Presentation Strategies

Presentation is important, in all walks of life, at all stages. Through effective presentation the sender would be able to convince the receiver and achieves desired result. At each and every stage of life effective presentation enhances good result.

A speech or talk in which a new product, idea or piece of work is shown and explained to an audience.

Presentation is a method of effective communication, either oral or written which is given to achieve a specific business goal.

Defining Purpose of Presentation

Aim of presentation is to communicate to inform, to convince or to entertain audience. The purpose of presentation is generally to put forward the aims and objectives of any given task.

It is arranged for an explanation of particular issue to bring general awareness among the workers, for teaching purpose, and to divert target mass in particular direction.

The presenter should be flexible enough to adjust to new input and unexpected audience reactions and responses.

It decides the style, content and targeted audience. It also requires lots of “on-the-spot” thinking skills and in-depth knowledge of the subject.

Presentation may be for collaboration, for problem solving, for making a major decision, for increasing audiences’ understanding of a particular subject. 

How to Make an Effective Presentation

What you want to say about your topic may be much less important than what your audience wants to hear about it.

Analyzing Audience and Locale: Before presentation it is very necessary to understand the audience and the place where presenter is going to present his/her views. One should understand the audience properly in order to prepare the message effectively. Understanding audience includes: to know their level, age, gender, profession, knowledge, background, geographical location, attitude, personality, culture, expectations, etc. An effective presenter makes sufficient efforts to understand audience. The nature of audience has a direct impact on the strategy presenter plans for presentation. Hence it is necessary to have some prior knowledge of the audience, and its level and cultural background so that presentation can be effective and acceptable. If presenter is going to speak before an unknown group, ask host or an organizer for help in analyzing the audience. Before giving presentation presenter should also think about the locale. Every location has its unique physical environment. One should have prior knowledge of location, physical setting, and physical condition. If presenter is presenting in foreign country, the linguistic problems may arise. Even due to different culture the problem may be arisen. It is advisable for the presenter to understand the location. 

Organizing Contents: People differ in their ability to speak confidently in public. Always prepare more materials than required, as this will help to feel confident. Arrange the contents of presentation into three major parts namely (1) Introduction, (2) Middle Part (3) Conclusions. In other words, Say what you want to say; say it; then say what you have already said.

• Introduction comprises the opening statement, the aim and the objectives of presentation. The beginning can be with a sincere greeting, question, quotation, anecdote, a short story, analogy so as to grab the attention of the audience. A good introduction is a vehicle to lead the audience into the main body of the speech with smooth transition.

• The main body or discussion supports aim or specific purpose of presentation. The major points highlighted in introduction would be expanded here. There are different patterns of organizing the content in the middle part. They are Chronological, Categorical, Cause and Effect, Problem Solving, and Persuasive. Presenter can make this part or presentation authentic by providing facts, figures, examples, illustrations, statistics, testimony, analogy or definition. Presenter is always advised to avoid too many points. Allocate enough time to each point to convince the audience of what you are saying.

• Conclusions: You can conclude the presentation by reviewing the main points and do give the signal to an end and then do not extend the presentation. Because a speech is like a love affair, any fool can start one but to end it requires considerable skill. Conclude presentation with quotation, anecdote, a short story, analogy, and so on. After this, presenter can invite the questions for discussion. Make questioners feel that their questions are welcomed. Maintain the polite and firm attitude while answering.

Preparing an outline of Presentation: Preparing an outline is a mechanical framework in which the contents of presentation arranged in order to deliver it effectively. Presenter should prepare a proper outline of presentation before performance. It helps in presenting ideas in logical order and in managing time. It serves as a guide to show the right way of presentation. Knowing the outlined sequence like introduction, main body and content well in advance gives the speaker the confidence to control his or her speech anxiety. Format of an outline of presentation is given below;

Thus in a presentation the content, coverage and quality are important but communication is the most important. Oral presentation is an art that requires careful planning, preparation and a great deal of practice.