Introduction
So far, this book has been mostly about writing, but we now shift our focus to speaking. Unlike working with manuscripts, oral presentations allow for direct and real-time interaction with the audience. When presentations are properly prepared and delivered, they are engaging and informative. An effective presentation can help land a job or seal a deal with a potential client while a poorly-executed presentation can damage a reputation or lose a sale. A good writer is not necessarily a good presenter, and vice versa. These two skills are fairly independent, and both need to be practiced and developed.
The general steps for giving a successful presentation are as follows:
- 1.
Analyze the audience in advance
- 2.
Research and gather information
- 3.
Organize the content
- 4.
Develop the slides
- 5.
Practice delivery
- 6.
Prepare for any unexpected circumstances
There is much more to presentations than just following these steps. Every day many people are exposed to presentations covering all sorts of topics. Television-news teams present stories on crime and car crashes; college math teachers prove the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus; corporate-sales teams demonstrate new products and services offered by their companies. A person can learn from all such presentations—make note of techniques that work well and others that do not. The topic of a presentation is the discussion’s central theme or focal point, and as a presenter, an individual must be knowledgeable about that topic. Sometimes a person may not be able to choose the topic for a presentation. For example, a boss may ask an employee to research a software application and present the findings to a committee. Even if an individual does choose the topic, every presentation requires research. The reader should consider the following items when choosing and researching a topic:
In what follows we make comments on each of these general considerations.