Presentation skills Workbook

P r e s e n t a t i o n S k i l l s
W o r k s h o p

2005
People and Performance

MERIDIAN ENERGY | Presentation Skills Workshop 1

T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s

The cool stuff I want to remember.............................................................4
New Skills Acquisition..............................................................................5
New Skills Acquisition(continued)..............................................................6
Preconceptions........................................................................................7
Common Mistakes...................................................................................7
How to Prepare.......................................................................................7
How to Prepare (continued)......................................................................9
SSSAP...................................................................................................9
SSSAP(continued).................................................................................10
SSSAP(continued).................................................................................11
Organising Your Material.........................................................................12
Organising Your Material (continued)........................................................14
Confidence ..........................................................................................18
It’s all about you...................................................................................24
It’s all about you (continued)..................................................................25
It’s all about you (continued)..................................................................26
Effective Handouts.................................................................................27
Effective Handouts(continued).................................................................28
Effective Handouts(continued).................................................................29
Visual Aids............................................................................................30
What to do about Nerves........................................................................31
Exercises..............................................................................................33
Exercises (continued).............................................................................35
Test your panic quotient.........................................................................36
Presentation Worksheet..........................................................................38
Presentation Worksheet (continued).........................................................39
Audience Analysis .................................................................................40
Audience Analysis(continued)..................................................................41
Presentation Evaluation .........................................................................43
Presentation Worksheet..........................................................................45
Presentation Worksheet (continued).........................................................46
Audience Analysis .................................................................................47
Presentation Evaluation .........................................................................50

The greatest problem in communication is the illusion
that it has been accomplished.
- George Bernard Shaw


The cool stuff I want to remember


New Skills Acquisition

The Conscious-Competence learning model: a model about how we learn.

Level 1: Unconscious Incompetence is not knowing what we don't know.

• Blissful ignorance

• Confidence exceeds ability, we are not knowledgeable/skillful

Level 2: Conscious Incompetence s knowing what we don't know.
• We discover a skill we wish to learn - driving a car, riding
a bike
• Confidence drops as we realise our ability is limited
• We need to practise to learn. Often this means not
succeeding at first.
• This is learning; unfortunately, in our culture it is often
labelled 'failure'. We feel uncomfortable.

Level 3: Conscious Competence is knowing what to do, but having to
think through it as we do it.

• We acquire the skill. We have become consciously
competent. Our conscious mind can only cope with a
small number of new bits of information at any one time.
• Our confidence increases with our ability, we have to
concentrate on what we know/do
• Can do it if we know how to.

Level 4: Unconscious Competence is being able to perform professional
skills without having to consciously think about them.

• Lastly, we blend the skills together and they become
habits - we can then do them while our mind is on other
things.
• We have reached the stage of unconscious competence.
• Our confidence and ability have peaked, we no longer


have to concentrate on what we know/do; this is the start
of the next learning curve
• We can do, but don't necessarily know how we do.

New Skills Acquisition(continued)

Applying the model

In different areas of our life we will be at different stages and on different
learning curves

The progression is from level 1 through 2 and 3 to 4. It is not possible to
jump stages. For some skills, especially advanced ones, people can
regress to previous stages, particularly from 4 to 3, or from 3 to 2, if they
fail to put into practice and exercise their new skills.

For certain skills in certain roles, stage 3 conscious competence, is
perfectly adequate.

Progression from stage to stage is often accompanied by a feeling of
awakening - 'the penny drops' - things 'click' into place for you – you feel
like you've made a big step forward, which of course you have.

It all comes down to practice.


Preconceptions
What gets in the way?

Maybe you have some preconceived notions about how to speak publicly.
Write down those beliefs here. Where did these beliefs come from?

Common Mistakes
13 common mistakes speakers make

• Lack of preparation
• Lateness
• Not knowing the audience
• Projecting the wrong image
• Using visual aids ineffectively
• Including too much material
• Using inappropriate humour
• Being a monotone
• Not building a relationship with the audience
• Lacking in focus
• Starting with details
• Being speaker centred
• Offering only weak evidence
• Others:

How to Prepare
Four questions to help you prepare.


The first thing you have to decide when you're preparing you speech is,
obviously, what you're going to say.
The type of talk or presentation is important: Is it

Persuasive – to bring the audience to your point of view,

Explanatory – to familiarise your audience with a topic,

Instructional – teaches something to your audience, in detail,

Briefing – updates audience on a matter they are already familiar with.

Begin by asking yourself these four questions:

1. What do you want the audience to do as a result of your presentation? (Use action
verbs.)
For example -
• I want people to give more effective presentations.
• I want people to approve my proposal.
• I want people to conserve their electricity.
• _______________________________________________________________________________

2. What does your audience need to know in order to do that?
For example -
• To give more effective presentations, people need to know these
seven strategies…
• To approve my proposal, people need to know the problem we are
facing, what's causing it, and how my proposal will solve it.
• To conserve their electricity, people need to know the benefits of
doing so, the importance of minimising their electricity usage, and to
understand energy efficiency ratings on appliances .
• _______________________________________________________________________________

3. What does your audience need to feel in order to do that?
For example -
• To give more effective presentations, people need to feel confident.
• To approve my proposal, people need to feel motivated.
• To conserve their electricity, people need to feel hopeful.
• _______________________________________________________________________________

4. Why would your audience want to do what you want them to do?

This is the most important question to ask -- and the hardest to answer.

Avoid the temptation to say, "They should care." Figure out why they do
care. How will your presentation improve their lives? Will it help them


get ahead at work? build better relationships? make more money?
make better use of electricity? be happier?

How to Prepare (continued)

Until you know why your audience will care about what you have to say,
you don't have a speech.

Put yourself in their place. Find out as much as you can about them,
their background and interests.

For example -
• Giving more effective presentations will gain you respect and make
you more valuable at work.
• Approving my proposal will save our company $30,000.00 this year
alone.
• Using electricity wisely now will ensure you have a lower power bill
etc.
• _______________________________________________________________________________

Once you have all this information, prepare an outline of the talk or
presentation, then prepare your detailed notes. Next comes the visual
aids if these are appropriate and finally your handouts, if you are going to
use those. Next comes the editing and refining stage. Boil down your
talk to the most important points and put these on the visual aids, try to
avoid clip art from common sources, think of using photographs or
diagrams you have done yourself.

SSSAP
Set, Support, Sequence, Access and Polish

Al Switzleri, (1994) has a framework known as SSSAP. It’s useful to keep
these concepts in mind:

Set

Support

Sequence

Access

i
Quinn, R.E (et al) 2003. Becoming a master manager, 3rd Ed. Wiley and Sons, USA


Polish

Set

Deals with how to handle your audience’s initial mood and expectations.
“On your marks, get set …” “Set” is the perfect position for starting
quickly. When you set your audience, you help them get into the right
position physically, emotionally and mentally. Good communicators connect
with their audiences early to prepare them for the journey they are about to
take. Good presentations are audience centred, not speaker centered. Set
does three things:

1. It creates a mood and tone favourable to listening and
acceptance.
2. It assures the listener that you are worth listening to, and
3. It maps the journey you are asking the listener to take with you.

SSSAP(continued)

Climate set: what mood do you want them in?

Credibility set: why should they listen to you?

Content set: where are you taking them?

Support

This is the substance of your presentation: the facts, the major reasons
you offer for doing one thing rather than other. Support is the bones of your
presentation. The support you provide in any presentation should be
correct, concrete, complete, relevant and logical.

Use these questions to determine how well supported your message is:

1. What do I mean? Do I define things adequately?

2. Am I specific? Do I use specific examples and illustrations that my
audience will enjoy and understand?

3. How do I know? Do I appeal to appropriate authorities and other
sources of evidence that my audience believes are credible?


4. Do I answer the “so what” question? Do I demonstrate that my
message makes a difference? Do I make my message relevant to
this specific audience at this specific moment?

Sequence

Certain locations have more prominence in messages than others. For
example beginnings and endings are the more prominent locations. An
audience is more likely to remember the opening and closing comments
you make in a talk than the things that go in the middle. Sequence is about
the order or arrangement of your talk. You may have superb content, but if
you present it in the wrong order you may be misunderstood or ignored.
Sequence is vital but we often pay little attention to it.

May I Pray While I Smoke?

Two monks often argued about the appropriateness of smoking and praying at the same
time. They decided independently to ask their superior to settle the question. One monk
asked, “Father, may I smoke while I pray?” “Heavens no, my son. Prayer is a sacred
activity” was the answer. Later, the second monk, knowing the power of sequencing asked
“Father, may I pray while I smoke? He was told, “My son, it is always good to pray.”

- Gordon Allport, Social Scientist in a lecture to
students.

SSSAP(continued)

Access

Some presentations are interesting, but the points they make are hard to
pinpoint and remember. Access deals with making information visually and
psychologically vivid to the listener or reader. When you write,
you improve access by using boldface type, white space, headings,
borders, numerals and colour. When you give a presentation, you can
improve access by using good visual aids and making clear transitions from
one point to the next. You can also make things more concise by stating
them in fewer words or summarising them. See the section on Visual Aids.

Transitions


Here are some standard transitional statements that you can use:

• That brings me to my next point, which is ….
• Now that we’ve discussed advertising, let’s take a look at direct
mail …
• So far we’ve covered compensation and benefits. The next item is
training …
• In addition to cost containment, there is another area I’d like to
discuss…
• Now let’s consider ..
• The next important factor is …
• I’d like to view communication from three aspects…
• There are three reasons why this is a best seller …
• Finally, let’s consider …
• I’d like to leave you with this thought …

Polish

This is the finish that you put on anything that represents you or carries your
reputation with it. It is the added and extra attention to detail and little
things. It is having your notes in order, having good visuals arranged at the
projector, dressing in such as way that you do not draw too much attention
to yourself but need not worry about your appearance. Polish is arranging
the environment for maximum effectiveness. People can hear you. They
can see the screen. The room isn’t stifling or chilly. You can’t control all
aspects of the environment, but you can do some things, and these make a
huge difference. Polish is the extra attention to detail that tells the
audience that the topic is important. They are worth the effort and they are
not wasting their time.

Key Points….

Organising Your Material
Three sections and what to do with each.

1. Opening


Your opening has three powerful purposes

1. Selling your audience on listening to your presentation.
2. Introducing the subject matter.
3. Establishing your personal credibility.

} Opening

} Main Content

} Closing

Suggested approaches for your opening include:

Direct Statement About your subject and why it is important to your
audience.

Indirect Opening Dealing with some vital interest of your
audience that you can link to your subject.

Vivid example Vivid example or comparison leading directly
to your subject. A recent media example of
something that is happening in their
community etc.

Strong quotation Related to your subject. Using a quotation
that can easily be remembered.

Important statistic Related to the subject.

Story or anecdote Illustrating your subject. Share a story about
something you have experienced or know of.

Questions Posing a question to the audience to ponder
on.

Interaction Getting the audience to share an experience
with another member of the audience or
some other form of interaction e.g. show of
hands


Organising Your Material (continued)
Making a connection…

Have you ever been served by a shop-assistant who is also talking on the
phone or chatting to a fellow staff-member when they were supposed to
focussed on you? It gives the impression that they couldn't care less about
you doesn't it.

Sadly you can see a similar impression being created in many
presentations.

Presenters Trap

The presenter stands up to begin their talk - but instead of looking at the
members of their audience, connecting with a smile or at least some kind of
eye-contact, they're either pushing buttons on their laptop, shuffling their
notes or looking at the screen behind them. The impression that's created
is "I'm not really interested in you - I'm more interested in getting my
presentation right!"

Very often this type of behaviour gives the audience the impression that the
speaker is unfamiliar with their material - perhaps not a credible expert.
But paradoxically, many of the people we see doing this on our training
courses are actually highly qualified in what they're talking about.

The solution is simple. Instead of being obsessed with your
notes or PowerPoint, be obsessed with your audience.

That means more than just looking at them while you're
speaking. Notice their reaction to your words. If you ask a
question, give them time to consider their answer before
you start talking again. Use their responses - nods and
smiles - to pace your delivery.

Maintain the Connection

To maintain this connection, don't break eye-contact until you finish the
sentence you are delivering. In fact, once you've finished a sentence, keep
your eyes up on your audience to gauge their reaction to what you've just
said - in other words, show interest in their response. An audience-
obsessed speaker is keenly interested in their audience's reaction to their
words - they care about their audience. A notes-obsessed speaker doesn't
really seem to be interested in what their audience thinks at all.


Opening the Talk

The most critical time to be locked into your audience is in the opening of
your talk. That's the moment the audience is forming their first impression
of you. All their subsequent attitudes and opinions are filtered through this
initial reaction. Think of it as similar to meeting an individual for the first
time. When I first meet someone, I gain a sense of trust if they look me in
the eye, give me a firm handshake and direct all their attention to me. If
they turn away or attend to something other than me, I'm unlikely to
connect with them.


Connecting

So when you start your talk, make it your first goal to connect with your
audience. Try to have yourself and your material organised so that, from
the moment you stand up, you are able to focus all your attention onto the
members of your audience. Avoid referring to your notes or laptop or
looking at the screen.

Once you've made this connection then it's fine to break eye-contact
because you've created a positive, audience-centred impression. You can
then refer to your notes or work your PowerPoint as often as you need.

But never let these things be the main focus of your attention. Make each
member of the audience feel as if they are the most important thing. Then
they're more likely to trust you and you'll be more likely to influence them.

Using the Audience Analysis Worksheets may help you clarify your thoughts.

Situations were I would use this are….


General statements about today’s audiences:

They’re busy Most people are pressed for time. They are juggling
activities, jobs, study, projects, children etc. They have
less administrative help at work but are expected to
produce the same or more amount of work. If you take
too long to make your point or don’t grab their attention
quickly, they’ll walk out on you, mentally and perhaps
physically!

They’re sophisticated They are exposed to higher levels of
entertainment and technology. They will
expect your visual presentation to be of high
quality. You cannot photocopy a black and
white page onto an overhead and expect to
be viewed as professional.

They’re sceptical You must gain people’s trust and check
your information thoroughly for accuracy.

They have information People are inundated with facts, statistics,
overload data and numbers that they have almost
reached saturation levels. Provide
interesting ideas and help people draw
conclusions. Give them practical tips as
well.

They’re diverse Today, the fabric of the workforce is multi-
ethnic, global, and gender tolerant. Your
must earn your credibility by understanding
today’s work culture and issues.

2. Main content

In order to confirm that your audience has a clear understanding of the
information presented in the body of your presentation remember:

• The appropriate sequence of your main ideas.
• Factual information that will support your main ideas
• Ten ideas for making your presentation more interesting:


o Analogies
o Humour
o Quotes
o Personal Stories
o Examples and illustrations
o Reiteration
o Statistics
o Charts and graphs
o Expert testimony
o Audience involvement

You may want to consider the style of presentation:

a. Present the problem then the solution
b. Present the current situation and proposed situation
c. Use an inductive format (general to specific) or deductive format
(specific to general)
d. Pros and cons
e. STARR format: situation, task, action, result and recommendations



3. Closing

You closing should be a mini-presentation in and of itself. It should
paraphrase your opening statements to demonstrate cohesiveness. An
effective closing should include one or more of the following:

• Challenge to your audience
• Summary of your main ideas
• Suggested agreement or recommendation for action.
• Powerful quote or statistic that directly relates to your topic.
• Story or anecdote that drives home the message you want your
audience to carry away.

The presentation worksheet at the back of this book may be useful in
creating a new presentation.

Key Points….

Confidence
Having confidence comes with practice.

Facing the fear We can overcome fear by looking it in the face, whatever it may be.
monster Pretending a fear doesn’t exist is a sure way to make sure it does.

Remember:

• Professional actors do not perform without learning their lines


• Professional musicians must first learn to play their instruments

• Professional speakers do not start out feeling confident about
their presentations. They practice their craft, discipline
themselves and manage their nervousness in front of an audience
every time they perform

What, exactly, Do you have a dislike of public speaking? Are you afraid
are we afraid of? to be up the front of the room or of making a fool of
yourself?

It’s natural to want the audience to believe in us and to
want to appear credible. Can you remember a time
when you first started dreading public speaking?

Improvements You can improve your confidence by practicing your
speaking and increasing your knowledge about how to
present. Eloquence is something you learn. Learning
self confidence in public speaking is no different from
learning to play a musical instrument or a sport.
1. Believe in yourself
2. share true stories that will change other
people’s lives
3. Plan and prepare well in advance – as the
modified saying goes: it’s not about practice
making perfect, it’s about perfect practice
making perfect performance.
4. Know what your key messages are.
5. Rehearse in front of a colleague or friend you
respect.
6. Seek out and accept training opportunities.
7. Be well informed about world events and read
the newspaper everyday.
8. Find a Mentor.
9. Fake it till you make it.
10. Watch star speakers.

Stage Fright? Going blank in front of an audience can be terrifying.
“Sudden or Stress induced by being in front of an audience can
extreme fear” trigger a chemical process in your brain, affecting your
memory.


Four stages are common:
• Negative thoughts
• Emotions
• Chemical reactions in your body
• Physical symptoms occur: sweaty palms, churning
stomach etc.

Have a plan for recovery:
• You can re-cap your last point.
• You can pose a question “At this point I’d like to
get your opinion on what I’ve just proposed”.
• You can pause and look for your place.

Reducing the Breathing
effects of stress
Positive self talk
Asking for help
Cross over exercises: “cross crawling”

More tips for overcoming the fear of public speaking

• Use involvement techniques
(participation).
• Learn participants' names and use them.
• Establish your credibility early by stating
your experience, qualifications,
successes etc.
• Use eye contact to establish rapport.
• Anticipate potential problems and check in
advance the facilities and audio visual
equipment.
• Obtain information about the audience in advance
• Manage your appearance (dress comfortably and
appropriately)
• Use your own style (don't imitate someone else)
• Assume the audience are on your side
• Introduce yourself to the group in advance (via a social context)
• Practice your responses to tough questions
• Stop all self criticism
• Practice affirmations before every presentation (see below)

• Choose to be calm before speaking
• Decide to have fun
• Recall a speech that did work, hold onto that magical moment
• Keep a record of all your successes when you speak
• Write down your goals relating to improving your public
speaking
• Ask yourself “is this presentation worth so much worry that my
health is affected by it? The answer is No!ii

ii
Eyre, M, 2002, Speak Easy, the essential guide to speaking in public. Harper Collins publishers.


Positive and Negative

Do you identify with these statements? Write down your negative thoughts
about public speaking and consciously identify the positive alternative.

Negative Positive
It’s going to be a disaster I’m well prepared
I’m going to make a fool of myself I’m going to give the performance
of my life
I’ll forget my lines I have learnt my speech well
Nerves will take over I’m confident and in control
I’ll be boring I’m fascinating and will present with
passion
I won’t connect with the audience I’m making eye contact
I feel hunch when I speak I’m straight in my stance
I have negative body language I’m expressive with my movements
I say too many ums I’m a fluent speaker
I hate large groups of people I’m at my best in front of groups
I don’t know enough I’m well prepared
I’m not a good speaker I’m a fantastic speaker
They’re not going to respect me I’m well prepared and have earned
their respect
I can’t wait for it to be over I’m going to enjoy it
I don’t know where I’m looking I’m looking at the audience
I’m so terrified of this experience I can do this

Presentation checklist

• Practise where you will be presenting
• Devise your presentation yourself and make it memorable
• Rehearse until it becomes second nature and you can then
concentrate on your audience
• Run the presentation through your head repeatedly
• Say it aloud whenever you find yourself alone


• Rehearse using more energy than you would on the day
• See what you look like doing it
• Practise in front of other people and seek honest feedback


It’s all about you
Your body language tells the audience exactly what you’re thinking.

According to the expertsiii: 55% of your presentation’s impact is
determined by body language, 38% by your voice and only 7% by the words
you use. (The exact percentages vary from study to study,
but the message is the same: effective body language is
crucial to the success of your speech!).

There are many ways your body can communicate. What
do you think the picture to the right is saying?

Here are some other examples of some actions and what
they can mean:

Rapid Eye Blinking When you see someone’s eyes blinking rapidly, more than eight to ten
times per minute, chances are the person disagrees with you.

Dilated pupils Pupils that are open suggest interest.

“Steepling” This is usually a sign of power. People who want to
fingers project authority will often steeple their hands by putting
them together with only the fingertips touching.

Clenched fists Clenched hands can indicate frustration.

Folded arms When people fold their arms in front or in back, they may
be protecting themselves. They might also be defensive
– or even chilly!

Hands touching This could be a signal that the person is lying.
mouth or nose

Raised eyebrow Raised eyebrows usually means surprise.

Tilting head Leaning toward the speaker shows interest. It means
forward the listener is tuned in. When the hand is supporting the

iii
Mehrabian, A. (1981). Silent messages: Implicit communication of emotions and attitudes. The
findings regarding relative importance of verbal and nonverbal messages were derived from
experiments dealing with communications of feelings and attitudes.


head, the listener is usually bored.

Leaning away This posture can mean disagreement or lack of interest.
If the listener suddenly leans back, change the subject or
direction of the conversation.

Drumming This gesture could mean frustration or irritation.
fingers

It’s all about you (continued)

Appearance

Location and type of organisation you will be speaking to will have an
impact on your chosen wardrobe style, think about clothes worn by an
organisation or in a specific locality, e.g. in Twizel or in a corporate
customer’s office. Your appearance will have an impact on the audience
so here are some do’s and don’ts:

Women Men

No heavy make up Button jacket

Business suit or dress White or neutral shirt

No micro mini skirts Wear dark suits

Conservative hairstyles Straighten tie

No jangling jewellery No pens in pockets

Avoid brightly coloured or No flashy belt buckles
textured hose

No revealing necklines Polished shoes

Avoid tinted glasses Avoided tinted glasses

Think about the height of your Remove the change in your pockets
heels – make sure you will be
comfortable


It’s all about you (continued)

Verbal Sabotage

Watch out for these things when making your presentation or speech:

Taglines Eliminate them. Examples are “don’t you know”, “isn’t it”, “right”, okey
dokey”

Wimpy Substitute power words. Examples are “Hopefully, I’ve
words tried to show you that this is kind of good.” A better
summation would be “I’ve demonstrated how effective
this product is. I am confident that when you use it …”

Jargon Spell it out. Not everyone knows all the TLA’s (three letter
acronymsiv)

Apologies Skip them. Don’t apologise or put yourself down.
Audience members will interpret this as a sign of weakness.
There is no need to tell the audience that you’re nervous or
that you feel unprepared.

Minimisers Delete them. Words such as ‘just’ and ‘only’, “I’m only
a beginner”. These words have a negative connotation.

Colourless Paint a word picture. Good speakers use vivid language,
words this adds colour to your speech and helps the listener
create pictures from your words.

Sloppy Speak slowly and clearly. Mumbling, mispronunciations and
speech slurred speech create a negative impression and are
difficult to understand.

iv
A word formed from the initial letters of a name, such as WAC for Women's Army Corps, or by
combining initial letters or parts of a series of words, such as radar for radio detecting and ranging


Effective Handouts
These can save a lot of time, and it gives the participants something to take
away.

Handouts are an integral part of most technical presentations due to the
complexity of many topics or the time allotted for the talk. Effective
handouts can improve just about any type of presentation, although their
design, use, and distribution require careful
planning.

Ask yourself why you are using handouts. Do you
want to…

• Reinforce your credibility and
professionalism?
• Add supporting data, summaries, and
reading lists?
• Reiterate your message?
• Engage your audience's participation?
• Help your audience remember your message?
• Give your audience a way to contact you in the future?

Simplicity

• The key to effective handouts is SIMPLICITY.
• Focus on the key words and concepts of your presentation.
• Make each point a clear summary. Avoid unnecessary details. You
want people to glance at your handout as you speak, not to get so
absorbed in it that they tune you out.
• Use illustrations or graphics, if appropriate.
• Leave room for notes.

Relevance

• Relate the handouts to your presentation.
• Make each point listed in your handout correspond to a point in your
presentation.
• You may want to number each point in the handout so people can
follow along as you say, "My third point is…" If you jump around, you will
cause your audience to spend their time trying to figure out where on
the handout you are.


Effective Handouts(continued)

Appeal

• Make your handouts appealing to the eye.
• Leave plenty of white space, break major points into smaller chunks,
and vary its look.
• Avoid using starbursts, ornate borders, or too many fonts or styles.
• If you plan on using the same handout on a regular basis, consider
having it professionally designed.
• Slides printed six to a page – These can be too small to be of any use
at all.

• Slides printed three to a page with a small amount of space for hand
written notes.

• Slides two to a page: useful if people are not going to take notes.

• Make your own version of Notes pages. You can add lines here so
people can put as much of their own notes in the space below the
slide.


Effective Handouts(continued)

Avoid Distraction

• Don't let the handouts distract your audience.
• People concentrate on one line of thought at a time. If you give them
something to read that doesn't match the content and style of what
you are saying, they will cut themselves off from one in order to follow
another.
• Effective handouts represent the content and spirit of your talk.

Distribution

• You can distribute your handouts before, during or after your talk.
• Make enough copies for the number of people you expect -- PLUS a
few more. Bring a master copy with you, just in case.
• If your material is very complex, give it to your audience before your
talk. Let them read it before you begin speaking. People find it hard to have stuff and
listen to you at the same time.

• If you have lots of content, consider breaking it up into a number of
handouts and distributing them throughout your presentation. Doing
so keeps your audience from reading ahead and losing interest in
what you're saying.
• You can distribute your handout at the end of your presentation, if you
mean it primarily as a means of reminding your audience of your key
points. Tell them what information is covered in the handouts and
encourage them to listen as you speak without worrying about taking
unnecessary notes.


Visual Aids
Quick tips for using visuals.

Visual aids are an aid to communication, not a substitute for it. To retain
your relationship with the audience, don't let your visual aids upstage or
overpower you. It is especially important and difficult to maintain the
speaker-audience interaction while using slides or PowerPoint™
presentations in a dimly lit room.

Plan your presentation before Start by asking what you want the audience to do as a result of
you create visual aids. hearing your presentation. Then figure out what they need to
know to do what you want them to do. (One of the things you
need to figure out is why they would want to do what you want
them to do.)

Then create a simple outline that logically and clearly develops
your main points. Finally, create visual aids to support your
message

Use visual aids They are aids to your presentation -- not its sum
sparingly. and substance. Use them to highlight and
support your key points

Make visual aids visible Projecting an image people can't see is as
to the entire audience. senseless as speaking so softly people can't
hear.

Talk to the audience, The 80/20 rule applies here. Look at the
not to the visual aid. audience at least 80% of the time.

Avoid laser pointers. Your aid should be so clear that your audience
can easily follow along. Use your hand, if
necessary.

Explain the content of As soon as you show people an object, they will
the visual aid when you look at it -- even if you're talking about something
first show it. else. Don't make them divide their attention.

When you finish: with the visual aid, remove it, cover it, or turn it
off.

Limit the amount of Use each slide to convey a single point. Bullet
material on any one points -- no more than four to five per slide --
visual aid. should explain, illustrate, or substantiate that one


point.

Avoid clip art from well- It's almost always boring and amateurish.
known sources.

Be prepared to give Murphy's Law applies in spades to anything
your presentation involving technology and an audience. Have a
without your visual backup plan in case something goes wrong.
aids. Take a hard copy of your slides or an overhead
projector and transparencies.

What to do about Nerves
Quick tips for handling those butterflies.

Attitude Nerves are natural! Think of them as excitement, rather an
destructive stress.

Preparation The better prepared you are, the less chance
nerves have of putting you off your stride.

Pretending Don’t try and pretend to be an expert on
something if you are not.

The audience Is more interested in what you have to say and
who you are, than whether you are nervous or
not.
If nerves make you blunder, simply stop and
smile, and start afresh, the audience may notice
but will usually accept it without concern, unless
you show anxiety.
Most of the signs of your nervousness cannot be
seen by the audience – You almost certainly look
better than you feel.

Umms and Aaahs Practice not filling pauses with spaces with umms
and aaahs and other distraction non-word fillers.

Deep Breathing Stress shows up through the voice and steady,
deep breathing can help calm the tremors an
lower the pitch.

Walking and Talking Standing up and walking around, rather than
being tied to a spot, can help divert some of the
energy from the adrenaline rush and so reduce
some of the physical signs of nervousness.

Visualisation This is a powerful way to reduce anxiety, imagine


giving an outstanding presentation, or the
audience cheering and so on.

Build up to the big ones If you are a highly nervous speaker then
systematically build your confidence by starting
with small presentations and building up to more
challenging ones.


Exercises
Exercise 1 – Walk on – Walk off
1. Get up from your seat and approach the front of the room.
2. Breathe.
3. Look out at the audience. Connect with them through the eyes.
4. Say “Good Morning”, pause then “My name is ….”
5. The group will then clap. Stay there and receive the applause.
6. Walk confidently to your seat. (If you roll your eyes, you must start
again).

Exercise 2 - Gestures
2. Breathe.
4. Say “Good Morning”, pause then “My name is …, I am here to talk
about antonymsv .”
5. As you say the words, make the appropriate gesture with your hands.
• Big – small
• High – low
• Narrow – wide
• Up – down
• Flat – curved
• Open – closed
6. Tell a story about a recent holiday. As you tell the story, act it out
with your hands. Exaggerate the hand movements.

Exercise 3 – Non-words
2. Breathe.
4. Say “Good Morning”, pause then “My name is …., I am going to talk
about getting ready for work in the morning.”
5. Start talking about your experiences.

v
A word having a meaning opposite to that of another word: The word wet is an antonym of the word dry


6. The audience will snap their fingers when they hear a non-word. The
plan is that you will anticipate the non-words and stop yourself.


Exercises (continued)

Exercise 4 – The Budget Request
2. You have 20 minutes to prepare a short presentation requesting
budget for a project.
3. You will have 3 minutes to present your request.
4. Use the audience analysis worksheets and presentation worksheets
to help you prepare.
5. We will use the Presentation Evaluation worksheet s to provide
feedback.
6. Some common options for this type of presentation are:
a. Present the problem then the solution
b. Present the current situation and proposed situation
c. Use an inductive format (general to specific) or deductive
format (specific to general)
d. Pros and cons
e. STARR format: situation, task, action, result and
recommendations

Exercise 5 – The Final Presentation
1. You have 30 minutes to prepare a short presentation on one of the
topics in this workbook.
2. You will have 5 minutes to present your information. Your objective is
to convince the audience that you have become skilled in using this
material.
3. Try to incorporate a (several?) visual aids.
4. Use the audience analysis worksheets and presentation worksheets
to help you prepare.
5. We will use the Presentation Evaluation worksheets to provide
feedback.


Test your panic quotient

Put a tick in the column that represents how you feel when giving a
presentation. Give yourself a 1 for every YES and a 0 for every NO.

1 I get butterflies just thinking about presenting. Yes No
2 I can’t sleep the night before a presentation. Yes No
3 I often try to get out of speaking. Yes No
4 I experience physical reactions (sweaty palms, Yes No
pounding heart, red face).
5 My breathing becomes rapid. Yes No
6 I freeze or lose my train of thought. Yes No
7 The words don’t come out right. Yes No
8 I start speaking fast. Yes No
9 My mouth gets dry. Yes No
10 I feel faint. Yes No
11 I feel as if I’m making a fool of myself. Yes No
12 I often lose my place in my notes. Yes No
13 My voice quivers. Yes No
14 It feels like everyone is staring at me. Yes No
15 I often feel unprepared. Yes No
16 I tell myself I’m nervous Yes No
17 I let others know I’m nervous. Yes No
18 I don’t remember what I just said. Yes No
19 I think the audience knows I’m nervous. Yes No
20 I’d rather die than give a speech. Yes No

Confident: (0-5)
You are in control. You may feel slightly nervous at the beginning, but
you’re confident that you have the skills to present effectively.

Butterflies: (6-11)
You get nervous most of the time but can plough through and make your
point. Your confidence will increase with continued practice and training.

Panic: (12-20)


Your nervousness is getting in the way. You try to avoid public speaking
whenever possible. Face your fear. Work with a supportive coach. You
can reduce your nervousness significantly if you keep working at it.


Presentation Worksheet
Presentation topic: ________________________________________________

Presenter: ___________________________________________________

Date, Time, Place: _________________________________________________

General Considerations:

1. How will the room be arranged (seating, name cards and so on.)

2. How many people do you expect to attend? How and when will they
be notified of the presentation?

3. What presentation aids will be required? Will equipment be available
at the presentation site or do you need to carry it with you?

4. Will you use handouts? What arrangements do you have to make for
them? How and when will they be distributed?

5. How and when will you handle audience questions?


Presentation Worksheet (continued)

Outline:

Time Content Methods, aids, examples
Allotted

Remember: Opening: sell your audience on listening, introduce the subject,
establish personal credibility, Main Content: develop your main ideas,
Closing: summarise content, appeal for action.


Audience Analysis

1. Identify your objectives for this audience. What do you want the members of
your audience to do as a result of this presentation?

2. Identify your audience’s expected benefits and positive outcomes.

3. Identify the desired emotional effects on your audience. How do you want your
audience to feel as a result of your presentation.


Audience Analysis(continued)
4. Analyse this specific audience. What do you need to know about them?

• What is their occupational relationship to you
 Customers
 Top management
 Public
 Suppliers/vendors
 Co-workers
 Employees
 Other:

• How long have they been in this relationship with you?

• What is their level of understanding of the type of information you will
be sharing?
 Technical
 Non-technical
 Generally High
 Generally Low
 Unknown

• How willing are the members of this audience to accept the ideas you
will present?
 Eager
 Receptive
 Neutral
 Slightly resistant
 Strongly resistant
 Unknown

• What is their knowledge of the subject?
 High
 Moderate
 Limited
 None
 Unknown

• What are their opinions about you and Meridian Energy?
 Very favourable
 Positive
 Neutral
 Slightly hostile
 Openly hostile
 Unknown

• What are their roles related to what you are presenting?
 Decision makers
 Decision influencers


 Doers
 Unknown

5. Why are they attending this presentation?

6. List some of the advantages and disadvantages of the presentation objectives to
the members of this audience as individuals.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

7. Identify appropriate information and techniques. What types of
information or techniques are most likely to capture the attention of this
audience?

 High tech
 Statistical comparisons
 Cost related
 Anecdotes
 Demonstrations
 Other:

8. What information or techniques are most likely to get negative reactions from
this audience?


Presentation Evaluation

Speaker: ________________________________________________

To the Speaker: evaluate yourself on each point after you present.
To the Evaluator: evaluate the speaker on each point.

Good Needs
Work
Content

Relevant material for audience’s
knowledge level
Sufficient depth in support material
Interesting examples for audience and
situation
Appropriate visual aids
Organisation

Grabs audience’s attention
States clear agenda
Includes benefit in introduction
Follows clear organisational plan
Summarizes essence of main points
Asks for clear action in conclusion
Closes with a strong final statement
Conclusion: summary, action request, final
statement?
Delivery

Moves comfortably and gestures naturally
Looks at each member of the audience
Speaks conversationally and enthusiastically
Handles visual aids effectively

Overall comments:


Finally: would you hire this person or buy this product or support this
proposal?


Presentation Worksheet

Presenter: ___________________________________________________

Date, Time, Place: _________________________________________________

General Considerations:

1. How will the room be arranged (seating, name cards and so on.)

2. How many people do you expect to attend? How and when will they
be notified of the presentation?

3. What presentation aids will be required? Will equipment be available
at the presentation site or do you need to carry it with you?

4. Will you use handouts? What arrangements do you have to make for
them? How and when will they be distributed?

5. How and when will you handle audience questions?


Presentation Worksheet (continued)

Outline:

Time Content Methods, aids, examples
Allotted

Remember: Opening: sell your audience on listening, introduce the subject,
establish personal credibility, Main Content: develop your main ideas,
Closing: summarise content, appeal for action.


Audience Analysis

1. Identify your objectives for this audience. What do you want the members of
your audience to do as a result of this presentation?

2. Identify your audience’s expected benefits and positive outcomes.

3. Identify the desired emotional effects on your audience. How do you want your
audience to feel as a result of your presentation.


4. Analyse this specific audience. What do you need to know about them?

• What is their occupational relationship to you
 Customers
 Top management
 Public
 Suppliers/vendors
 Co-workers
 Employees
 Other:

• How long have they been in this relationship with you?

• What is their level of understanding of the type of information you will
be sharing?
 Technical
 Non-technical
 Generally High
 Generally Low
 Unknown

• How willing are the members of this audience to accept the ideas you
will present?
 Eager
 Receptive
 Neutral
 Slightly resistant
 Strongly resistant
 Unknown

• What is their knowledge of the subject?
 High
 Moderate
 Limited
 None
 Unknown

• What are their opinions about you and Meridian Energy?
 Very favourable
 Positive
 Neutral
 Slightly hostile
 Openly hostile
 Unknown

• What are their roles related to what you are presenting?
 Decision makers
 Decision influencers


 Doers
 Unknown

5. Why are they attending this presentation?

6. List some of the advantages and disadvantages of the presentation objectives to
the members of this audience as individuals.

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

7. Identify appropriate information and techniques. What types of
information or techniques are most likely to capture the attention of this
audience?

 High tech
 Statistical comparisons
 Cost related
 Anecdotes
 Demonstrations
 Other:

8. What information or techniques are most likely to get negative reactions from
this audience?


Presentation Evaluation

Speaker: ________________________________________________

To the Speaker: evaluate yourself on each point after you present.
To the Evaluator: evaluate the speaker on each point.

Good Needs
Work
Content

Relevant material for audience’s
knowledge level
Sufficient depth in support material
Interesting examples for audience and
situation
Appropriate visual aids
Organisation

Grabs audience’s attention
States clear agenda
Includes benefit in introduction
Follows clear organisational plan
Summarizes essence of main points
Asks for clear action in conclusion
Closes with a strong final statement
Conclusion: summary, action request, final
statement?
Delivery

Moves comfortably and gestures naturally
Looks at each member of the audience
Speaks conversationally and enthusiastically
Handles visual aids effectively

Overall comments:


Finally: would you hire this person or buy this product or support this
proposal?


Presentation skills Workbook

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