'Set' Appearance

This is how the area in which the presentation takes place is laid out - the stage set for your presentation. You may not have many alternatives but you can and should adjust things if you want your presentation to succeed.

• Are the OHP, Flip, slide, set exactly where you want them ?
• Can you be seen clearly by everyone?
• Have you room to move?
• Are your papers and materials arranged near to hand and professionally ?
• What about the seating - do you want to re-arrange the audience?

Tip: Good presenters always check their equipment before starting their presentation.

Appearance of the Materials

The way in which you have prepared for your presentation indicates your seriousness and professionalism to the presentation. Try to ensure:-

• Consistent overheads - not a mixture of hand-written and typed
• Same font in overheads
• Same font in any written material
• No hand-written pre-prepared material
• 35mm slides in the correct order
• Correct information on the slides/ohp/flip
• Easily read graphs/pie charts
• No spelling mistakes ..
• Clear distinctive colours

Your Appearance

When faced with giving a presentation, people tend to over-concentrate on what they are going to say and pay little or no attention to how they are going to say it (paraverbal communication) or what they look like when they say it (body language). Although words are the main focus of attention when preparing for a presentation, getting these other factors right is vital to its success.

Research by Mehrabian in 1969 showed that we take in information in the following percentages:-

• 55% - Body Language
• 38% - Para Verbal Language
• 7% - Words Spoken

Body language

• How are you standing?
• What are you wearing?
• Where are your hands?
• What are your feet doing?
• What are your eyes doing?
• What does your posture say to the audience?

Stance

• Avoid hiding yourself or hiding the OHP screen. Stand in the audience and come into the body of the room when you are talking. If nothing else, moving around means that you keep the audience's heads exercised by looking at you.
• Avoid slouching, or standing so erect that you look like a soldier on guard outside Buckingham Palace. Try to be natural.

Clothes

Look the part:

• What is it appropriate to wear?
• Where are you ? A university? A business meeting?
• With your colleagues? With your peers? With others from the same firm?
• At an off-site meeting - if so, why have you been invited?

Tip: If in doubt wear a suit.

Look professional

• This includes such simple things as ironed clothes, polished shoes, no hems in need of mending or slips showing, clean and ironed ties...

Hands

It is very difficult to decide what to do with your hands in front of a group of strangers but at all costs avoid:

• Sticking them in your pockets - trousers or jacket
• Putting them on your hips
• Fiddling with "tools" - pens, pointers - or loose change
• Holding them in prayer
• Holding them folder across your chest

If you usually talk and use your hands then do this too - gestures help convey meaning.

Feet

• Try to avoid dancing around the room - or even do little shuffles on the spot. If your feet are anchored firmly to the ground and your head high you will present an air of calmness - even if you do not feel that way at all inside.

Eyes

• Your eyes reflect your emotions in a way that you cannot control easily. What is important therefore is that you maintain eye contact with the audience and do this equally with all members of the audience so that no-one feels left out. If someone appears not to be listening then staring at them for just slightly longer than "usual" will make them feel uncomfortable and turn their attention back to you. Looking at people makes them feel recognised as human beings and also enables you to judge the effect your presentation is having on your audience so you can fine tune it if necessary.

Posture

• If you are calm, reassured and confident in the way you look then the audience will believe in you and what you are going to say. A slouching back and nervous hand movements will not help your presentation - neither will arms folded like a fishwife and a thrusting chin and frown.

Paraverbal language

This is the sound of your voice. It is difficult to alter your voice but try the following tips:

• Try to talk deeper than your own voice (especially for women)
• Talk more slowly than usual - what you are saying is new to the audience so they need to take it in slowly and understand it so - go slow
• Avoid sarcasm - unless amongst people you know very well - it often backfires
• Be enthusiastic about what you are going to say - it comes across in the voice
• Remember that what you hear is one stage less aggressive than what your audience hears when you speak

Mannerisms

Try to avoid specific mannerisms:

• UMMMMM........UMMMMMM....ER.....ER.......ER......
• You know....you know..... you know..... you see....you see....you see......
• basically ... essentially .......actually

If you are not sure if you have any mannerisms or not:

• Watch yourself on tape
• Record your presentation into a tape recorder and listen for them
• Ask your best friend

These annoying mannerisms get to the state where an audience will count the number of times you say "you know" rather than listening to what you are saying.

Words

We will be looking and listening for the words you are going to say during the course but take care with:

• Technical jargon (bits, bytes, mips)
• Abbreviations (LANs, WANs)
• Talking over the heads of your audience (judge their level of understanding)
• Talking down to your audience (judge their level of understanding)
• Using double negatives (no-one can disagree with...)
• Too complex sentences - you are speaking this presentation, not writing a report ("Howsoever, when we take the first hypothesis with the second it is clear that unless one conceded to the possibility of an intervening second clause, that...")
• Too many conditionals (should this not happen then unless the sun shines we will...)

Tip: The best advice for presentations is to KISS: Keep It Short And Simple.

Stories

• If you can bring some stories and anecdotes into your presentation then you will enable the audience to relate to you. Facts and figures are important as back up material, but a story or anecdote give a succinct picture and generally is retained longer in the audience members' memories.

Metaphors

• As with stories, a metaphor is a very powerful tool to get your message across to the audience. A metaphor is a symbol that represents reality. For instance, you can talk about a budget as "The map that guides your financial way into the future." Think of a simple way of explaining your point and try to find a metaphor.

Silence

• Use silence occasionally for impact. Let the importance of your words sink in. Remember you have heard the words several times - this is your audience's first time so take it slowly and allow silence for people to think and assimilate the information.

Putting Impact into a Presentation

To have impact, a presentation must be

• Positive
• Have actions clearly indicated
• Present facts clearly
• Be simple
• Be easy for your audience to understand
• Use stories and metaphors where appropriate