Effective Presentation Skills

Presentation can be defined as a formal event characterized by teamwork and use of audio-visual aids. The main purpose of presentation is to give information, to persuade the audience to act and to create goodwill. A good presentation should have a good subject matter, should match with the objective, should best fit the audience, and should be well organized.

Characteristics of a Good/Effective Presentation

1. The presentation ideas should be well adapted to your audience. Relate your presentation message/idea to the interests of the audience. A detailed audience analysis must be made before the presentation, i.e., an analysis of the needs, age, educational background, language, and culture of the target audience. Their body language instantly gives the speaker the required feedback.

2. A good presentation should be concise and should be focused on the topic. It should not move off-track.

3. A good presentation should have the potential to convey the required information.

4. The fear should be transformed into positive energy during the presentation. Be calm and relaxed while giving a presentation. Before beginning, wait and develop an eye contact with the audience. Focus on conveying your message well and use a positive body language.
   

5. To communicate the desired information, the speaker should use more of visual aids such as transparencies, diagrams, pictures, charts, etc. Each transparency/slide should contain limited and essential information only. No slide should be kept on for a longer time. Try facing the audience, rather than the screen. The speaker should not block the view. Turn on the room lights else the audience might fall asleep and loose interest. Organize all the visuals for making a logical and sound presentation.

6. A good presentation must be planned. The speaker must plan how to begin the presentation, what to speak in the middle of presentation and how to end the presentation without losing audience interests at any point of time.

7. Rehearse and practice the presentation. This will help the speaker to be more confident and self-assured. The more the speaker rehearses the better the presentation turns to be.

8. The speaker should encourage more questions from the audience. He should be honest enough to answer those questions. If any biased question is put forth by the audience, rearticulate it before answering.

9. Summarize the presentation at the end. Give final comments. Leave a positive impact upon the audience.

10. The speaker must have a presentable appearance while giving a presentation. The speaker should stand with feet far apart maintaining a good balance. He must use confident gestures. He must use short and simple words.

11. Try to gain and maintain audience interest by using positive quotes, humour, or remarkable fact.

12. The speaker must be affirmative and optimistic before giving presentation. He should ensure all tools and equipments to be used in presentation are working well.

13. The speaker must state the objectives of the presentation at beginning of the presentation.