Presentation Skills: pre-workshop information

The course consists of two parts:

1) The electronic pre-workshop information, which gives you the tools to prepare a presentation and asks you to apply them to create a 5 minute presentation.

2) Face-to-face workshop where you will deliver your prepared 5 minute presentation and receive feedback on it.

Welcome to Graduate Development Programme’s Presentation Skills Course

You will learn about:

1) The content of a presentation.

2) The structure of a presentation.

3) How to structure the introduction of a presentation.

4) Ways to use Powerpoint.

5) Ways to rehearse a presentation.

6) Ways to overcome nerves before presenting.

In this section you will learn how to prepare a presentation and apply the principles to create your own.

Text in black indicates information.

Text in red, with this image of a hammer next to it, is an activity for you to complete.

Often, you will be asked to apply what you have learned to create your own presentation.

Symbols for Activities

Spend a few minutes answering these questions as they will help you get more out of the course.

Why are you attending this course?

What specifically do you want to improve?

When will you present?

At a conference?

In a lab or lecture theatre?

In a boardroom?

What do you want from this course?

People learn most effectively when they are clear about their motivations for learning.

Think back to a time when you saw a really effective presentation/presenter.

What did the person do and say?

How did they say it?

Make a list of what makes a presentation effective for you.

Now take a look at Cambridge PhD student, Rachel Pike, presenting at the prestigious TED Talks, by copying and pasting the link below into your internet browser. What does she do? How does she present?

What Makes an Effective Presentation?

http://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_pike_the_science_behind_a_climate_headline.html

Qualities of an effective presentation, which you may have

listed, include:

A clear message, relevant to the audience.

Good structure.

‘Signposts’, which keep the audience’s attention. Confident, composed body language, including

tone of voice and eye contact.

Qualities of an Effective Presentation

Preparing to Present: the content of your

presentation

1) Who is my audience?

2) What’s my single, clear message? (In other words,

What’s the main point I want them to remember tomorrow?)

3) Why should they care (about my message)?

4) What outcome do I want? (For example, what do I want

them to do, or remember?)

These are key questions to ask for any effective communication, not just a presentation.

To begin preparing a presentation, start by answering these four key questions:

Choose a topic for your 5 minute presentation.

It can be anything. (You might want to choose a topic you will have to present on in the future or have already presented on.)

Now apply the four questions of content to it.

Applying the 4 Questions to Your Presentation

Preparing to Present: structuring your

presentation

There are many models that can be used to structure a presentation, here are 3 popular ones:

1) The classic academic conference presentation.

2) ‘Think-Feel-Do’ structure.

3) ‘4Mat’ structure.

The structure of your presentation relates to the four key questions of communication, which you thought about in the previous exercise.

An essential part of an effective presentation is its structure

An academic conference presentation often consists of a main idea, presented as an argument, reinforced by supporting points and evidence.

A way to structure it, might look like this.....

Structuring an Academic Conference Presentation

Structuring an Academic Conference Presentation

The ‘Think-Feel-Do’ structure is commonly used for giving very short ‘elevator pitch’ presentations. But it can also be used for giving longer presentations, such as lectures.*

Using this structure involves answering 3 questions:

Think: What do I want the audience to know or understand as a result of this presentation?

Feel: What specific emotion do I want them to have as they listen to my talk?

Do: What specific action, do I want the listener to do as a result of it? (From B Ross and C Segal ,The Influential Fundraiser , San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2009, pp.19-21)

*(An ‘elevator-pitch’ is so called because in Hollywood a hopeful director had until the elevator reached the top floor to pitch his or her idea to the executive before he or she went into their office, i.e., 30 seconds – 1 minute.)

‘Think-Feel-Do’ Structure

Try using this model for your presentation.

Simply reverse the process: start with ‘do’ and work backwards to ‘think’.

1)Who is your audience? What action do you want them to take?

2)Which feeling is most likely to move them to take that action?

3)What information is likely to create that emotion? (From B Ross and C Segal, The Influential Fundraiser, 2009, pp.19-21)

Using the ‘Think-Feel-Do’ Structure

4) What if?(this happened, if this didn’t happen)

1) Why? (is this important to you, the audience)

3) How? (can you apply this information)

2) What?(information do you need to know)

The 4Mat Structure is often used to brief people. It is based on four questions:

This structure is reported to overcome 83% of resistance to the ideas you present as it creates a compelling argument.

Answering ‘Why?’ increases your audience’s motivation to listen.

Answering ‘What?’ provides them with the information they might want.

Answering ‘How?’ shows them how to apply the information.

Answering ‘What if?’ allows you to link your presentation to future benefits for your audience.

The Purpose of the 4Mat Questions

(Why?): “You might be wondering why...”

“This is important for you because...”

Linking phrases to the ‘What?’ section:

“So to cover these important issues, I need to tell you about...”

“So what I need to tell you about is...”

(How?): “This information can be used in one/many ways...”

“You can use this to...”

(What if?):

“Once we take these actions the positive result will be....”

“Just imagine how this could contribute to...”

(From Kaizen Training: ‘Communication Mastery’)

Sentence prompts for the 4Mat questions include:

Try using this model for your presentation using the 4MAT questions and prompts on the previous slide.

Using the 4MAT Structure

Preparing to Present: structuring the Introduction

A quick, memorable way to structure the introduction of the your presentation is through the A-B-C-D model.

The A-B-C-D of Structuring Introductions

A = ‘Attention’ Grab your audience’s attention - appropriately.

B = ‘Benefits’ Why will listening to you benefit them? Tell your audience why they should care about your presentation.

C = ‘Credibility’ You might need to stress your expertise in some appropriate way. (But it may not be necessary at conferences.)

D = ‘Direction’ Give your audience a brief overview of your presentation.

(Attention): “It’s a shocking fact that 1 in 4 people will have a mental

health problem at some time in their life.”

(Benefit): “Today, I’m going to tell you about X, which helps us

understand the bigger questions in our field.”

(Credibility): “... Researching this area for the last (X) years, I have ...”

(Direction): “In this presentation today, I’m going to tell you about X, Y

and Z, showing you this and concluding that....”

An example of an introduction using the A-B-C-D model might be....

Introduction (1 minute)

A-ttention

B-enefit

C-redentials

D-irection/map

Discussion points 1 – 3 (3 minutes)

Key idea 1. Reinforced by:

Key idea 2. Reinforced by:

Key idea 3. Reinforced by:

Conclusion: Linking of key ideas (1 minute)

To summarise this section on structuring a presentation, a 5 minute talk might have this structure:

Now apply what you have learned about structuring your presentation and writing your introduction.

Choose an appropriate structure for your topic and spend time preparing your presentation.

Preparing to Present: using Powerpoint

effectively

Keep slides simple. It is difficult to read cluttered slides, which can irritate your audience.

Don’t add visual clutter – keep email address and credits to the first and last slide.

jb567@cam.ac.uk

My Research Group

Slide Preparation

Font and Size

Use Arial and other sans serif fonts (e.g. Tahoma) as they are easy to read from the back of the room.

Avoid serif fonts, such as Times New Roman, which is much more difficult to read.

Serif fonts should only be used for written work. (The exception is Maths presentations, which often use serif font.)

Layout

CAPTIALS MAKE TEXT HARDER TO READ

People also tend to feel SHOUTED at.

Use a combination of upper and lower case.

Also, centred text is hard to read.

Left aligned text is much easier.

Colour

Dark text on a light background is best for most situations.

Avoid complicated background and overly bright colours.

Some of your audience may be colour-blind so bear this in mind when making choices about

font and colour.

PowerPoint Quick Keys Include...

ActionsBegin slide show F5Next slide ENTER or Down arrow keyPrevious Slide BACKSPACE or Up arrow

keyActivate pen tool CTRL+PErase pen strokes EDeactivate pen tool CTRL+AShow/Hide black screen BShow/Hide white screen WShow/Hide pointer & button AEnd slide show ESC

If appropriate to your discipline, or you want to try using visual aids, apply what you have learned about using Powerpoint or other presentation media effectively else where to illustrate your presentation.

Preparing to Present: rehearsing your

presentation

This is an ideal order in which to do so:

1) Three times in your head.

2) Twice in a mirror.

3) Once on tape or camera.

4) Once to real people.

(Kaizen Training ‘Presenting with Presence, Power and

Punch’)

Rehearsing your presentation is a vital part of preparing it. There are at least four ways to practise it.

Now practise rehearsing your presentation.

Some tips:• Learn the first few sentences of your

introduction. Generally, we are most nervous at the beginning and so most likely to forget our words.

• Learn the ‘transitions’ between key ideas.

Preparing to Present: handling nerves

Perhaps the biggest ‘secret’ in presenting effectively is that nerves are normal.

To a greater or lesser extent, most people get nervous about presenting in some situations.

There are three things that you can focus on and change, to handle your nerves: focus, language and physiology. They are the three aspects of ‘state’.

Handling Nerves

Focu

s

Physiology

Language

‘State’ is a term used in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). It refers to a person’s ‘state of mind’. In NLP, a person’s state consists of three qualities.

‘Focus’ refers to what a person focuses on at any given moment.

‘Language’ relates to ‘Focus’. It refers to what we tell ourselves

and others at any moment. For example, feeling nervous we

might tell ourselves, “I’m going to do really badly”. Feeling

relaxed, we might tell ourselves, “It’s all going to be fine”.

‘Physiology’ refers to the physiology of our body, such as our

breathing, posture, our energy levels.

State Explained: Change one, or all, of these three qualities and we move into a different state.

A story to illustrate this:

Physiological signs that we interpret as nerves can be seen as a positive signal that we are ready to present.

Focus: To some extent, handling nerves is a matter of perception. It is how we see the physiological signs of nerves that matters.

At the height of his fame, playing to thousands of people each night, the rock star Bruce Springsteen was asked by a journalist if he ever got nervous before going on stage. Baffled, he asked what the journalist meant.

“You know, Bruce. Do you get a dry throat? Sweaty palms? ‘Butterflies’ in your stomach?”

“Oh,” Springsteen said, “I get those. But I see them as signs that I’m ready to perform.”

Imagine you are about to give your presentation: How do you feel?

Is any part of your body feeling tense?

Working your way up your body, relax your toes……your legs…… your knees……your

stomach……your chest……your shoulders……and your arms all the way to your fingertips.

Now move to your neck and relax all of the muscles……feel the muscles in you face relax, including your tongue.

Now focus on your breathing……

Are you taking short, shallow breaths or are you breathing deeply, filling your lungs?

What thoughts are going through your mind?

Are they positive or negative?

Now imagine yourself standing in front of your audience giving your presentation.

See yourself being confident, delivering the best presentation you have ever given,

feeling pleased and relaxed about how it is going.

Now imagine you are at the end of your presentation.

You are standing confidently. You are relaxed and feeling good about your

performance. You are smiling at the audience and welcoming questions.

This visualisation activity is a way to change your focus and help you handle your nerves.

Before actors go on stage, they do physical exercises to warm up their body. It helps remove the adrenaline, which causes the physiological symptoms of nerves. If they don’t warm up before, their bodies produce the symptoms on stage – which affects their performance.

Physiology: warming up your body to present

One way to do so, is to go for a walk on the day of your presentation.

Another way is to find a space where you won’t be seen – such as a toilet cubicle – and begin to shake your right hand… then shake your right arm… your right shoulder… then move across to your left hand and start shaking that… now your left arm… your left shoulder… and then begin to move your legs… and your head… until your whole body is moving.

To warm up your body before presenting, simply move it.

Another way to handle nerves is to ask ourselves three questions.

1)What’s the best that could happen, when I present?

2)What’s the worst that could happen, when I present?

3)What’s likely to happen, when I present?

Possible answers might be:

(Best): “It goes perfectly and they give me a standing ovation.”

(Worst): “Paralyzed by fear, nothing comes out of my mouth. I faint with shock, tripping the audio-visual equipment, which electrocutes my host, who is rushed to hospital. I come round to boos from the audience.”

(Likely): “Having followed the tips in this information - i.e., knowing my audience and key message, rehearsed my presentation, etc. - I quite present well. I might be a little nervous at the beginning - but everybody gets nervous - but they soon go away. I make one or two small mistakes which nobody minds or even notices. Overall, I’m pleased with my performance.”

Language: 3 Questions

One of the most charismatic speakers of the 20th century was John F. Kennedy (JFK). Yet JFK was not born with ‘JFK’ charisma. He learnt it from his speech writers.

To do this, it was decided that he should embody four qualities:

1) Warmth

2) Joy

3) Certainty

4) Flexibility

Moving from Nerves to Confidence: JFK Charisma

For ‘warmth’ he would silently say to members of his audience: “I’m so glad you’re here.”…“I’m so glad you’re here.”… “I’m so glad you’re here.”….

For ‘joy’ he would silently repeat: “I’m so glad I’m here.”… “I’m so glad I’m here.”… “I’m so glad I’m here.”….

For ‘certainty’ he would silently say: “I know what I know.”… “I know what I know.”…“I know what I know.”

For ‘flexibility’ he would internally repeat: “I have many choices.”… “I have many choices.”… “I have many choices.”…

JFK’s speech writers constructed a ‘mantra’ for each quality which he would repeat internally, directed at his audience.

1) Change your physiology by shaking your body out. Begin with your right hand and just shake it!

2) Change your focus by: a) practising the visualisation activity; b) remembering that nerves are normal, they mean you are ready to present.

3) Change your language by asking yourself the three questions: “What’s the best that can happen?” “What’s the worst that can happen?” “What’s likely to happen?”

4) Move from a state of nerves to charisma by repeating the JFK charisma mantras.

Apply the tips and techniques you have just learned for handling nerves by changing your state.

Preparing to Present: dealing with difficult

questions

Questions can be seen positively: they show that your audience is interested in your research. There are many ways to handle questions:

1)Anticipate – what have you left out? What might be controversial? 2) Be calm and composed. Welcome questions. 3)Clarify the question by repeating it. This helps those who haven’t heard it. 4) Be succinct in your reply. Offer a range of possibilities. 5) If you don’t know the answer, be honest. 6)Refer out to members of the audience. But don’t put a specific person ‘on the spot’.7) Postpone.

Dealing with difficult questions often causes concern. You might not know the answer, but you want to create a good impression.

Example sentences to deal with difficult questions

Staying calm: “That’s an interesting question....”

Clarifying the question: “Am I right in thinking you mean…”, “Are you asking about…”

Admitting you don’t know: “I cannot give you an answer because…”, “In this instance it was not relevant to…”

Asking for volunteers/referring back: “Perhaps someone else could say…”, “That’s interesting. What is your opinion?...”

Offering a range of answers: “There are several possibilities…”, “More than one answer comes to mind…”

Postponing questions: “Perhaps we could come to that at the end…”, “I would like to think about that first…”,“Maybe we should talk about this further at coffee…”

Preparing to Present: summary and next

steps

You have learned about:

1) How to shape the content of your talk through the 4 essential questions of effective communication.

2) 3 different ways to structure a presentation: Academic paper, ‘Think-Feel-Do’ and 4Mat.

3) How to structure the introduction of a presentation using the A-B-C- D model.

4) Tips to use Powerpoint effectively.

5) Ways to rehearse a presentation.

6) Ways to overcome nerves before presenting by changing your

state.

You have applied your learning to create a 5 minute presentation.

This concludes this part of the course

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In the second part of the course you will have the opportunity to deliver your presentation and receive feedback on it.

On the next slide are tips for giving feedback.

We look forward to seeing you at the face-to-face session.

Next Steps: delivering your presentation and receiving feedback

Tips for giving and receiving feedback

• Be selective.

• Focus on behaviour that can be changed.

• Be specific, give examples.

• Consider the potential value of your

comments.

In essence, how do you want others to give you feedback on your presentation?