PREPARING

BUSINESS
PRESENTATIONS

Chapter 5
 1. Framing Your Story
1. Narrow down the purpose
of your presentation.
What you want your
audience to know, and
what you want them to do
with that knowledge,
should be the purpose of
your presentation. Every
point of your presentation
should relate back to that
main purpose.
 1. Framing Your Story
2 Identify your audience.
You can't convince people
of the value of your product,
or work, unless you
understand their
background and familiarity
with your subject matter.
Tailor your presentation to
your audience so you don't
alienate them
 1. Framing Your Story
3 Choose the main points
of your presentation.
Brainstorm on the points
you want to make through
your presentation, then
choose 3 or 4 that are the
most important and can be
explained clearly. These
points should build on each
other, taking your audience
specifics into account.
 1. Framing Your Story
4 Decide how you want to
convey these points. Your
points should be ordered in
a logical manner so that
they build on one another
without making any leaps of
logic that might leave your
audience behind. Provide
concrete examples to shore
up each point.
 1. Framing Your Story
5 Open your presentation
with a good hook. If you
open your presentation with
a humorous anecdote or a
compelling story about a
problem, your audience will
most likely be hooked and
want to hear more of what
you have to say
 1. Framing Your Story
6 Use your main points to
weave a story. People often
think the standard
presentation is boring, but
the human brain is hard-
wired to listen to stories. If
you can create a story and
use it effectively to present
your main points, you'll
maintain your audience's
attention throughout your
presentation
 1. Framing Your Story
7 Close your story by
returning to the original
purpose. At the end of your
presentation, summarize
your main points – the 3
main things you want your
audience to take away from
your presentation – and
then provide them with a
clear call to action so they
know what you want from
them
Part 2 Designing Your Slides
1 Search for free templates.
Especially if you don't have
a lot of PowerPoint
experience, using the free
templates that are available
with the application can
save you a lot of technical
hassle. The focus of your
preparation should be on
the content itself, not tech
wizardry
Part 2 Designing Your Slides
2 Start with a title slide.
The title slide is the first
slide of your
presentation, and
introduces the purpose
of your presentation to
your audience. Use a
clear, readable font in at
least 24pt type so that it
can be seen from a
distance
Part 2 Designing Your Slides
3 Prepare slides for your
main points. You need at
least 1 slide for each of the
3 or 4 main points you've
identified. Each of these
slides should look roughly
the same as your title page,
using the same color
scheme and font for
consistency
Part 2 Designing Your Slides
4 Add supporting slides as
needed. If you have graphs,
charts, or other illustrations,
give them their own slides.
Add them behind the main
point they relate to, being
careful that the slide doesn't
look too busy and isn't
difficult to read.
Part 2 Designing Your Slides
5 Proofread your slides
carefully. A glaring typo or
technical error on a slide
can derail even the most
powerful presentation. In
addition to going through
your slides several times
yourself, you may want to
have someone else look at
them as well. Their fresh
eyes may see something
you glossed over
Part 2 Designing Your Slides
6 Back up your
presentation and save it in
multiple formats. After
you've done all that hard
work preparing your slides,
you want to make sure you'll
be able to use them. Unless
you already know what • the day of your
technological resources will presentation, have
be available in the room on multiple formats ready
in case one isn't
available
Part 2 Designing Your Slides
7 Refresh your knowledge
of the basics. You don't
have to be an expert on
presentation programs,
such as PowerPoint or
KeyNote, to create a
powerful and effective
presentation. However, if
you're going to use a make sure you can start
program in your it up and move through
presentation, the slides without
difficulty.
Part 3 Practicing Your Presentation
1 Go through your
presentation several
times by yourself. The
more you practice your
presentation, the more
familiar you'll be with
your material. The more
familiar you are with
your material, the more
comfortable you'll be
talking about it.
Part 3 Practicing Your Presentation
2 Recruit a practice
audience. An ideal
practice audience will be
made up of people similar
to the people who will be
watching your actual
presentation. If people
who fit that description
aren't readily available to
you, use family and
friends if necessary.
Part 3 Practicing Your Presentation
3 Organize the materials
you need. Check with the
people in charge to find
out what you'll need to
bring to your presentation
in terms of technological
equipment, cables, and
the like. Get together
more than you need, in
case there are any mix-
ups.
Part 3 Practicing Your Presentation
4 Ask if you can use the
room where your
presentation will be. If at all
possible, you want to do at
least one rehearsal of your
presentation in the room
where it will be held. This
enables you to prepare
technical details and
ensure everyone in the
entire room can see and
hear you
Part 3 Practicing Your Presentation
5 Limit your body language
to hand gestures.
Especially if you're
nervous, you may have the
tendency to sway or move
around a lot. Generally, it's
better to stand in one place
and use hand gestures
where necessary to make
your points.
Part 3 Practicing Your Presentation
6 Use your rehearsals to
practice good eye
contact. When giving a
professional presentation,
making eye contact with
members of the audience
engages them and makes
them believe you're
genuinely interested in
sharing with them
Part 3 Practicing Your Presentation
7 Seek constructive
criticism after your
rehearsal. Ask your practice
audience what you can do
to improve. Since many
people aren't skilled at
giving constructive
criticism, you may want to
give them a specific list of
questions to answer at the
end of your presentation
Guidelines for Preparing Effective
Presentations
 Before the Presentation
Organizing content
• Make sure the audience walks away understanding
the following:
The problem and why it is a problem
What has been done about the problem
What you are doing (or have done) about
the problem
The value your approach provides
Next steps
 Before the Presentation
Organizing content
• Describe the problem clearly enough for the
audience to appreciate the value of your
contribution.
• Present your contribution clearly.
• Aim your presentation at an audience that is not
familiar with your research area so you
communicate the importance of your work, rather
than simply laying out the results.
• Provide references and your contact information.
Before the Presentation
Preparing effective displays
• Keep it simple so you don't distract from your
research.
• Use at least 24-point type.
• Do not use a photocopy of a standard printed
page as a display.
• Summarize your main points.
• Limit your material to eight lines per slide.
• Limit tables to four rows/columns.
• Display large tables as graphs.
• Avoid numerous curves on a graphical display.
Before the Presentation
Preparing effective displays
• Use easy-to-read fonts such as Arial.
• Use light letters (e.g., yellow or white) on a dark
background (e.g., dark blue) when displaying your
material on an LCD projector.
• Use equations sparingly and concentrate on what
your results mean.
• Keep a large margin on all sides of your slide.
• Identify the journal when you give references.
• Preview your presentation.
Before the Presentation
Timing your talk
• Present one slide per minute.
• Talk at a pace that everybody in the audience can
understand.
• Budget your time to take a minute or two less than
your maximum allotment.
• Practice your talk.
The Presentation
• Check to make sure the microphone works before
you begin.
• Be sure everyone in the room can see your
material.
• Don't apologize for your displays (create them
properly in the first place).
• Don't apologize for incomplete results.
After the Presentation
• Thank the audience for its attention.
• Gather you materials and move off quickly to allow
the next presenter to prepare.
• Stay for the entire session and, afterward, be
available for people to ask you questions.
THANK YOU.

Dr. MCP
 References
https://library.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file
/0005/ 1924160/Business_Reports.pdf

1Buscom1/Report%20Writing%20Format%20_
%20Examples.html

Preparing for a presentation