The Art of Public Speakingand Persuasive Presentations

Presentation Skills

It is a myth that great presenters are “born not made”. You can become a competent presenter with no innate ability at all.

……But you cannot become a great presenter without hard work…. And practise

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Preparing Yourself

What type presenter are you?

• Avoider• Resister• Accepter• Seeker

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The four “P’s”

PlanPreparePractisePresent

and the fifth one......Perform

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The Art of Public Speaking

Bush

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Obama

Planning your presentation

Planning Your Presentation

The real key to a successful presentation lies in preparation• 10% I = Inspiration• 90% P = Preparation

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Planning Your Presentation

Informative Persuasive

The I-P Diagram

A purely informative presentation seeks mainly to increase the knowledge of the audience.As you approach the centre line you are implying that some actions should be taken.So is your know where you want to be on the I-P line

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Planning Your Presentation

• Objective• Subject/theme• Format• Key messages• Structure• Support material

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Planning Your Presentation

Stay Focused

Have one clear theme which is supported by your content

Support it with maximum 5 key points

3! IS BEST!

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Planning Your Presentation

Know your audience• Who? And what Values?• What do they want or need?• What is your role?

• Constraintso Political (P and p)o Financial o Knowledge

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A short play in 3 ActsTell you what I am going to tell youTell youTell you again Summary

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Visual Aids and Supporting Material

Visual Aids

It has been shown that people take in far more information though their eyes that their ears. Hence, we have the old Chinese adage that:

I hear I forgetI see I rememberI do I understand

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Visual Aids

Visual aids are needed to:• Focus the attention of your audience• Reinforce but not merely restate your verbal

message• Stimulate interest; or• Illustrate factors that are hard to visualise

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Planning Your Presentation

At all costs avoid the dreaded death by power point.

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Visual Aids

Tips for planning successful visual aids:• Keep information minimal• Make text, number, graphs and charts legible. At

least 18pt text• Never use tabular information. Replace it with

graphs, bar charts.• Keep your visual aids simple and attractive. Avoid

clutter17

Planning Your Presentation

Handouts are good if you wish to:• reinforce important information• summarise actions for audience follow-up• supply detailed information to support your

visual aids

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Planning Your Presentation

• In most cases they should be handed out after to great max impact

• Advise in advance that you are about to say will be distributed at the end of the presentation

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Practise

Practise

• Read and understand• Rehearse• Add notes• Learn ideas not words• Let your natural style shine• Tape, mirror, victim!

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Timing

• Fix and agree length• 10-20 minutes is best• Allow time for Qu• Rehearse and check timing• Stick to your agreed time• If you over run – be ready

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Dealing with nerves

Preparing Yourself

Fear and nerves can block your mind when:• Preparing• Waiting to start• Speaking

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Preparing Yourself

• Organise• Visualise• Practise

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Tips to reduce anxiety when preparing your presentations:

Preparing Yourself

• Breathe• Relax• Release

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Tips to reduce anxiety when preparing your presentations:

Preparing Yourself

• Move• Eye contact

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Tips to reduce anxiety when preparing your presentations:

Planning Your Presentation

• Planning• Preparing• Practise• Timing

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The Presentation

Speaking to an Audience

When you stand up to speak to an audience you have a massive pool of goodwill in front of you.

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First Impressions Count

You never get a second chance to make a first impression

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Good First Touch

• Prepared• Trained• Confident• Energy channeled• Great first touch

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Speaking to an Audience

The presentation tips fall into five categories:• Body• Eye Contact• Voice• Language• Questions

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. Body

For great presentations combine verbal and non verbal communications:• Comfortable stance• Stand tall• Use your hands • Lean forward to emphasise• Smile..... In the right places!

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.Eye Contact

Remember that you also gesture with your eyes. We get uncomfortable in the company of someone who doesn’t make eye contact with us for at least 60% of the time. We call them “shifty”.• Focus on one person for about 1-3 seconds, then move on.• People sitting near the person you select will also feel that

you are looking at them.• Beware of “blind spots”. It is easy to drop into the habit of

cutting out one section of the audience. This will not help your presentation.

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.Voice

The are three main problems with voice:• Volume• Tone• Pitch• Speed• Breathe.....

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Pause StressPace

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. Language

• Use short sentences. Use short words. Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. It can reinforce your message (remember Martin Luther King’s speech “I have a dream”)

• Politicians repeat• Rule of three• Otherwise, use “signpost” words or sentences like:

“So, we have said...”“Next, we shall...”“Finally, ...”

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Questions

• A presentation is a dialogue. The dialogue is more effective if the audience can talk. You need to welcome questions.

• If you ask for questions, look like you mean it. Step towards the audience. Raise our hand and show your palm.

• Listen to the question. Don’t assume that you know what is being asked until the questioner has finished.

• Before you answer the question, repeat it. In a large room it is often hard for the rest of the audience to hear it.

• Anticipate questions and practise your answers. If you are asked something you don’t know, admit it. Try and add “But what I do know is..”

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The four “P’s”

PlanPreparePracticePresent

and the fifth one......Perform

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Obama

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Conclusion

“Fortune favours the brave”

Do not take fear into your heart, but take confidence into your presentation. Trust in your preparation, talents and personality and deliver a winning performance….

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