Delivering Presentations

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Delivering Presentations
Fabio Carrera October 20, 2003
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Outline

• Introduction/Demo
• Content
• Authority
• Material
• Form
• Organization
• Design
• Mechanics
• The Art

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What is a presentation?

• Transfer of information
• A transaction (bidirectional)
• Requires handshaking

You are the vehicle!
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The Challenges

• Your Fear (more than death)
• The Audiences attention (ASC)
• The Venue
• The Tools and Techniques

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Content and Form

• Good stuff and well presented
• Interesting and attractive
• Useful and entertaining
• Inspiring and fun

Dont bore us!
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Content

• Three rules
• Know your stuff
• Know it well
• Know it like the back of your hand

Know it!
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Authority

• Why should I listen to YOU?
• I know all this stuff already
• What can you tell me that I dont already know?
• Who are you anyway?

Assert yourself!
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Material

• Be selective
• Save the best for last
• Skip the details
• Surprise us !

Control it!
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Form

• Preparation
• Organization
• Design
• Mechanics
• Artistry

Shape it!
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Preparation

• Topic(s)
• Format
• Venue
• Apparatus
• Rehearsal

Prepare it!
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Organization

• Standards
• Requirements
• Logic
• Storyline

Organize it!
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IQP Presentations
Standard Proposal Presentation Structure

• Title Slide
• Context
• Problem/Issue/Gap
• Major Project Goal (Mission Statement)
• Methodology
• Objectives
• Methods
• Expected Results
• Expected Analyses
• Deliverables
• Acknowledgments
• Questions or Comments?

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Design

• Backgrounds
• Fonts
• Colors
• Visuals
• Animations

Design it!
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Backgrounds

• Make your own
• Be creative
• Keep them subtle
• Be consistent

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Fonts

• Keep them simple
• Keep them consistent
• Make sure they are readable
• Make them large
• Make them stand out

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Colors

• Use only a couple
• Differentiate Titles from Body
• Make sure body text is readable against
  background
• Use accents only rarelyfor truly important stuff

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Visuals

• Use them profusely
• Make believe audience is foreign
• Enhance without distracting
• Pace them appropriately

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Animation

• Use it wisely
• Avoid weird effects
• Use appear, fade and a couple other effects
  ONLY
• Enhance without distracting

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Mechanics

• Slides
• Props
• Delivery

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Slide Mechanics

• Grammar and Usage
• Consistency
• Information content
• Use real estate wisely

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Prop Mechanics

• Avoid distracting props
• Add non-powerpoint props
• Avoid handouts/distractions
• Make props useful!

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Delivery Mechanics

• Introduction
• Tone and Volume
• Gestures and Presence
• Poise and Control
• Transitions
• Finale

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The Art of Presentation

• Emphasize the key message
• Have a take-home and a take-away
• Adjust and rephrase as needed
• Make eye contact and get feedback
• Assert and Impress
• Draw and retain attention

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The Art of Presentation

• Amaze without overwhelming
• Joke appropriately
• Mislead and surprise!
• Create a crescendo
• Insert a false finale
• Produce a powerful climax

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Dos
Overall Presentation

• PLAN it
• FOCUS it
• ORGANIZE and STREAMLINE it
• REHEARSE and TIME it
• MASTER it
• DELIVER it
• ADJUST it

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Dos
Slide Mechanics

• BIG text
• MEANINGFUL titles
• CONSISTENT fonts
• CONGRUOUS bullets
• Keep it professional dude
• PROFESSIONAL TRANSITIONS

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Dos
Delivery Mechanics

• RELAX
• GET FEEDBACK (make eye contact)
• BE CONFIDENT
• SURPRISE and AMAZE
• MOVE and COMPEL
• PREPARE for THE WORST
• MAINTAIN COMPOSURE
• DONT PANIC

Be natural!
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Donts
Slide Mechanics

• NO CROWDING with way too much text that nobody
  can read even if they wanted to and it really
  doesnt add anything to the slide, but merely
  distracts the audience
• NOT TOO MUCH nor TOO LITTLE INFORMATION on slide
• OTHER DONTs

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Donts
Delivery Mechanics

• NO READING
• NO DISTRACTIONS
• NO MUMBLING
• NO FACING the SCREEN

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Donts
Content

• NO TANGENTS
• NO DETAILS (please!)

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REMEMBER that

• The audience is on your side
• You are the vehicle
• Your success is measured by how much they
  understood

They must get it!
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POSTERS

• Be really Selective!!
• Dont crowd them
• Entice and Connect

Whet their appetite!