First of all, let me start by saying that I am anything but a very good presenter. But I do consider myself a good observer and it is because of not being a good presenter from day one that I forced myself to try and grasp what makes other presenters good. I did a little bit of studying over the internet too about this matter and there is plenty of useful materials out there that you may find useful if you want to be really good at presenting.
This article is written so someone who wants to be better in doing presentations in classes for academic purposes can get some idea about what to worry about. All the tips are based more or less on my little experience of being a student of a reputed business school. The tips here are not arranged in any way, you make up your mind on what is more important to you among these.
1. No one is born with all the qualities: A lot of times we think that a person was born with some natural capabilities of presenting. That is partially true, but don't let that idea get over your head. One might have an excellent voice, body language, natural accent - but still he or she needs to work the way on how to use this qualities effectively. There are some qualities that take longer to achieve than others. Don't mix them up with God-gifted qualities and lose hope of ever acquiring them.
2. Prepare: Yes, taking preparation does help. If you don't have very good content to deliver, being the best in presenting still won't be able to help you in delivering a memorable presentation. Take time in preparing what you are going to present.
a. Rule of three: While you are preparing the slides, think of what is the one thing the audience will remember after the presentation. Most people only remember one, at best 4 concepts of the whole half an hour presentation. If you give them any more concepts than that, much of your time and efforts will be a waste. Try not to give more than 3 takeaway concepts.
b. Simplicity and Pictures: Keep the slides as simple as possible, try not to put too many words in the slide but rather use images that complement the concept you are trying to present. Forget the numbers, use a story to make people feel about a scenario. Think of it, what describes that 'a war is wrong' better to you, '1000 people have been made homeless- statement' or 'a picture of a child sitting beside his dead parents'? Use graphs or charts only when it's absolutely necessary to use it and there is no other way to convey the message.
c. Less slides are better: Some people compete over how many slides they are preparing, they battle over if they are going to make 30 or 40 slides in half hour. But the issue is, with this many slides being changed, people have little time to look and here what you have to say. The amount of time it takes to digest a new slide is completely spent ignoring what the presenter is doing. So, with 30 slides in half an hour, probably the presenter will spend more time clicking through slides than presenting them.
d. Dare to do something new: There have always been the trend setters in presentations who did something new and all of a sudden everyone else changed the way they present. The first time i saw use of real pictures as examples in slides, the first custom made video advertisement for presentation, the first play done to express a concept, all these are thing that are remembered for their innovation, doesn't matter if they were any good in delivering the message or not, they made people remember them for what they did and that means a lot.
e. Check: Check the computer, projector, sound system before the presentation. If you face any problem in these, the delay in starting just makes you look unprepared.
3. Practice: Yes, that helps too. If you know what you are going to say and how you are going to say, it will make you more comfortable during the presentation with less probability of getting stuck somewhere. The great presenters seem so much at ease while presenting because they have done this many times before and they have practiced for this very presentations a few times too probably. They know exactly where they are going and how to get there with the presentation. You can stand in front of the mirror and present to yourself, see how you look. Visualize yourself in the auditorium or classroom presenting to the
However, it is important not to over-practice though, that might make you seem as if you are delivering a memorized speech rather than presenting from heart. It might also make you stiff and any unforeseen changes in the presentation (like no electricity, a member of the group missing, change of the amount of time given to you to present, etc ) then can make you lose everything.
4. Be confident: Al the practice and preparation really comes down to you being confident. Some though are always confident and can almost present without any knowledge or practice. But for other mere mortals, confidence can fluctuate, and the amount of confidence you have does make a difference in your performance. Dress up in a way that you feel comfortable and confident. If you don't feel good about what you are wearing, that will have an impact. Use one liner jokes if you want to. Even if the joke appears to be lame, it just shows that you are confident. However, it's best not to use jokes when you know that they are lame.
5. Maintain an optimum level of formality: This depends upon who you are presenting to. Does the course instructor appreciate more of a formal approach or does he or she appreciate creativity and freedom? Being too informal may displease some people while being too formal may just bore someone else.
6. Involve the audience only if you are sure of their response: You ask the audience a question and nobody replies, how does it feel? More than anything it looks like a failed attempt at interaction. Try to be sure about the response before asking the question, think about it if the question is good enough. If you have no other options, you can always get some friends to help you out with the 'responsive audience thing'.
That's about all that I have to say for now. There are some other points like maintaining eye contact, using you voice to emphasize on particular sentences etc that I did not say much about. But I do hope to improve the article slowly. Any suggestions about this piece is most welcomed.
This article is written so someone who wants to be better in doing presentations in classes for academic purposes can get some idea about what to worry about. All the tips are based more or less on my little experience of being a student of a reputed business school. The tips here are not arranged in any way, you make up your mind on what is more important to you among these.
1. No one is born with all the qualities: A lot of times we think that a person was born with some natural capabilities of presenting. That is partially true, but don't let that idea get over your head. One might have an excellent voice, body language, natural accent - but still he or she needs to work the way on how to use this qualities effectively. There are some qualities that take longer to achieve than others. Don't mix them up with God-gifted qualities and lose hope of ever acquiring them.
2. Prepare: Yes, taking preparation does help. If you don't have very good content to deliver, being the best in presenting still won't be able to help you in delivering a memorable presentation. Take time in preparing what you are going to present.
a. Rule of three: While you are preparing the slides, think of what is the one thing the audience will remember after the presentation. Most people only remember one, at best 4 concepts of the whole half an hour presentation. If you give them any more concepts than that, much of your time and efforts will be a waste. Try not to give more than 3 takeaway concepts.
b. Simplicity and Pictures: Keep the slides as simple as possible, try not to put too many words in the slide but rather use images that complement the concept you are trying to present. Forget the numbers, use a story to make people feel about a scenario. Think of it, what describes that 'a war is wrong' better to you, '1000 people have been made homeless- statement' or 'a picture of a child sitting beside his dead parents'? Use graphs or charts only when it's absolutely necessary to use it and there is no other way to convey the message.
c. Less slides are better: Some people compete over how many slides they are preparing, they battle over if they are going to make 30 or 40 slides in half hour. But the issue is, with this many slides being changed, people have little time to look and here what you have to say. The amount of time it takes to digest a new slide is completely spent ignoring what the presenter is doing. So, with 30 slides in half an hour, probably the presenter will spend more time clicking through slides than presenting them.
d. Dare to do something new: There have always been the trend setters in presentations who did something new and all of a sudden everyone else changed the way they present. The first time i saw use of real pictures as examples in slides, the first custom made video advertisement for presentation, the first play done to express a concept, all these are thing that are remembered for their innovation, doesn't matter if they were any good in delivering the message or not, they made people remember them for what they did and that means a lot.
e. Check: Check the computer, projector, sound system before the presentation. If you face any problem in these, the delay in starting just makes you look unprepared.
3. Practice: Yes, that helps too. If you know what you are going to say and how you are going to say, it will make you more comfortable during the presentation with less probability of getting stuck somewhere. The great presenters seem so much at ease while presenting because they have done this many times before and they have practiced for this very presentations a few times too probably. They know exactly where they are going and how to get there with the presentation. You can stand in front of the mirror and present to yourself, see how you look. Visualize yourself in the auditorium or classroom presenting to the
However, it is important not to over-practice though, that might make you seem as if you are delivering a memorized speech rather than presenting from heart. It might also make you stiff and any unforeseen changes in the presentation (like no electricity, a member of the group missing, change of the amount of time given to you to present, etc ) then can make you lose everything.
4. Be confident: Al the practice and preparation really comes down to you being confident. Some though are always confident and can almost present without any knowledge or practice. But for other mere mortals, confidence can fluctuate, and the amount of confidence you have does make a difference in your performance. Dress up in a way that you feel comfortable and confident. If you don't feel good about what you are wearing, that will have an impact. Use one liner jokes if you want to. Even if the joke appears to be lame, it just shows that you are confident. However, it's best not to use jokes when you know that they are lame.
5. Maintain an optimum level of formality: This depends upon who you are presenting to. Does the course instructor appreciate more of a formal approach or does he or she appreciate creativity and freedom? Being too informal may displease some people while being too formal may just bore someone else.
6. Involve the audience only if you are sure of their response: You ask the audience a question and nobody replies, how does it feel? More than anything it looks like a failed attempt at interaction. Try to be sure about the response before asking the question, think about it if the question is good enough. If you have no other options, you can always get some friends to help you out with the 'responsive audience thing'.
That's about all that I have to say for now. There are some other points like maintaining eye contact, using you voice to emphasize on particular sentences etc that I did not say much about. But I do hope to improve the article slowly. Any suggestions about this piece is most welcomed.