Presentation Skills

 

 

 

Presentation skills 

 

When doing a presentation there is a lot to think about, what is your target audience, what information 

are you trying to get across, how will it be presented and is it formal or informal. 

There are a few skills that will help you with the task of a presentation so let's look at a few: 

The way you use your voice is important, from the tone you use,  your volume, and the intonation. Used

right this combination will make your presentation more engaging and interesting, used wrong you coils 

come across and boring or aggressive. 

Your body language is also important, if you need to hold a pen or something do so, especially if it stops

you fidgeting with your hands. Moving about as you present can be ok in some situations but not too 

much, you don't want your acquiesce feeling like they are watching a tennis match. On the other hand 

don't stand completely still, this will be boring and uncomfortable to watch. 

Know your audience and what jargon you can use, for example if you are giving a talk on a specialist

subject your presentation would be very different, if you were presenting to a group of experts on the 

same level as you as it would a group of school children. 

Remember when giving a presentation you are building a relationship not just informing your audience, 

use elecontact and stories to engage. With eye contact be careful not to single out one person, and look 

around at everyone. 

Preparation Is a skill too, make sure any slides are informative and engaging but not too complex. If its 

a formal presentation, practise to make sure it's not too long and any tech works. 

 

Styles of presentations 

There are a few styles of presentation and each uses different skills and will work well in different settings. 

A visual style is probably the style we most think of, it uses slides to help support the points, TED talks 

often use this style may be combined with something else like storytelling. Often used for large groups 

with broad interests as it gets information across easily but  it may not be so good for more in depth 

specialist subjects unless used very specifically. This style needs preparation and tech set up to help.

An example of a visual style presentation is when Steve Jobs first introduced the iPhone, he talked 

about the product and used slides to illustrate his point, it made the issues with old phones and the 

benefits of the new product very clear. 

 

 

 

 

Freeform style presentations are generally much more impromptu and work well in informal settings. 

They are often used by people who are specialists as they have all the knowledge to hand and may tell 

stories to get their point across. 

They are good for elevator pitches, networking events or impromptu meetings. 

 

Freeform presentations are often used for elevator pitches, they were not planned and are often 

impromptu, you don't get long to do them and they often rely on your own knowledge rather than research. 

Storytelling relies on anecdotes and examples from personal experience to connect and engage with their 

audience. The stories bring points to life. This style is good for conferences and longer presentations 

where you have the time to tell the stories and  build the connection. 

 

In this example Jill Bolte Taylor tells you all about her brother's illness and how that inspired her in her 

work as a brain specialist, you immediately understand her motivation.

 

 

 

 

 In this example of a Pecha kucha style presentation, the speaker is talking about is love of the spelling 

bee, not a very exciting subject to me but I really enjoyed his use of the slides and fast pace to make the

talk funny.

 

What make a presentation formal or informal 

Formal presentations often have a specific target audience, and the speaker was  probably asked to come

 and present it. It is prepared and often used in business presentations,  conferences and academia. 

Informal presentations by contrast are often conversational, personal and off the cuff, the speaker will use 

their own knowledge and experiences to make a point. 

TED talks would be considered formal as they are invited to speak and are prepared for they may then 

be presented in an informal style where there is still preparation and they are talking on a specific subject. 

In education a Lecher is a formal presentation because again they are prepared on a certain subject 

whereas seminars are informal as there is discussion and they are more chatty than one person standing 

at the front talking. 

An example of an informal presentation would be if you were at a networking event and got talking to 

someone that might invest in your business and you quickly use your knowledge to try and get them 

interested in doing this.