We can talk about presentation in two ways:
1. The way we present ourselves and our work, how this comes across and is perceived
2. Presenting to an audience.
This piece will explore your presentation skills when presenting to an audience but it is worth very quickly picking up on how we present ourselves (number 1). How you present yourself isn’t about making sure you look good and have your best outfit on, it is about making sure you are presenting yourself and your work in the most suitable and professional way.
When you hand in a piece of work that appears rushed to your teacher or your boss think about how it looks and what it says to them about you. Whilst that history essay or spreadsheet might not be your favourite thing to do it has been set for a reason and not doing your best doesn’t show respect or your best young professional skills!
Presenting to an audience:
We covered the basics of communication in the Young Professional test (if you have completed it yet, you should do so now) and you can visit our communication landing page for a quick recap.
Whether you are presenting to 1, 10, 100 or 1,000 people there are some things that can help you prepare and plan.
You’ll remember we talked about verbal, non-verbal and written communication in the Young Professional test, all of these are used in a presentation, you need to give time to all three!
You’ll be speaking to your audience (Verbal), you’ll be presenting (non-verbal) and you may also have slides, handouts or leaflets (Written). If you have spent hours on the wording of your slides but you spend 30 minutes looking at the floor, it doesn’t matter how funny you are,people will stop listening to you.
Confidence! Being prepared will help you with your confidence, a last minute rush to be on time will throw your confidence. You need to be ready for all eventualities. Practising will help you feel like an expert and it is important to remember that a smile can go a long way. Everybody gets nervous!
Planning your presentation:
- Show your passion: The best way to connect with your audience is to be enthusiastic and honest!
Show your passion and why the topic is important to you. Try not to let nerves get to you - Know the audience: Think about your audience, how old are they, how many people will be there, what do they want to know and what do you want to tell them? Have you pitched at the right level for them to be able to understand and act on what you say
- Don’t complicate it: Keep it simple! Putting lots of slides or lots saying more doesn’t make a good presentation. Most people can take in the first 15 minutes of what they learn. What is the one message you want your audience to remember when they leave? Make sure you are concise and keeping to the point in what you say, on your slides and on any handouts.
- Body language Think about what your body language is telling the audience, sometimes nerves mean we fidget, fold our arms or lean on things. Standing up straight and smiling can make you feel more confident and the audience feel more confident in you!
- It’s all in the intro: lights, camera, action!!!! Most people get really nervous as they are about to begin, really work on your introduction and know it inside out. If you have a really strong introduction it should give you the confidence to keep going and make a real success of the rest of the presentation. Your introduction should set the scene and let your audience what you are going to cover, who you are and how long you will take.
- The devil is in the detail: Think practically, how long have you got for your presentation? What if it had to be cut short?, is there any interaction needed? Have you got all you need to make the presentation a success?
- Story telling: Think of the story you are trying to tell, what is really interesting about it – where is the wow?
Use your experience to bring the story to life. Work on your story telling, your tone, your voice and your body language
The challenge:
We are mixing things up this week and taking the challenge off line, we are easing you in though and letting you choose the level of challenge you start with:
Level 1: Plan a presentation on a topic of your choice
Level 2: Do your presentation to your class or colleagues
Level 3: Ask for feedback and evaluate your presentation
