Presentation Skills – Presenting having PowerPoint – Where’s the capability, What’s the Point?
It’s Monday afternoon after lunch, therefore, you are about to watch a new colleague’s presentation. As the equipment and lighting dim and the dull purring sound of the projector lulls you into a semi-comatose status, feelings of despair continue to take over, as the presenter highlights their 30 slides. An individual brace yourself for the endurance check that lies ahead.
Identify the scene. It is turning into an increasingly common scenario in the commercial environment and we now require stock and ask ourselves regarding PowerPoint – “what will be the purpose of this presentation support? ”
At first, PowerPoint looked like there was the answer to all our demonstration concerns. To the less knowledgeable presenter, it became a great way to fit a presentation together. Featuring neat gadgets and easy steps structure, PowerPoint provided a new ‘quick fix solution to all of our presentation anxieties – every one of the presenters needed to do was going to ‘deliver’ their slides. micron
So why then doesn’t often the audience evangelise about it in quite the same way? I am usually asked by those who show up at my workshops how can they will engage more with their followers when they are presenting with PowerPoint and why their particular audiences seem indifferent as well as disinterested in what they are wanting to present.
One reason for this rising reaction lies in the presenter’s misinterpretation of the verb ‘to deliver. Only too often this specific word has become replaced by the phrase ‘to read out there aloud’ and even by the expression ‘to hide behind.
Who would like to listen to someone reading out there aloud – don’t everybody knows how to read already? Would not it be easier once we just give the slides to your audience to take away and also read in their leisure time -in the more amenable natural environment?
The slick and lustrous nature of PowerPoint features weakened the human input with presenting to such a low level of insignificance that now, often the presenter’s role is often minimized to no more than the ‘PowerPoint Operator’.
So where has it all gone wrong and how will we be able to re-address the balance?
One of the important factors in the demise of the art of presenting will be down to our basic individual phobia of public speaking and also our lack of motivation to handle this issue. Public speaking is in fact the most common public fear: almost as strong as the fear of death!
So PowerPoint became our knight inside shining armour – that gave us the crutch we needed to get over the fears by hiding at the rear of the technology. The display became our shining shield – it protected the feelings of insecurity by removing the audience’s attention clear of us – the public speaker and directing them order to the big screen behind us which was something far more ‘exciting’ to look at.
Unfortunately, the glimmer of the screen diminishes incredibly rapidly when you start to see the view of your audience take on a limited glazed expression – therefore you are only on your third trip out of thirty. You think to help yourself “It is a chance to mount my steed in addition to fleeing” – if only you might – but you still have 27 slides to battle through.
And we need to go back to basics: we have to learn to get over the fears and anxieties and also regain control of our demonstrations. We don’t need to ditch the particular PowerPoint but we need to start employing it rather than abusing that – the latter: which has become more the case lately.
Going back to basics demands us to return to the first gold-coloured rule of PowerPoint which will almost everyone ignores. This is in order to consider that you are the presenter foremost of the PowerPoint, not the opposite way round.
But instructions as we have already said, mood plays a crucial role in the following. Because we are nervous most of us cling on to our PowerPoint for dear life instructions as if we are clinging to a rock on a stormy coastal. We, therefore, need simple techniques to allow ourselves to leave go without fear of accidentally drowning.
Good delivery skills provide us with this much-wanted confidence. We have to re-learn what it means to ‘delivery’ – it is not reading off the glide or hiding behind your current laptop. It is all about the ability of communication whereby to learn to be able to command and engage with your viewers. These are skills that can be discovered – in fact, most very good presenters spend a lot of time involving their delivery techniques to make them develop into confident and useful presenters.
Your voice is often a crucial element in the achievements of your presentation delivery. Almost no people use their tone to its full likely. When we work with people’s individual vocal techniques they are stunned at how empowering this is in aiding them to deliver with more significant confidence.
A strong presence is likewise very important. Poor stance, annoying habits, and lack of eye to get in touch will all inhibit your own ability to engage with your target audience. Often, the PowerPoint speaker remains too close to or maybe attached to their laptop. It’s as though they are saying to their very own audience “Don’t look at us – I’m not significant – I’m just an accessory to the equipment. ”
It’s my job to advise the presenter to head away from the equipment when they get started with their presentation. By transferring closer to the audience at the beginning you are saying to them “I am in control of the introduction and welcome you to hear. ” Using a remote instead of the mouse will encourage you to move more. The more you transfer, the more you command your own personal space and engage with your market
The next issue concerning the use of PowerPoint is the structure of the slides. Have you ever experienced a conversation with somebody where you didn’t look at one another at all? You may have done therefore but chances are there was not a lot of rapport between the both of you. We do need to look at individuals – give eyes and get in touch with them if we want to build relationships with them and build rapport. Also, this is the case when we present to our own audience. But how can all of us do this when we are reading away our slides – and frequently looking at the screen driving us – leaving all of us with our backs to the target audience?
This brings us to the 2nd golden rule of PowerPoint, again – one pitifully ignored which is that ‘the sole aim of PowerPoint would be to support our message not possible be the message. ‘
Studying your slides verbatim is simply not the answer -take a look at what on earth is on your slides and ask on your own if this is audience friendly. The very idea of ‘friendly’ has got rather mixed up and slides have now grown to be less of a friend and more of any foe. Who needs a pal who throws an endless steady flow of words at you while using a sole consequence of monotonous you to death?
Slides should be kept clean. Clear out typically the unnecessary words. Fewer phrases say more and have much more impact. Use punchy keywords that grab attention and are also easy to read at a glance. Remember the harder the audience reads over the slide, the less they can be listening to you. And studying is tiring – especially on a Friday afternoon soon after lunch – soon your own personal audience will adopt which glazed expression and their thoughts will drift away in order to think about their plans for your weekend.
“But how will We stay on track if I don’t have my notes on screen? inch – is the typical weep of alarm that comes from people when I give them these tips.
It is actually easier to present along with cleaner slides. Slides along with just short phrases as well as keywords provide an effective quick but also give you the freedom to be more spontaneous and speak with your audience. Remember, the actual slides are there for your target audience, they are not your notes – do not confuse the two – they have different purposes.
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