PRESENTATION SKILLS

  Dear Friends,

 It is definitely a great shock of life if the inner thought of life is not expressed in a presentable manner. In order to make our thoughts, expressions, experiences, corporate assignments or college assignments of presentation presentable, we must have the idea regarding presentation skills. So let us have an eyewash on oral presentation. Presentation is a communication process of transmitting the message from the presenter to the audience. This message can vary in length and complexity. Different presentation aids can be used e.g. flip chart, PowerPoint presentation with the video beamer, whiteboard with erasable pens, laser pointers, etc. A presentation is perceived to be the most effective mode of communication with a group of people as it allows the ‘presenter’ to have an interactive session with the ‘audience ’. The audience in turn has the opportunity to directly question the presenter on anything concerning the topic under discussion. This makes it essential for individuals to develop their presentation skills, to be competitive and effective in the modern business scenario. A presentation enables the sharing of thought. It also enables the presenter to monitor responses during actual face – to – face delivery. Successful presentations are nothing but ways of presenting facts and figures in such a way so as to convince other people into believing what you want them to believe. Different people or different levels of people need to be handled in different ways. However there are some fundamentals, which need to be adhered to irrespective of the audience we address. The spoken word has always had the ultimate advantage of a personal presence. This commands respect from an audience in a way that no printed word, film or television reproduction can. Communication has therefore become the most important part of our work. In fact, everybody is in the position to be a presenter at some point. At school, at the university, during the business presentation or even you can be a professional presenter. Now we come to common problem for most of the people. This problem is “Stage Fright” combined with lack of technical skills of presenting. Stage fright can be really terrifying to some people. Many people have the fear of the audience, lights of the stage, they are afraid what will be if someone ask them difficult question. This is causing nervousness, sweating, accelerated heartbeat, dizziness or even panic attacks. On the other hand, presenting skills are technical aspect. Presentation skills are a broad area. It takes some time to develop this skill, for some people more, for the other less time, depends of a talent. Since all of us can be in situation to be presenters, to be in the center of the audience, it is useful to learn basic skills of presenting. Let us know some basic skills of presentation.

·         Maintain good eye contact

·         Vary your speaking volume

·         Use pauses

·         Do not read your presentation

·         Prepare and be confident

·         Use props, stories, questions, clips, examples etc

·         Research (find out facts & figures)

·          Prepare (Introduce, Discuss, Conclude)

·          Rehearse

·          Be confident

·          Present

·          Use proper media

·         Give a good starting

·         Have a good Mood

·          Have a pleasant voice

·          Display the positive body language

·          Stick to Timing

·          The conclusion must be attractive

·         Be enthusiastic

·         Be energetic

           Let us know something about yes and no of presentation:

Acceptable actions (yes)

ü  Prepare:

ü  Greet the audience

ü  Tell the audience what you are going to tell them

ü  Speak clearly

ü  Deliberately pause at key points

ü  Use your hands to emphasize

ü  Rehearse the presentation

ü  Keep to the time allowed

ü  Look at the audience as much as possible

ü  Keep an eye on the audience's body language

Unacceptable actions (No)

•         Do not read from the script

•         Do not indulge in to much hand waving

•         Do not fix on an individual

•         Do not face the display screen behind you and talk to it

•         Do not Stand in a position where you obscure the screen

•         Don’t include unrelated pictures

•         Don’t use a dark background

•         Don’t read or “parrot” the slides

•         Don’t go too fast

•         Don’t forget to smile

•         Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”

•         Don’t play with keys or coins in your pocket

•         Don’t use a pointer, pen, pencil or chalk to point at an individual may be perceived as offensive

•         Don’t look at your feet or at the ceiling

•         Don’t speak in monotone

 So friends, we came to know about basic skills, yes and no of the oral presentation. So it is highly important to know about an ideal format of evaluation form an oral presentation.

                                   EVALUATION FORM FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Presenter’s Name		Evaluated by:		Date:
Topic

Indicate the appropriate score from 1 = poor, 4=good,5=average 8=very good 10= excellent,

Presentation
1.	Voice (volume, modulation and enunciation)					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
2.	Enthusiasm and energy					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
3.	Eye contact with audience					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
4.	Preparation / rehearsal (notes, cues)					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
5	Pace of presentation					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
6.	Body positioning					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
7.	Avoidance of distracting behavior					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
8.	Use of visual aids					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
Content
1.	Introduction of subject					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
2.	Clarity, correctness and conciseness					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
3.	Summary and conclusions					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
4.	Overall organization of presentation					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
5.	Transition between sections					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
6.	Appropriateness for specific audience (as defined)					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
7.	Length of talk (timing )					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10
8.	Handling of questions					1	2		3	4		5	6	7		8	9		10

Pros of presentation

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Cons of presentation

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Suggestions to be made for the improvement of the presenter

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Dear friends, don’t take it completely as granted because this format may be changed according to the parameter set by the organization, institutions or university or may be corporate. But there will be so many similarities with this format of evaluation of oral presentation. So it is the time to take precautions or preventation before the presentation as we know the preventation is better than the cure.

So friends, take care of certain aspects of presentation skills, I ensure that  it will be an added advantage and turning point of your presentation.

All the best,

Best wishes,

Truly yours,

Dr.Rajib(Affectionately called by friends)