Delivering a presentation

The key to good delivery is to be yourself, to be natural. If you wish to make an effective presentation, take care of the following elements.

1. Approach. A good rule of thumb is: ‘Tell your audience what you’re going to say, say it, then tell the audience what you’ve said’. Try to develop your key points in an interesting and varied way, drawing on relevant examples, figures etc. for support.

2. Nervousness. Prepare your talk well. You will be less nervous and more confident. Do not speak too quickly because you are nervous. In fact, speak slower during the first few moments of a talk –this is the time you establish your rapport with the audience, and first impressions are very important. You may find it helpful to memorise your introduction.

3. Audience rapport. Establish rapport with your audience. Rapport is friendly agreement and understanding between people, it is the relationship between you and your audience. Try to be enthusiastic – your interest in the subject matter will carry your audience along. Look around your audience as you speak – eye contact is essential for maintaining a good rapport. The first yawn is a sign for you to wind up and go over to your conclusion.

4. Body language. Remember that 57% of the message is communicated by what the audience can see. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Be solemn if your topic is serious. Look pleasant, enthusiastic, confident, proud. Remain calm. Appear relaxed, even if you feel nervous.

Stand rather than sit when you are delivering your presentation. Do not stand still with head down and reading from a prepared speech. Walk or move about with appropriate hand gesture or facial expression. Avoid any distracting mannerisms like pacing, rocking back and forth on your feet, repetitive hand gestures etc. that might irritate your audience.

Improving your stance. You look your best and inspire confidence by taking an authoritative stance. Good body image begins with posture – the way you hold your skeleton. The best posture is upright with the feet slightly apart, and the body weight divided equally between them. Your arms should be relaxed by your sides. This is the most appropriate posture and conveys neutral body language. Leaning slightly forwards appears positive and friendly – as if you are involving and encouraging the audience. Leaning backwards, however, may appear negative and possibly aggressive.

Eye contact establishes positive rapport with audience. Use the 3-second method, e.g. look straight into the eyes of a person in the audience for 3 seconds at a time. Every now and then glance at the whole audience while speaking.

5. Vocal quality. The key to any presentation is the voice. It’s not what the presenter says; it is how they say it. An interesting public speaker will vary the intonation, volume, tone and tempo of the talk. Speak loudly and clearly. Sound confident. Do not mumble. If you made an error, correct it, and continue. Vary the tone of your voice and dramatize if necessary. If a microphone is available, adjust and adapt your voice accordingly. Do not read from notes for any extended length of time; it is quite acceptable to glance at your notes infrequently.

You should work on delivery techniques such as intonation, stress, and chunking. Intonation is about how the voice rises and falls in pitch during speech. Stress has to do with where speakers put the emphasis on particular words. Chunking is how words are grouped together in spoken utterances, how to insert pauses at the appropriate places.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-20