Job Hunt - How to give a great presentation

How To Get That Job: Career Development Fact Sheet 2 How to give a great presentation

Written by Malcolm Hornby Chartered FCIPD FCMI MIfL career coach and author of How To Get That Job - The complete Guide to Getting Hired

Published Pearson ISBN-13: 978-0273772125 © Pearson Education © Malcolm Hornby www.hornby.org

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http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Get-That-Job-Complete/dp/0273772120/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346423650&sr=1-1




To assess your self-confidence, ability to communicate and ability to handle a mini-project, some organisations may ask you

to make a short presentation, either to a group of managers or, for very senior positions, to the board of directors. Others incorporate a presentation into their assessment centre exercises.

The subject can vary – debating the pros and cons of subjects like e-commerce or mobile communications, or you may be asked to present a mini-marketing plan for one of the company’s products. They may even leave the choice of subject to you.

If this happens do not pick ‘Where I took my holiday’ or ‘My hobby’. Do choose a business-related subject that you know something about. The time you are given to prepare can vary from 30 minutes to many days.

If you are asked to give a presentation do take it seriously – management time is very valuable and if the company has gathered an audience to listen to you, then you can be sure that they will be taking it seriously.

Unless you are a natural, or are very experienced, you will probably be nervous. This is a good thing. If you don’t have at

least some degree of anxiety then you probably aren’t taking the exercise seriously. There isn’t a magical cure for presentation nerves, but you CAN overcome and control your nerves by preparing your presentation as thoroughly and professionally as you can and by practicing your presentation, ideally in front of an audience.

The keys to an effective presentation are preparation, planning and practice.

Prepare the content

Most people find knowing where to begin is the most difficult step. If you are one of these people I can guarantee the

following steps will help you present confidently. Please, for the moment, resist any temptation to switch on your PC! That comes later. Ask yourself – ‘What do I want the audience to learn from my presentation?’ Write this objective in the middle of

a blank page. Now let your mind ‘freewheel’ to produce a mind-map of ideas. The mind-map included below is the one I drew when I started to plan this.




You’ll find that you have far too many things to say, so the next step is to edit and give the presentation some structure.

Choose the most important point you want to communicate. Write it on the presentation planner (there is a blank copy at the very end of this chapter) as key point no. 1. Now add the others in descending order of priority.

Yes, I know that the natural tendency is to save the best to last, but remember that people are most attentive at the start.

Now develop your content by putting the information from your mind-map into your key points. Remember, only information which is relevant to achieving your objectives is allowed. Limit your key points to a maximum of five – three is even better. Think about presenters you admire – are they those who put over a powerful and succinct argument or are they those who

waffle and constantly overrun?




You have now developed the main body of your presentation. But before we move on, decide how you will bridge from one

point to the next. A phrase like, ‘Now let us look at the introduction’ lets the listeners know you’ve finished one topic and gives a signpost to what’s next.

Other useful bridges are: Enumerating – ‘first . . ., second . . ., etc.’ when you’ve stated that you have a specific number of points to cover;

‘On the contrary’ or ‘On the other hand’ when you’re weighing pros and cons, or simply ‘Next . . .’. To avoid sounding hackneyed, use a different bridge to move from each of your key points.

Now write them on your presentation planner.

Introduction

(Develop this section second)

Main body

(Develop this section first)

Conclusion

(Develop this section last)

Rapport statement Key point 1 Remind them of the problem/ opportunity

Presentation subject Bridge

Your credentials Key point 2 Restate the key points and crystallise the message

Agenda Bridge

Question request Key point 3

Bridge

Action request Key point 4 Request action

Bridge

Bridge Key point 5

Bridge

PRESENTATION PLANNER




Your introduction

You get one opportunity to make a first impression. So how do you create that positive impression from the start?

The first step is to establish empathy by building a bridge to as many audience members as you can. If you can, speak informally to each person before you begin.

When you stand to address the group, reinforce the bridge by saying how much you’ve been looking forward to meeting them . . . and pay some compliment to their office, factory, etc.

If you’re considering starting with a joke, my advice is don’t. You never know who you may offend and alienate. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t be warm, friendly and charming. But, as well as having the potential to offend, comedy is the most difficult

of all stage techniques to master, as any actor will tell you.

Now say what you’re going to talk about, as seen from their viewpoint. But why should they listen to you? You should say a few words here about why you are qualified to speak on this topic, what you have done to research the subject, what your background is in this field, etc. Two or three sentences can establish your credibility.

Now for the agenda. Give the audience a ‘map’ of what you’ll be talking about. The agenda is a list of the key points which

make up the body of the presentation. ‘As we go through the presentation please feel free to ask questions, if I haven’t explained anything clearly – although there will be a few moments at the end for questions.’ Let’s face it, telling people to save their questions until the end rarely works. So why not prepare for it? Doing it this way also signals to the audience that

you’re confident of what you’re talking about.

Next, state quite clearly what you want them to do as a result of listening to you – the action request. ‘When I’ve finished speaking I hope you will see that the strategy I am advocating will help to re-position (product) in the marketplace.’

And finally your bridge. How do you link to the first key point in the body?

Now write each of these into your presentation planner.




The conclusion

Your conclusion should be short and to the point, but not rushed. You want to encapsulate your presentation into a package that they can take away with them.

Remind them of the problem or opportunity. Restate your key points and crystallise the message. State your request action – what you want them to do?

This structure for your presentation ensures that your key points are repeated at least three times and repetition is a very

powerful persuader. Just watch commercial television to see how often advertisements are repeated if you need convincing. Now write your conclusion on your presentation planner, shown on the next page.

To summarise, with apologies to whoever said it first, your structure will allow you to ‘Tell them what you’re going to tell them, then tell them, and then tell them what you’ve told them.’

Plan your resources

Now you have decided what you are going to say, you can concentrate on how you say it. Transfer your introduction, key points (in the correct order) and conclusion on to postcards, using single words to act as stab points. Do not write a script, it

will make your voice become dull and lifeless. Now punch a hole in the top right-hand corner of each card and loosely tie them together with a piece of string. This will keep

your presentation in the correct order, even if you drop the cards. When you deliver your presentation, don’t be afraid to glance at your cue cards. A momentary pause is far more acceptable than waffle or a deathly hush because you can’t think

what to say next. Visual aids are useful in your presentation since they can convey information – try describing in words the layout of a printed

circuit board or how to fold a napkin! Your visual aids reinforce what you are saying by focusing the audience’s attention.

The most convenient visual aids to use are flipcharts or whiteboards. Or if you’re a high tech expert Interactive Whiteboards.




The flipchart can be very useful for developing diagrams in front of your audience – write the words/draw the diagram in

advance lightly in pencil on the flipchart sheet. The audience will not be able to see the fine lines and you will be confident that the layout will be correct when you start to build up the chart in front of your audience using marker pens. Ensure that you

have at least two pens available and check that they both work before the presentation. Nowadays, you’ll be out of the running, if you don’t use one of the software packages like PowerPoint. You may even be

asked to take your presentation visuals on a memory stick or CD, so that they can be projected using an electronic data projector. PowerPoint has become the standard for producing presentations so here are some tips.

Making your point with PowerPoint

If you’ve never used PowerPoint to create a presentation, ask around amongst your friends for some help. PowerPoint is a

tremendous tool in helping to creating powerful presentations. With a few clicks of a mouse you can bring a car, a caribou or even Concorde into the room!

However, we’ve all heard the expression ‘death by PowerPoint’. Too many people confuse the medium with the message, and use all the whistles and bells of PowerPoint to create boring repetitive screen shows or confusing circus acts, with fade-ins and

-outs and all the other trickery! Here are my top ten tips for getting the best out of PowerPoint.

1. Use a consistent slide design with an uncluttered background for all your pages. Create a master page (Menu

Bar/View/Master/Slide Master) and the layout will then be consistent for all the new pages you create.

2. Use a consistent colour palette – don’t start to fiddle around with the colours that are recommended in the font or text palette – they are there because they complement each other and don’t clash. If you can match the colour palette to

the company’s corporate branding then you send a subliminal message that ‘you’re already one of the team’ 3. Avoid sending your audience to sleep by using page after page of bullet points and subheadings – words on a screen

are not visual aids! Use short stab points like you see on a billboard. One main heading and then a maximum of four

bullets points is plenty. Don’t put your script on the screen. If you remember the rules of 4by5 and 33 you won’t go too far wrong. Maximum 4 lines of 5 words! And no more than 33 words on any slide.

4. Use visuals whenever you can! BUT avoid using the Microsoft clipart or sound files that came with your PC – they’ve seen it all before. Use your scanner, your digital camera, a clip art library from your computer store or trawl the internet. For example, if you right click on the company’s logo on their website, you can save it to ‘My pictures’ and

then use it in your presentation as an image in the footer of the Master Slide, so that it’s there on every slide.




Animations can also be used as very powerful images, but don’t overdo it. Copyright animations are available free at:

http://www.animationlibrary.com / 5. Include diagrams and flow charts – a picture is worth a thousand words! Better still a 10 to 15 second clip of video –

but if you know how to add clips of video you probably don’t need these tips! Short clips of video can be downloaded from websites like youtube, using free software packages like youtube downloader (use Google to find the link). If you do insert music or video files remember that you’ll need a sound system which is loud enough for the audience to hear,

so check beforehand that the presentation room has the appropriate facilities. Also remember that the video or music clip links to file on the hard drive on the computer where the presentation was created. So if you have to copy your

presentation onto a different computer you’ll have to make sure the music / video files are also copied onto the other computer and that you have re-established the links. In a similar way, provided you know you’re going to have reliable internet access you can use embedded hyperlinks so that you can link directly to a remote website during your

presentation. If these techniques are new to you and you decide to use them make sure you have had a play and have practised beforehand and that you’re thoroughly confident in your abilities to control them, and not the other way

round. It may sound complicated, but it isn’t and it can make the difference between a boring routine ‘sausage-machine’ PowerPoint Show and a job-winning presentation!

6. When you’ve created the presentation ask yourself ‘What can I edit out and still keep the meaning?’ Be ruthless when

editing – cut out everything that is not absolutely necessary. Work on the basis of about one slide for every minute of your presentation.

7. Use only one font throughout or 2 if you need a specific contrast. If you want to emphasise a word, use font size, bold, italic or colour, but don’t underline.

8. When people look at a new slide, their eyes will move from the top-left to the bottom-right of the screen. Artists quote

the two-thirds/one-third rule for creating balance in a picture. In a nutshell, put your visual ‘bottom-right’ two-thirds down and one-third from the right.

9. If you use transitions, use the same simple one throughout until you want to highlight a change of subject or really emphasise a point.

10.Remember that each slide is part of a process. So when you’ve finished, run the slideshow to make sure that the

sequence flows comfortably, and fits in with the ‘story’ which you developed using the Presentation Planner. 11.Finally if you know you have to use someone else’s computer or laptop, make sure you find out which version of

PowerPoint they are running and save your presentation as the correct version. Why? Software packages are usually backward compatible, but may not be forward compatible. If you create something in PowerPoint 2003 it will probably

run fine in compatibility mode in PowerPoint 2010. You may not be so lucky if it’s the other way round and you don’t want to find that out as you are about to face your interviewers!

http://www.animationlibrary.com/




12.Remember if you emphasise everything, you emphasise nothing. KISS – keep it sweet and simple. On the logistical side

of things, do what you can to make sure that you will be able to read your file in the software on their PC when you come to present it. If you’ve got the latest version of the software and they have an older version there may be

problems. Why not save a couple of versions to CD/DVD just to be sure? When I give talks at conferences I usually e-mail a copy to the organiser, take a copy on portable hard drive and also take my laptop with a copy on the hard drive.

Whichever visual aids you use, follow the basic principle of keeping them as simple as possible. Use large letters and single words as stab points so that they can be read easily. Do not write complete sentences. Remember, a picture is worth a

thousand words. As a general rule allow about one minute per slide when planning your time.

Practise

Rehearse your presentation once or twice so that you know what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. Use a friend as a timekeeper and to give you constructive feedback.

Answering questions

Generally speaking, assessors are aware of your time pressures and so will save their questions until the end. If you’re asked

a question that you can’t answer then be honest – you’ll gain more credibility from this than from half-baked waffle. You can in fact turn your lack of knowledge to your advantage by answering: ‘That’s an interesting point which I haven’t been asked before. I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you right now but I will find out and get back to you.’ This technique flatters the

questioner’s ego and demonstrates your integrity.

The night before

Get a good night’s sleep and no matter how nervous you are, avoid alcohol or stimulants!




To summarise; Here are a few dos and don’ts for you to bear in mind when presenting.

Do Don’t

Use global vision to include everyone Use non-words, like ums and errs

Hold eye contact with people Jingle coins/keys in pockets

Check the power situation beforehand Scratch or twitch or fiddle with your hair

Check the focus of the projector beforehand

Talk to the floor, screen or just one person

Set up the room beforehand Read visuals word for word

Use clear, concise visuals Joke – you don‘t know who you might offend

Vary the tone and speed of your voice Mumble

Stand relatively still Apologise for what you’re going to

say

Have spare pens/transparencies Dress outrageously

Keep to time Use a pointer – they‘re too easy to play with

Use simple language Remove your jacket

End on a positive note Over –run! Stick to your allocated time.

What are the assessors looking for?

The assessors will be looking for you to communicate your message effectively, for you to project yourself confidently and for you to know what you are talking about. They’ll also be trying to gauge how much work you have put into the exercise and how seriously you took it. I once ran an assessment centre in which two of the candidates were ‘late entries’. Each received

the briefing pack only the day before. One candidate gave a very poor and apologised, making the excuse that she hadn’t had time to prepare. The other candidate gave an excellent presentation, with professionally produced slides and handouts of her

talk for the assessors. She made no mention of the short amount of time she’d had to prepare. Let me ask, who do you think made the best impression? And, everything else being equal, who would you have employed?




A few words from the author

My Books

These tips are from my books for career planners and job hunters. I wrote the first book in

1993, since then thousands of people have used the tips to plan their lives and get new jobs

My latest book is: How To Get That Job – The Complete Guide to Getting Hired

Book Description (from Amazon)

Publication Date: 15 Nov 2012 | ISBN-10: 0273772120 | ISBN-13: 978-0273772125 | Edition: 4

The ultimate all-in-one guide to job hunting success.

Getting an edge in the hunt for work is vital and this book offers the edge that millions are missing.

This no-nonsense, highly practical and outcome focussed guide to the whole process of job hunting

takes you right from the planning stages through writing your CV, flying through aptitude tests, being

interviewed on the phone and online, to what to do and say when you finally get the offer you’ve been

hoping for. With essential guidance on maximising modern job-hunting tools such as social media and

networking websites, as well as special help for those who are new to work, the recently redundant,

the long-term unemployed, ex-offenders and graduates, it’s one of the most up to date and all-encompassing job

hunting books on the market today.

There’s more good advice in my other slideshows and at my website, visit www.hornby.org

Want to use my material?

I’m flattered and am happy for you to use my slides and factsheets at work, at your job club, at school, college or

university or in your job hunt, etc provided it’s ‘not for profit’. If you want to use my material in a commercial situation please get in touch as I’m happy to write for websites journals, newspapers etc.















Job Hunt - How to give a great presentation

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