Making a presentation

The Importance of Presentation Skills

With the ever changing world of modern technology around us, unprecedented high standards have been set for presentations when conversing with clients, whether it be on the telephone, face to face or via satellite uplink. The way in which we present and conduct ourselves gives the person or group we are addressing a perception of both ourselves and the company we represent in both professionalism and attitude. The one thing that still stands today as it did 50 years ago is that people deal with people - a confident, reliable and professional person portrays a confident, reliable and professional organisation.

This culture does not only apply to the sales team within an organisation but to anyone who interacts with their company’s existing and potential clients and suppliers. Any professional Sales Representative or Manager’s hard work in winning a new customer or order can be undone in an instant by a Receptionist or Customer Services contact with the wrong attitude and vise versa.

Learning to present your ideas in a structured and logical fashion is a skill that can be translated to everyday working life. It is useful during meetings, on the phone, and even when convincing your Manager that your ideas are right. What's more, you'll see your confidence gradually increase the more you practice, you'll save time putting your projects into a structured fashion and you'll see faster results. (The art of speaking in public is not essentially a natural ability – although it does help – anyone can perfect the art with good training skills and practice).

Whether you're a shy or confident individual, you will have to overcome certain obstacles in order to achieve success. No matter what the personality type, when faced with a crowd of people and the pressure to perform, the harsh reality of the situation sets in – they are there to listen to one person - you! This, combined with the added pressure of each person staring at you awaiting your address, can create a sense of panic for the presenter. To combat this, some people tend to focus on one particular person throughout the presentation. Although this can be effective when large audiences are present, it can be off-putting for a smaller group.

The key to a presentation is practice – whether it be to your colleagues, friends or even yourself (if needs must) – try to get as much feed back as possible so you know where your strengths are as well as any bits which may need “touching up”.

Preparation

Preparation is a must for any presentation – you may only be talking for a couple of minutes but you need to remember that that couple of minutes are all you have to deliver your message, so ensure that you know what you need to get across before you enter the room and have it planned out already.

If a presentation is not structured or researched, then it comes across unprofessional and shambled to the audience, and how can you attempt to purvey a good image of either yourself or the company you represent when what you say does not appear credible?.

During the Presentation

Achieving and sustaining the interest of the audience throughout your presentation is essential if you're to reach your goal, whether it be to educate or persuade them to purchase a product or service. One way to do this is to incorporate visuals into your presentation (PowerPoint slides for example). It is also worth remembering that if handouts are distributed during your presentation, it can draw the audience's attention away from you and act as a distraction. However, if the subject is of a more technical nature, a copy of the slides can be useful for those wanting to take notes (it is often best to distribute them prior to the start of the presentation).

'A good presentation is one which transmits a clear, concise message that is relevant to the audience. This is easily recognisable as the audience will remain upbeat and their questions will reflect their curiosity in the subject matter. An unsuccessful presentation is one that fails to keep the audiences interest, the result being that the message does not get through to them and they “switch off”. Subject matter or stance bears no relevance to the audience. When the presenter fails to prepare for the presentation, when they mumble the words or have no authority in their voice, the audience does not respect the presenter’s views and the chance of them taking in the message is low.

Preparation is not only limited to your subject matter, you must also ensure that everything is organised for any visual presentation as one common problem with the use of technology is the presenter not ensuring that their laptop etc. works on the system they are using for the presentation. Fumbling about trying to get the display to come up looks unprofessional, and what is the point of all your hard work if you can’t show the audience the presentation you slaved over all day?

Be prepared for all eventualities – if your laptop blows up you cannot be blamed and it will not look unprofessional, but ensure you have a hard copy and revert to a flip chart or an old fashioned overhead projector if all else fails.

Turn up to a meeting with your presentation well prepared and structured and you will feel your confidence grow!