Presentation Skills: Making Successful Pitches Carolyn McNicholas

Presentation Skills: Making Successful Pitches

Carolyn McNicholas

Fear of Public Speaking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R6IVLwCCls

Great Presenters

This Lecture Covers

• Pre-preparation planning

• Presentation structure

• Visual aids• Presentation

effectiveness• Overcoming fear

Pre-Preparation Planning

1. What are you presenting?2. What are your objectives? How do you

achieve them?3. Any constraints?4. Who are our audience? What are their

expectations?

Is Your Goal• To familiarise/inform the audience?• Explain a concept?• Present results, facts, figures?• Convince the audience?

– Accept our conclusions– Agree on recommendations– Contribute funds– Buy– Invest / Lend– Job offer

Pass an Assessment !

Wow! Fantastic !!

Assessed on

• Communication and impact• Originality of presentation• Structure of argument• Value proposition clear• General impression

• European dimension – where launch• Cultural understanding

5 mins

Cultural Understanding?

• Need to explain the concept• May need to familiarise/inform the

audience• Reflect on cultural and commercial

implications

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfGeacdMe70

Start to Visualise the Presentation

Constraints

• Location• Time allotment• Time slot• Team skills / credentials• Equipment needs / availability• Audience

Know Your Audience

• Number• Professional status / education /

gender / ethnicity• Reasons for attending /

expectations• Anticipate likes / dislikes

Audiences want ....

To feel you know your subjectTo see you look the part and have

preparedTo be informed

Audiences do not want ....

To be confusedTo be bored To be blinded by new words, by jargon

Low hanging fruit, Let’s shoot the puppy Could we park that one Think outside the box

Too much detailTo be talked down toTo waste their time

Read your audience!

INVITE THE RIGHT AUDIENCE !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggMFwdQkK2k

Presentation Structure

• Brainstorming • Visualise the content• Be selective

– Must Have– Should Have– Nice to Have

• Sort into categories• Beginning / middle / end

Structure

Then, tell them

The Main BodyTell them what you are going to tell them

Opener

Then, tell them what you have told them

Closer

Openers

‘You never get a second chance to make a first impression’

AttentionBenefitsCredentialsDirection

Attention Grabbers

• News item• Question• Quotation• Ice Breaker• Fact• Joke• Drama• Story or anecdote

Closers

•Recap main points•Repeat benefits•Call to action•Lasting Impression

Sequence of Main Points

• Chronological• Problem to Solution• Project Progress• Causes to Effect• Escalating (Smallest to

Largest)• Must sell the benefits• KISS

Information can be Expressed

• Visually• With words• With numbers• With graphs• With artwork• With photographs or sound

clips

Visual Aids

Why use presentational aids?

1. To display your technological proficiency

2. To show that you speak the language3. To facilitate communication of your

message

Audience Retention

After 3 hrs After 3 days

Tell Only 70% 10%

Show Only 72% 20%

Show and Tell 85% 65%

Text Visuals

• Six by six rule for text• Use one idea per visual• Don’t have too many slides• Use CAPITALSCAPITALS and small

letters• Minimum font size 26• Check spelling, grammar,

numbers, consistency

Green

Red

Blue

Yellow

White

Orange

Innocence

Danger

Peaceful

Severity

Enthusiasm

Energy

Growth

Black

Use Colour for Contrast / Persuasion

Colour and Perception

Beware Power Point

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvgfmEU2Ck

Presentational Aids are Addictive

• Do not hide behind technology• Technology can fail• Bring back-up copies

– On different storage media – Remember handouts and takeaways

• The most important presentational aid is YOU!

Presentation Effectiveness

•What we say 7%•How we say it 38%•Body Language 55%

Vocal Image

• Pitch• Pace• Volume• Pauses

Visual Image

•Posture•Gestures•Dress•Eye Contact

–Never look at the screen

–Cue cards vs script

Overcoming Fear

‘mangling the language, destroying its meaning by avoiding the use of verbs, twisting nouns into verbs and endlesslyrepeating phrases until they become zombified’

‘misunderestimate’

Causes of Fear

• Forgetting what to say

• Not being perfect or knowledgeable

• People will judge us• Negative reaction

from audience• Losing the audience• Equipment failure

Never

• Say you are nervous• Say you are unprepared• Admit you have forgotten anything• Tell negative stories• Rush to finish• Apologise

Summary

• Plan– Pre preparation, know constraints

• Practice– Rehearse (again and again) and refine– Bring backup copies

• Present– With confidence– Have fun – visualise success

• Post mortem– Get feedback– Follow up

Good ideas can be rejected!Bessemer Venture Partners rejected FedEx (7

times), PayPal, Cisco Systems AND ....

“outrageously expensive”

“Stamps? Coins? Comic books? You've GOT to be kidding...No-brainer pass.“

Students? A new search engine? No

Source : http://www.bvp.com/port/anti.asp

Any questions?