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How togivea knockoutpresentation
1. How to Give a
“Knockout”
Presentation
Willis Jensen
SOS Seminar
February 28, 2006
1
2. Outline
• General Guidelines
• Slide Do’s and Don’ts
−
Handouts
−
Powerpoint Navigation
• Delivery Do’s and Don’ts
−
How to Handle Questions
• Final Thoughts
2
3. Disclaimer
I don’t claim to be an expert, I’ve just had
to do a lot of presentations and have
seen a lot of presentations (both good
and bad)
Acknowledgements
While at 3M, I learned presentation skills
and subsequently taught sessions on
this as part of Six Sigma training
3
4. Why are presentation skills important?
• Job Hunting
• Academia (Crucial to Tenure)
−
Conferences, Seminars, Teaching classes
• Industry (Way of Life)
−
Training, Project Reports, Reports to Management
• Other
−
Speaking in church, politics, fund raising,
community service, etc.
4
6. General Guidelines
• Purpose
−
You need to define your purpose for giving
the presentation
>
Teach, Persuade, Prove, Review, Expository,
Impress, Put to Sleep, Entertain?
−
Often your goal is a high level overview,
even for a technical presentation
−
Don’t tell them everything you did, you’ll
bore them
6
7. General Guidelines
• Organization
−
Always have an outline
−
Tell them what you’re going to tell them,
then tell them, then tell them what you told
them
>
−
Hint: I am doing this for this presentation
Problem then solution
>
Not just “data then solution” or “solution
then problem”
7
8. General Guidelines
• Preparation
−
An unprepared presenter loses the
audience before even starting
−
Practice makes perfect and builds
confidence
−
Arrive early, make sure everything is set
up
−
Dress appropriately
>
−
Better to dress up than down
Slides should be done well in advance
8
9. General Guidelines
• Time
−
Be sure you know how much time you have while
preparing the presentation
>
−
Not 5 minutes before you start
It is better to end early than to go over
>
Always have a watch or clock in view
−
You’ll never have enough time to tell everything so
stick to the most important
−
Rule of thumb
>
At most 1 slide per minute of presentation
>
Better to plan 2 minutes for each slide
9
10. General Guidelines
• Audience
−
Be sure you know your audience well
−
Tailor presentation to your audience
>
>
−
Failure to do this is probably the biggest mistake people
make
You should never give the same presentation twice
Are there multiple audiences?
>
−
If so, direct different slides to different audiences
Watch the audience for clues
10
11. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• “PowerPoint doesn’t give presentations –
PowerPoint makes slides”
−
From microsoft.com website
• Your comments should be more compelling
than the slides
• You shouldn’t put everything on the slide
−
K.I.S.S. Principle
11
12. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Do include 50% white space
• Do make it obvious which section of your
outline you’re in
• Do make each slide stand on its own
−
Generally 1 main point for each slide
• Do use animation
−
Don’t overuse it
>
Makes it difficult and annoying to navigate
12
13. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Do include written conclusion for every
graph
Don’t forget to add meaningful labels, titles,
captions, etc. to graphs
Per cent age of Peopl e Needi ng Pr esent at i on Ski l l s
100
80
Per cent age
−
60
40
20
0
Yes
No
Academia
Yes
No
Industry
Conclusion - I t is important to learn presentation skills!
13
14. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Don’t use yellow text
−
Do use dark text and bold
• Do use formatting and color to emphasize
(e.g. POPTA)
• Don’t include unrelated pictures
14
15. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Don’t include periods at the end of a
bullet.
• Don’t do proofs
• Do include a journal name with a
reference
−
Jensen, Jones-Farmer, Champ, and Woodall (2006,
Journal of Quality Technology)
15
16. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Don’t do serif fonts (like Times New
Roman)
• Do use sans serif fonts (like Arial)
−
or Tahoma
16
17. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Do save your file using “embedded fonts”
−
File menu->Save As->Tools (in upper right hand
corner)->Save Options->Embed True Type Fonts
17
18. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Don’t just copy formulas and equations
from your work (dissertation, paper, etc.)
−
Also known as “equationitis”
−
Do use formulas and equations sparingly
−
Do explain all notation used
18
19. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Do chek yor speling for mestakes
−
Typos instantly destroy credibility and convey
lack of preparation
−
Do have someone else read through
presentation
• Do acknowledge previous work and help
• Do use a template if using PowerPoint
• Do put title slide at the end
19
20. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Do use a light background like this
20
23. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Don’t use a dark background like this
−
Even if using a lighter font color
−
Harder to read, especially from the back
−
More likely to put people asleep
−
Handouts often don’t look very good
23
24. Slide Do’s and Don’ts
• Do use occasional “spice” or “pace
breakers”
−
Humor
−
Surveys
−
Pictures
−
Quizzes
−
Sound
−
Videos
−
Animation
−
Physical Objects
−
Questions (Not just
Yes/No)
−
Top Ten Lists
−
Etc.
For example . . .
A pace breaker can do this for your audience
24
26. Handouts
• Use them if they help achieve your
objective
−
Especially for technical presentations
−
Greatly increases retention
• Often best to pass out at the end
−
You want to keep the audience engaged
26
27. Navigation in PowerPoint
• Always go through your presentation in
slide show mode before giving it
−
Multiple times
• Use keyboard short cuts, not the mouse
• F1 (in slide show mode)
−
To bring up the list of all shortcut keys
(Escape to hide the list)
−
Use this while practicing to help you learn
the navigation
27
28. Navigation in PowerPoint
• To start slide show mode
−
F5 (Automatically takes you to start of
presentation)
• To end slide show mode
−
Escape
28
29. Navigation in PowerPoint
• Home
−
To go to the beginning slide
• End
−
To go to last slide
• Type the slide #, then Enter
−
To jump to any particular slide
• B
−
Black screen
• W
−
White screen
29
30. Delivery Do’s and Don’ts
• Don’t read or “parrot” the slides
−
Otherwise, why give a presentation?
• Do use the slides as a cue
−
Let audience read
• Do use pointers sparingly
−
They magnify nervousness
−
Create slides and use animation that
emphasize your points
30
31. Delivery Do’s and Don’ts
• Do plan breaks for longer presentations
−
10 minutes for every hour
• Do be passionate about the topic
−
Have fun, this is your opportunity
−
If your audience doesn’t know why your topic is
important, you’ve lost them
• Don’t forget to practice
−
Record yourself, tape yourself, or use a mirror
−
Reading through slides does not count as practice
31
32. Delivery Do’s and Don’ts
• Do relax, use nerves to your advantage
−
Breathe deeply, pause as needed
−
Don’t go too fast
−
Do watch out for mannerisms
>
“Um . . um”
• Do empty your pockets and hands
• Don’t point at computer, point at the
screen
32
33. Delivery Do’s and Don’ts
• Do use body language to help make a point
−
Purposeful movements
• Do use appropriate posture
−
Don’t slouch
−
Sitting implies informality
• Do move around if possible
−
Don’t pace
−
Don’t be hyperactive
−
Center yourself, rearrange setup if needed
33
34. Delivery Do’s and Don’ts
• Do face audience more than slides
−
Don’t talk to the screen or wall
• Do vary your voice
−
Don’t speak in monotone
−
Most people speak too soft, not too loud
• Do memorize slide numbers for key slides
−
Or transition points
• Do get honest feedback from someone you trust
34
36. Handling Questions
•
Welcome them
−
Lots of questions are either a sign of:
>
Interest in what you are talking about
– Audience internalizing
>
Failure to communicate an idea
– Meaning that the person still wants to
understand
•
Always repeat the question
1.
For you to make sure you understood it
2.
For audience to make sure they heard it
36
37. Handling Questions
•
Answer the question to the audience
−
•
Then check back to the individual for
confirmation
Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”
−
Better than mumbling or fumbling an
answer
37
38. Final thoughts
• POPTA
• Good slides go a long way
• Practice, practice, practice
• Remember that the audience wants you to
succeed
• Use other resources (Books, web, etc.)
• Anyone can learn to be a better presenter!
38
39. How to Give a
“Knockout”
Presentation
Willis Jensen
SOS Seminar
February 28, 2006
39