The Structure Of a Good Presentation

Great orators have always been a force to moving or influencing people. The world has seen its share of charismatic speakers that have made heads of nations, spiritual personalities, movie or music celebrities, company heads and even dictators. People are moved by the skill of a great orator or the effectiveness of his or her presentation skills. But what is it about their presentation that resonates with so many people? Or should we ask an even more important question - what is a Presentation skill?

While certain specific presentation techniques are universally common, Business Presentation Skills have a certain tried and tested method that anyone aspiring to be a good presenter in the corporate world, can learn from. In this article we will look at a few such aspects that make up the structure of a good presentation:

1. An Agenda With a Purpose: The speaker needs to know where he or she wants to go with the presentation - what is the message that he or she wants to convey? Who is the target audience? These are questions that a presenter needs to know the answers to, well before they take the stage to give a presentation. Proceeding through a plan is much more effective if one has a map and a plan. That should be the primary objective of having an agenda.





2. Meticulous Preparation: Regardless of the confidence of the speaker's message, they must always prepare ahead of time to do justice to the goal of the presentation. Trying to stumble through the presentation without a plan doesn't work and neither is it professional. The presenter must be prepared to clarify vague issues and also tackle troubleshooting questions. It also helps to arrive ahead of time in order to get a good feel for the environment.





3. The 'Sandwich' Structure: Just like a sandwich, every presentation must have three distinct parts to it that requires slightly different approaches. Most speakers tend to focus only on the 'body' of the presentation but fail to make a good first impression or fail to end their message well once done with the body. Beginning with a good attention-grabbing introduction that makes a good impression is vital to starting off on the right note. A good opener sets the tone for a good presentation.

The body of the message is where most of the intended content is placed. The speaker must take his time in unpacking the major elements of the body in a clear and concise manner. Holding eye contact and keeping an 'open' body posture helps to relax the crowd and feel connected with the speaker. Often speakers rush through their presentation without proper pausing or spacing due to nervousness or haste and end up looking anxious and insecure. Well-timed pausing can be useful to the presenter and must be used tactfully to allow the depth of the content to sink in to the listeners' minds and hearts.

Finally, ending a presentation well gives a good finishing touch to the presentation and ends with a note of closure for the listeners. If done well, the listeners will leave with a good appreciation for the value of the message. It helps to finish on a positive note while also thanking the listeners for their time and patience.

Presentation Skills Training is an important aspect of corporate training that helps companies equip their employees with good communication and presentation skills and make them effective speakers or presenters.

Source:

Improve Your Speaking

Communicate to Win - 3 Steps to Help You Get the Results You Want

"I shouldn't have said that".

"I should have said this instead."

"Maybe that email was too strong."

"Maybe that email wasn't strong enough."

"Was it clear?"

How many times have you made one of these statements, or replayed a conversation you had over and over in your head? Maybe that email took you close to 30 minutes to write but after hitting send, you scramble to get the recall message hoping that you can take it back, or replace it before it's seen.
Is that you? If it is, you're not alone.

Are you communicating to win?

And by win, I mean achieve effective results.
Do you stop to think about what goal you want to achieve before you have a conversation, or draft an email?

After all, we plan and prepare for presentations, speeches, and other notable events, so why don't our everyday conversations, especially those with high stakes, not require or generate the same amount of care?

Let me share three quick and easy steps that will save you time by getting to the core of what you want to say, and how you need to say it.

Step 1

Identify your communication goals.

Ask: What do they need to know? What do they not need to know?

Example:
They need to know that I'm proud of the effort they took to finish this project before the deadline.
They need to know that I won't take no for an answer and I'll show up every day, asking same question a different way.
They need to know that I'm on the way out, and nothing they say can make me stay.
They need to know I want them to succeed and I that I believe in them.

Step 2

Identify your communication outcome

Ask: What end result do I want from this communication?

Example:
I want them to plan the next project better to avoid the late nights and cutting into personal time.
I want them to schedule a firm appointment to avoid being pestered every day.
I want them to acknowledge that I've made a firm decision.
I want them to walk away knowing that I genuinely care.
Sometimes your communication outcome doesn't require any action on the part of the recipient. That is okay. The key is to identify the outcome or result you do want based on the identified communication needs in step one.

Step 3

Identify your positioning

Ask: What words or phrases will I use to communicate the outcomes in step 2?
What tone should I use? When should I best approach this topic?

"It's not what you say, but how you say it." (unknown)

Answer:

Arm yourself with a few key phrases when you don't know what to say. Sarita Maybin provides some good leading examples in her book If You Can't Something Nice, What DO You Say?

Some examples are:
Help me understand...
You may not realize that...
Would you be willing to?...
I noticed... ,and I'm wondering...
I'm concerned that...

Use dictionary.com's thesaurus tool to help identify similar words and different ways to say something.

Avoid using the word "but" after making a positive statement. Regardless of what you've said before the use of the word, the recipient will often tend to gravitate to what comes after the word "but" in a sentence.

Example:

I think you are a great father, but you need to spend more time with the kids.
You did a good job with the presentation, but it could have been shorter.
I do like your new hairstyle, but I liked it the way it was before.

Instead, end the positive statement and let it stand on its own, or replace the word 'but,' with 'and.'
For example, I do like your new hairstyle,and I also liked it the way it was before.
See the difference?

With your communication needs and outcomes identified, thinking for a few minutes about the best way to get that point across is probably the most challenging, and helpful step. There is no one size fits all approach to communication, and no matter how much you plan, there simply aren't any guarantees on the outcomes of a communication event. With planning steps in place, though, your chances of improved performance and achieving effective results increases.

What are some helpful phrases or tips you've used in your communications with others? Please share them in the comments below.

Source