Newspaper cuttings
• Extracts from journals or magazines
• Illustrations that are particularly striking
• Titles of books
• Quotations from public figures or leaders in your field
• Witty anecdotes
• Extracts you come across in your general reading
• Insightful comments in a blog
In your preparation be willing to think outside the box. Explore different perceptions of a sensitive issue. Distinguish between facts and opinions. Question well-known arguments. Go beyond face value.
Inject strong supporting evidence into your presentation to reinforce your message.
We’ve all known times when a good presentation has been spoilt by poor attention to practical details, for example when the speaker arrives late or speaks for too long. Do your best to make sure that nothing can go wrong. When thinking about your presentation, consider the details of the venue.
You need to think about the practical details of where you are physically going to give your presentation.
• How will you reach the venue in good time? If you don’t know the location of where you are speaking, work out how you are going to get there. Check the location on a map or check the postcode for your
case study Sarah once led a two-day seminar in Chicago. She booked into the hotel the evening before the first day and in the morning rang for a taxi to take her to the venue of the seminar. The taxi turned up fine and the first day of the course went well. She thought the same would happen the second day but she hadn’t reckoned with the weather. On the morning of the second day it was raining heavily and all the taxis were busy already. She eventually arrived very late for the seminar – even at the point when some of the delegates were wondering if she’d ever arrive at all. The lesson: now she always books a taxi the evening before a presentation.
satellite-navigation system. Find out what the car-parking facilities are. If you are travelling by train, check the railway timetable and where necessary book a taxi to take you from the railway station to the venue. Time spent on these matters in advance helps you feel more in control and prepared for possible delays or other unforeseen eventualities.
• Think through the arrangements at the venue. Who will meet you, where and at what time? Remember to allow sufficient time from arriving at the venue to when you are scheduled to begin your presentation, to allow time to freshen up.
• Check the lighting of the room. If possible, give your presentation in a room that has natural light.
• Consider the ventilation of the room If the air in the room is too hot and stuffy, your audience will become drowsy. On the other hand, you don’t want people to become cold. Check how to operate any airconditioning or heating systems.
Make sure your presentation is not spoilt by poor attention to the practicalities set by the venue.
1.9 Consider the seating and accessories
You need to think through the facilities that you will need for your presentation. In particular, the way in which your seating is arranged has an important effect on the success of your presentation.
What accessories will you need at your presentation? You will probably bring your own laptop; will a projector be provided? Check that the power supply is close to your electrical equipment or that an extension lead is available. Again, allow enough time to check that your laptop connects properly with the projector. Will you need a flipchart? Flipchart pens?
one minute wonder How powerful is your voice? If the room is large, will a microphone and amplification equipment be provided? You will need to make sure you know how the equipment works and practise using it if at all possible.
• Rows and horseshoes. Think through the seating arrangements. If your audience is large (over 30) and the seating is formal with little interaction, then the layout of seating in rows may be best. If the audience is 20-30 and there is room, then an arrangement in a horseshoe (semi-circle) works well. This allows participants to work in pairs or to talk to one another a little. The disadvantage, however, is that it does not facilitate teamwork or group discussion.
• Cabaret seating. If one of your aims is to develop teamwork, interaction and discussion among the participants, then seating around tables (‘cabaret style’) works well, with five or six seated at each table, allowing room for workbooks, water, pens, etc. A possible disadvantage is that some participants may only be able to see you as presenter or if they turn around from the table.
• Furniture for you. Think whether you will speak from a lectern or table, or without any furniture at all.
• Drinking water. Will water be provided for you or should you take a bottle and glass with you?
Whichever layout you choose, give clear instructions to the organizers in advance, but also allow time before your presentation to check that your instructions have been carried out.
The seating arrangement, equipment and accessories need to be planned in advance.
When planning your presentation, think through as far as you can the practical details of each stage of what you plan to do. Some of these practicalities may be outside your control, but at least you will have thought of them. If you give presentations regularly, then it would be good to compile a check list of the various items.
1 Have the phone number of your contact. (Their phone number is probably more important than their email address.) Keep that phone number near you, or key it into your mobile so you can access it quickly if you are delayed.
case study Max tries to get to a venue early, well before the time the presentation is due to begin, especially if he is going into a company for the first time. Once, he arrived half an hour early and immediately began to notice who was talking to who…and who wasn’t talking to anyone else. One person offered to make Max a coffee, and colleagues expressed surprise as that person had never offered to make them a coffee. This information was helpful to Max later in the presentation when he encouraged colleagues who didn’t usually interact to start talking to each other and begin working as a team.
2 Know the time of your presentation: when you are due to begin and end; whether questions will be asked and, if so, if it will be during your talk or at the end. If they come at the end, will you chair the Question and Answer session or will someone else?
3 Know who will
