Presentations:

How to get from terrified to confident!

Careers & Employability Service

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Think of your own experience……

The best……

and

The worst……

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Structure of today’s session

• The 3 Ps

– Preparation & Planning

– Practice

• Plus a D thrown in!

– Delivery

When might you be asked for a presentation?

• Interview and/or Assessment centre:– Preparation time can vary

• MMU Professional Passport• Work presentation• Viva (academic presentation)• Course presentation

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The 3 ‘Ps’

• Preparation & Planning

• Practice• 90 seconds on what ma

kes a great speech

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Preparation & Planning

• Audience

• Time

• Length

• Subject

• PowerPoint

• Delivery

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Preparation & Planning - Audience

• Who is the audience?

• What are their expectations?

• Never underestimate the audience’s

intelligence

• Involve the audience – ask questions of them

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Preparation & Planning - Time

• Time determines length• 5 minutes = 4 slides max• Do not go over your time allocation

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Preparation - Subject

• Research your subject as thoroughly as possible

• Don’t overload with information

• Don’t bluff

• Don’t sit on the fence

• Try and anticipate likely questions

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Preparation & Planning – PowerPoint

1. Prepare your ideas on paper first

2. Font size & consistency

3. Include visuals and/or sound

4. Neat & accurate

5. Good idea to number your slides

6. Take a hard copy of your presentation in case of computer failure

7. Handouts?

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Preparation & Planning - slides

You should really only ever use 25 to 35 words on a slide as this is the amount of text the audience needs and although having a page full of interesting text might make you feel a lot better as it shows just how much you know about the subject and so it indicates just how clever you really are, its actually what you say which is important and the slides are just to reference the points for you to hang your script on… and if you have read this far why are you not listening to me?????!!!

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Preparation

Plan the structure of your talk:

• A strong beginning

• A solid & interesting middle

• A clear conclusion

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Beginning

• Title – make it catchy• If appropriate – event, date, your name and

position• Catch the attention - relevant anecdote,

question, current news story or contradictory statement?

KEEP IT SHORT AND SNAPPY

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The middle bit

• Outline your key themes/argument

• Focus on getting 2/3 main points across

• Be logical & accurate – no typos!

• Be creative – think interest and variety

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Be creative

• You could use quotes:

"Tell'em what you're gonna tell'em, tell'em, tell'em what you told'em.”

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Confidence

Values & Beliefs

Articulation Smart

good IT, keep to time

Building rapport

Presentation topic

Body Language

You could use diagrams, charts and graphs

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Be creative

• You could use video or sound clips:

Ewan McGregor on public speaking

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Be creative

– You could also use images, music, props, case histories

– Above all use narrative - people respond to stories so paint a picture in their mind

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Wrapping up

• Briefly summarise key points - tell them what you have just told them

• Ask if anyone has questions

• Important to have a clear ending

SAY ‘and now to conclude’

DO NOT SAY ‘and that’s it’ and then shuffle off!

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Exercise: On-the-spot Presentation

• You are in a group interview with several others

• Each person has to introduce themselves in no more than a minute

• What are you going to say?

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More presentation examples

• 10 min presentation: two topics to choose from: "Why would you be a good choice for our grad scheme?" and "Describe an interesting hobby/pastime". An hour to prepare for it and after the presentation there were questions and an interview (Cable and Wireless)

• Had to prepare a 15 minute presentation in advance on "How to create business value through IT" (AXA)

• 20 minutes to prepare a 5 minute presentation on a group project you have worked on at some point, preferably where you had a choice of topic. (ATOS Origin)

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The 3 Ps

• Preparation & planning

• Practice

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Practise by yourself

• In front of mirror/on video

• Time yourself

• Practise as many times as possible

- to gain confidence

- to get used to the sound of your own voice

• Check audio visuals

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Practise with an audience

• Ask for feedback

Q. Were you talking too fast or too slowly?

Q. Were your visual aids clear?

Q. Did you move logically from one point to another?

Q. Were you interesting or boring?

• Take criticism well and make changes

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Nerves

• Script first few sentences

• Check any words you are unsure of and memorise

• Breathe deeply

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Delivery technique

• As always – first impressions count

• Don’t start with an apology

• Never embarrass your audience!

• Avoid jargon & colloquialisms

• Humour – be careful!

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Having presence

• Voice

• Body language

- smile

- make eye contact

- mannerisms

• Space

• Rapport

What is wrong with this delivery?• How many mistakes

can you spot?

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Resources

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Your 4 points to remember!

• Prepare

• Plan

• Practise

• Deliver