1.
Presenting as a Team

2.
Presenting as a Team
In today’s collaborative work environment, there may be occasions when you are
asked to give a presentation with a few of your business colleagues. Unlike a solo
presentation, a presentation given by two or more people requires teamwork in
order to appear as one unified group effort. If you want to conduct a professional,
well-run business presentation, you and your co-workers will need to present
together as a team.
While all types of presentations rely on the same fundamentals - planning,
preparing, and then delivery - presenting as a team involves a few additional
strategies. The teamwork approach that follows will help you achieve a smooth
performance that shows you work well together as a team.

3.
Presenting as a Team
Team Lead
When presenting as a team, whether to an internal or external audience, you
want to leave the impression that your group is capable and cohesive. How well
the team functions as a whole is a responsibility of the designated team leader.
For the sake of everyone involved, a team or project lead should be appointed.
Typically, the senior person becomes the team lead and takes ownership of the
final deliverable. This individual should be “hands on” throughout the entire
process and personally make sure that:
• Meetings are scheduled for project members to come together and plan
the presentation.
• All team members receive regular communications about the project.

4.
Presenting as a Team
Engage as Equal Partners
It’s important to establish clear expectations early in the team relationship
because conflict later on adds extra work for everyone involved. Here’s what you
can do to take personal ownership for the success of the group project.
• Recognize that each person on the team is an essential contributor. Do your
best to cooperate as equal partners so that everyone engages in the process.
• Get to know your team members. Each person in the group will have
different strengths, expectations, experiences, and perspectives.
• Never make assumptions about how to work together, regardless of how
well you may or may not know each other. People often wait for others to
guess their needs, and then hope the other person acts according to their
wishes. Strive to collaborate by actively listening and soliciting comments
from everyone.
• Do your fair share especially if everyone working on the project is a peer of
each other.

5.
Presenting as a Team
Allocate Responsibilities
The project lead should allocate responsibilities so that everyone knows what to
work on. Different parts of the presentation can be presented by those who are
most knowledgeable about specific aspects.
First, make sure that each person on the team is in agreement about the purpose
of the presentation. A good rule is to focus on the three most essential points you
want to communicate to the audience. This will drive your presentation strategy.
Next, determine the particular topic each person will address. This will be the
foundation upon which to build the content of the presentation.

6.
Presenting as a Team
Manage the Tasks
Delivering a professional team presentation requires thorough planning, including
the logistics, the visuals, and the overall game plan. The following are some
decisions to make as part of orchestrating the actual event.
• Who will be invited?
• Who will send out the meeting invitation?
• How much time do you need for the presentation?
• Who will take the lead in introducing the team to the audience?
• Who will prepare the visuals (slideshow, handouts)?
For an online event:
• What technology will you use?
• Who will deal with technical problems?
For a face-to-face event:
• Who will set up the room and make sure the equipment works?
• Who will distribute materials?

7.
Presenting as a Team
Work Together
The way you work together is critical to your team’s success. Good team
relationships depend on mutual trust and respect as well as open and honest
communication. This is especially true when giving each other feedback.
Suppose your hear the following statement from one of your colleagues.
You should have gotten your part done by now!
There is a right way and a wrong way to give each other feedback. On the next
slide you can see what is wrong with this comment and how to improve it.

8.
Presenting as a Team
Work Together
This statement is finding fault, vague, and not measurable.
You should have gotten your part done by now!
Finding fault Vague Not
measurable
It is possible to create a safe environment for mutual feedback if you keep it
specific and free of emotion, as in: I expected you to have completed the outline
by Tuesday. Is there something I can do to help out?
Always speak from the perspective of I instead of you and avoid words like could,
would, should (often coupled with you). This approach will improve your working
relationships and get much better results.

9.
Presenting as a Team
Organize
It’s important to organize your team’s delivery prior to presenting. Establish a
logical sequence of subject material in order to create a coherent message. You
want your presentation to appear as one continuous session rather than a series
of single presentations strung together.
Coordinate speaking roles and the time allotted for each. Use transition
statements to make it clear when one part ends and another part begins. For
example: “Now that you’ve heard about the business opportunity, our account
manager Nancy will tell you what our plans are.”
Develop an agenda so your audience knows what topics you will cover and can
track your progress. This avoids people asking about things you are just about to
tell them.

10.
Presenting as a Team
Rehearse
Although it is often logistically challenging to rehearse together as a team,
practice is essential if you want to make a confident and polished presentation.
There aren’t any shortcuts. If you don’t devote sufficient time to practice,
everyone will wind up looking unprepared.
When all materials are ready, each person should practice their segment all the
way through in the order in which they will speak. Going from start to finish will
ensure that the whole presentation is polished and not just the beginning.
The more familiar you are with the material, the less nervous you will be. Click
through the slideshow and get used to one another’s speaking styles. Practice
your transitions or have the team leader act as host to introduce each speaker.

11.
Presenting as a Team
Keep Control
Here are some ways to keep control during the actual presentation.
• Pay attention to what is being said and don’t get distracted by your own
upcoming part. Listen carefully so you can adjust what you want to say or
refer to something said earlier by someone else.
• Agree in advance on who will field the questions. When answering, never say
something to contradict or call into question something said by another.
• Always take turns talking so it does not look like you are competing. This
teamwork approach will demonstrate that you and your colleagues are
organized and well-coordinated when presenting as a team.
The END.