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Presentation Skills
Upping Your Game
Susan H. WasserottNCSL Financial Analyst Seminar
Portland, Maine October 16, 2015
Your Job
Take COMPLEX financial data
and translate it into easily
understandable information
to allow legislators to make
informed decisions.
WHY PRESENTATION SKILLS?
Developing the confidence and
capability to give good presentations,
and to stand up in front of an audience
and speak well, are useful
competencies for work, self-
development AND social situations.
OUR GOALS
Assess the presentation skills you
currently possess
Identify weaknesses/barriers to effective
presentations
Discuss tips to push past those barriers
Build presentation skills
Practice presenting a complex concept
Quick Skills Assessment
Barriers to Effective Presentations
Nervousness
Poor structure
Lack of preparation
Presentation is too long
Monotonous delivery
Over-detailed visuals
Reliance on PowerPoint
Obvious reading
Odd gestures or behaviors
Repetitive verbal 'tics' or patterns
Poor question and answer session
Exercise
Write down your biggest
hangup(s) to delivering effective
presentations.
PUSHING PAST THE
BARRIERS
Nervousness
How BIG is the group?
WHO is in the group?
What is the SIGNIFICANCE?
Who ELSE may be listening?
Managing Nervousness
–Unknown
"There is nothing wrong
with stomach butterflies!
You just have to get them to
fly in formation!"
Nervousness Goal
Harness the energy … make
dynamic, lively, outstanding and
effective presentations.
Channel the energy … turn
humdrum presentations into ones
that keep people listening.
Tips to Overcome Nervousness
Get focus off of yourself. Focus on
your audience!
Engage your audience.
Mistakes happen. Believe it is OK.
Use Humor — Tell stories.
Break up the content.
Tips to Overcome Nervousness, 2
Understand your audience.
Prepare and rehearse.
Gain Experience outside of work.
Over-reliance on PowerPoint.
Obvious reading.
Physical behaviors.
TIP 1
Get focus off of
yourself. Focus on
your audience!
TIP 2
Engage your audience!
Ask rhetorical questions
Maintain eye contact
Be challenging
Change pace of delivery
Change volume of voice
TIP 3
Mistakes happen.
Believe that this is OK.
TIPS 4 and 4a
Use Humor … but use it
appropriately!
Tell stories.
Tip 5
Break up the content.
–Abraham Maslow
“If the only tool in your
toolbox is a hammer you'll
treat everything as a nail.”
TIP 6
Understand your audience.
Know their expectations.
~Eleanor Roosevelt
“No one can intimidate me
without my permission.”
TIP 7
Prepare and rehearse.
Tip 8
Gain Experience outside
of work.
TIP 9
Reliance on PowerPoint
and visual aids.
TIP 10
Obvious reading.
TIP 11
Behaviors
Identify physical or verbal quirks
Videotape yourself
Comforting Thoughts
You are not alone.
The audience is (usually) on
your side.
You know what you intended
- your audience does not.
Build Presentation Skills
Who is my audience?
What information am I trying to convey to my
audience?
What communication method(s) provide the BEST
way to convey this information?
How can I put the information in context, so that
my audience will understand the information?
WHO is my Audience?
What is their background?
What is their depth of
knowledge of the topic?
What do they need to know?
Information My Audience Needs
What information do they
need?
How much information do
they need?
What is their attention span?
–SHW
“What does my audience NEED
to know to make an informed
decision?”
Your Job
Take COMPLEX financial data
and translate it into easily
understandable information
to allow legislators to make
informed decisions.
Communication Methods
PowerPoint
Flipcharts and Graphs
Handouts
Joint presentation with colleagues
Executive Summary vs. Full
Report
Information in Context
Context helps us understand
Context helps us remember
Avoid Assumptions
Metaphor
The Popover
Practice
Break down a complex topic into
a presentation, and then explain it
to an audience that might have
difficulty understanding that
topic.
Practice Topics
How to make a cheese cake … to a
group of 10-year old boys
How to change a flat tire … to a group
of elderly high-society ladies
How to update apps on a smartphone
… to a group of coal miners in 1920
How to calculate and pay income tax
… to a group of 4-year old children
OUR GOALS
Assess the presentation skills you
currently possess
Identify weaknesses/barriers to
effective presentations
Learn tips to push past those barriers
Build presentation skills
Practice presenting a complex concept
TAKE AWAY
Identify the tips that YOU will
incorporate into your next
presentation!
Reference Information
Susan H. Wasserott
www.businessballs.com/presentation.htm#public-speaking-
fear
