Presentation skills

1. Presentation skills

2. Giving Effective Presentations • Presentations should influence people. • Presentations should be prepared very well. • Effective presentations depend on a number of criteria. The most important of which are presented next:

3. Influencing feelings and attitudes Info7% Voice 40% Body lang. 53 % • Body language accounts for 53% of the success of your presentation. • The clarity of your voice accounts for 40% of the success of your presentation. • What you actually say accounts for 7% of the success of your presentation.

4. Presentation Skills Include: • Non Verbal Skills • Verbal Skills • Techniques • Speech Structure

5. I. Nonverbal skills

6. 1. Appearance • Be formal & decent. • Focus on the message not the outfit.

7. 2. Posture • Stand straight. • Appear confident. • Be relaxed. • No hands in pockets.

8. Gestures • Use Gestures. They increase the audience understanding. • Make your movements meaningful. • Avoid exaggeration.

9. 4. Eye contact • Address all the audience. • Maintain eye contact with everybody. • Don’t stare at others more than 5 seconds.

10. 5. Facial Expressions Facial expressions are important because they: • Mirror emotions. • Set tone and mood. • Make the audience feel comfortable. • Example: A speaker without any expression on his / her face makes the audience worried and unwilling to participate in any conversation.

11. II. verbal skills

12. 1. Voice • Vary the pitch. • Don’t always speak in low voice, so it becomes boring, nor in high voice, so it becomes disturbing. • Stress important words. • Vary the pace. • Speak neither too fast nor too slow. • Don’t lose clarity. • Don’t speak in such a low voice that no body can hear you.

13. 2. Waffling Waffling is speaking in an unclear way. • Avoid using too many non words: um, er, uh, ….., etc. • Avoid using too many connectors: and, but, so…etc. • Avoid using too many nonworking words: ok, well, you know.

14. III. Techniques

15. 1. Audience Involvement • Use Names. • Invite Participation. • Ask Questions.

16. 2. Humor • Tell amusing stories • Avoid long jokes • Make humor deliver the message.

17. 3. Visual Aids • Use your visual aids effectively. • Show pictures, movies, interviews or charts that are related to your topics • Choose the most convenient aid for you presentation.

18. Tips for PowerPoint presentations • You should have at most 6 lines per page and 6 words per line. • Too many words distract the attention of the audience. • Make each point that you discuss appear separately. • Don’t write long paragraphs on the slides. Use key phrases. • Be consistent in using the font, colors, and background.

19. Tips for PowerPoint presentations • Use pictures that are relevant to your topic. • Use contrasting colors for text and background. • Don’t overuse the effects and the slide transitions. • Observe your time. Prepare a presentation that fits the time you are allowed. • Limit the number of your slides. One slide per minute.

20. IV. Speech

21. 1. Introduction • Announce your topic. • Give a starting statement. • Ask a provocative question. • Tell a story, quotation, joke, etc.

22. 2. Body • Define the major points. • Organize your ideas. • Provide as much evidence as you can.

23. 3. Conclusion • Conclude your ideas. • Leave an impression. • State clearly what you want the audience to take with them.

24. Answer the audience’s Questions

25. Thank Your Audience

26. List of suggested readings: • http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/dept/Tips/present/comms.htm • http://www.effective-public-speaking.com/starting/menu.php • http://www.presentationhelper.co.uk/Essential_Presentation_skills.htm • http://ergonomics.uq.edu.au/download/presentation.ppt • http://kinesiology.boisestate.edu/kines442/tips_for_making_effective_powerp.htm • http://www.iasted.org/conferences/formatting/Presentations-Tips.ppt

27. Good Luck