PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS

by Prof. Anamika

PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS

(BY Prof. Anamika)

It is important that you get your message across clearly, competently, completely, and confidently. To be able to do so with consistent effectiveness, you must know what makes a presentation memorable, what keeps the audience’s attention, and what helps to project your own, unique personality. Whether you want to explain, instruct, persuade, sell, motivate, or inspire, if you know the right system and employ the right approach, you will be able to do so successfully.

A professional, effective business presentation requires four sets of knowledge:

KNOWLEDGE OF THE AUDIENCE

A) KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUBJECT AND ITS LOGICAL ORGANISATION

B) KNOWLEDGE OF THE TOOLS OF PRESENTATION

C) KNOWLEDGE OF THE SELF AS A PRESENTER

In the next few pages, we will consider these one by one.

PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS

A presentation is not just a sequential display of data but a battle ...a battle of getting audience’s attention, win their hearts and chance of creating an impression. In every presentation you sell something: a product, a service, or an idea. If it is a battle, you need a strategy or a sequence of moves. For this, following a STAR strategy will help. It is planning your presentation with teh help of 5Ws – WHO, WHY, WHERE, WHEN AND WHAT.

Let’s take them up one at a time.

Planning a presentation: The STAR strategy

A) KNOWLEDGE OF THE AUDIENCE:

1. WHO is your audience? Often the most ignored factor in a business presentation, it is actually the most vital. Both the message and format of your presentation depend upon the composition of your audience: i. Who are they? ii. What is their level of knowledge and interest in your subject? iii. Is this likely to be a friendly and receptive or hostile audience? iv. How large is it going to be? v. Will it be all male or all female, or heterosexual? vi. What is the age-range? vii. In the organisation, what is their management level?
Even if you do not get answers to all these questions, asking them may reveal valuable insights, which will guide you in determining the content, the depth, and the delivery of your presentation.

It is not enough to know your audience. You need to first establish, and then maintain a purposeful relationship with it throughout the presentation.

ESTABLISH THE RAPPORT: Doing and saying the right things as soon as you and the audience face each other establishes the rapport. (Dialogues given here are mere examples. Let your own words communicate the idea being suggested).

a) GREET appropriately, pleasantly, and warmly. Look at the audience, not away or at your papers as you do this. Smile. Look, sound, and be cordial. A casual `Hi’ may spell arrogance or disrespect, so do be `proper’, but not stilted.

b) Tell the audience WHO you are. Your name, designated responsibility (avoid announcing your designation), and the organisation you represent, must be communicated clearly to an external audience. In an in-house presentation, if even one or two members of the audience do not know who you are, look at them, and give them your name and your responsibility.

2. Tell the audience WHY you are making a presentation. Is the purpose to inform, persuade, update, sell, invite, instruct, introduce, or review?

“Given the rise in criminal activity against the elderly, both you and we have a concern for their safety. The purpose of this presentation is to present a proposal that will address this concern. We hope to arouse your interest in our plan, and to receive your orders for the installation of our system”. This statement helps the audience determine their attention and listening level. It also prepares them to your real purpose.

3. WHERE is the presentation to be made?

In your conference hall? At the client’s place? Or is it a neural place like a hotel? Is the room too big or small? What kind of equipments are available? What kind of seating arrangement is provided? If you need access to the internet, then check for the kind of access available. Check in advance for software compatibility.

4. WHEN is the presentation going to be delivered? Is it after lunch? If it is then the presentation has to be made light, lively, and preferable humorous. I sit at the end of the day, when people are about to go home? Then you better not exceed the time limit given to you. Your planning should be such taht you can shrink or expand your presentation (See MOM plan).

Tell the audience when you will take questions. If your presentation is time-bound – and every professional presentation should be then avoid inviting questions mid-presentation. Taking questions mid-way, could break the thread of your thought, and take away from the time allotted to your presentation.

After announcing the duration, say: “You will doubtless have queries about what I say. I will be happy to take your questions at the end. Thank you.” In spite of making this request, there are people who still interrupt with questions. Give a quick one-line answer and continue, or say politely: “If it is okay with you, may I take this after the presentation?”

5. Tell the audience WHAT your presentation is on and about. Announce its title without any ambiguity: “My presentation is on `The Indiway System of Protecting Senior Citizens”. Then, in one line explain what the presentation is about. Quite often, this is not done as we expect our audience to remember the title and know what we are going to talk about.

Tell the audience HOW your presentation is structured: This helps the audience follow the route you will take. It also forces you to stay on track. “My presentation is divided into three parts. I will begin by briefly highlighting what makes the elderly so vulnerable. I will then describe the Indiway System – what it is, how it operates, and its advantages over other systems. I will conclude with an explanation of installation and operation requirements and costs.”

Though you will, of course conclude by summarizing the main points of your presentation, you do not need to mention this here. A logical structure, spelt out in advance, gives a good impression about the professional, rational, well-ordered manner in which you think and act. This is a good opportunity to project your personality.

All of this – the greeting, and the initial statements about the presentation – right up to when you will take questions, is the introduction, and should not take more than a couple of minutes.

Maintain The Rapport: The next step is to ensure that the initial interest that you have aroused in the audience is maintained throughout the presentation. The content must deliver the promise made earlier, the structure must be as logical as spelt out, any audio-visuals used must support your facts, and your delivery must be effective.

B) KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUBJECT AND ITS LOGICAL ORGANISATION:

If you are the presenter, you obviously are an expert in your area. That is why you are making the presentation, and not someone else. Some issues, however, need attention:

1. HOW MUCH TO COVER? As an expert, you want to give all you know about your subject, but the presentation time is limited. So, how does one decide what to put in and what to omit? If you give what you want to, you would be forcing a message. But, you would be fulfilling your need and that of the audience, if you ask:

o What ACTION or THOUGHT do I want from this audience? o What INFORMATION does this audience want to receive from me?

Therefore, ask yourself: What bits of my knowledge will fulfil both needs? The best way to ensure that you give just what is needed is to pass your material through many sieves, till you have extracted the most essential bits.

As you prepare your notes, mark in red in the margin the cover ideas that must be there no matter what happens, Mark in the margin, say in green, those ideas that may be presented if you get a little extra time and can be dropped if you have to cut short your presentation. The rest is what ought to be presented along with the core in the event of your presentation going along expected lines.

The MOM plan

2. WHAT TO STRESS VERBALLY? If you seek business orders through your presentation, give your audience less history, more of the present, and most of the future. Take more time to highlight benefits to the audience, and less to depict product features. Present company history, product features, and lengthy technical descriptions through written handouts.

3. EMBELLISH THE LANGUAGE: Speak so that you get your message across, and people understand what you are saying, and remember your message. Your choice of words, construction of sentences, and use of idiom, all need attention if you want to build and send strong messages.

• Avoid long and flowery sentences that are better for literary purposes, such as an article for a magazine. • Use short, grammatically correct and constructive sentences. • Use 7*7 style (Maximum 7 words in a sentence and 7 bullet points in a slide) Use familiar examples, easily seen illustrations, and if possible, or a brief personal account to add life to your words. • Use pauses, rhetorical questions, quotations, figures, and even a cliché or two, to add value. However, do not over-do them. • Do use humour. Don’t, however, crack too many, off-colour, non-relevant jokes, do not laugh loudly at your own joke! • Use attention-getting, underscoring phrases like: “This is a critical point.” “Let me re-emphasize…” “What is significant here is...”

4. Structure INFORMATION LOGICALLY: Once you have identified all the essential facts the audience needs, develop a structure. The structure of your presentation will depend upon the composition and need of the audience, the purpose, time available, and the personality of the presenter. All the same, some guidelines apply to all presentations. • Organise the main body of your presentation, and your material so that it points in one direction, and flows smoothly and logically, from point to point. The listener should get a series of thoughts, each one distinct, and separate from, yet leading to the next. So, select your key points, a few, not too many, and stay on track, and focused • Give your audience enough time to absorb each idea, and to relate it to what has already been said, and what they know about the topic.

The classic, common-sense formula divides any presentation into three parts. These first three are time-bound. To them, a fourth can be added: The Q-A session, which is open-ended.

One: The introduction, or start, where you tell them in one line what you are going to tell them. Two: The main body, or the middle, where you tell them in detail what you want to tell them. Three: The conclusion, or the end, where you tell them in one line what you have just told them. Four: The question-answer session, which clarifies and adds to what you have told them. This is an extremely vital aspect, and often determinates whether the audience will accept the presenter’s product, idea, and even personality.

We need to follow this methodology Tell them what you are going to tell them (Introduction) Tell Them (Body) Tell them what you have told them (conclusion)

Let us detail each of these one by one:

(a) THE START: Greet and introduce yourself and your presentation using simple words, till you develop confidence and can be creative. Then you can open your presentation with a strong, punchy message about the key point. Use an analogy, an anecdote, example, statistics, or a straightforward statement that goes directly into the heart of the message. If you use an attention grabbing, arresting opening line to establish your theme, it will be remembered till the end of your presentation, and possibly, even after. “Last Friday, at ten o’clock in the morning, my next door neighbours, an old couple in their seventies, were attacked, robbed, and left for dead. This was the third such case in the colony. The reported cases of attacks on the elderly, in Delhi alone, in the last six months are staggering.”

Do not start with pleasant but weak sentences like: “I am delighted to be here.” “I am grateful for your invitation to speak…” “It is indeed a great honour to be amidst all of you.” Nor begin with an apologetic: “I did not have much time to prepare. Anyhow, let’s see…”

An idle way to start.....

Duration: This segment should take less than two minutes. Pay special attention to the PAUSES!

Facial expression: Throughout this segment, SMILE, and look around at individual members of the audience PLEASANTLY.

• Do not show any slide here... • Stand centrally, at the `head of the table’ position. • Hold your hands comfortably in front at the belt-buckle. • Look around at the audience with a smile. You will see audience members smiling back at you. • After you have swept your eyes across the room, start talking. • So long as you cover all the items listed here, the order is not important.

1. Greet smilingly: Use either a simple `Good Morning’, or, for a more formal presentation audience, add, `Ladies and Gentlemen’.

P A U S E

2. Introduce yourself pleasantly: Announce your name very, very clearly.

P A U S E

3. State the title of your presentation: Ideally, announce the title, If necessary, add a line to explain the title.

P A U S E

4. State the purpose of your presentation: Why are you making the presentation? What action do you want from the audience? What do you want the audience to DO or THINK now and do later? What action or thought for future action do you want to GET from this audience? This will help you to decide what specific information you should give to achieve your objective.

P A U S E

5. Give number (3 or 4) of presentation agenda headings.

P A U S E

6. State in a running sentence, the subheadings: (a), (b), (c), of the agenda: What you will start with; what you will then go on to discuss; and what you will end with. What information will you GIVE in order to GET what you want from this audience?

P A U S E

7. State the duration of your presentation. This will help your audience know how long they need to attend to you.

8. Tell the audience pleasantly, when you will take questions.

9. Thank with a smile for `letting’ you take questions when you want.

P A U S E

Take a step back, and start your presentation.

“Let me then BEGIN my P with (start with the first agenda heading 6.a)……

Take a P A U S E before starting the main body

(b) THE MAIN BODY: This is the central theme and also the longest part of your presentation, as well as its `information-content’. It may contain statistical data or research findings to support your statements, pose questions, and solve problems.

The middle is most vulnerable to distraction, digression, and detours. So, prepare it well. As mentioned earlier, follow MOM model.

Do not memorise your presentation, nor read it out. Note the main points on a `cue card’. This is helpful, both when you are not very sure (the card gives you confidence), and even when you are apprehensive (it keeps you focused).

Get quickly to the main point, offer good, hard facts, and later fill in any essential background. Illustrate each main point with an anecdote, an example, or relevant figures and familiar mental pictures. Make sure to link it to the main theme. Strong visual imagery, coupled with strong information, are the keys to sustained audience interest in your presentation.

Take a small P A U S E before concluding

(c) THE CONCLUSION: Ideally, your closing lines should communicate the same key message as your starting lines.

• They should summarize your main body, and clearly tell the audience what you expect from it. “This is for your information” is less inspiring than “Tomorrow may be too late to install our system. Do it today, ladies and gentlemen.” o An emotional appeal helps, but not all business presentations lend themselves to it. You could use a quotation to reinforce your message. Whatever you say, do ensure that the audience thinks about what you have said, and relates it to their own personal situation. o Let your last sentence be: “And now, I will be happy to respond to your questions.”

(d) THE QUESTION-ANSWER SESSION: Some people do not see the question-answer session as a part of the `presentation’, but your performance here could add or take away from the impact of your presentation. To ensure that you are in control of this session, pay attention to the following:

Listen with full attention. Do not interrupt. Pause, and then reply. The pause is vital. It shows respect to the questioner and to his question. The audience can almost hear you say through your pause, “This is a valuable question, and deserves a thoughtful response.” The pause also helps you to frame a crisp and to the point reply. Avoid hasty start-ups, followed by fumbling, stammering, or hesitant `ers’ and `ums’. Since some questioners tend to ramble on a bit before asking the question, or expect you to pick up the question from the debris of their ramblings, listening with complete attention can be a vital skill.

Some people ask multi-questions at one go. As soon as you realise this is happening, grab a pencil and jot down the points the questioner is trying to make. Then, take them up one by one – very briefly – or, combine and rephrase them into one whole question.

A questioner sitting close to you may ask a question too softly for all to hear. Your reply will be heard by all, but in the absence of the question, will not make much sense. So, do repeat the question for all. This will also give you time to formulate a good response.

If a questioner seeks too many details that clearly interest only him, say: “I think what you have to say is important. Shall we get together after this, so that we can have a more detailed discussion.”

If it is not really a question, but a speech of sorts, an expression of an opinion, merely smile, thank the speaker for his thoughts, and move to the next question.

Whatever you do or say, make sure that you do not ever appear or sound rude, short, brusque, annoyed, mocking, or sarcastic.

“It is okay not to have an answer, but not okay to be less than courteous”.

Keep your answers short. Do not allow them to become mini-presentations. So, the rule is: Listen up, reply down, and shut up!

If you are proved wrong, or have missed something pointed out by the audience, or do not know the answer to a question, do not attempt to prove yourself right, or to provide some kind of an answer. It is better to admit that your audience is right, that you should have included the point, and that you do not know.

Make sure that you look at the person when he asks the question. When you give the answer, however, involve the entire audience in your answer.

Process to be followed.... Start your response by looking at the questioner, and then look at all the others. As you reach the end of your answer, look again at the person who asked the question. Courtesy also requires that you thank the person asking the question, ideally both when you start the answer and also at the end.

The best way to ensure that you give a direct, to the point answer, is to repeat the question: “Let me see if I have understood your question correctly. Do you want to know if . . . ?” Or: “How many will it require to . . . .? Well, we will need at least . . . .”

It is also considered discourteous to answer a question with a question: “I have heard that you disconnect the service without any explanation” “Who told you that? Why would we do that? “ It is better to give a statement in reply.

Ideally, avoid starting your answers with these five words: No (a direct denial), But (a contradiction), Look, Listen (may be mistaken for aggressive commands) and See (seen as self-defensive).

Also, avoid ending your answers with these words, ending in a question mark: Right? Understood? Clear? Okay? Got it? Yeah? These appear to threaten and may imply: ”You better agree with me!” …8

Apart from words, a professional presenter uses a variety of aids to present his message effectively. Used properly, these can enhance the value of your presentation.

Among the tools, let us briefly talk about:

1. THE PODIUM: Use it only if you have a vast amount of material to read out, as in a seminar, and need a platform to place your papers on. Or you need to use a mike and the only mike available is on the podium. Do not lean upon it, hug it, or clutch it for dear life.

2. THE POINTER: Whether you use the wooden rod, steel retractable, or the laser pointer, it is a useful devise for tracing the flow of a process, or for highlighting a particular point or a word. Ineffective use of the pointer includes holding on to it unnecessarily, using it like a conductor’s baton, or like a threatening teacher’s ruler, using it to point at every word on the screen, etc.

3. THE CUE CARD: While some presenters constantly look down at the laptop, the OHP, or a writing pad, or even loose sheets of closely written paper, others keep looking back at the screen to read the transparency cell. A better idea is to glance at the laptop, and if necessary, use cue cards, roughly three inches by five inches, on which you can note down – in clear, very easily readable writing – your main points, and any other data that you need to remember, but do not wish to project on the screen.

4. READING MATERIAL: Ideally, distribute handouts at the end, unless studying them during the presentation is essential to its purpose. If you let your audience have handouts in front of them during the presentation, chances are that they will not listen to you, but will read as you talk.

A constructive handout outlines the presentation, and summarises the main points. Sometimes it details an aspect of the presentation that will or cannot be covered during the presentation.

5. THE PRESENTATION ROOM: Check the room, the audio-visual facilities it offers, the seating and table arrangement (\_/-shaped is better than the tiered, class-room seating), the lighting, the acoustics, and the manpower assistance offered by the organiser.

What needs our greater attention is those audio-visual aids that are projected to a screen.

6. AUDIO-VISUAL AIDS: All business presentations do not require audio-visual aids (AVs). It is possible to make perfectly successful presentations merely through your words. In fact, poorly made and used visual aids can actually mar a presentation, distract the audience, and reduce the impact of a well-prepared speech.

At the same time, a presentation that uses AVs effectively, is often more memorable than one that does not. AVs can support and reinforce your message; help your audience to remember your key points; and enhance the quality of your presentation. Moderation, however, is the key. Remember: “A picture is worth more than a thousand words.” Remember also, not to make it a picture OF more than a thousand words!

Whether you use the laptop and LCD unit, slides, the OHP, video-clips, flip charts, a fax board, or even a white board, here are some mistakes that presenters make with visual aids, and what can be done to manage them:

a) Starting with the visual, not because it is impactive, but in an attempt to draw attention away from yourself. But your audience wants to see you. There can be no better visual than your persona. If, however, you have a really compelling visual go for it as a presentation starter.

b) Using too many slides, or charts. The mere act of putting them on and off is distracting. Less is more here. In fact, `when in doubt, leave it out’ is good advice.

c) Using too many varieties of aids – transparencies, slides, film clips, the fax board, etc. – in one presentation. Some variety can contribute to making your message more memorable, but judicious use of variety is required.

d) Letting the AVs dominate and control the presentation, reducing you to the position of the `aid’! The AV should only illustrate, and you should explain.

e) Not knowing how the particular electronic AV aid available operates, and fumbling with the controls. This is a bad, inept start, not conducive to the creation of a good, strong image.

f) Not pausing to let the audience absorb the information projected. Tell the audience what the next visual will show – how crime against the elderly has risen in the last two years – then pause to let them study the graphic, switch off the visual, and explain your point.

g) Reading the entire visual word for word, with the back to the audience. This is insulting. Your audience can read. Worse, you lose eye contact with the audience. Pause, give them time to read, and then draw their attention to the matter.

h) Showing a difficult-to-see slide or transparency, a Xeroxed or scanned copy of a printed page, cluttered with many words, unnecessary detailed figures, complicated graphics, with tiny, over-decorative fonts, and unnecessary capitalisation. This irritates and distracts the audience. Prepare a legible visual which bullets the main points that you will explain.

i) Using too much variety in animation when using PowerPoint. Let bullets come in one-by-one only if you are explaining, expanding or detailing each point.

j) Preparing the matter ineptly in front of the audience when using a non-electronic AV, such as a white or black board, or flip chart. Prepare flip charts in advance, either wholly, or partly, so that you can fill in matter as you proceed.

k) Not checking the lighting options, if using films and videotapes. Get help from the staff before you start your presentation. Ideally, the audience should be able to see both you and what you project.

KNOWLEDGE OF THE SELF AS A PRESENTER:

No matter how well-informed a presenter is about his audience, how well he has structured his facts, and how effectively he uses AV aids, unless he takes a good look at himself as the medium of the message, he may not make the impact he want to. The effective presenter must:

1. DRESS RIGHT: For a formal presentation, men should wear a suit, possibly a pin or chalk-striped midnight blue or a charcoal gray with a white or blue shirt, and a simple patterned, maroon tie, dark socks, and very importantly, polished shoes.

Often there is no way of knowing how the audience will be attired. The venue, the type of audience and the criticality of the issue are good guides to help decide the attire. A good rule to follow is: Dress formally, and remove the jacket and / or the tie, depending on the situation and how the members of the audience are dressed

A woman presenter should be in a sari, or a Western business suit, for a formal presentation. Dress to look dignified and pleasant, without distracting, heavy makeup, and jangling jewelry. Make sure that what you wear does not take attention away from your presentation. Dress right, but not bright.

2. SPEAK WITH POWER: The effective presenter pays attention to delivery: a) Speak with enough volume to carry your words across the room. b) Pace your delivery so that it is neither fast nor too slow, but varied. c) Do not speak in a nasal tone, but in a deep voice. d) Modulate your speech and give meaningful expression by stressing or repeating key words. e) Pause before and after significant facts. f) Enunciate clearly, and pronounce correctly. g) Avoid fillers and jargon.

3. USE NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE SUCCESSFULLY: Words by themselves may communicate their message well, but non-verbal language – facial expression, eye contact, gestures, and posture - complements oral speech.

a) Facial Expression: Use positive facial expressions. Start with a smile. Continue with a pleasant expression for the first minute or so. Get serious and alternate with a pleasant expression as you start and end each part of the main body. Smile occasionally if the matter allows it. Smile again at the end of your presentation. Look pleasant and attentive when you receive questions.

b) Eye Contact: Eye contact tells you how your audience is receiving your message. Spread your eye contact around the room, sweeping it from left to right and back. Do not stare at one section or one person for too long. There will be moments when you will look away as you think, but don’t study your toes, nor count the beams on the ceiling for long moments!

c) Gestures: Use your hands to gesture, but do not do windmills! Avoid crossing your hands, putting them in your pocket; holding them behind your back. Crossing your arms at the chest, or clutching them at the elbows as though you are cold, communicate closure and lack of confidence. Keep your hands at the belt level, the fingers touching lightly, or loosely clasped, so that when you want to use them, you can move them up or down, in a rolling or chopping, counting or layering motion.

d) Posture: Your posture is the most vivid give-away of your level of confidence. It should demonstrate your command over yourself, your subject and the situation, your enthusiasm and delight at making the presentation.

Do not Lean against a table, or sway to and fro, or roll from side to side, or shift your weight from leg to leg, or stand like a money plant throughout your presentation. Ideally, stand straight, your weight balanced evenly on both your legs, moving occasionally to break the monotony of one pose, and to allow the blood to flow freely through your legs.

3. MANAGE PRE-PRESENTATION ANXIETY: Every presenter, whether new or experienced, experiences pre-presentation nerves. It is natural to be nervous. What will the audience think of me? What if I trip? What if I fumble and forget? What if the audience laughs at me? These and a hundred other questions build up fear of facing an audience. This anxiety is so strong that many people do not even try to face an audience, while others who are forced to do it, do so without creating any impact. They `know’ they will fail, so why try something that is risky?

What can you do to manage anxiety? The answer lies in knowing the right techniques and the right approaches, and practicing the art of making professional business presentations.

a) Acquire as much knowledge as you can – about your subject, your audience, your presentation tools, yourself as a presenter. The more you know, the greater the confidence, the less the anxiety. So, grab every opportunity to learn more about the elements of a successful business presentation, and dare to make as many presentations as you can.

b) Discuss your presentation, ask experts what you should include and what exclude, anticipate questions, and then prepare your presentation.

c) Practice – prune – practice – prune – practice! Practice your presentation, standing up, rather than mentally. Use your visuals, and imagine your audience before you. Inadequate preparation is a major contributor to nerves. Do not, however, memorise or `rehearse’ till you are word-perfect. Apart from the fact that memory can let you down anytime, it is important to retain natural spontaneity. When you do not have to put on an act, you will not only feel more comfortable, but also look more confident. So, be natural.

d) On the presentation day, dress well – one level more formal than your audience. Reach the presentation venue with at least twenty minutes to spare. Set yourself up. Try out the projector, the mike – if you need one, and any other aid you will use. Don’t believe anything is well set up, till you try it out.

e) Make `friends’ with the audience. Find out as many details as you can before you meet them. On the spot, go out of your way to shake hands with as many as you can. Talk to them. This contact just before you start helps a last minute fine-tuning of your presentation. It gives you the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the expectations of the audience.

f) If it is possible, make any small changes that will add value to your presentation. Or, make any statements that will demonstrate your sensitivity to the matter.

g) Finally, just before you go on, take a sip or two of water – not more! Then, stand facing the audience. Smile as you sweep your eyes across the audience. Then start talking.

h) Use humour when suitable. Take pauses at critical points. Talk to, not at, the audience.

i) After the presentation, assess your performance or ask an expert to do so. Seek feedback, particularly negative comments and use them to better your performance.

5. MANAGE YOUR TIME WELL:

a) Practice your presentation aloud so that you know exactly how long it takes. If you have been given a specific duration, prune and practice, prune again and practice till you are within the time given to you. b) Control interruptions by announcing pleasantly that you will welcome all questions at the end of the presentation.

6. PRESENTATION ETIQUETTE:

a) Attire: make sure that your attire shows respect for the audience. Dress one level more formal than your audience. b) Arrive on time for your presentation. c) Greet your audience correctly. Let those members of your audience who are senior to you put their hand out first for a handshake. Shake hands firmly and warmly. d) Your audience has more rights than you do. They have the right to interrupt you. When they talk, let them finish what they are saying before you respond. e) Do not get into an argument. State your point calmly, acknowledge that the opposite opinion also exists.

Ultimately, the successful presenter is one who:

a) Learns and practices the technique of making professional business presentations; b) Knows his facts well; c) Demonstrates the right attitude towards his audience; and d) Projects his natural personality consistently in an effective, powerful manner.

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Making Professional Slides

1. Ensure that the title of your presentation and all subtitles are self-explanatory. A presentation title such as `Print Media’ is too wide. `Print Media Loses to TV Spots’ is more precise in its announcement of the scope of the presentation. Similarly, `Objectives’, `Benefits’, `Process’ are not self-explanatory. Add a couple of words such as `Presentation Objectives’, `Benefits of Broadband’, `Test Application Process’ helps the audience to know exactly what the speaker will talk about.

2. Repeat the title of the presentation, or if the title is too long, its truncated form on every slide. Repeat it in a small font size either on the top left of the slide with a line underneath or the bottom right with a line above it. It helps people who walk in late or who get distracted to know exactly what presentation they are in the midst of.

3. Use clean, sharp fonts such as Arial, Century Gothic, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS or Verdana. The font size depends on the amount of the matter and the size of the audience. Make sure that the font size of the slide titles is larger than the matter that follows.

4. Use dark – black or blue – lettering on a light background. This is the most easily read. Also easy to read is a dark slide with bright yellow lettering. Do not use dark lettering on dark background or light lettering on light background. For this reason, avoid also shaded backgrounds.

5. Capitalise only proper nouns, or one word or two in a sentence and at the start of sentences. Do not capitalise all the matter on a text – it makes the slide too busy and difficult to read.

6. Limit the number of points on each slide to 5 or 6. Use bullet marks that help the audience to recognise the number and outlining of your points. If you have more than 3 points on a slide, use numbers. Avoid bullet marks such as Roman symbols that mimic alphabets.

7. Be consistent in maintaining the style – colour, font, numbering, etc – that you adopt in designing your slides.

8. Use graphics judiciously especially when making a serious business presentation.

9. Do not write full long sentences running into 3 or 4 lines. And do not read your slides!

10. Know the rules of using single and double quotation marks, the small and large hyphens, where to place punctuation marks (directly next to the last alphabet of the word, and not after a space).

11. If you project tables with heavy numerical data that runs into more than 3 columns and rows, distribute hard copies so that the audience can see the numbers clearly. Check whether you need to present digits to the decimal point, or whether it would be better to round off the figures.

12. For an external presentation, let your first and last slides be the logo of your company.

13. Project your first material slide only when you are ready to talk about it. Put it off just before the summary. For the first two and the last two minutes of your presentation, talk to the audience without any slide projection. Let the audience concentrate only on you.

SLIDES

Slide templates:

Use a simple template with a light background.

Template background:

For greatest readability, use a light background with dark lettering on it.

The next best is a dark background with light lettering on it.

Avoid dark lettering on dark background and light lettering on light background.

Avoid templates with strong shade differences. Some portions of the lettering, no matter what colour you use, will merge into the background.

Do not use heavily patterned backgrounds that overwhelm the words, and create confusion.

Slide identification:

Repeat the presentation title on every slide. Place it ideally on the top left of the slide, in a small, but readable font size. If you add a line underneath this, you will visually separate the presentation title from the rest of the matter on the slide.

Each page, including any tables, diagrams, or graphs, must have a title. Even if a particular matter continues on to more than one slide, each page must still have a title.

Number your slides. It enables the audience to refer to a particular slide more easily. Do not, however, number them thus: 1 of 12, or thus: Page 4. Use the simple 1, 2, 3, etc.

Titles and subtitles:

A good title is either unambiguously clear, `All-India Sales Performance Review for 2014’; attention grabbing, `Stationary Rationalisation to Reduce Overhead Costs by 10%’, or suspense creating, `One Month’s Salary in One Day?’ In a serious business presentation, the ideal title presents the bottom line of the proposal, `Reduce Package Size to Increase Sale Slice’.

All titles and sub-titles (when read in conjunction with the presentation title) must be self-explanatory. `Process’; Advantages’, `Agenda’ are not self-explanatory titles. They beg the question, `Of What?’ `Data Simplification Process’, `Advantages of Demerger’, `Presentation Agenda’, are self-explanatory.

Use either `Sentence case’ or `Title Case’ for all titles and sub-titles. Whichever you use, be consistent throughout your presentation.

Graphs:

State clearly what the horizontal and vertical lines stand for.

Use a horizontal or vertical bar graph, line graph, or a pie cart, whichever will convey the message better.

Use strong contrasting colours.

Tables:

If a table has more than four rows and columns, make hard copies available to the audience.

If your presentation requires numbers to the decimal point, do put them on the slide. If it is not necessary, then offer rounded off figures, after explaining that they have been rounded off. In the hard copies, if necessary, you can offer more detailed figures.

Bullet points – wording:

Use short, phrases, or sentences.

Use simple language, small words, and phrases rather than long sentences.

Avoid writing on a slide conversational words and style, such as, `However’, `So, we did earn a profit, but, not as much as targeted’, `And, that is why we must merge the two sections’. These sound natural, when spoken, but are too wordy to place on a slide.

Bullet points – numbers:

Ideally, each page should five to six bullet points. Each bullet phrase should use five to six words.

If you have more than three points, number them. They make reference easier.

Use outlining correctly, indenting tabs to the right as you go further down the points.

If necessary, reduce the font size as you go further down.

A / B / C / D: MAIN POINTS. 1 / 2 / 3: SUB-POINTS. a) / b) / c): Points of sub-points. i / ii / iii / iv: Sub-point of sub-points. • Further break-down of points • •
Bullet marks:

Use filled dots, diamonds, and tick marks for main points; dashes and circle outlines for sub-points.

Avoid Greek symbols and `Wingdings’ or `Webdings’ type of characters. They often mimic the Roman alphabet and lead to confusion.

Ensure space between the bullet mark and the bullet point.

Font type:

Arial or a font that mimics Arial is best and cleanest to read on a slide.

Avoid heavy shadow effects and ClipArt, unless on a briefly worded title, and if the presentation allows for such an effect.

Font size:

If your presentation audience is generally less than ten, and held in a small conference room, a smaller font size will work.

For larger audiences and larger rooms, readability requires a larger font size.

Graphics:

Use graphics to add colour and interest to a business presentation, but judiciously.

Strategically, a graphic, if reserved for the last slide, works best!

One option of important slides:

Slide 1: A self-explanatory presentation title. Name of presenter. Presentation date.

Slide 2: Presentation Agenda.

Slides 3 to 8 or 10: Slides for the main body of a 15-minute presentation.

Slide 11: A summary slide.

If it is possible, summarise in a box at the bottom of the slide, the essence of significant (but not of all) slides.

IMPORTANT:
PRESENTATION DURATION

While an ideal presentation is at most fifteen minutes (to ensure complete attention from the audience), some presentations do go longer.

If your presentation is likely to run into an hour or more, break it up into shorter segments of ten, fifteen or twenty minutes, and take a brief question or two relating to the portion just covered, before moving on to the next part. All the segments need not be of equal duration. For instance, the portion relating to your recommendations may require twenty minutes, while background may need less.

This will ensure that: a) The audience gets a break from the tension and fatigue of paying full, undivided attention; b) Any quick clarifications can be made before moving on to the next section.

Do not allow too long a break. Avoid offering too detailed a response. Save it for later.

A FEW TIPS AND REMINDERS

• Please remember the pauses. They are vital to help the audience absorb what you are saying. • Please emphasize these words: `BEGIN’ at the end of the Introduction, and SUMMARIZE’ at the end of the main body. • Facial Expression: Start with a smile. Look and be pleasant during the Introduction, and during the Conclusion. End with a smile. Get serious if required for the main body, but add spice by pleasant and smiling moments. • Listen to questions with interested attention. Do not frown. • Respond pleasantly or seriously as appropriate. • End all answers with a smile or pleasant expression.

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