presentation deck

presentation deck

The Art of Effective Presentations

1. Introduction

Professional success is partially the result of using the right tools. Eloquent communication is one such tool. Eloquence, as Franz Kafka, a lawyer by training, said, is the ability to “convince the judge even though your client is in the wrong.” To succeed, you need to be able to speak convincingly, be it to one person or many; be it to friend or stranger; be it in a small social gathering or a large business meeting. The Art of Eloquence teaches one to write and speak the best possible on any given occasion. To do this, it examines speech and writing on three general levels: the level of choice (cor) and arrangement (dispositio), the level of style (elocutio), and the level of delivery (pronunciatio). During the course of the book, every aspect of eloquence is discussed with two things in mind: the success of a lawyer in convincing a court or jury, and the success of a law student in exams. This text was initially written in contrast to modern law books which, the author felt, teach an art of poor quality that does little to help a student in exams or practice. This contrast is seen from the very beginning when DuVivier states that eloquence will help a student “to think, to know, to make himself understood, to have influence over others”. He goes on to tell the student “you must be a speaker” and that “where the speaker fails, there fails his cause”. Although poor speaking need not mean a loss, it is a tacit admission that successful speaking would be a gain. For eloquence is more impressive than the quality of the matters spoken about, and same facts are received differently according to the skill of the speaker.

2. Structuring Your Presentation

Time spent organising your thoughts will help you deliver more effective presentations. One way of organising your content is to use a structure. This will give your audience a framework to hang the information on, and help them to understand it. A useful framework for public speaking is to use a problem/solution structure. You start by convincing the audience that there is a problem that is worth solving, then explain the solution and finally go on to say how your solution can be implemented. Another parallel structure is the past/present/future one. For example if you were trying to persuade an audience to undertake a particular policy you could start by illustrating what would happen if they did nothing at all (the past), then contrast that with how things are now and finally explain how the policy would change the future. A different approach to structuring your material is to ask a series of questions. This is particularly useful when giving an educational talk. For example you could be giving a presentation on how to use a computer, you would structure this by asking a series of questions such as “how can I turn the computer on” and then answering them. A question based approach has the advantage of catering for mixed abilities, as the slower members will have time to reflect on the question before you answer it. Whichever structure you choose, it is important that your talk has a clear beginning, middle and end. A strong start is vital as you need to capture your audience’s attention and convince them that it is worth listening to you. The middle section is where you convey most of the information, whilst the end is where you usually summarise the important points and perhaps try to persuade the audience to adopt the ideas you have been presenting.

3. Engaging Your Audience

– Get the audience participating with a rhetorical question, a show of hands, or an actual question. People forced to pay attention are more likely to stay engaged. A good quote can also be a good audience involvement tool.

– Speak to your audience, not above them. A common mistake when presenting is speaking above your audience’s comprehension level. By sharing information at a level appropriate for your audience, you assure comprehension as well as involvement.

– Have a clear agenda. If your audience knows what to expect, they can mentally prepare for your information. This will also give a level of comfort because your audience will perceive you as organized.

– Have a hook. Depending on your topic, you should have an interesting story, a surprising fact, or a relevant joke to lead off your presentation. A good quote is also a plus.

Where’s your audience? Checking your watch? Fidgeting? Sleeping? One of the keys to effective presenting is creating a presentation that does not stifle the audience’s energy, but gets people excited about your information. There are finite details for each different type of presentation, but there are some general rules about what makes an engaging presentation:

4. Visual Design and Multimedia

It is important that all your visual design enhances the message that you are trying to get across. The purpose of using visual aids is to enhance your presentation, so make sure that it fulfills that purpose. If it is on the slide for any other reason, it will be a distraction to your audience and it will confuse the message that you are trying to communicate. Make your text as brief as possible; this will help to make your message clearer to the audience. Label different elements of your visual aid for increased retention and to get your point across more effectively. It’s a good idea to build your visual aids so that elements are added to the screen as you are ready to explain them. This will help to prevent the audience from being distracted and it will help to focus their attention on the area that you are discussing. Finally, learn to do more with less. Too many visual aids can be a distraction and can make your presentation less effective. If you can communicate your message effectively with only a visual aid or two, your presentation will be all the more powerful.

5. Conclusion

Taking this into account, it is fundamental to use your voice as a tool to enthrall and captivate your audience. It is widely agreed that the most effective way to do this is by utilizing metaphor and simile. This will give life to your language and make it easier to visualize the points that you are trying to put across. This can be related to the newspaper analogy: a straightforward informative presentation is much like black and white newsprint. However, add some color and sensationalism, and that’s when it becomes like The Sun newspaper.

Humans are creatures of habit, and this can relate to whether they are reading, watching, or listening. It is always disappointing to listen to something where the presenter is using a monotone voice. This gives no excitement or life to the presentation and, in effect, it will become the habit of the listener to lose concentration, switch off entirely, or find something to do while the presentation is on, allowing only half of the information to be taken in.

The art of effective presentations is almost akin to actually painting a picture. The more unique that you can make it, the more that people will actually take the time to look at it. Whether that be by using colorful and vivid language or stimulating the listener’s imagination by the paintbrush of your tone, pitch, and pace throughout the presentation.