hard enough. Typical signs are feeling of nausea, sweaty hands or dry mouth.

    So what do you do about it?

    Dealing with nerves

  • Try to make sure that you have visited the room before
  • In advance, imagine yourself giving the presentation in the room
  • Never deliver a presentation written by someone else
  • Have a glass of tepid water nearby (tepid water is best for the vocal cords)
  • Carry out the following exercise just before ‘going on’ – PBR
    1. Pause – stop and think about the best experience you have ever had. This might be sitting watching a cricket match in your old school grounds on a hot summer’s day with your old school friends around.
    2. Breath – in through your nose and hold for four seconds. Count the four seconds and then breathe out through your mouth. Do that four times (No more or you might hyperventilate).
    3. Relax – allow your whole body to slump, let every muscle flop as you sit in your chair.
  • During the presentation if you feel any nerves then slow down your delivery until you regain control.

    • The power of your voice

    Many presenters use visuals or gimmicks as a crutch. Some of the best presentations use only the presenter and the power of his voice.

    So what are the essentials to using your voice to best effect?

    Using your voice

  • Speak up. The worst sort of presentation has the presenter speaking in a timid or low voice. The people at the back of the room struggle to hear what he is saying. For one client who has a quiet voice he writes at the top of each notes page “Louder”. That encourages him to raise his voice and not allow it to drop as the presentation reaches its climax
  • Loud voice not shouting. You should not shout at the audience. If you have a quiet voice or if you struggle to be heard then practice speaking to the back of a room. Often the problem is caused because your lungs do not take in enough air. So here is a simple tip. Before you go into a presentation find a quiet place where you cannot be heard. Then sing or shout as loudly as possible to yourself. Don’t be self conscious – just do it. You will find that this practice helps your lungs to expand. You will speak louder when you do your presentation
  • Warm the voice up by talking to people as they enter the room. This has two benefits. Your vocal cords get exercised and you get a chance to become acquainted with your audience
  • Vary the tone of your voice. A loud voice to stress a point (or wake up the audience) a softer tone to provide mystery
  • Alter the pace of your delivery. Sometimes fast sometimes slow
  • Remember to pause when you want your audience to absorb an important piece of information
  • Use lots of emotion. Being passionate about what you have to say is the best way to keep your audience interested. After all, if you aren’t passionate about your subject then why should they be interested?
  • Use some humour. When you smile your voice changes (incidentally a good tip when talking on the telephone). Humour also breaks up the presentation and gives people a chance to relax. But be wary of telling jokes. Only tell clean jokes, understand your audience and never offend. Most important of all only tell jokes if you know you can ‘pull it off’. I am a bad joke teller so instead uses ‘dry humour’
  • Never sit down to deliver a presentation (unless it is one to one). When you sit down your lungs cannot fill up completely so you lose the vocal power and you can become breathless. Always stand up, use short sentences (or you might run out of breath) and move about occasionally.

    • Dealing with Question & Answer Sessions

    Questions and answer sessions can prove to be the most valuable part of any presentation. So how do you make the most of such sessions?

    Perhaps the most important aspect of a Q&A session is to anticipate possible questions and prepare answers for each likely question.

    This is best done as part of your rehearsal procedure. As emphasised before, you should rehearse your presentation in front of colleagues. As you go through your presentation get them to make notes of possible questions.

    Some such questions might lead to you changing your presentation to create better clarity of thought. Others you might leave in deliberately.

    For each anticipated question prepare an answer and if considered necessary also prepare further slides to explain the point. This is real showmanship stuff and your audience will be deeply impressed when you have the answer prepared complete with slides.

    So far we have considered a question and answer session at the end of the presentation. But you should consider your approach to unexpected questions during the presentation. Below are some suggestions.

    Tricky questions

  • If you are asked a tricky question which you are not confident of answering you have four choices
    1. To ask a colleague, with more knowledge on that subject, to answer
    2. Offer it out to the audience for suggestions
    3. Explain that you don’t have a full answer for them but that you will go away, find the answer and report back to them (and don’t forget to do what you say – your credibility relies on it)
    4. Invite the questioner to come and discuss it with you afterwards
    5. It is possible that it is the sort of question where you can throw it back to the questioner to ask their views
    6. Some questioners will ask multiple questions. Do not aim to answer all of the questions (unless you want to) just the easiest for you to answer
    7. Yes or No questions need only receive a yes or no answer. But that could come over as rude. Instead take the opportunity to expand on the point and thank the questioner for that important point. You come out of this looking good and so do they
    8. Hypothetical questions need not be answered. However you might need to judge whether you answer them or not. First point out to them that it is a hypothetical question and then get on to your key message. Alternatively you might want to use the opportunity to reinforce your credibility. “What if you don’t meet your deadlines?” – “Well there might be a first for everything but this is not one we intend to make. Ask any of our clients and you will see that we are always ahead of deadlines. This is because etc”
    9. The worst sort is the really stupid question. At least one is guaranteed in every presentation. Everyone will look at you with keen anticipation. They will all be thinking – ‘how will he get out of this one?’ The trick is to make something of the question and let the questioner escape with some pride. In every stupid question – somewhere – deep down – there is a serious point. Dig deep and find that serious point. Then answer it. Especially important is to give the questioner the chance to escape so say “Yes of course what you are asking about is . . . that is an important point” Then go on to elaborate. Yes it is an art but if you get it right then such thinking on your feet will put you amongst the top presenters.
    10. Technical questions often come from someone with specialist knowledge. If so acknowledge their mastery and then answer it as simply as possible for the benefit of the rest of the audience. Alternatively ask them to discuss this with you afterwards.

    Whatever you do in your Q&A sessions never embarrass your audience. Never try to be clever, instead treat each question with sincerity and answer it to the best of your ability.

    There is a big difference between knowing the theory and making it happen. For help in implementing your communications practices email us now.




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