Presentation Techniques

... Everything depends on this!

 

We got the job to prepare the launch of the new product three months ago.

"I’m interested in everything - consumer habits, competition, our own production capacity... Your work will determine whether we can keep our market position. Do your best!" – said the managing director. Since then I’ve been working day and night with my colleagues. And then the moment came for me to present the results to the management.

I look at their faces. Everyone is there. The financial manager is deep in his thoughts. The sales colleagues are loud again - they are just analyzing the successful actions of the competition. Their gestures are vital as usual, but you can see the tension in them.

I have spent all my time with the data over the last three months. I know everything. I could talk for hours, but I only have 30 minutes. During this time, I have to convince them of the strategy to follow, and get them to acknowledge the huge amount of work that we have done.

My stomach is shrinking and I can feel that my palms are wet. I quickly try to remember the set up rules:

Get to the point. No one is interested in background information! Be convincing! Make eye contact with the participants and watch for their reactions! Each individual should feel like you are talking to them personally! Do not turn to your slides!

I hear my name. I stand up and start moving towards the end of the room. I put on the slides, fix my dress, look at the participants, and begin.

Who among us has not been in a similar situation? We had to make a presentation to the partners on our company, or on a new product; to our colleagues on company expectations and results; to the managers on the introduction of a new system. We need to communicate our thoughts in such a way that the participants have the very information that we want them to possess.

Every one of us has heard presentations at which the participants could only understand a few points out of the vast amount of information presented. The person who gave the presentation was not interesting, the topic was not adjusted to the knowledge level of the audience, and the visual aids disturbed rather than supported the presentation. Lots of little mistakes can sink even the professionally most brilliant presentation.

The higher up we are in the management hierarchy, the better we should present. One of the main tools for getting ahead is good presentation skills. We stand up and start talking. These are the times where there is no second chance.  Then and there we have to give our best performance. No one is a born presenter. Even the best ones learned from their own mistakes and from others.

By the end of the program the participants will be familiar with:

  • The basic elements of communication and their importance
  • The basic elements of communication in front of an audience and their effect-mechanism
  • The system of different types of presentations, the difference between them, and their recommended application

By the end of the program the participants will be able to:

  • Learn the tools of active listening and active attention
  • Consciously pay attention to the importance of body language and utilize it in the proper manner
  • Improve their skills in preparing and making a presentation
  • Exercise the method of opening and closing an interesting presentation
  • Improve their skills in fielding unexpected, challenging questions
  • Exercise the effective use of presentation tools (Flipchart, PowerPoint)
  • Exercise the methodology of facilitating, leading, and managing meetings
  • Strengthen their self-confidence when speaking in front of an audience