Know the needs of your audience and match your contents to their needs. Know your material thoroughly. Put what you have to say in a logical sequence. Ensure your speech will be captivating to your audience as well as worth their time and attention. Practice and rehearse your speech at home or where you can be at ease and comfortable, in front of a mirror, your family, friends or colleagues. Use a tape-recorder and listen to yourself. Videotape your presentation and analyze it. Know what your strong and weak points are. Emphasize your strong points during your presentation.
When you are presenting in front of an audience, you are performing as an actor is on stage. How you are being perceived is very important. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Be solemn if your topic is serious. Present the desired image to your audience. Look pleasant, enthusiastic, confident, proud, but not arrogant. Remain calm. Appear relaxed, even if you feel nervous. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly, and show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to your topic. Establish rapport with your audience. Speak to the person farthest away from you to ensure your voice is loud enough to project to the back of the room. Vary the tone of your voice and dramatize if necessary. If a microphone is available, adjust and adapt your voice accordingly.
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Body language is important. Standing, walking or moving about with appropriate hand gesture or facial expression is preferred to sitting down or standing still with head down and reading from a prepared speech. Use audio-visual aids or props for enhancement if appropriate and necessary. Master the use of presentation software such as PowerPoint well before your presentation. Do not over-dazzle your audience with excessive use of animation, sound clips, or gaudy colors which are inappropriate for your topic. Do not torture your audience by putting a lengthy document in tiny print on an overhead and reading it out to them.
Speak with conviction as if you really believe in what you are saying. Persuade your audience effectively. The material you present orally should have the same ingredients as that which are required for a written research paper, i.e. a logical progression from INTRODUCTION (Thesis statement) to BODY (strong supporting arguments, accurate and up-to-date information) to CONCLUSION (re-state thesis, summary, and logical conclusion).
Do not read from notes for any extended length of time although it is quite acceptable to glance at your notes infrequently. Speak loudly and clearly. Sound confident. Do not mumble. If you made an error, correct it, and continue. No need to make excuses or apologize profusely.
Maintain sincere eye contact with your audience. Use the 3-second method, e.g. look straight into the eyes of a person in the audience for 3 seconds at a time. Have direct eye contact with a number of people in the audience, and every now and then glance at the whole audience while speaking. Use your eye contact to make everyone in your audience feel involved.
Speak to your audience, listen to their questions, respond to their reactions, adjust and adapt. If what you have prepared is obviously not getting across to your audience, change your strategy mid-stream if you are well prepared to do so. Remember that communication is the key to a successful presentation. If you are short of time, know what can be safely left out. If you have extra time, know what could be effectively added. Always be prepared for the unexpected.
Pause. Allow yourself and your audience a little time to reflect and think. Don't race through your presentation and leave your audience, as well as yourself, feeling out of breath.
Add humor whenever appropriate and possible. Keep audience interested throughout your entire presentation. Remember that an interesting speech makes time fly, but a boring speech is always too long to endure even if the presentation time is the same.
When using audio-visual aids to enhance your presentation, be sure all necessary equipment is set up and in good working order prior to the presentation. If possible, have an emergency backup system readily available. Check out the location ahead of time to ensure seating arrangements for audience, whiteboard, blackboard, lighting, location of projection screen, sound system, etc. are suitable for your presentation.
Have handouts ready and give them out at the appropriate time. Tell audience ahead of time that you will be giving out an outline of your presentation so that they will not waste time taking unnecessary notes during your presentation.
Know when to STOP talking. Use a timer or the microwave oven clock to time your presentation when preparing it at home. Just as you don't use unnecessary words in your written paper, you don't bore your audience with repetitious or unnecessary words in your oral presentation. To end your presentation, summarize your main points in the same way as you normally do in the CONCLUSION of a written paper. Remember, however, that there is a difference between spoken words appropriate for the ear and formally written words intended for reading. Terminate your presentation with an interesting remark or an appropriate punch line. Leave your listeners with a positive impression and a sense of completion. Do not belabor your closing remarks. Thank your audience and sit down.
Have the written portion of your assignment or report ready for your instructor if required.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Tips on doing presentation
Here are some presentation tips to make your presentation fly.
Write it down
Write down your speech, but try not to read from it. If you have written it down - if you dry up, you will beable to pick it back up again.
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Put it on tape
When you practice your presentation, do it with a tape recorder or with a video recorder and then play it back to find out which bits sound weak.
Put it on tape
When you speak -try to speak with passion and enthusiasm. If you speak passionately it will make up for many other shortcomings.
Use pauses
Pause - the power of pausing in a presentation can be very profound. It will also give you a chance to catch your breath.
Don't leave it to the last minute
Don't leave it to the very last minute to work on your presentation. When you know you have to give a presentation - make sure that you leave yourself real time to present - and this is more than half a day the night before. You will be standing up in front of a lot of people - you want to to go well. Plan at least 8 hours over the week before.
Prepare the room in advance
Make sure that you have spent time in the presentation room before your presentation. get to know the room and run through your slides beforehand to ensure that everything is working smoothly.
Always leave handouts.
You have gone to a lot of effort to produce your presentation. Leaving handouts will reinforce your messages, and will help them to remember your presentation when they look at them again. Always include your contact details so that the audience can contact you.
Memorize your speech.
Do not read from your notes, unless you have frozen or not prepared. It will sound flat and stilted. If you have learnt your speech it will sound natural and you will even have the chance to ad lib, if the opportunity arises.
If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.
This is one of the biggest mistakes I see. People think that they can "wing it", but in reality those who appear to be "winging it" are often very well prepared. Every one of Frankie Howard's muses such as "ooh, now where was I?" was in the script and well rehearsed.
It takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech. - Mark Twain.
Off the cuff should mean well planned. I once heard a tale about someone who went to the Garrick Club and accidentally left wearing Enoch Powell's coat. In his pocket was a small pile of postcards, with his speech written on them. The speech started with the words "I never expected to be asked to speak this evening!" The professionals do it - so why shouldn't you?
We hope these presentation tips give you some inspiration.
Write it down
Write down your speech, but try not to read from it. If you have written it down - if you dry up, you will beable to pick it back up again.
window.google_render_ad();
Put it on tape
When you practice your presentation, do it with a tape recorder or with a video recorder and then play it back to find out which bits sound weak.
Put it on tape
When you speak -try to speak with passion and enthusiasm. If you speak passionately it will make up for many other shortcomings.
Use pauses
Pause - the power of pausing in a presentation can be very profound. It will also give you a chance to catch your breath.
Don't leave it to the last minute
Don't leave it to the very last minute to work on your presentation. When you know you have to give a presentation - make sure that you leave yourself real time to present - and this is more than half a day the night before. You will be standing up in front of a lot of people - you want to to go well. Plan at least 8 hours over the week before.
Prepare the room in advance
Make sure that you have spent time in the presentation room before your presentation. get to know the room and run through your slides beforehand to ensure that everything is working smoothly.
Always leave handouts.
You have gone to a lot of effort to produce your presentation. Leaving handouts will reinforce your messages, and will help them to remember your presentation when they look at them again. Always include your contact details so that the audience can contact you.
Memorize your speech.
Do not read from your notes, unless you have frozen or not prepared. It will sound flat and stilted. If you have learnt your speech it will sound natural and you will even have the chance to ad lib, if the opportunity arises.
If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.
This is one of the biggest mistakes I see. People think that they can "wing it", but in reality those who appear to be "winging it" are often very well prepared. Every one of Frankie Howard's muses such as "ooh, now where was I?" was in the script and well rehearsed.
It takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech. - Mark Twain.
Off the cuff should mean well planned. I once heard a tale about someone who went to the Garrick Club and accidentally left wearing Enoch Powell's coat. In his pocket was a small pile of postcards, with his speech written on them. The speech started with the words "I never expected to be asked to speak this evening!" The professionals do it - so why shouldn't you?
We hope these presentation tips give you some inspiration.
TIPS ON MOTIVATING YOURSELF
others is a crucial skill. At work, home, and everywhere in between, people use motivation to get results. Motivation requires a delicate balance of communication, structure, and incentives. These 21 tactics will help you maximize motivation in yourself and others.
Motivation
1. Consequences - Never use threats. They’ll turn people against you. But making people aware of the negative consequences of not getting results (for everyone involved) can have a big impact. This one is also big for self motivation. If you don’t get your act together, will you ever get what you want?
2. Pleasure - This is the old carrot on a stick technique. Providing pleasurable rewards creates eager and productive people.
3. Performance incentives - Appeal to people’s selfish nature. Give them the opportunity to earn more for themselves by earning more for you.
4. Detailed instructions - If you want a specific result, give specific instructions. People work better when they know exactly what’s expected.
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5. Short and long term goals - Use both short and long term goals to guide the action process and create an overall philosophy.
6. Kindness - Get people on your side and they’ll want to help you. Piss them off and they’ll do everything they can to screw you over.
7. Deadlines - Many people are most productive right before a big deadline. They also have a hard time focusing until that deadline is looming overhead. Use this to your advantage by setting up a series of mini-deadlines building up to an end result.8. Team Spirit - Create an environment of camaraderie. People work more effectively when they feel like part of team — they don’t want to let others down.
10. Recognize achievement - Make a point to recognize achievements one-on-one and also in group settings. People like to see that their work isn’t being ignored.
11. Personal stake - Think about the personal stake of others. What do they need? By understanding this you’ll be able to keep people happy and productive.
12. Concentrate on outcomes - No one likes to work with someone standing over their shoulder. Focus on outcomes — make it clear what you want and cut people loose to get it done on their own.
13. Trust and Respect - Give people the trust and respect they deserve and they’ll respond to requests much more favorably.
14. Create challenges - People are happy when they’re progressing towards a goal. Give them the opportunity to face new and difficult problems and they’ll be more enthusiastic.
15. Let people be creative - Don’t expect everyone to do things your way. Allowing people to be creative creates a more optimistic environment and can lead to awesome new ideas.16. Constructive criticism - Often people don’t realize what they’re doing wrong. Let them know. Most people want to improve and will make an effort once they know how to do it.
17. Demand improvement - Don’t let people stagnate. Each time someone advances raise the bar a little higher (especially for yourself).
18. Make it fun - Work is most enjoyable when it doesn’t feel like work at all. Let people have fun and the positive environment will lead to better results.
19. Create opportunities - Give people the opportunity to advance. Let them know that hard work will pay off.20. Communication - Keep the communication channels open. By being aware of potential problems you can fix them before a serious dispute arises.
21. Make it stimulating - Mix it up. Don’t ask people to do the same boring tasks all the time. A stimulating environment creates enthusiasm and the opportunity for “big picture” thinking.
Master these key points and you’ll increase motivation with a bit of hard work.
Motivation
1. Consequences - Never use threats. They’ll turn people against you. But making people aware of the negative consequences of not getting results (for everyone involved) can have a big impact. This one is also big for self motivation. If you don’t get your act together, will you ever get what you want?
2. Pleasure - This is the old carrot on a stick technique. Providing pleasurable rewards creates eager and productive people.
3. Performance incentives - Appeal to people’s selfish nature. Give them the opportunity to earn more for themselves by earning more for you.
4. Detailed instructions - If you want a specific result, give specific instructions. People work better when they know exactly what’s expected.
window.google_render_ad();
5. Short and long term goals - Use both short and long term goals to guide the action process and create an overall philosophy.
6. Kindness - Get people on your side and they’ll want to help you. Piss them off and they’ll do everything they can to screw you over.
7. Deadlines - Many people are most productive right before a big deadline. They also have a hard time focusing until that deadline is looming overhead. Use this to your advantage by setting up a series of mini-deadlines building up to an end result.8. Team Spirit - Create an environment of camaraderie. People work more effectively when they feel like part of team — they don’t want to let others down.
10. Recognize achievement - Make a point to recognize achievements one-on-one and also in group settings. People like to see that their work isn’t being ignored.
11. Personal stake - Think about the personal stake of others. What do they need? By understanding this you’ll be able to keep people happy and productive.
12. Concentrate on outcomes - No one likes to work with someone standing over their shoulder. Focus on outcomes — make it clear what you want and cut people loose to get it done on their own.
13. Trust and Respect - Give people the trust and respect they deserve and they’ll respond to requests much more favorably.
14. Create challenges - People are happy when they’re progressing towards a goal. Give them the opportunity to face new and difficult problems and they’ll be more enthusiastic.
15. Let people be creative - Don’t expect everyone to do things your way. Allowing people to be creative creates a more optimistic environment and can lead to awesome new ideas.16. Constructive criticism - Often people don’t realize what they’re doing wrong. Let them know. Most people want to improve and will make an effort once they know how to do it.
17. Demand improvement - Don’t let people stagnate. Each time someone advances raise the bar a little higher (especially for yourself).
18. Make it fun - Work is most enjoyable when it doesn’t feel like work at all. Let people have fun and the positive environment will lead to better results.
19. Create opportunities - Give people the opportunity to advance. Let them know that hard work will pay off.20. Communication - Keep the communication channels open. By being aware of potential problems you can fix them before a serious dispute arises.
21. Make it stimulating - Mix it up. Don’t ask people to do the same boring tasks all the time. A stimulating environment creates enthusiasm and the opportunity for “big picture” thinking.
Master these key points and you’ll increase motivation with a bit of hard work.
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