1. Delivering Presentations for
Stakeholders
Syed Nazir Razik
Nov 22, 2011 09:00 – 12.30pm
syed@railsfactory.org
© 2006-11 Rails Factory | www.railsfactory.com

2. Syed Nazir Razik

3. Introduction
• As a Team Member, you WILL be giving
presentations
• It would be good, if you were good
• This presentation will help you be better
– Point out pitfalls
– Set some rules
– Give some examples of do’s

4. Background
• To communicate effectively, you must state
your facts in a simple, concise and
interesting manner.
• The central purpose of any presentation,
written, oral or visual, is communication.
• You can entertain, inform, excite and even
shock an audience in virtually any exchange
of information.

5. Ask Yourself
• What do you want to accomplish with your
presentation?
• Are you giving the presentation to inspire people
to volunteer for your cause?
• Do you need a short, simple presentation that
leaves the viewer wanting to know more or an
involved longer presentation that teaches
audience members how to do a specific task?

6. Someone’s Rules
• KNOW YOUR SUBJECT MATTER .
• KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE .
• KNOW YOURSELF (and your limits)
• DEVELOP A THEME
• PREPARE YOUR SCRIPT
– The opening
– The Body
– The Summary

7. In Advance
• Think through the practical issues—where and
how you'll be delivering the presentation.
• Know the room in which you'll be presenting, how
big your audience might be, what kind of
handouts you'll need, and so on.
• Thinking your presentation through before you
begin will help you make the right choices as you
pull everything together.

8. Use walkthroughs !
• Select the appropriate Visual Aids
• Make sure that everything you need will be on site:
– PC
– Screen
– Mike
– Handouts
• Rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse
– For timing
– For your comfort with the materials
– Solicit criticism

9. Introduction to Slides
• The purpose is communication
• Use text to support the communication
• Use pictures only to simplify the complex
• Use animations for complex relationships
• Visuals should support not distract
• Sound only when absolutely necessary

10. Fonts and Colors !
• Choose a plain font and stick to it
• Try to maintain a maximum of four to six lines of
text per slide
• Use font sizes large enough to view from
anywhere in the room
• Try NOT to use fonts smaller than 28

11. Backgrounds
• Choose a consistent background and keep it
throughout the presentation
• IF you want a different background it should be
used to bring attention to ONE slide
• Choose one type of transition (this is not a
movie)
• Use complementary colors (colors that are
opposite on the color wheel)

12. Slide Organization
• Use bullets to separate ideas
• Title slides (helps establish a
reference point)
• Print outline if you wish
audience to take notes
• Keep the title in a general
location (don’t jump all over
the page)
• Clip art should add to the
content (not just to have clip
art)

13. Final Points !
• Include only necessary information
• Slide content should be self evident
• Avoid busy or data intensive slides
• Seven words to a line, seven lines to a slide
(guideline, not a rule)

14. Miscellaneous !
• Handouts can be distractions
• Try to avoid showing off how complicated you can make a
slide
• Engineers and scientists like diagrams, hardly anyone else
does
• Dress for success
• REHEARSE--REHEARSE--REHEARSE
• Speak comfortably and clearly
• Talk TO or WITH your audience
• Enjoy yourself

15. Summary
• Make it BIG
• Make it simple
• Make it clear
• Make it interesting
• Make it consistent Email: info@railsfactory.com
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