Put A Plan In Place
The ability to present yourself well is fundamental to success in the
business world. After all, having good ideas is only part of the
equation. You must also be able to get your ideas across to others
logically, clearly and persuasively.
However, good presentation skills are not only limited to
business situations. Teachers, students, coaches, people involved in
civic duties or charitable organizations as well as countless other
examples all have the need at one time or another to deliver an
effective presentation.
One of the keys to making any presentation as dynamic as possible
is proper planning.
To follow are five things to keep in mind as
you prepare a presentation:
Define your intentions. Its simple, just ask yourself, why am I
creating this presentation?...in other words, what is its purpose? Is it
to sell my ideas? Is it to motivate people? To inform? Defining a
specific goal will help you create a blueprint in your mind of how to
organize your presentation in order to reach your goal.
Know your audience. Just as if you were crafting a letter
to be read by a specific person, you will want to craft your
presentation messages for the particular audience you are presenting to.
Is it a group of your peers? Are they at job levels above yours? Are
they customers? Are they already knowledgeable about the topic you are
presenting? Are they in need of detailed explanations, or will
broad-stroke overviews be sufficient? Instead of concentrating solely on
how you might benefit from what your presentation says, consider what
your audience wants.
Collect as much information as possible. Even if you are not
planning on an intricately detailed presentation, you will still need
plenty of background about the topic you are presenting. Gather whatever
you think is applicable, then sort it out. Remember though that you do
not want to overwhelm your audience with too much information because
you may run the risk of confusing them. On the other hand, too little
information may not do an adequate job of supporting the intentions of
your presentation.
Build structure into your presentation. Much like a good
book or movie, your presentation should have a logical beginning, middle
and end...with a flow that makes sense instead of jumping around all
over the place. The last thing you want is for your audience to get lost
and not be able to keep up with your train of thought as the
presentation moves along.
Practice, practice, practice. Make certain that you are
thoroughly familiar with the material you will be presenting before you
present it. Practice delivering the presentation out loud. Concentrate
on such things as the need to make eye contact and avoid the temptation
to bury your head in your notes. Also rehearse the projection of your
voice, speaking clearly in relaxed, conversational tones.
