Presentations

1.    IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU A presentation is you communicating to an audience. You may want to support it with presentation software, visual boards, film, audio, theming, staging, lighting, pyrotechnics and much more. The question is; what is the best way of communicating your message and making it memorable.  Ensure you know who your audience is.

2.    YOUR STORY If you want it to be memorable, (and it makes sense) create a story that brings your presentation to life, with humour if appropriate.  This has the potential to allow the audience to empathise and maintains a consistency throughout the presentation.  I.e. “Imagine if you….”

3.    FLOW Have a beginning, middle and end. Tell your audience what you’re going to tell them with a brief introduction, go into the detail, and summarise concisely.  If appropriate at the end ask if there are any questions.

4.    SOFTWARE Use the appropriate software tool depending on your environment.  Microsoft PowerPoint is the most common and compatible presentation tool widely used in business. Apple Keynote is Mac based, creating dynamic and powerful presentations that can also be viewed on iPads and iPhones, but has limited sharing opportunities across operating systems (Mac/PC).  Prezi is a presentation and storytelling tool that uses a single zoomable canvas that allows you to navigate more freely.

5.    TEMPLATES To ensure the smooth creation of your professional presentation, create a template using ’slide master’ (PowerPoint and Keynote). This provides consistency by controlling; typeface, point size, colours, logos, footers, titles and body text.

6.    A PICTURE TELLS A THOUSAND WORDS When using imagery (illustrations, photographs, icons and graphs) ensure they are appropriate to support your presentation. Keep text to a minimum to guarantee legibility.

7.    ANIMATIONS Dynamic screen builds can help tell your story but don’t get carried away with using multiple effects, transitions and animations unnecessarily. Make sure anything ‘extra’ you do has a clear benefit to the message you want to convey, and don’t forget you’ve put them in!

8.     PREPARATION Rehearse your presentation, time it to perfection, familiarise yourself with the environment and if technical equipment is required rehearse with this e.g. microphones, autocue, projectors.  Know your material and be confident of the presentation sequence. Stick to the content!

9.     RELAX At this point, if you have constructed, prepared and rehearsed your presentation you should be feeling confident. However, if you are still nervous, take ten long slow breaths, compose yourself and relax.

10.   SHOW TIME Wherever you are presenting, stand tall, keep your shoulders back, project your voice and maintain regular eye contact with your audience. Speak clearly, slowly and engage your audience with your story.

At FMI we offer full communication solutions including presentation skills training, presentation creative and content structure, providing you with great ideas that produce better results.

LISA DIMBLEBY
ACCOUNT MANAGER