Presentation tips 3

[stormbind]

Actually, I don't have any presentation tips!

I'm hoping that other members will post their experiences. You never know, this might turn into an actually valuable thread..

I may not know what I'm talking about, but here are some general observations to get you started:

1. Barristors are the true masters of presentation! They must have acquired the skills somewhere, perhaps in their advocacy courses, perhaps in cross-examination experience, but they seem unable to answer this!

2. Eye contact might be good, but avoid looking sincere because this risks making audience think you are staring at them.

3. Allowing your enthusiasm to take over removes any sense of fear, but pause occationally to check that it hasn't caused you to diverge from the presentation objective.

4. Plan everything you are going to say well in advance. Write personal notes. Draw a personal flow-chart if it helps.

----------
Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam

 

[tsdragon]

My most important tip:

Vary the tone of your voice!

It's very easy when giving a presentation to fall into a monotone. This bores the audience to death. When I was teaching computer classes this was the one thing people commented on most. It's difficult to overcome, because it's hard to realize you're doing it.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[jrbarnett]

1. Look up and focus at the back of the room in which you are speaking. This will help you appear to be looking at the audience rather than down at your notes.

2. Keep your notes short and to the point. Small index cards with a few points are superb for this.

3. If you are going to be using something like Powerpoint via an OHP, check in advance your presentation works on the machine that will be running it (screen resolution available, sound facilities etc - no point having them if there's no speakers, or only tinny ones in a large room).

4. Get straight to the point and stay on it. Don't waffle when talking otherwise people will divert their attention from you to something else.

5. Get people to switch off items that may cause diversions (phones, pagers etc). If they have to keep them on (for example, on call) see that they take a seat near an exit so that they can leave easily without disturbing other members of the audience. Also recommend mobile phones get set to vibrate mode if unavoidable.

John

 

[sleipnir214]

In addition to jbarnett's excellent advice on checking your digital presentation management equipment before you try to use it, I would like to add some general comments about using projected presentations.

Unless you are making a presentation to an audience of the illiterate, the verbal component of your presentation must be something more than your simply reading aloud the text your presentation manager is projecting on the screen. Your audience can read, too, and no one likes a talk to be Story Hour.

[If your audience does consist entirely of illiterate people, projecting text is pointless.]

If you are using a digital presentation manager (Microsoft's PowerPoint is probably the most well-known), keep in mind that you are there to present information, not to demonstrate your animation and audio clip skills. Complex fades and wipes can distract from what you are trying to tell your audience. The exception, of course, is when you are giving a talk on using that digital presentation manager.




Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[stormbind]

Another observation of mine is that people can become upset if I use arbitrary objects to represent components in a theoretical scenario.

I am not entirely sure why this is, perhaps they feel I am talking down to them? Obviously there is a limit to the use of graphical aids.

So that is my contribution: Graphical aids may be helpful, but limit your usage of them to the big picture

----------
Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam

 

[SantaMufasa]

I have a few presentation suggestions that have worked well for me. If you like the suggestions and they fit your personality/presentation style, then great...please use them to success.

Engage the crowd. Audiences want to, and love to, interact with the presenter when they know their contributions will result in a positive experience. At appropriate points in a presentation, ask the audience, "What has been your experience with this concept?", "What successes have you had with this principle?", "What things must you look out for when applying this idea?", "What risks can you forsee while implementing this?", "How can you effectively manage such risks without losing the benefits of this concept?"

Always compliment contributions; never react to participation in such a way that the contributor feels embarrassed or regrets their participation.

Another suggestion for engaging your audience achieves the following results:

1) Immediately breaks the ice
2) Conveys to the crowd that you are willing to have fun
3) Reinforces and encourages audience participation in your presentation
4) Engenders good humour amongst the crowd
5) Prevents low blood sugar

It has nearly become a trademark for me and an expectation amongst "return customers" to my presentations, that after I begin a presentation, when I ask questions or when people raise their hand to participate, following their participation, I toss them a piece of wrapped chocolate candy (such as Hersheys Kisses, Dove Chocolate pieces, anything Cadbury, et cetera). The crowd quickly gets the idea that if they particpate, they get chocolate. (If you use Hersheys Kisses, you can also throw in at an appropriate moment, "What's your boss going to say when you get back to the office and tell her/him you got a 'kiss' from the seminar presenter?" It gets a good laugh, regardless of whether you use it on a guy or a gal.

Be humourous. I know that some say, "I can't do that...I'm just not funny." No matter who it is (even professional comedians), being funny is a learned skill that comes with practice and testing. Practice being funny in front of family, friends, and co-workers. Don't start out by saying "Hey, I have a joke for you," or "Hey, let me tell you a funny story." Such lead-ins always reduce the "funny-factor" of what you are going to tell them. You can, however, start out by interjecting in an already-running conversation, "That reminds me of the guy that..." (You'll be surprised how your attempts at humour, both successful and failures, can enhance your relationships with your test audience.)

Start gathering an electronic file of amusing anecdotes about your life, profession, friends, et cetera. I don't leave home without a printout of my "jokes.doc" file tucked away in my brief case. You needn't let the crowd see that you have "crib sheets" for your jokes. (If you don't have your own "jokes.doc" file already, perhaps with John's (CajunCenturion's) concurrence, we could start a thread of "Anecdotes and humor for Presentations"...we could give Purple Stars to the real "gut busters".)

Using humour is not only a great way to break up the tedium of an otherwise monotonous topic, but it is also a good way to re-focus everyone following a break or to start the day.

Avoid giving the impression of being an arrogant 'Know-it-all'. There is a thin line between instilling in your audience confidence and trust in your presentation versus coming across as an arrogant know-it-all. Among the techniques of instilling quiet confidence (and also sharing the "Knowledge Glow" among others in the audience) is to occasionally respond to a particularly good question from the audience with, "That's a very good question...what are some responses from the rest of you to her/his question?" Then, when appropriate, bring the suggestions to a close with a good summary from you along with additional ideas you have that the other contributors overlooked.

Another way to infuse humour and to avoid the 'know-it-all' syndrome is to tell anecdotes from your personal experience that illustrates what can happen if/when you do not follow the particular prinicple that you are presently presenting. Appropriate self-deprecation reassures the audience that you are human, as well, and that you know from personal experience what can happen when you don't apply principles correctly.

Ultimately, audiences love to see/know that the person up front is a human, that s/he has shared experiences with the audience, and that the presentation will be as entertaining and as enjoyable as it is informative.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[SilentAiche]

Dang, Dave,

I was gonna post here, but you already covered everything!

Outstanding post.

Tim



[blue]_____________________________________________________
If you need immediate assistance, please raise your hand.
If you are outside of Raleigh, raise your hand and say[/blue] [red]Ooh! Ooh![/red]

 

[stormbind]

Dave, I read your post yesterday "I would be pipe-dreaming if I thought I could pull that off..."

After sleeping on it, this morning I feel that what you have posted is rather subjective: It is not a methodology that someone like myself - with the wrong personality - can plod through and still get the job done.

My strength lies in adapting theoretical knowledge. The only way for me to acquire soft-skills is to absorb them as a quantitative methodology. I post this in the hope that you can expand on your ideas with a step 1,2,3 for dummies

Always compliment contributions; never react to participation in such a way that the contributor feels embarrassed or regrets their participation.

Maybe I am pesimist, but what if their contribution is not helpful, or highlights an actual flaw in the product you are presenting?

Some people, especially barristors (I genuinely respect their ability to look confident while disecting negative data and extract something positive), can turn any situation and regurgitate the information to suit their agenda. I cannot speak for you - but I am not that quick on my feet: I'll think of the perfect response 3 hours later. For this reason, audience participation scares the hell out of me

Practice being funny in front of family, friends, and co-workers.

I have tried this - they stare at me and ask "what are you doing?" ... then they laugh at my glowing red ears! This is not exagerated.

Around November/December of last year, I considered going to drama school to get over it, but there are so many other (more professional) things to cover first.

The cure for blushing is pure honesty. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out what the source of disinformation is, but once you have dispelled it, the blush vanishes. At least for me.

For example, if I don't know the answer to something (anything) and I fall quiet, then I will blush! Amazing, isn't it? If I stand up and say, "I don't know anything about [subject]..." then the blush vanishes.

I don't know anything about making quips. Is there a methodology for that too?

P.S. I really am as boring, as this post makes me sound!

----------
Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam

 

[PaulTEG]

Maybe I am pesimist, but what if their contribution is not helpful, or highlights an actual flaw in the product you are presenting?

That's a skill in itself, a comedian calls it dealing with heckling, in the role of a presenter, you've just got to be more subtle

"well that would be true in a different situation, however what we have here doesn't do that ..."

Don't put down the poster, and the "kisses" are opening their mouth, not for the quality of their questions.

Just my €0.02

+-----------------------+
|\   / \   / \   / \   /|
| \ /   \ /   \ /   \ / |
|  X     X     X     X  |
| / \   / \   / \   / \ |
|/   \ /   \ /   \ /   \| 
+-----V-----V-----V-----+

In reference to the looking to the back of the room, I've found looking over the room in a W M pattern, means you make eye contact with just about everyone in the room, and provides feedback - too many worried faces, time to ask for questions


cigless ...

 

[PaulTEG]

+-----------------------+
|\   / \   / \   / \   /|
| \ /   \ /   \ /   \ / |
|  X     X     X     X  |
| / \   / \   / \   / \ |
|/   \ /   \ /   \ /   \|
+-----V-----V-----V-----+

cigless ...

 

[SantaMufasa]

Stormbind, Don't give up on yourself...don't make excuses...just persist. When "they stare at (you) and ask 'What are you doing?'", remember, they are already conditioned to know that their not laughing causes your ears to turn red, wherein is the "real laugh" for them. Next time, turn the tables...When they ask, "What are you doing?", respond, "I'm being outrageously funny, but you're not doing your job, which is to laugh uproariously!". Alternately, you can say what most other comedians say, "Oooooo, tough crowd!".

And if you incorporate the chocolate into your presentation, I've never had anyone bad mouth my jokes for fear that the "stream of chocolateness" might dry up for them.

Then there is your question about dealing with "audience adversity":

...what if their contribution is not helpful, or highlights an actual flaw in the product you are presenting?

If their contribution is not helpful, then deflect and transition by saying, "Okay, let's see if we can build on <So-and-so's> observation. What are some enhancements or alternatives we can identify?"


If they highlight an actual flaw or omission in the product you are presenting, then rather than trying to defend the defect or sweep it under the carpet, say, "What an excellent observation. I'm going to pass that suggestion on to development. I'll take the pay raise from your great suggestion, and you can have this piece of chocolate." or "Excellent observation...that enhancement will be in version 11.0.2b." (making sure that the version number you identify is several versions in the future). Your humourous treatment/deflection usually makes them forget all about the defect and you can go on. I can confirm this method from personal experience since I taught for Oracle University for 63 dog years, during which time Oracle had to deal with hundreds of thousands of bugs and enhancements, many of which came from classes.

Bottom line...If an audience member is right, never argue with them...throw them chocolate and say, "Good job."

Probably one of the most remarkable examples of diffusing an embarassing situation without "red ears" was several years ago at our Oracle National Education conference in San Francisco for over 500 Oracle instructors (tough crowd). The keynote speaker was the woman that had won the "Teacher of the Year" award amongst US high school teachers (even tougher crowd).

After speaking to us for about 45 minutes (using a wireless microphone), she said, "Let's take about a 7-minute break," which we did, and she did. She proceeded to the ladies room and upon her return, someone informed her that her wireless microphone had been on full volume for her entire rest stop. Rather than being mortified into speechlessness, she simply explained, "Most of you were not aware that my identical twin sister is at this convention, as well. During our break, I sneakily clipped my microphone onto her blouse without her knowing. It's so great to get back at her for all the mean things she did to me during our childhoods."

Now that was a clever treatment of an otherwise-disastrous audience situation.

Notice that virtually all of the these examples of possibly negative audience interactions disappear when you set your mind to not being embarrassed, but rather by laughing at yourself or the situation. Practice finding mirth in anything and everything, and you will become a favourite presenter. Audiences love to laugh.

If this talent/skill doesn't come naturally, and you desire the skill, start acting "as if" you possess the skill and practice, practice, practice. I doubt that Yo-Yo Ma picked up a cello at age five and played as well as he does now. Most professionals in any discipline weren't born with their skill...they had to learn from other sucessful professionals, imagine themselves as sucessful professionals, as well, and learn and practice.

I believe, Stormbind, that you are highly skilled at Java, HTML, and Perl. How long did it take you to get good (and then professional) at those topics? I'll bet you can become highly skilled at presenting talents in far less time.

BTW, how many entries are in your "jokes.doc" file?




Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[stormbind]

I haven't created a jokes.doc file, but I will now - starting with your "I'll take the pay raise from your great suggestion, and you can have this piece of chocolate"

----------
Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

stormbind
Tip #1 ... Cover up your ears!
Tip #2 ... Find and join a local debating group. These are great for getting over the anxiety & embarassment of public speaking.
Tip #3 ... Find and join a local Naturist club. I guarantee that will take your mind off of your "glowing red ears". However, if other parts of your anatomy begin to glow, please remember my guarantee was only for your ears. This tip is also great for gettig over the anxiety & embarassment of (ahem) pubic speaking.

& all the best.

 

[SantaMufasa]

Cor, If I were a Naturist from your neck of the woods, I'd be more worried about "blue parts" than "red parts"

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[stormbind]

My ears are too big to be covered. I do regret that big old hats have gone out of fashion

----------
Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam

 

[Thadeus]

I want to add in my personal observation re: presentations.

Ice-Breaker activities suck!

I am here for two days of instruction on XYZ technology. I am NOT here to get to know the people around me better. If I care to network with a classmate, I will find a better way to do it than naming my top five movies or favorite sporting team.

If an instructor would like to gather some bio material to share with the class, they can do it more effectively via e-mail.

The worst instructional classes/presentations are the ones where we follow this agenda:
- Arrive at class
- Give the late-people some extra time to arrive
- Perform an ice-breaker activity
- Spend 1 - 1.5 hours covering introductory topics that the pre-reqs claim you must already know to get into this class.
- Get sent to lunch for 1 - 1.5 hours
- Finally cover some new material till the end of the day.

- Return following morning 1 hour later, because instructor feels that we are making good progress.
- Cover last two chapters
- Take test
- Get sent home at lunch

If the time hadn't been so foolishly allocated, this is a one day course. Instead it takes two days, a hotel stay, dinner, breakfast and an extra lunch.

Try not to do this to people.

~Thadeus

 

[SantaMufasa]

I am here for two days of instruction on XYZ technology. I am NOT here to get to know the people around me better.

I agree. The purpose of "breaking ice" is not that we become better chums...in my classes its purpose is to ensure that participants feel free to give me vital feedback necessary to confirm that they are properly receiving vital concepts upon which subsequent principles depend. If I cannot instantly assess whether or not the class is "getting" a principle, I risk losing participants. So please don't presume that the purpose of "ice breakers" is simply to have "cutesy"/"touchy-feely"/"warm fuzzy" experiences (at least not in my class). They are there to ensure we have "greased the skids" of communication and can accomplish more, quicker.


If my participants do not leave saying, "That was one of the best, most information-packed, skill-delivering, 'best-uses-of-time' classes I've ever taken," Then I feel like I have missed one of my main objectives.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[DPlank]

A Hotel stay, dinner, breakfast and an extra lunch.

Thadeus, you've been missing the point for a while...



Cheers,
Dave

Probably the only Test Analyst on Tek-Tips

animadverto vos in Abyssus!

Take a look at Forum1393 & sign up if you'd like

 

[BocaBurger]

Points from above:
PowerPoint has more bells & whistles than it needs any anyone should use.
Good presenters/teachers are trained, not born, but it helps to have the knack.

Most of my public "speaking" has been teaching martial arts. Strange how well the class goes when the students start off by bowing, and I get very little heckling too



BocaBurger
<===========================||////////////////|0
The pen is mightier than the sword, but the sword hurts more!

 

[SantaMufasa]

Boca...Way cool idea...Do you have any suggestions on how I can get a room-full of techies to "Bow to the Sensei"?

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.