Contents
Step 1 Prepare for anything and everything
Step 2 Choose your tools and structure
Step 3 Assess the venue and equipment
Step 5 Use the right body language
Step 7 Turn questions to your advantage
About the Author
Copyright
About the Publisher
PREPARE FOR ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING
‘The person who uses a lot of big words is nottrying to inform you; he’s trying to impress you.’ — Oskar von Miller, engineer (1855–1934)
Five ways to succeed
Start small – contribute actively in meetings.
Look for opportunities to give presentations.
Get tips in advance from experienced presenters.
Take risks – try out different approaches to presentations.
Ask for feedback and learn from your mistakes.
Five ways to fail
Avoid presentation opportunities.
Leave preparations to the last minute.
Prepare everything alone.
Be overconfident.
Assume your audience shares your opinion.
So, a couple of weeks ago your boss asked you to give a presentation but now, as the deadline gets closer, you’re having doubts. What made you say yes? The first thing to realise is that you’re not alone, and this book is about the difference between those for whom presentations will always be a form of medieval torture and those who learn to enjoy them. Because learning how to present is a really good idea.
Profile
There are many ways to get yourself noticed at work. Some, like singing My Way on a karaoke machine at the office party, won’t help your career. Others, like being good at your job, probably will. But combining being good at your job with the ability to stand in front of a bunch of strangers or your colleagues and tell them about it will get you to the top.
Transferable life skills
Presentation skills have a wide application. You’ll be able to talk with confidence and assurance to complete strangers. You’ll be able to get people to listen to you and you’ll be able to use your voice and body language to influence people. These skills are useful at work and outside it as well. Think about the possibilities.
Knowledge sharing
This is the information age. But it can be difficult to sort out the relevant information from what is irrelevant. When you give a presentation, you’ll find that you attract people to you who can add information to what you know already and make it better. It’s a simple calculation: talk to one colleague about what you’re doing and you’ll get one person’s input, which may or may not be useful. Talk to fifty and the chances are much higher that you’ll learn something new that you can use.
Networking
Presenting will give you great opportunities to network with a lot of like-minded people at the same time. Who knows, one of them might be the person who gives you your dream job at some time in the future.
Before you start work on your presentation, it’s smart to do some research. The more you find out about what’s required in advance, the better the end result.
Presentation types
The first thing you need to find out is what kind of presentation is required. There are several types, each with its own distinct purpose and challenges.
1 Information sharing
This is the most frequent type of presentation. It’s used for bringing a group of people up to speed about a topic of mutual relevance, for example sharing information about the status of a project or changes in the organisation. Sometimes you might be asked to present regularly at a monthly meeting. It’s important for information-sharing presentations to sound neutral because people need to be allowed to draw their own conclusions about what you tell them. If you don’t sound neutral, then you run the risk that your audience will reject what you say because they believe you to be biased. So the challenge lies in sounding neutral without being dull. You can do this by making clear to people how something affects them directly: As soon as the system is ready, we need to be able to use it efficiently.
