PRESENTATION SKILLS
Welcome to Telling it Straight – the newsletter dedicated to presentation skills. In this edition we look at how you can engage an audience with a PowerPoint presentation.
We also have our regular Speakers Corner, Quotation Marks and Art of Presentation Gallery sections.
HOW YOU CAN ENGAGE WITH YOUR POWERPOINT AUDIENCE
Actively engaging with your audience has to be one of your key presenting goals. And if you are using a PowerPoint deck of slides you should pay it even more attention than normal – because you can rely on PowerPoint to do so much. But on its own PowerPoint will not engage your audience. That's your job.
1) Content. Ensure that your content is as relevant as possible for your audience. You can check its relevancy with some audience research or some insights into the industry or market which your audience represents.
2) Appear knowledgeable. A key PowerPoint presentation skill is rehearsal and practice – especially if you are using the embedded media options in PowerPoint. You must be familiar with the material, its context and timing. Once you are familiar with your PowerPoint slides you will appear more natural.
3) Eye contact. Establish it. keep it. Use it. Eye contact is so important when you present. But PowerPoint tempts you into reading your notes or thinking that an audience is interested in reading a bullet list. They are not. They want to listen to you and become engaged with you. A key PowerPoint presentation skill is, therefore, to allow PowerPoint to do the media management.
4) Take some questions. A well-built PowerPoint slide deck should allow you to hold a slot for questions before you reach your conclusion. Use a blank slide while you hold your question and answer session. You can also refer to supplementary slides if you feel they add something to an answer. The rules for all Q & A sessions still apply, however: keep them short and concise.
5) Take a survey. Beyond the rhetorical questions, you can also ask a question of your PowerPoint audience. Aim to get an answer by a show of hands and then feedback the audience's collective opinion to the audience. You can use PowerPoint slides to show the results of similar audience surveys with different audiences.
The skill of using PowerPoint to engage with your audience goes beyond just using the superb media attributes of PowerPoint. Use the slide deck for what it's worth but stick to the presenting basics to achieve a level of audience engagement that will really pay off. Read more.
IN THIS ISSUE
- How You Can Engage with Your PowerPoint Audience
- Speaker's Corner
- Quotation Marks
- Art of Presentation Gallery
- Training Calendar
In 1908 London Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics and first General Secretary of the International Olympic Committee, saw his version of the Olympics taking shape in the modern world.
The speaker was Pierre de Coubertin in London, 1908:
"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."
Pierre de Coubertin.
"And the line up for the final of the Women's 400 metres hurdles includes three Russians, two East Germans, a Pole, a Swede and a Frenchman."
David Coleman, broadcaster
This Olympics month we look, somewhat irreverently, at one of the Olympics' finest speakers – the commentator David Coleman. British born David Coleman made the smooth transition from local journalist to BBC sports correspondent and then held that role for over 40 years. On his retirement in 2000 he was awarded the Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee.
Famed for once commentating at the rate of 200 words a minute at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, David uttered the words, "Who cares who's third," after the David Hemery victory in the 400 metres hurdles.
Our PresentPerfect training course include useful tips and techniques for speaking at a more orderly rate of 100 to 120 words a minute.
The schedule for PresentPerfect training courses in September is now available.