Author : admin Date : 03:55 AM

One thing I have learnt over time is that, presentation skills could be corrected of anybody; either of a MBA fresher to that of an Over Experienced Marketing Personal.
Presentation holds different motives for different set of people – A father presenting his daughter for marriage proposal would expect to get the marriage acceptance, or a Management student blabbering something to get good grades – However one thing is common in all.
They are all trying to SELL!! It Could Be Either Piece of Information or selling oneself for the interview.
Here are 12 things to consider while presenting:

Dress code :

A suite with a tie would not go for every occasion and likewise, a pair of Jeans and tees would not go either.It is in the hands of the Presenter to mark the comfort level himself by dressing appropriately for the occasion.Now to spare the embarrassments for not being part of the mob, (either Over Dressed or otherwise) 1st thing we would do is patch it up with an excuse.Meanwhile shooting your self-confidence very instantly.Being dressed at par with your audience would not help you know the matter.But, it wouldn’t certainly murder you in the eyes of your audience nor would kill your self–confidence.

Content :

What you speak is very important and the matter that you put up on the slide is equally important (if it is a Power Point Presentation).
One thing you should know is that your audience can read, and if you are going to read from the slides, you might as well Shut Up!! Reading every word from the slide is a cliche.
Okay, coming down to the content part, now when I say content I do not mean the matter, what I mean is what forms the matter.

  • Big-Never ending sentences
  • Putting bulleting but using sentences
  • Spelling Mistakes
  • Unreadable text
  • No uniformity in the text font and transition of slides.
  • Using quotes when not required and etc, etc…

A BIG FAT NO!!

Attention:

This section would not apply if gems fall out of your mouth, every time you open it.We stand nowhere close to Abraham Lincoln or Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. or any of the other great orators – any if I am wrong, you wouldn’t have been reading my blog.

Anyways, Coming back to the topic what can you do to keep your audience attentive?… If, that’s Difficult! Change the side. What can you do not to bore your audience?

  • Don’t be Monotonous.
  • Don’t fake your smile nor over do it.
  • Don’t look down or at the ceiling or just at one person.
  • Don’t stand still.
  • Don’t read from the slide.
  • Don’t laugh on your own joke.

And to grab someone’s attention or everyone’s attention, of many prerequisites these are a few.

  • Use voice modulation
  • Crack a joke in between, you are not giving a eulogy.
  • Make hand gestures, don’t overdo it.
  • Throw some Rhetorical questions, relevant to the topic.
  • Make sure you topic and your audience gel well.
  • Use Visuals: Images and Videos.

Mannerism :

Certain things are out of our control but certain aren’t.Mannerisms like rubbing your nose time and again or breaking your knuckles or unknowingly moving you hands excessively etc are difficult to control.BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE. Someone rightly said, “impossible is not a word, it’s just a reason not to try!” Whereas, using similar words as conjunctions (so, now, and, predominately…) or at the introduction of the sentence (however, actually…) could be very well controlled.

You have to be consciously aware of what you are talking. Of course the same would not just happen overnight, practice is a must.
“Aaa aaha Factor” this is a common case. And there is no short cut to avoid it. You have to be well prepared about your presentation. Only when you know your matter in a way that it is no longer new to you… that’s when you will able to cut lose the anchor of “Aaa aaha Factor.”
Cause every word and every facet of the topic will be at the tip of your tongue.

Start with a Bang & Finish with a Bang:

The first half is very simple to do, throw a quote by some famous personality or project a video and you are through.The difficult part is to conclude it. To conclude, you should know what to include and what not to include in the matter.Narrowing it down, you would learn that what is enough and what is needed. Time plays an important role here. Now imagine if you had to make and elevate a speech you wouldn’t have introduced your family members and your pet’s right?! In the similar fashion, be time bound;Raise the interest of your audience in a way that they want to hear more.

And if you can start with a quote or a video you and also end in a similar fashion. What is important is that you instigate a thought process once you are done.Needless to say that don’t ever tell your audience that the presentation is about to end.
For you don’t want your audience to be more restless and count very second, moreover you would be admitting that your presentation was boring.

Language:

English is a universal language, implying that it is accepted everywhere. No doubt there, but what if your audience only understands Spanish or French or Hindi for that matter?? Then you are in soup!! Of course normally you would be aware of such things well in advance, so hire a translator for your audience.

This was the primary form of English Language that I spoke of.Sarcasm is another form of English Language. For some, sarcasm is the primary language! In a business presentation if even, unintentionally, accidentally or even coincidentally you’re the sarcasm misfires you will be kicked out!
But that does not mean you have to be a dead stone and a rock in the rain, while selling something. The polite sarcastic statements can be made considering your audience. Humor hitting the air is always appreciated.

Coming down to the second language, try to keep it as professional as possible by flowing with just one (need not necessarily be English). However, you could conclude your presentation with the note in a local language if the situation demands not otherwise. Else it would show that you are trying too hard, and we don’t want to give that impression.

I suppose that is enough for the day. I know, I am not weak at Math, I will continue my other 6 points next time.