Intro today’s workplace calls for mastery of the basic elements of public speaking
 Help you identify the best strategy and structure for your presentation.
 Give you specific techniques for presentation style and delivery.
 Provide a detailed checklist for using visual aids.
 Introduce you to a powerful technique for calming presentation nerves.
5Ss of Effective Presentation:
1. Strategy – understanding your audience and its needs.
2. Structure – preparing your content.
3. Support – making sure you have sufficient evidence.
4. Style – delivering the material confidently and appropriately.
5. Supplement – calming the nerves by being well prepared for key questions and arguments.
Formulate Your Strategy common purposes include:
 To motivate.
 To inform.
 To persuade.
 To demonstrate.
 To teach.
Action: Think about a situation where you have in the past (or might in the future) needed to present to people, persuading them to take a specific action. Fill in the Presentation Strategy Triangle on the next page. answer these questions:
What is the subject of the presentation? Write the subject in one sentence or less.
What is the general purpose of the presentation? Is it to persuade, inform, teach, motivate?
What is your specific purpose? Use the following questions to guide you:
 What do you want the audience to learn?
 What behaviors or attitudes do you want the audience to adopt?
 How do you want the audience to feel afterwards?
 What are the next steps once the presentation is finished?

Also, when you answer these questions, think about your audience:
 Who are they?
 What are their skills, and how do you think they’d want information presented to them?
 Are they likely to like or dislike statistics, formulae, pictures, quotes, processes, diagrams, cartoons…?
 What do they passionately care about, and how can you engage with this?
 What’s likely to repel or disengage them?

As you work through the rest of your presentation, keep all of this in mind.

Develop Your Structure
1. Start from your audience’s point of understanding. You don’t want to bore them with information they already know, nor do you want to confuse them by not providing enough background details.
2. Use three to five main points. The principle of chunking tells us that people’s short-term memory can handle about seven items. Using no more than five main points increases the retention factor greatly.
Action: Take the example you used before, and create a sandwich structure for your presentation.

Introduction
 Catching their interest and setting the tone.
 Providing a reason to listen.
 Giving them a road map of the presentation.

 Asking a rhetorical question.
 Making a very strong, startling or unexpected statement.
 Using a quote.
 Telling a funny story.
 Using an example or illustration.
 Issuing a challenge or appeal.
 Requesting a specific action.
 Referring to a recent incident.
 Using suspense.
 Appealing to the audience’s self-interest.
Conclusions
the methods for creating a strong introduction can also be used to make a strong conclusion.
Action: Using the ideas above, write an Introduction and Conclusion to the example presentation that you’ve been working with in the worksheet on the next page. You can write a full paragraph or use bullet points to shape your message.

Support Your Points
Visual Aids Checklist
 Can the audience see the aid without straining?
 Is the aid colorful and engaging?
 Are the aids simple and easy to understand?
 Have I used special effects sparingly and only to make a point?
 Does the aid add to my presentation? (It’s not meant to be your presentation!)
 Can I avoid distracting the audience by blocking out or otherwise taking away the image when it is not needed?
 Am I using a variety of aids to make the presentation interesting?
 Do I understand the aids well enough to explain the data behind them or speak to their source?
 Are the aids neat, attractive and accurate?
 Do I have a contingency plan in case the aids do not work or perform as expected?
 Have I practiced using the aids so I am comfortable using them?
 If using handouts, can I minimize the distraction or distribution and reading while I am talking?
 Are the aids likely to appeal to the way that people in your audience like to learn?
Delivery Style prepare your speaking notes. Here are some pointers:
 Start by writing your key points in an outline format following the organizational pattern you chose.
 Copy some key words onto note cards to stimulate your memory. You don’t want to read your presentation, though. This almost always looks and sounds awkward because we speak so differently to how we write. You want to be flexible with your words and sound natural.
 Write out things like direct quotes, statistics, or anything else that requires exact wording.
 Highlight places where you will pause for a visual aid or other external cue.
 Make note of your transitions. How and when will you move smoothly from one point to another?
 Note places where you intend to pause for effect or for questions.
When you are practicing what you need to say, you also need to be mindful of how you say and present it. Here is a list of things to keep in mind as you practice your delivery:
 Use eye contact as this increases your trustworthiness and believability. Look at one audience member at a time using a random pattern.
 Watch your posture and expressions to make sure you convey the right attitude.
 Speech should be animated and conversational. (Unless it is a highly formal setting, where a written speech may be appropriate.)
 Use your physical space and move around.
 Position yourself or your podium in the middle of the room to start.
 Eliminate distracting materials from the audience’s view.
 Vary your tone and inflection to signal an emphasis or a change in topic.
 Use spontaneous gestures that are relaxed and fluid.
 If you are using a podium, don’t stand directly behind it, as you want the audience to see your gestures.
 Eliminate distracting behaviors like jiggling change or adjusting your glasses.

Supplement Your Presentation Preparation
Here are some tips for anticipating your audiences’ questions:
 Read background information broadly.
 Read what the opposition says as well as the material you will use as evidence.
 Ask yourself, “What is the flip side to this statement or argument?”
 Ask colleagues to critique your material.
 Practice your responses to each piece of counter evidence.
 Try to identify the questioner who has a personal agenda and prepare for it.
Action: Using the same example as earlier, identify three to five counter arguments or comments you should be prepared for. Then address each one with a supporting piece of information or argument.

When an audience member challenges you, here are some tips to help you respond:
 Restate the objection or question. This gives you time to think and makes sure everyone had a chance to hear what was said.
 State your position. Be direct and concise and state what you believe clearly and decisively.
 Offer support for your position. Provide evidence that your position is the “right” one. Go on to restate the reasons why the audience should agree with you.
 Balance the needs and interests of the audience with the demands of specific individuals.
 Handle hostile questioners honestly and directly.
 Keep exchanges objective and factual; don’t personalize the question or comment or your response.