MM1PRO Professional Studies

Presentation SkillsDr. Mike Clifford

Introduction Practicalities Ingredients Material Audience YourselfOutline

Why are lectures so awful?

Lecture: The most efficient means of transferring a lecturers notes to the students notes without passing through the brains of either

Preparation time

Concentration Span

Familiarity breeds contemptIntroduction

Worth 20%

5 minutes with no questions

Timetable has been circulated

PowerPoint available

Peer assessedPracticalities

Ingredients

Your boss has asked you to make a presentation about your department to a group of visitors. What is the single most important question about this task that you will put to your boss first?Audience

Every presentation needs to have a clear objective.

You should be able to express this in a single sentence.ObjectiveThe objective of this mornings lecture is to give you an introduction to presentation skills in preparation for the five-minute talk that you need to give in a couple of weeks time.

To Whom? How Many? What do they know? Do they want to be here? Appropriate language / jargon When? Where? How long? What are they looking for? Will they ask questions?More questions

Monitor the reactions of the audience What signs of life are you looking for?

Gear your message Beforehand During the presentation

How to wake up a sleepy audience Voice Anecdotes Coffee breaks VarietyAudience

Why do people ask questions?

A genuine request for information To parade their own mastery To throw a spanner in the works To waste time To cast doubt

Above all, be polite. Maintain your composure, and keep in control of the presentation. Questions from the Audience

A vital ingredient Know your audience Choose your material accordingly

Audience - Summary

Refer back to your objective Brainstorm Work out an order Prune Have I anything out?Material

Material - Brainstorm

Refer back to your objective Brainstorm Work out an order Prune Have I anything out?Material

Do you need any? Big Bold Brilliant Not an alternative to having a speakerVisual Aids

Overhead Transparencies PowerPoint Whiteboard Flip Chart Pointers PropsGadgets

This is Arial 36 pointThis is Arial 32 pointThis is Arial 28 pointThis is Arial 26 pointThis is Arial 24 pointThis is Arial 22 pointThis is Arial 20 pointThis is Arial 18 pointThis is Arial 16 pointThis is Arial 14 pointThis is Arial 12 pointText size

This fella is on safari in Africa when he comes across an elephant lying on the ground, in distress. He investigates and finds a thorn in its foot. He removes it, and the elephant trots merrily away. Twenty years on, the man is standing in the street in London watching a circus procession pass by. When the elephant gets level with him, it stops, looks straight at him, reaches out with its trunk, lifts him bodily into the air, smashes him on the ground and jumps on him. It was a different elephant. Colour

This fella is on safari in Africa when he comes across an elephant lying on the ground, in distress. He investigates and finds a thorn in its foot. He removes it, and the elephant trots merrily away. Twenty years on, the man is standing in the street in London watching a circus procession pass by. When the elephant gets level with him, it stops, looks straight at him, reaches out with its trunk, lifts him bodily into the air, smashes him on the ground and jumps on him. It was a different elephant. Colour

This fella is on safari in Africa when he comes across an elephant lying on the ground, in distress. He investigates and finds a thorn in its foot. He removes it, and the elephant trots merrily away. Twenty years on, the man is standing in the street in London watching a circus procession pass by. When the elephant gets level with him, it stops, looks straight at him, reaches out with its trunk, lifts him bodily into the air, smashes him on the ground and jumps on him. It was a different elephant. Colour

This fella is on safari in Africa when he comes across an elephant lying on the ground, in distress. He investigates and finds a thorn in its foot. He removes it, and the elephant trots merrily away. Twenty years on, the man is standing in the street in London watching a circus procession pass by. When the elephant gets level with him, it stops, looks straight at him, reaches out with its trunk, lifts him bodily into the air, smashes him on the ground and jumps on him. It was a different elephant. Colour

This fella is on safari in Africa when he comes across an elephant lying on the ground, in distress. He investigates and finds a thorn in its foot. He removes it, and the elephant trots merrily away. Twenty years on, the man is standing in the street in London watching a circus procession pass by. When the elephant gets level with him, it stops, looks straight at him, reaches out with its trunk, lifts him bodily into the air, smashes him on the ground and jumps on him. It was a different elephant. Colour

This fella is on safari in Africa when he comes across an elephant lying on the ground, in distress. He investigates and finds a thorn in its foot. He removes it, and the elephant trots merrily away. Twenty years on, the man is standing in the street in London watching a circus procession pass by. When the elephant gets level with him, it stops, looks straight at him, reaches out with its trunk, lifts him bodily into the air, smashes him on the ground and jumps on him. It was a different elephant. Colour

This fella is on safari in Africa when he comes across an elephant lying on the ground, in distress. He investigates and finds a thorn in its foot. He removes it, and the elephant trots merrily away. Twenty years on, the man is standing in the street in London watching a circus procession pass by. When the elephant gets level with him, it stops, looks straight at him, reaches out with its trunk, lifts him bodily into the air, smashes him on the ground and jumps on him. It was a different elephant. Colour

This fella is on safari in Africa when he comes across an elephant lying on the ground, in distress. He investigates and finds a thorn in its foot. He removes it, and the elephant trots merrily away. Twenty years on, the man is standing in the street in London watching a circus procession pass by. When the elephant gets level with him, it stops, looks straight at him, reaches out with its trunk, lifts him bodily into the air, smashes him on the ground and jumps on him. It was a different elephant. Colour

This fella is on safari in Africa when he comes across an elephant lying on the ground, in distress. He investigates and finds a thorn in its foot. He removes it, and the elephant trots merrily away. Twenty years on, the man is standing in the street in London watching a circus procession pass by. When the elephant gets level with him, it stops, looks straight at him, reaches out with its trunk, lifts him bodily into the air, smashes him on the ground and jumps on him. It was a different elephant. Colour

This fella is on safari in Africa when he comes across an elephant lying on the ground, in distress. He investigates and finds a thorn in its foot. He removes it, and the elephant trots merrily away.Colour

Twenty years on, the man is standing in the street in London watching a circus procession pass by. When the elephant gets level with him, it stops, looks straight at himColour

reaches out with its trunk, lifts him bodily into the air, smashes him on the ground and jumps on him. It was a different elephant. Colour

The striptease can be effective It retains the audiences attention Whats coming next? Who knows? But this can be boring If theres nothing exciting at the end The Striptease

Some people put everything they say on the screen

The trouble is that it can get rather boring if all the presenter does is to read it out

I mean, its a bit insulting, isnt it?

Does he think we cant read or something?

The Joys of Powerpoint

Animation can be effective

But it can be over-done

Personally, I find it rather irritating

The Joys of Powerpoint

Build up a diagram

Make sure text is legible, especially on graphsClarity

Avoid speling mistakes Accuracy is esential

Clarity

Script or notes? Using slides as prompts Timing Analogies Anecdotes Humour Rehearse Rehearse RehearseMaterial - Preparation

Material - SummaryThe material must be: Accurate Clear Essential Supports the message

Yourself bad habits Fiddling with something Stroking your face Unusual facial expression Windmill Too much movement Not enough movement No eye contact Erm

Yourself Voice Control Power - Take enough breath Posture - Relaxed, upright Presence - What to wear Place - Where to stand (or sit) Projection - Eye contact P.A. System - Listen to your voice

Yourself Pace - Measured, varied Pause - Space to think Prepare - Warm up exercises Practice - In the room if possible Positive approach

Yourself - Fears I cant speak for more than two minutes The audience may be hostile My accent sounds stupid Im not a natural speaker

Yourself - Disasters Power failure Equipment failure Nerves Stage fright Cant find the room Poor preparation

Yourself Confident Well prepared In control

Final AdviceIf you dont strike oil after five minutes,stop boring.

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