For some, there could be nothing worse. For others, it’s not such a big deal. Some people appear to have a natural talent for presentations. It’s as if they’ve stood up in front of people and talked confidently and in a relaxed, authoritative style all their lives. Yet, for others, the prospect of delivering a presentation comes with great anxiety. If you are about to do a presentation for a job and are working with a consultant, they should give you all the background information regarding your audience and what they will be looking for. Either way, this guide will help you along the way.
The purpose
There are usually three main purposes for presentations and it is important you understand which relates to yours.
- To sell: You may have been asked to sell yourself or sell a product of your potential employer.
- To tell: You may have been asked to inform your potential employer of a particular skill you have or experience you have had.
- To impel: You may have been asked to develop a positive attitude about something or generate enthusiasm about something.
To ensure your presentation is both informative and factual, you need to plan and prepare yourself well. This is key to your presentation being a success:
- Ensure you understand the topic you are to talk about and research it well so your information is factual.
- How many people will be in your audience and what position do they hold in the company? This will influence the way in which you present, i.e. from the screen of a laptop or a projector screen. It will also influence the content of your information - you don’t want to talk over anyone’s head or make it too simple that they lose interest.
- You will almost always be given a time limit so make sure you cover all the relevant points and leave out what is not important.
Start with an opening statement to really grab the audience. Something like “I’m going to tell you how I could generate £x million worth of sales for your business.” This will automatically get the attention of a potential employer for a sales role interview. If you don’t want to be interrupted, tell your audience to leave any questions till the end. If the aim of your presentation is to be more interactive, tell them you don’t mind them asking questions as you present.
Tell the audience what to expect. You need to walk them through the content of your presentation. Keep the main body of the presentation to the point and easy to understand and stick to your agenda. Don’t lose your audience.
Keep slides in point form and reveal them one-by-one so as to keep the audiences attention – talk around each point to elaborate. Something that always works well is to use company colours and logos on your slides – it shows you have taken time and care.
Conclusion
Always conclude your presentation. Go back to your agenda and re-cap on what you’ve been through in your presentation. Always make sure you go back to the title of your presentation and show how you have, in summary, covered the topic you set out to cover.
Body language
This is an integral part of a presentation:
- Eye contact is important so use a prompt card for notes rather than reading off a sheet of paper.
- Remain professional and confident – keep your head up high and project your voice.
- Move around your space so your audience doesn’t get bored looking at one area.
- Don’t stand with your hands in your pocket.
- Some people have a tendency to play with their hair or move their weight from one foot to the other. Distribute your weight evenly on both feet so you don’t slouch any one way.
Once you have completed your presentation, it’s always a good idea to rehearse in front of friends/family/colleagues to make sure your timing is right and also to get some honest feedback. Have someone read over your hand-outs to check for any mistakes in grammar/spelling that are not always obvious to the author.
Good luck.
Amita Patel is director of Enigma Resourcing Ltd
