At various times in your student career you may be called upon to give presentations - of your ideas, your work, your views. These may be to your peers, to academics, to the wider public. They may take any form, from that of a prepared lecture to an unscripted and unpremeditated contribution in the course of a discussion. Whatever the case, you will achieve best results if you make your point clearly and persuasively. Presentation, like publicity, is the art of persuasion, and the most effective presenters are those who rise to the challenge with a defence of themselves and their contribution. A presentation, like an essay, should have the structure of an argument accompanied by an assured and rhetorically impressive display. That said it should aim not to be ostentatious, should take account of its audience and their reaction, and should most of all succeed in communicating clearly and efficiently with them.
It's worth taking advantage of opportunities to practice presentational skills - particularly if this is an area of interest to you once you have finished your degree. Many universities offer debating societies or political groups; many will expose you to a range of lecturers - some good presenters, some bad; and most if not all will require some level of competence when you present your academic work to your tutors and examiners. There are a number of steps you can take to improve your presentational style. These include...
o Know your material well. One of the worst things to watch is a presenter scrabbling among his or her notes for facts or reasons to back up statements which he or she has made. Use your research and preparation to focus the presentation and any subsequent debate; control the agenda and you should be fine.
o Don't be afraid to take your time before making a presentation. If called upon to summarise a piece of work, for instance, take a moment to think through what you are going to say, and try to say it as succinctly as possible. Many presenters make the mistake of repeating themselves or re-treading old ground to fill in awkward pauses. To avoid this, pause beforehand, so that when you are speaking what you say is thought through and assured.
o Target your audience and your subject throughout - refer all the points which you make back to the topic of the presentation (as when constructing an essay), and make clear the relevance of what you are saying to those who hear you.
o Try not to worry; engage with your subject and with your audience; don't lose your cool and be open to new ideas and suggestions. In presenting you are making a case, but it need not necessarily be complete, and you should always welcome input and constructive criticism - it's part of the learning process.
Some people are natural-born presenters and some find it a challenging undertaking. Play to your strengths, and try not to worry too much about how you come across. Focus on the subject, your enthusiasm for it, and your ability to speak clearly and authoritatively. As with everything, the more you do it, the easier it will become.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3677588
Friday, July 8, 2011
Effective Presentation Skills - How to Build Them
Have you even tried to sell goods and have found yourself being rebuffed all the day? Have you ever tried to address a gathering and found yourself stammering or feeling dry throated? Have you ever gone to an interview and found that that your palms are sweating because of nervousness? What about the time that you were trying to show off products of a company but found the doors being slammed by each and everyone you approached? The amazing thing was that your colleague was able to show off those same products to the same group of persons the next day.
The product was not at fault. It was your skills or rather, the lack of it, which caused you to get rejected. You also lacked in self confidence which is vital in such situations. Building presentation skills is vital in today's world. You have to get your point across to others in a calm and confident manner. Some people are born lucky with such skills, but the majority does not.
It is not that you or for that matter anyone else does not have in them what is requires to communicate. All of us are born with these skills. We need to hone them for it to be effective. There are a number of books on this subject which you can read and follow the guideline provided in them to enhance your presentation skills. However, you also need to talk with others while communicating with them and this skill can never be gained by reading books.
The printed manuals will surely help to put you on the right track by guiding you how to approach a person and how to change tracks depending on their mood. For building up on your oratory skills, you can try purchasing some videos that will guide you step by step on how to use speech effectively while talking with a client. However, if you want to gain the ultimate in effective presentation skills, then it is recommended that you opt in for a course with any online institutions that impart training.
These institutions have various types of presentation skills training courses that are tailor made for people like you. These courses will help you to regain back your confidence and brush up your oratory skills. When you complete these courses you'll find the true benefits of effective presentation skills.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3794826
The product was not at fault. It was your skills or rather, the lack of it, which caused you to get rejected. You also lacked in self confidence which is vital in such situations. Building presentation skills is vital in today's world. You have to get your point across to others in a calm and confident manner. Some people are born lucky with such skills, but the majority does not.
It is not that you or for that matter anyone else does not have in them what is requires to communicate. All of us are born with these skills. We need to hone them for it to be effective. There are a number of books on this subject which you can read and follow the guideline provided in them to enhance your presentation skills. However, you also need to talk with others while communicating with them and this skill can never be gained by reading books.
The printed manuals will surely help to put you on the right track by guiding you how to approach a person and how to change tracks depending on their mood. For building up on your oratory skills, you can try purchasing some videos that will guide you step by step on how to use speech effectively while talking with a client. However, if you want to gain the ultimate in effective presentation skills, then it is recommended that you opt in for a course with any online institutions that impart training.
These institutions have various types of presentation skills training courses that are tailor made for people like you. These courses will help you to regain back your confidence and brush up your oratory skills. When you complete these courses you'll find the true benefits of effective presentation skills.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3794826
8 Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills
8 Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills
1. Join Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a organization where you will get a chance to work on your impromptu speaking skills, leadership skills, evaluation skills as well as opportunities to practice specific skills in prepare presentations (at your own pace). Clubs typically meet weekly and you can find clubs that meet in the morning, evening, lunchtime to meet your schedule. I highly recommend this! Find a club and attend to learn much more.
2. Consider the Dale Carnegie Course. The Dale Carnegie Course is about much more than speaking, but you will speak in each of the 14 weekly sessions. This workshop is more expensive than Toastmasters but is an excellent program to help with presentation skills, confidence and more.
3. Find opportunities at work. You might have limited opportunities to speak at work, due to the nature of your job, but that doesn't need to keep you from letting people know you desire that chance. Take even opportunities to talk in small meetings as a chance to practice the skills we learned together too!
4. Find opportunities outside of work. Step up in your church or civic group to present some information or be involved in committees or teams that might provide you a chance to hone your skills.
5. Get feedback. Every time you speak ask someone to give you feedback. Ask a trusted friend or colleague to tell you what they saw, heard and observed. Ask one of them to provide you feedback after they are in your audience.
6. Video yourself. You saw the value and power of seeing yourself on tape. Use this tool yourself. Practice a presentation at home and let the camera run - then, watch it and think about what you might do differently to make your message even more powerful.
7. One thing at a time. Choose to work on just one thing at a time. For example, if you want to work on having a stronger WIIFM, make that your major goal for the talk. Pick one thing to especially, consciously work on each time you present. Doing this will help you improve quickly and consciously. Be sure to tell those you are asking for feedback from to look for these key focus areas too!
8. Go Karaoke! A colleague of mine, Jeffrey Gitomer suggests this as a great way to work on your presentation skills. He says that if you can use your skills to get a bunch of uninterested, rowdy (drunk!) people to pay attention to you, you have learned valuable skills that translate to presenting "non-singing" material. I think he is right.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2323
1. Join Toastmasters. Toastmasters is a organization where you will get a chance to work on your impromptu speaking skills, leadership skills, evaluation skills as well as opportunities to practice specific skills in prepare presentations (at your own pace). Clubs typically meet weekly and you can find clubs that meet in the morning, evening, lunchtime to meet your schedule. I highly recommend this! Find a club and attend to learn much more.
2. Consider the Dale Carnegie Course. The Dale Carnegie Course is about much more than speaking, but you will speak in each of the 14 weekly sessions. This workshop is more expensive than Toastmasters but is an excellent program to help with presentation skills, confidence and more.
3. Find opportunities at work. You might have limited opportunities to speak at work, due to the nature of your job, but that doesn't need to keep you from letting people know you desire that chance. Take even opportunities to talk in small meetings as a chance to practice the skills we learned together too!
4. Find opportunities outside of work. Step up in your church or civic group to present some information or be involved in committees or teams that might provide you a chance to hone your skills.
5. Get feedback. Every time you speak ask someone to give you feedback. Ask a trusted friend or colleague to tell you what they saw, heard and observed. Ask one of them to provide you feedback after they are in your audience.
6. Video yourself. You saw the value and power of seeing yourself on tape. Use this tool yourself. Practice a presentation at home and let the camera run - then, watch it and think about what you might do differently to make your message even more powerful.
7. One thing at a time. Choose to work on just one thing at a time. For example, if you want to work on having a stronger WIIFM, make that your major goal for the talk. Pick one thing to especially, consciously work on each time you present. Doing this will help you improve quickly and consciously. Be sure to tell those you are asking for feedback from to look for these key focus areas too!
8. Go Karaoke! A colleague of mine, Jeffrey Gitomer suggests this as a great way to work on your presentation skills. He says that if you can use your skills to get a bunch of uninterested, rowdy (drunk!) people to pay attention to you, you have learned valuable skills that translate to presenting "non-singing" material. I think he is right.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2323
Basic Presentation Skills
Presentation is a communication process of transmitting the message from the presenter to the audience. This message can vary in length and complexity. Different presentation aids can be used e.g. flip chart, PowerPoint presentation with the video beamer, whiteboard with erasable pens, laser pointers, etc. Presentation can be done in different circumstances in a more or less formal way.
In fact, everybody is in the position to be a presenter at some point. At school, at the university, during the business presentation or even you can be a professional presenter. Now we come to common problem for most of the people. This problem is "Stage Fright" combined with lack of technical skills of presenting.
Stage fright can be really terrifying to some people. Many people have the fear of the audience, lights of the stage, they are afraid what will be if someone ask them difficult question. This is causing nervousness, sweating, accelerated heartbeat, dizziness or even panic attacks.
On the other hand, presenting skills are technical aspect. Presentation skills are a broad area. It takes some time to develop this skill, for some people more, for the other less time, depends of a talent. Since all of us can be in situation to be presenters, to be in the center of the audience, it is useful to learn basic skills of presenting.
Anybody can prepare at least a decent presentation. Presentation takes some time and effort for preparation. During preparation try to follow basic rules:
· You need to have a minimum of expertise in the area of presentation. This means that you cannot just learn your lines that you will say during the every slide, but you also need to be prepared to answer to potential questions from the audience. Simply, you need to have at least the basic knowledge on the subject presented.
· Make concept for your presentation ( intro, main part, conclusion ). Your presentation needs to have meaningful flow. It should have a theme, the message and learning for your audience. Set up learning goals for your audience and check the results at the end. Longer presentation should have detailed agenda developed.
· Use aids ( power point or flip chart ), but remember that you are still one who is presenting, not the slides. Do not exaggerate with the presentation aids. They should assist you, instead you assist to them.
· Use not more 3-4 lines of text on presentation slides, with maybe 1 photo. If you put too many details, nobody will read it. Average audience is not reading the content of the slide, in case that there are too many details on it. Slides should be clear in content, visible for everybody in your audience, with graphic and color that will not distract audience, or make them difficult to read. If you are not skillful with graphic and colors, use predefined templates.
· Exercise your presentation, so that you get a feeling about it. Check all slides before presentation. Check the video beamer, cables, remote control, room lights and other technicalities before beginning of presentation. Check the colors and readability, since video beamer can present colors in different way than your computer screen. Distorted colors can make reading difficult or impossible.
· Assess the time needed for you presentation and check the timing during your rehearsals. If your presentation is longer, divide it in sections ( e.g. 45 min ) with breaks ( e.g. 10 min ). Time management is critical during the presentation, since audience might start to feel bored if presentation is too long. You can even not finish your presentation, if it takes too long time.
· Try to move around during your presentation. Use your body language. If you just stand still in one place, you will become invisible soon to you audience and their eyes and mind might start to wander around. By moving your self and using your body language, in accordance the dynamic of the subject presented, you are keeping the audience alerted.
· Use examples for your statements. That can be your experience or something you read. If you are using somebody's examples, quote source of information. You can even say a short story or saying, if you find it suitable for supporting your presentation.
· Use humor in your presentation. This can be planned or spontaneous, but within limits that will not change normal flow of presentation.
· Ask questions to the audience. Ask for volunteers, or pick someone to answer. This will help you to keep the audience alert. They will pay more attention to your presentation, since they know that you might ask them later on. Asking questions will make your presentation more interactive, more interesting to the audience and easier for you, since you will animate people to participate.
· Do not say something like "Sorry about my presentation" or "I am nervous". I remember some of my friends that used to say something like that during the presentation. I found that to be wrong, since their presentations were actually good and I wouldn't ever guess that they are nervous or unprepared, if they didn't say something like that. If you state that you apologize because you are not a good presenter, you are ruining your credibility before you even started. Even if you are a bit nervous there is no reason to say that.
Actually, everybody, even the most experienced presenters, have some "stage fright". It is normal. But as soon as the presentation starts, you will be released, since you will involve your energy into the presentation.
http://business-square.com/courses/becoming-a-sales-superstar/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1475310
In fact, everybody is in the position to be a presenter at some point. At school, at the university, during the business presentation or even you can be a professional presenter. Now we come to common problem for most of the people. This problem is "Stage Fright" combined with lack of technical skills of presenting.
Stage fright can be really terrifying to some people. Many people have the fear of the audience, lights of the stage, they are afraid what will be if someone ask them difficult question. This is causing nervousness, sweating, accelerated heartbeat, dizziness or even panic attacks.
On the other hand, presenting skills are technical aspect. Presentation skills are a broad area. It takes some time to develop this skill, for some people more, for the other less time, depends of a talent. Since all of us can be in situation to be presenters, to be in the center of the audience, it is useful to learn basic skills of presenting.
Anybody can prepare at least a decent presentation. Presentation takes some time and effort for preparation. During preparation try to follow basic rules:
· You need to have a minimum of expertise in the area of presentation. This means that you cannot just learn your lines that you will say during the every slide, but you also need to be prepared to answer to potential questions from the audience. Simply, you need to have at least the basic knowledge on the subject presented.
· Make concept for your presentation ( intro, main part, conclusion ). Your presentation needs to have meaningful flow. It should have a theme, the message and learning for your audience. Set up learning goals for your audience and check the results at the end. Longer presentation should have detailed agenda developed.
· Use aids ( power point or flip chart ), but remember that you are still one who is presenting, not the slides. Do not exaggerate with the presentation aids. They should assist you, instead you assist to them.
· Use not more 3-4 lines of text on presentation slides, with maybe 1 photo. If you put too many details, nobody will read it. Average audience is not reading the content of the slide, in case that there are too many details on it. Slides should be clear in content, visible for everybody in your audience, with graphic and color that will not distract audience, or make them difficult to read. If you are not skillful with graphic and colors, use predefined templates.
· Exercise your presentation, so that you get a feeling about it. Check all slides before presentation. Check the video beamer, cables, remote control, room lights and other technicalities before beginning of presentation. Check the colors and readability, since video beamer can present colors in different way than your computer screen. Distorted colors can make reading difficult or impossible.
· Assess the time needed for you presentation and check the timing during your rehearsals. If your presentation is longer, divide it in sections ( e.g. 45 min ) with breaks ( e.g. 10 min ). Time management is critical during the presentation, since audience might start to feel bored if presentation is too long. You can even not finish your presentation, if it takes too long time.
· Try to move around during your presentation. Use your body language. If you just stand still in one place, you will become invisible soon to you audience and their eyes and mind might start to wander around. By moving your self and using your body language, in accordance the dynamic of the subject presented, you are keeping the audience alerted.
· Use examples for your statements. That can be your experience or something you read. If you are using somebody's examples, quote source of information. You can even say a short story or saying, if you find it suitable for supporting your presentation.
· Use humor in your presentation. This can be planned or spontaneous, but within limits that will not change normal flow of presentation.
· Ask questions to the audience. Ask for volunteers, or pick someone to answer. This will help you to keep the audience alert. They will pay more attention to your presentation, since they know that you might ask them later on. Asking questions will make your presentation more interactive, more interesting to the audience and easier for you, since you will animate people to participate.
· Do not say something like "Sorry about my presentation" or "I am nervous". I remember some of my friends that used to say something like that during the presentation. I found that to be wrong, since their presentations were actually good and I wouldn't ever guess that they are nervous or unprepared, if they didn't say something like that. If you state that you apologize because you are not a good presenter, you are ruining your credibility before you even started. Even if you are a bit nervous there is no reason to say that.
Actually, everybody, even the most experienced presenters, have some "stage fright". It is normal. But as soon as the presentation starts, you will be released, since you will involve your energy into the presentation.
http://business-square.com/courses/becoming-a-sales-superstar/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1475310
How To Evaluate A Presentation Skills Training Program
As a presenter, seniors evaluate your ability to think and communicate effectively from the quality of your presentation. Customers equate the quality of the product or service to the quality of your sales presentation. Your team will evaluate your ability to lead from your presentation skills.
Presentation Skills are critical...
As you can see, excellent presentation skills are absolutely essential for career and business. If you are looking at honing your presentation skills, there are a number of trainers, books and training videos out there. How do you evaluate the one that is best for you?
Here are 5 parameters you should use to evaluate a Presentation Skills Training Program:
1. Does it have a structured approach?
Most presenters learn from experience in college and at their workplace. They modify their presentation skills based on self-evaluation and feedback from friends or seniors. If you are one such presenter, there could be gaps in skills that you are not aware of.
Learning a structured approach ensures that you get consistent results time after time.
What to check for:
Does the workshop you are evaluating teach a structured approach to presenting? Check if they have a trademark process (e.g. Minimal Process for presentations) or format (e.g. a storytelling format) that shows they teach a clear process.
2. Is it a comprehensive program?
A good presentation is a combination of thinking skills, design skills and speaking skills. Thinking skills help you put together your thoughts and create a strong story before getting into slides.
PowerPoint or Slide Design skills help you create engaging visual content using diagrams, images and a good layout.
Speaking skills help you open strongly, deal with questions, judge audience reaction and understand your own style of presenting. All 3 parts need to be equally addressed for your skills to be honed.
What to check for:
Most training programs focus on the only a part of these skills. From the training schedule, check the amount of time allocated for each of these components. A good program allocates roughly equal time to all 3 components.
3. Does it go beyond tips and hints?
The problem with many training programs I have seen is that they teach tips and tricks. Tips include advice like, "You should appear confident on stage. Stand straight and look at your audience in the eye to appear confident."
While you may enjoy the program, you will remember nothing of the tricks a week after the training. There is no need to attend a program when you can pick up such tips even with reading free articles.
What to check for:
Watch out for programs schedules that talk about speaking tips, presentation hints, tricks to appear confident and so on. These programs are not intense enough to hone your skills.
4. Does it teach you anything creative?
To be interesting, every presentation needs to have a creative component. This could be in using an opening that grabs audience attention, using diagrams to represent ideas, using images in an unusual way.
What to check for:
No matter what it is, does the training program offer to teach you something unique and creative?
This also shows that the program will be teaching you something beyond the usual. Such creative aspects ensure that you can really sharpen your skills in the program, even if you are an experienced presenter.
5. Is the workshop practical?
This is the most important aspect that is applicable for any training program. If the program is not practical then it is a waste of time. A skill can only be learnt if it is practiced in a safe environment (not in front of the customer).
What to check for:
Check the trainer profile: Is the program being run by an experienced presenter who has experience in presenting as a manager or businessperson? If they have just been a trainer for a short while, it is possible that they do not understand the issues you face.
Check time allocated for practice in the program schedule: Does it provide ample time for practice during the course of the training? This indicates that everything that is being taught is being practiced step-by-step. If the workshop reserves a block of time at the end alone, then you can be sure that the program will not provide you enough practice.
Are there enough practice exercises and will they show you good and bad examples? All these indicate that the training will be far more effective than the run-of-the-mill training.
Once you find a program that matches these five criteria, you can be sure that it will help you hone your presentation skills.
http://business-square.com/courses/becoming-a-sales-superstar/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6298461
Presentation Skills are critical...
As you can see, excellent presentation skills are absolutely essential for career and business. If you are looking at honing your presentation skills, there are a number of trainers, books and training videos out there. How do you evaluate the one that is best for you?
Here are 5 parameters you should use to evaluate a Presentation Skills Training Program:
1. Does it have a structured approach?
Most presenters learn from experience in college and at their workplace. They modify their presentation skills based on self-evaluation and feedback from friends or seniors. If you are one such presenter, there could be gaps in skills that you are not aware of.
Learning a structured approach ensures that you get consistent results time after time.
What to check for:
Does the workshop you are evaluating teach a structured approach to presenting? Check if they have a trademark process (e.g. Minimal Process for presentations) or format (e.g. a storytelling format) that shows they teach a clear process.
2. Is it a comprehensive program?
A good presentation is a combination of thinking skills, design skills and speaking skills. Thinking skills help you put together your thoughts and create a strong story before getting into slides.
PowerPoint or Slide Design skills help you create engaging visual content using diagrams, images and a good layout.
Speaking skills help you open strongly, deal with questions, judge audience reaction and understand your own style of presenting. All 3 parts need to be equally addressed for your skills to be honed.
What to check for:
Most training programs focus on the only a part of these skills. From the training schedule, check the amount of time allocated for each of these components. A good program allocates roughly equal time to all 3 components.
3. Does it go beyond tips and hints?
The problem with many training programs I have seen is that they teach tips and tricks. Tips include advice like, "You should appear confident on stage. Stand straight and look at your audience in the eye to appear confident."
While you may enjoy the program, you will remember nothing of the tricks a week after the training. There is no need to attend a program when you can pick up such tips even with reading free articles.
What to check for:
Watch out for programs schedules that talk about speaking tips, presentation hints, tricks to appear confident and so on. These programs are not intense enough to hone your skills.
4. Does it teach you anything creative?
To be interesting, every presentation needs to have a creative component. This could be in using an opening that grabs audience attention, using diagrams to represent ideas, using images in an unusual way.
What to check for:
No matter what it is, does the training program offer to teach you something unique and creative?
This also shows that the program will be teaching you something beyond the usual. Such creative aspects ensure that you can really sharpen your skills in the program, even if you are an experienced presenter.
5. Is the workshop practical?
This is the most important aspect that is applicable for any training program. If the program is not practical then it is a waste of time. A skill can only be learnt if it is practiced in a safe environment (not in front of the customer).
What to check for:
Check the trainer profile: Is the program being run by an experienced presenter who has experience in presenting as a manager or businessperson? If they have just been a trainer for a short while, it is possible that they do not understand the issues you face.
Check time allocated for practice in the program schedule: Does it provide ample time for practice during the course of the training? This indicates that everything that is being taught is being practiced step-by-step. If the workshop reserves a block of time at the end alone, then you can be sure that the program will not provide you enough practice.
Are there enough practice exercises and will they show you good and bad examples? All these indicate that the training will be far more effective than the run-of-the-mill training.
Once you find a program that matches these five criteria, you can be sure that it will help you hone your presentation skills.
http://business-square.com/courses/becoming-a-sales-superstar/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6298461
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