Homework

1. Extract the key issues to keep in mind before engaging in making a presentation:

2. Understand your audience’s needs.

3. Keep your content simple and engaging.
4. Use visuals effectively.
5. Practice nonverbal communication.
6. Create a compelling narrative structure.
7. Be aware of technical and design considerations.
8. Manage stage presence and audience interaction.

9. Complete the boxes with what you consider to be important when creating a technical
presentation:

 Simplicity: Most users aren’t Easy to share: For easy Design library: It should offer
 design experts, so software  collaboration, users a large number of templates,
should be simple enough for should be able to share images, and other media to
any person to use, regardless presentations with other users create your presentation.
of their background. and allow simultaneous

editing.

Cost: Find software that fits  Features: Rather than just  Compatibility: Most people
your budget so you can including standard slides, and organizations use multiple
consistently create software should offer devices, so choose software
presentations. alternative formats to share that’s compatible across
presentation content and devices in creating and
engage audiences. displaying presentations.

Content: Participants’ Needs:  Add a Personal Touch:

Retrieved and adapted from http://help.vyond.com/

10. From the perspective of a presentation viewer, what do you think makes a presentation
outstanding?
Visuals: graphs, charts, Well balanced information Charisma of the presenter
pictures, videos and length: not too much, not
too little
  

  

Part 2
Tips from HOW TO Give a Great Presentation:
Know Your Audience: Tailor your content to their expectations.
Use Structure to Organize Ideas: Ensure logical flow and clarity.
Use Visuals: Reinforce key points while maintaining simplicity.
Practice Stage Presence: Exude confidence and engage through body language.
Have a Story to Tell: Create emotional connections with your audience.
Be Concise: Value brevity while ensuring clarity.
Build Confidence with Practice: Rehearse repeatedly for fluid delivery.
Insights from How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint:
Limit text on slides.
Use contrasting colors for readability.
Include one idea per slide.
Replace bullets with visuals.
Align slide design with the presentation narrative.

1. Reading: Making and Delivering Great Presentations

Adapted from https://hbr.org/2013/06/how-to-give-a-killer-presentation And https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-give-

a-good-presentation

Giving a public speech may seem daunting, but the more afraid you are of it, the more you
should practise.

Main challenges when giving presentations

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or first-timer, there’s always room to improve your
presentation skills. One key to preparing a presentation is to define what you’re most worried
about and address these fears.

The most common of worries in school or company presentations include:

1. Fear of public speaking. Having a great idea doesn’t mean we’re comfortable telling
people about it. Not everyone shines in front of an audience. Some people rationally
feel fine about presenting but experience physical symptoms such as nausea and
dizziness as the brain releases adrenaline to cope with the potentially stressful
situation. The more public speaking you do, the less you’ll experience these symptoms
and the more comfortable you’ll be.

Sidenote: Glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking, affects anywhere from 15–30% of
the general population. Social anxiety is also becoming more prevalent, seen in 12% more
adults in the last 20 years, and it’s a key cause of glossophobia. But stage fright isn’t
necessarily bad. Controlling your nervousness is a very good exercise that will help you
achieve increased self-confidence.

2. Not keeping the audience's attention. We all want to be liked, and this need for
affirmation makes us worried people won’t care about what we have to say. But if you
are genuinely passionate about the topic, chances are high that others will be too.
 3. Not knowing what content, and how much to place on slides. Overloading
PowerPoint presentations is a surefire way to lose the audience’s attention, while
brevity may not communicate important information. Watch presentations and note
the ones you find most effective to figure out a good balance between what to write on
slides and what to say.
4. Discomfort incorporating nonverbal communication. Standing still won’t engage
your audience, and moving around constantly will distract them. Delivering an
effective presentation means deciding how much verbal and nonverbal communication
to use.

Presenting and watching more presentations will help you know how to handle these issues.

Some things you can do to improve your presentations:

1. Keep it simple

Ideally, your presentation should be accessible and easy to follow. As you prepare, ask
yourself: what are the key points you want people to take away? Nothing is worse than
watching a presentation that goes on and on that you hardly understand or the speaker is
merely trying to tell the audience all they know about a subject.

Audiences want to understand and implement what they’ve learned.

Simplicity is vital if you’re looking to reach a broad and diverse audience. Try placing
important points in bulleted prompts so your audience can identify the main takeaways
instead of searching for them in a block of text.

Offer a Q&A at the end of the presentation, so the audience has the opportunity to learn more
by asking questions and gaining clarification on points they didn’t understand. Remember: if
the audience asks questions, it means they are demonstrating interest.

Be enthusiastic and honest, and the audience will respond.

Yor audience’s needs are more important than yours. You need to make the
presentation relevant to the audience instead of lecturing them on a topic you master
very well.
As you prepare the presentation, you always need to bear in mind what the audience needs
and wants to know, not what you can tell them. While you’re giving the presentation, you
also need to remain focused on your audience’s response, and react to that, even if that
means thinking on your feet and improvising a little.

2. Create a compelling structure: make it flow naturally and convincingly

Pretend you’re an audience member and ask yourself what the best order is for your
presentation. Make sure things are cohesive and logical. To keep the presentation interesting,
you may need to add more slides, cut a section, or rearrange the presentation’s structure.
 Give a narrative to your presentation. Make sure you’re telling a compelling story in the
sense that ideas flow logically from one another. For instance, set up the background of
problem at the beginning and lead the audience through how you discovered the solution
you’re presenting (the “Eureka! moment”).

Also, remember to create a slide at the beginning of your presentation announcing the
structure of the presented content. It outlines the most important issues you are going to talk
about, gives the audience an map for orientation in the talk and builds familiarity with the
topic. And people like to know in advance what they will be listening to. Additionally,
during the presentation, you can stop from delivering content at some point and recap what
has been tackled so far and make the audience aware of what comes next on the agenda. At
the end of the presentation, recap the takeaway points you want your audience to retain. This
may seem like a waste of time, but it makes a world of difference in helping the audience
with orientation and commitment. 3. Use visual aids

Aim to incorporate photos, smart art, diagrams, charts or videos in your slides. Props/visual
aids can also help reinforce your message and don’t lessen your credibility or
professionalism but help illustrate your point when used correctly. They can add to the
structuring of ideas and sequence them logically, provide examples or simply break
monotony.

! If you need to provide more information or offer a presentation outline containing some
relevant details/examples, you can create a handout and give it out before your presentation.

4. Be aware of design techniques and trends

You can use an array of platforms to create a great presentation. Images, graphs, and video
clips liven things up, especially if the information is dry. Here are a few standard pointers:

 Don’t put blocks of text on a single slide  Use a minimalistic background instead
of a busy one  Don’t read everything off the slide, but rather include structure on
the slide and complete with spoken examples for each entry on the slide  Maintain a
consistent font style and size

Place only your main points on the screen. When you speak, explain them in detail. Keep the
presentation stimulating and appealing without overwhelming your audience with
excessively bright colors or too much font.

5. Follow the 10-20-30 rule

Guy Kawasaki, a prominent venture capitalist and one of the original marketing specialists
for Apple, suggests that slideshows should:

 Contain no more than 10 slides;

 Last no more than 20 minutes; and

Use a font size of no less than 30 point.
 This last is particularly important as it stops you trying to put too much information on any
one slide. This whole approach avoids the dreaded ‘Death by PowerPoint’(LOL)

!As a general rule, slides should be the sideshow to you, the presenter. A good set of slides
should be no use without the presenter, and they should definitely contain less, rather than
more, information, expressed simply. This strategy helps condense your information and
maintain the audience’s focus. Moreover, the presenter thus becomes an actor on stage
adding to the content and interpreting it in a personal manner.

6. Tell a Story
Human beings are programmed to respond to stories as they make us pay attention, and
also to remember things. If you can use stories in your presentation, your audience is more
likely to engage and to remember your points afterwards. It is a good idea to start with a
story, but there is a wider point too: you need your presentation to act like a story.
Think about what story you are trying to tell your audience, and create your
presentation to tell it.

Finding The Story Behind Your Presentation

To effectively tell a story, focus on using at least one of the two most basic storytelling
mechanics in your presentation:
1. Focusing On Characters – People have stories; things, data, and objects do not. So
ask yourself “who” is directly involved in your topic that you can use as the focal
point of your story.
For example, instead of talking about cars (your company’s products), you could focus on
specific characters like:

o The drivers the car is intended for – people looking for speed and adventure
o The engineers who went out of their way to design the most cost-effective car imaginable

2. A Changing Dynamic – A story needs something to change along the way. So ask
yourself “What is not as it should be?” and answer with what you are going to do
about it (or what you did about it).
For example:

o Did hazardous road conditions inspire you to build a rugged, all-terrain jeep that any
family could afford?
o Did a complicated and confusing food labelling system lead you to establish a
colourcoded nutritional index so that anybody could easily understand it?

Take-away shorts
Tip #1: Tell a story

Sharing an event from your life or another anecdote increases your relatability. It also
makes the audience feel more comfortable and connected to you. This, in turn, will make you
more comfortable presenting. Make sure the story is genuine, true, enthusiastic and relatable.

Tip #2: Work on your stage presence

Maintaining eye contact creates a connection between you and the audience and helps the
space feel more intimate. It’ll help them pay attention to you and what you’re saying.

How to connect with the audience when presenting

The best leaders are often some of the best presenters, as they excel at communication and
bringing together ideas and people. Every audience is different. But as a general rule, you’ll
be able to connect with them if you research your topic so you’re knowledgeable and
comfortable.

Practicing your presentation skills and remembering that every opportunity is a chance to
grow will help you keep a positive mindset.

Don’t forget to ask for help. Chances are a coworker or family member has extensive
experience delivering professional presentations and can give you FEEDBACK or look over
your slides. Knowing how to give a good presentation feels overwhelming — but practice
really does improve your skills.

Using words is only half the battle regarding good communication; body language is also
critical. Avoid crossing your arms or pacing since these gestures suggest unapproachability
or boredom. How you present yourself is just as crucial as how your presentation slides
appear.

Amy Cuddy’s talk “Your body language may shape who you are” highlights the importance
of paying attention to stage presence. She offers the “Wonder Woman” pose as a way to
reduce public speaking stress.

If you smile and make eye contact, you are building rapport, which helps the audience to
connect with you and your subject. It also helps you to feel less nervous, because you are
talking to individuals, not to a great mass of unknown people.

Tip #3: Start strong

Like reading a book, watching a movie, or writing an essay, the beginning draws your target
audience in. Kick off your presentation on a solid note. Leveraging the benefits of humor
increases the chance your presentation will be well-received.

Here are some ways to start strong:

 • Use a quotation from an influential person. This provides subject context, situating the
topic culturally.
• Ask a rhetorical question. This encourages listeners to actively participate in your
presentation as they think of the answer.
• Start with an anecdote. Brief stories add context to your presentation and help the
audience know more about you, in turn making them more interested in what you have
to say.
• Invite your audience in. Begin your presentation by suggesting they join you on a
puzzle-solving or discovery journey. If they feel involved in the talk, they’re more
likely to pay attention and retain information.

Tip #4: Demonstrate passion

The best presentations have a speaker who’s genuinely excited about the subject.

Tip #5: Plan your delivery

This step encompasses how you convey the information. What’s appropriate for the setting
— preparing a PowerPoint presentation, using a teleprompter, delivering the presentation via
Zoom? Should you memorize your notes or plan an activity to complement them?

The best TED talks are usually committed to memory, but there’s nothing wrong with
bringing note cards with you as a safety net. And if your tech completely fails, you’ll have to
rely on your natural charm and wit to keep your audience’s attention. Prepare backup
material for worst-case scenarios.

Tip #6: Practice

Practice does make perfect! Practice giving your speech in front of the bathroom mirror
(necessary, not enough), then your spouse, or a friend. Take any feedback they give you and
don’t feel discouraged if it’s critical or different than you expected. Feedback helps us
continually improve. But remember, you can’t please everyone, and that’s fine.

Use your Voice Effectively

The spoken word is actually a pretty inefficient means of communication, because it uses
only one of your audience’s five senses. That’s why presenters tend to use visual aids, too.
But you can help to make the spoken word better by using your voice effectively.
Varying the speed at which you talk, and emphasising changes in pitch and tone all help to
make your voice more interesting and hold your audience’s attention.

Tip #7: Breathe

This may seem ridiculous to remind people to do, but it can make a world of difference. Take
deep breaths. It’s better to go slow and take time to convey everything you need to instead of
rushing and leaving your audience more confused.
Here are some suggestions for the most sought after presentations platforms, if you are tired
of the good old PowerPoint:

https://visme.co/blog/best-presentation-software/

Explain the words in bold:

Daunting: Intimidating or overwhelming.

Brevity: Shortness or conciseness in expression.

Lecturing: Delivering information in a one-sided manner.

Think on your feet: Responding quickly and effectively in a situation.

Compelling: Captivating and convincing.

Cohesive: Unified and logically connected.

Rapport: A harmonious relationship.

Relatability: The ability to connect with others.

Rugged: Strong and sturdy.

Leverage: Using something to maximum advantage.

Assignments:
Chose one of the following assignments to deliver in the form of a presentation:

1. Topic: YOU

Use the tips above to create a presentation based on your Curriculum

Vitae. Focus your attention on what aspects of your CV might help to get
you employed (technical skills, previous work experience, projects), but
do not ignore the rest. At the end of the presentation, a potential employer
should feel interested enough to call you in for an interview.
2. Topic: a subject you are passionate about.
It may be something that is relevant to your future employment or it can
simply be something you are genuinely interested in and wish to share
with your colleagues.
Suggestions (random and not mandatory): a computer game you love,
why you love a particular sport, a lesson in Japanese, your plans for the
future, bullying, what it is like to be a student in Romania etc. The only
requirement is that you feel deeply about the subject and you wish to
share your thoughts with your mates.
At the end of the presentations, the audience will feel like they have
discovered something interesting about what makes you tick, get to know
you better and want to know more.