So how do you avoid this happening to you – if you have to give a presentation for your next job interview?

Delivered effectively, an interview presentation can certainly enhance your chances of success.  However, for many it can be the opposite.  When nerves kick in, or lack of preparation or focus become evident.

So when you want to present successfully at an interview it’s vital to prepare a clear message that is:-

• Easy to memorise;
• Can be delivered confidently; and will be 
• Understood by your interviewer

And the best way to achieve that is to take a structured approach to planning and writing it.

(And thanks to Skillstudio – the presentation skills training experts – for the brilliant infographic at the bottom of this post.)

Establish your presentation purpose first

People often start working on their presentation slides before they have even thought about what they actually want to achieve in a presentation.

Has this ever happened to you?

This will almost certainly result in a presentation lacking a clear purpose.  So it’s important to first establish what you want to achieve before you start preparing your material.  There are several different types of presentations.  For example, you might be trying to sell something to your audience, maybe inform them about something or just trying to influence them in some way.

So you first need to decide on the purpose of your presentation.  ie What do you want to achieve?

Once you have established your purpose, distill it into one succinct sentence and write it down.  So that it is clear in your mind whilst you are going through the planning stage.

Build a profile of your interview panel – ie your audience

Think about your audience – the people on the interview panel that you will be presenting to.  It’s vital that you spend some time researching and analyzing your audience to help you make your presentation relevant to them.

Ask yourself the following questions about the likely people on the interview panel:-

• Who are they?
• How expert might they be in your presentation topic?
• What expectations might they have about your presentation topic?

Check out the company website for information and some guide on the company culture.

You might also discover more about the person or people who will be interviewing you from their LinkedIn profiles – assuming you know who the actual people are likely to be.

In building up a profile on the organization and the people you will be presenting to, you’ll be able to make your presentation more relevant to them.

Establish your core message

The next thing to think about is your core (or key) message. Your presentation should ideally have one key message.

That key message should contain some benefit for the audience – ie something that motivates them to listen to you.  So brainstorm a list of the reasons why your audience (from their perspective) should listen to you.  ie What’s in it for them?

From your list choose the strongest and most relevant benefit.  This will form the basis of your key message.  Now write it down – so that you are able to think about it as you continue with your preparation.

Developing and structuring the content of your presentation

Organizing the content into a clear structure is very important for several reasons.  It will help you remember each section better.  It will also help the audience to follow the presentation clearly.

Without a strong structure you might well find yourself starting to go off-topic … And then you’ll lose your audience!

Think in terms of a:-

1. Beginning
2. Middle
3. End

Three is a powerful number that people find easier to remember things in.  By keeping your presentation to three top level sections it will help it maintain a strong focus.

You can then split the middle section into three sub-sections as well.  In each sub-section have 3 additional points you want to make and expand on.

And as you create the content for your presentation its very important that you remember:-

1. Your purpose – what you want to achieve from it
2. The key message – what is in it for the audience

Review and edit your content

Once you’ve got a draft, it’s then important to review it and edit it.  You need to think about the type of language you are using, to ensure you keep the audience’s interest.  Think about ways of grabbing their attention at the start such as using a:

• Controversial statement
• Intriguing question
• Relevant quote

This will arouse curiosity at the start and hook them in.

Don’t use long sentences or words that are not relevant to the audience, or that they might not even understand.

You ending should also be memorable.  Use the opportunity to emphasize your key message again and leave a lasting impression.

In conclusion

By spending some initial time on the preparation rather than just ‘jumping’ into your slides, you will find it easier to create and deliver a more successful presentation at your interview.  You will also be able to apply these techniques to any other type of presentation to help you deliver your message with greater confidence and impact.

And our thanks to the folks at Skillstudio for the infographic (below) that they have produced on how to create a clear and compelling presentation.

Lots of people just shy away from the issue and never get to the stage where they have the skills to give a presentation confidently. At most they are happy to “just survive” the experience of a team presentation and never really get to realise their true potential at work.

If you have a few colleagues like this then you also have the opportunity to overtake them in the career ladder, if you can sort out your own presentation skills.

And that is certainly not as difficult as it might seem to you just now.

Seven tips to help overcome your fear of presenting

If you really want to get rid of your presentation fear then here’s SEVEN tips to get you started:-

1. Check out this website and you’ll discover a straight forward way to create a presentation that is both clear to your audience AND is easier for you to remember.
2. Dont rely on Powerpoint for your prompts. There’s another good section on this site to help you. Using prompt cards is a great way of doing this.
3. Use Powerpoint (if you have to) to compliment what you are saying – with images / diagrams to help explain concepts and AVOID bullet points if you can help it!
4. Try out some of the breathing exercises we mention on the site. They are simple yet they are also very effective in reducing stress and anxiety.
5. Look into taking part in a training workshop – Skillstudio for example, run many of these all over the UK.  So if you are in the UK have a look at their website. If you are from outside the UK then look for some local training options because attending even a one day workshop with the right trainer can make a tremendous difference to your confidence, your presentation skills and to your potential for success at work.
6. Take the plunge at work more often. Present when you get the opportunity and ask people for feedback and learn from the experience .
7. Don’t give up – keep at it and over time you’ll have overcome the fear; built up your skills and be able to present with confidence.

1. Eye contact helps create better interaction and rapport with the audience.
2. Aim to give about three seconds of eye contact per person whilst you are speaking.
3. You will feel as if you are having conversations with individual members of the audience rather than speaking to them en-mass.
4. This will help you engage fully with the whole audience.
5. Using specific eye contact actually helps give you extra confidence.  You are less likely to feel over-awed by a sea of faces in front of you.

Unfortunately for many people however, when presenting, eye contact doesn’t come naturally. If this is one of the issues you’d like to fix then you need to practise this over and over until it becomes natural to you.

And one of the best ways of building this important presentation skill is to attend one of the presentation skills courses in London and throughout the UK that Skillstudio offer.

If you have any good tips to help presenters maintain eye contact throughout a presentation, let’s know.

Like some 1-2-1 coaching in presentation skills?

As well as their public courses, Skillstudio also run 1-2-1 presentation skills coaching in London and across the UK.  It’s an ideal option for you if you want to discover the power of eye contact,  enhance your delivery skills and get personal feedback from an expert coach.  Read more about it here.

But why not look on the brighter side of life with Powerpoint?

Don McMillan is a great exponent of the funnier side of Powerpoint and his latest video (below) is absolute proof that there is definitely Life after Death By Powerpoint!

Enjoy!

“Do I really need to attend a presentation skills training course to improve my skills?”

No matter how good the tips and advice you read are, there’s likely to be a finite limit to what you can achieve in isolation. So the answer might well be a “Yes”.

Are your presentation skills critical to your job?

For many people today, the ability to communicate well and deliver business presentations convincingly is an absolute must for career progression.  And when you need to present an idea to your colleagues to gain their support for an important project or have to make a sales presentation to potential clients, your current job might even be under threat if you are not that good at doing it!

So the answer to that question “Do I really need to attend a presentation skills training course…?” really depends a lot on how much improvement you’d like to see in your presentation skills and in what sort of time-scale you really need to see this improvement start to take effect.

Presentation skills training options

If you decide to explore some presentation skills training courses, what options are there out there and which training company should you choose?

You’ve probably already found this site be searching Google for “presentation skills tips” or similar phrase.  (Or maybe you’ve come across us on Twitter.)  The net is a great resource as well for finding good presentation skills training services in your local country.

Presentation skills training in the UK

If you’re based in the UK then you can get help directly from Skillstudio Limited, the training company who have helped us by sponsoring this site.  Skillstudio offer:-

• Public Courses for 3 different levels of presenting experience (from absolute beginners to advanced) held throughout the UK
• 1-2-1 Coaching in presentation skills for all levels of experience and just about every possible occasion – held across the UK
• In-Company presentation skills training tailored to your groups exact requirements – held throughout the UK, Europe and beyond

There are of course many other presentation skills trainers in addition to Skillstudio in the UK and ultimately you will need to make a decision on which one best meets your needs.

Unrivalled presentation skills training

We are probably a bit biased … but we honestly believe that Skillstudio offers an unrivalled presentation skills training experience in the UK – not only because of the results we have seen consistently over the years but because of what we know you’ll receive personally by attending their training:-

• High quality, results driven; and fun training experience from a charismatic, expert trainer;
• Personalised coaching with lots of constructive feedback to build your confidence and skills;
• A lasting and dramatic improvement in your presentation skills;

• And all this, at a price that is actually very competitive.

Skillstudio have been providing high quality presentation skills training consistently, since 2001. And you can see some this consistency for yourself in the testimonials published on their website from over 1000 people, some, probably just like yourself, who decided to take a chance and attend one of their courses.

Presentation skills training outside the UK

If you’re based outside the UK its less likely that Skillstudio can help you directly unless you are looking for some in-company presentation skills training.

But there’s still a good number of excellent trainers to be found.  Some of the feedback on this site is from presentation skills trainers – so read what they are saying and then try and make contact with them. Alternatively keep Googling until you come across a site that gives you the confidence that they can deliver what they promise.

Over time, we hope to be able to recommend a few good trainers outside the UK.  So watch this space for more information.

Looking for a public speaking coach?

Skillstudio also offer this service throughout the UK. So if you are looking for public speaking coaching in London, Manchester or as far north as Aberdeen they will be able to help you achieve your objectives.

They also run public speaking courses regularly in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Check out their website for more information.

Our experience is that this probably happens more than 9 times out of 10.

So that’s about 90% of PowerPoint presentations where the lack of PowerPoint presentation skills actually undermines the very presentations PowerPoint is supposed to enhance.

So why do people continue down this road to presentation anesthesia?  And can we divert at least some of them to a more enlightened, creative approach?

Here are seven PowerPoint presentation skills tips to help you on your way.

1. Do you really need to use PowerPoint?

If its not absolutely necessary to use PowerPoint in your presentation then …

STOP USING IT!

Next time you’ve a short presentation or talk to deliver, rather than immediately starting up PowerPoint to get the slides ready and using it again when you are delivering your presentation, think about what you want to say and how you might do that without using PowerPoint at all.

Check out our article on how to prepare a presentation to get some good tips on creating and structuring a presentation.  Then have a look at Tip 2 to see how to avoid using PowerPoint to prompt you.

2. Stop using PowerPoint as your prompt!

Once you know what you want to say, try and condense the words into a series of key phrases (prompts) that you can then refer to as you start to deliver the presentation.

Then put your prompts for the talk onto record cards (white sheets of cardboard roughly 6″ by 4″). Just like the photo on the right.

We use them all the time when training people in presentation skills.

By using these “prompt cards” instead of the PowerPoint you can eliminate one of the biggest problems with PowerPoint use today:-

Where the slides are there mostly as prompts for the presenter!

3. Ruthlessly reduce the number of PowerPoint slides

If you absolutely have to use PowerPoint during the presentation then use it as sparingly as possible.

Be ruthless in removing the unnecessary slides.

Use prompt cards for your prompts so remove any slides that might just be for your benefit.

Then review the set of slides AGAIN against your presentation and remove any more slides that you possibly can.

Be ruthless!

4. Use images in the PowerPoint slides whenever possible

Hopefully by now you’ll not be using PowerPoint slides as your prompts – so much of the text heavy bullet points will have disappeared.

But remember that ideally PowerPoint is a VISUAL aid that’s there to enhance your presentation – to help you get your message across and achieve your objectives.

Real visuals (ie Pictures) can help create feelings in the audience, can help make a complex process easier to understand etc.

So think carefully about opportunities you might have in your presentation to use pictures, graphs etc to compliment what you are saying and to help you get your message across.

5. Use headline summaries only for text slides in PowerPoint

If you must include some text in the presentation then pull out only the headline or summary information.

Keep to a maximum of 3 lines of headline text (summaries) on a slide and one slide title.  And make sure that each headline uses large fonts.  Aim to keep to 4 or 5 words maximum per heradline.

Try and include an image on the page as well to compliment the text.  But don’t use the clip art that comes shipped with PowerPoint.  Try a resource such as www.istockphoto.com or similar for photos.

6. Dont just use PowerPoint slides as your handounts

If you have to provide a set of handouts for your audience after the presentation then do so.

But it doesn’t need to be just copies of your PowerPoint slides.

Don’t constrain your presentation slides (if you’re using some) by having to include all the facts and figures that you might need to get across in your slides.

Keep the detail for the handouts and only have summary headline text on the slides.

7. Use hidden PowerPoint slides for the Q&A session

If you are likely to have questions either during or after the presentation then as part of your preparation you’ll probably spend some time brainstorming the likely questions and deciding how best to answer them.

So if you’ve the time, and only where appropriate, include one or more “hidden” slides that will help you answer some of the most difficult questions that you might get asked.

For example if you are talking about a process or a strategy in your presentation and have only covered things at a high level in your slides, then it might be useful to include a more detailed diagram of the contentious part of the process (for example) on a hidden slide that you can refer to ONLY if needed.

In summary

If you can then dont use PowerPoint at all.

If you have to use PowerPoint, then use it for the audience’s benefit and use it as sparingly as possible.

And remember it is supposed to be a VISUAL aid so use it for visual images and not just bullet points!

So why is it that with so much experience of bad PowerPoint presentations so many people still present as if they are there simply to run through someone elses badly composed PowerPoint slides?

Might it be that having seen so many bad presentations, many just think that these “terrible presentations” are simply a fact of business life and something that presenters are expected to produce and the rest of us endure!

Anyway, I dont have all the answers and it’s now late on Friday night – it’s been a long week … so a more light hearted look at PowerPoint is called for.

“Good Evening PowerPointers”

I said Good Evening PowerPointers!

(a response at last)

Thank You … at least you’re not all fully asleep yet

Dont worry …

You will be by the end because its now PowerPoint time!

Welcome to The PowerPoint Comedy Show

Firstly, my thanks to Max Atkinson for pointing out this YouTube video to me on his blog.  (I was looking for some video examples of bad PowerPoint.)

Thanks also to the Presenter / Comedian – Don McMillan (http://twitter.com/donmcmillan) for what is certainly one of the most entertaining presentations using PowerPoint badly that I have seen!

And here’s some of the points that Don was making …

1. Powerpoint slides are your prompts

When composing your powerpoint slides, remember that they are there for your benefit only.  Forget about the audience.

The PowerPoint slides are great prompts for what you have to say, so include as much of your presentation text as you want on them.  In fact, if you have any difficulty remembering what you want to say, then put every word of your speech on them – just to be on the safe side. That way, you can ensure that you wont forget anything on the day!

2. Have lots and lots of bullet points

• Bullet
• points
• are
• there
• for
• a
• purpose

- so use them and use lots of them especially if you want to kill off your audience before they can ask any questions!

3. Use the most outrageous colour schemes

Dont be grey add some real colour especially

those that can hardly be seen.

Its much better that way!

4. The more slides the better

Remember quality is inversly proportional to quantity.

So if you’ve nothing of any quality to say just make sure you use as many slides as possible.

5. Cram in as much information as possible

Confuse them … leave nothing out … and make sure that nobody (even yourself) can really understand the slides.

That way nobody is going to be stupid enough to ask you any questions … are they!

6. Animate everything you can

PowerPoint has lots of crazy animations that you can use to confuse your audience even more – so remember to use them.

And dont use them sparingly!

7. Choose your fonts to reflect your personality

Remember the types of fonts you use say a lot about you.

So express yourself liberally – use as many different fonts as possible!

Suffering from PowerPoint fatigue by now?

You should be!

Then why not spend a few more minutes listening to Doctor Don our PowerPoint therapist?

One final PowerPoint

Remember to tell the audience that you’ve finished

When you come to the end of your presentation and are just about to put up your 100th slide, your audience (if they are still in the room) are probably asleep.

So you need to be kind to them. And from a health and safety perspective its very important that you dont just leave the room with the audience still asleep in the darkness.

So turn up the volume as far as it will go for your final slide transition.  And remember to use the machine gun letter by letter display feature for your final bullet point .. to tell everybody that The End Has Arrived.  And if that doesn’t wake all of them up nothing will.

Then remember to put on the lights and leave quickly.

Got more examples of PowerPoint Comedy?

or just bad PowerPoint Presentations?

Then let us know in the Reply box below and I’ll try and include the best in some future articles.

What caught my attention though wasn’t the normally slick presentation that you come to expect from most of the Sky presenters.

It was the fact that I just couldnt make out what the Business Presenter was saying!  I’m quite interested in the Business News after all – especially given our livelihood is very much dependent on how quickly we can all drag ourselves and the country out of this recession!

So did I have too much to drink last night that I was still hungover and not fully alert?

Yes I did probably did have too much to drink last night – having watched Andy Murray beat Juan Martin Del Potro in a captivating tennis singles final in Montreal.

But both my hearing and my brain were working fairly normally by that time – after all it was more than 12 hours after the event!

So what was it?

More hurry less speed

The presenter was speaking too quickly.

She might have had a fixed time slot and had a lot to say – in fact she did have a lot to say. But she wasn’t able to communicate that to her audience.  (Or to me at least.)

Her voice lacked diction which meant that she tended to merge one syllable into the next. She was also speaking quickly which resulted in her merging one word into the next. And, because she didn’t want to pause at any time she also merged one sentence into the next.

The net effect was that she completed everything she wanted to say in her short time slot.

But myself, and probably many other viewers were none the wiser about what was happening in the world of business this afternoon!

So I switched over to the BBC.

Slow down when you present

Lots of people speed up when they present.  A bit like the Sky presenter really.  Much of this is down to nerves.

The problem is that if you speed up and your voice is not clear enough as a result, then the people you are presenting to are probably not going to fully understand what you are trying to say.  Not a good result really!

We’ve included a few voice exercises for presenters in an earlier article.  So, if you think this might be relevant to yourself, before you present next – try them out.

Clarity of voice and message

And try to remember that both the speed you are speaking at and your diction (how clear your words are) will potentially determine how well your audience hear what you have to say.

You might be presenting what is a well written, superbly structured and very persuasive presentation but if your audience can’t hear all the words you are speaking then there’s little chance that you are going to achieve your purpose.

A little more preparation and awareness of how you come across vocally however can make a significant difference to the impact you have on your audience.

Have your presentation skills ever let you down in the past?

Have you ever avoided giving a presentation at work?

Might you be more successful at work if you were a better and more effective presenter?

The good news is that Effective Presentation Skills can be developed by almost anyone with the right training.

But what are Effective Presentation Skills? And how do you develop them?

Just be yourself?

Great presenters often look as if they are “naturals” and relaxed when presenting.

So does that mean you “just need to relax and be yourself” the next time you are getting ready to present at work?  Or can this often be somewhat misguided advice?

The reality is that most people are already ”just being themselves” when they present.

And the sad fact for some, (especially those that have not had any training) is that they are also so far outside of their comfort zones they appear to their audience as ”unnatural” as a duck out of water!

So unless you’re already a good communicator – think first about developing your presentation skills rather than just trying to relax and be yourself.

You can develop the skills to present effectively

And with the right training and coaching, you really can develop the skills and confidence needed to deliver an effective presentation.

By building on what already works well with your personality; developing new skills and an increased confidence; and of course, removing the bad old “natural” habits that messed up your presentations in the past, you can be well on your way to looking like a ”natural” when you present.

And as a result, start to realise your potential and present effectively.

So what skills makes an effective presentation?

Here’s a list of just some of the key things that make an effective presentation …

What the presenter has to say …

• is well researched
• has a good structure
• is clear, concise and easily understood
• is pitched at the right level for the audience
• uses visual aids wisely

How the presenter delivers it …

• creates an immediate and positive impression
• engages well with the audience
• speaks clearly, confidently and with conviction
• Deals effectively with questions
• comes across as a relaxed and “natural” presenter

The impact on the audience …

• They feel the experience worth while
• They believe in what is being said
• They want to respond positively
• The presentation is remembered and acted on afterwards

What other effective presentation skills would you suggest?

You’ve probably witnessed many presentations at work.  Some good, some probably bad!

What did you like about the good ones?  What made them memorable?

Let’s know your experiences below:-

Share and Enjoy:

My favourite is the last one!

Have you avoided presenting at work before?  What excuse did you use?  And have you ever regretted avoiding not giving presentations at work?

Here’s their list of excuses:-

1. A straight “dont want to, thank you”. Give it to someone who enjoys doing them!
2. Agenda too full. Will table for next meeting.
3. Always find a way around it. I always claim to be very busy with other things.
4. Always sit back in the group and wait for someone else to present
5. Asked someone else to stand in for me, or write down what I am going to talk about and then just read it to the audience.
6. Bad throat, give others the opportunity, tell the other person that he’s the best at this.
7. By being busy.
8. Don’t have time or expertise.
9. Excusing myself out of the venue.
10. Feeling ill, got to leave to attend an emergency, lost my voice
11. Feeling unwell or have been unable to prepare
12. Generally provide opportunities to other colleagues.
13. Hay fever/sore throat.
14. I am not a good presenter.
15. I am not competent for the subject
16. I am not qualified enough.
17. I am quite busy
18. I can say that I have an appointment.
19. I can’t make it today, not prepared.
20. I can’t do it
21. I can’t remember what i’m going to say. which is fact, not an excuse.
22. I do not know enough about it. You would be better to deliver this.
23. I don’t apply for jobs that might require it. Only once have I actually refused – I said it was not in my job description.
24. I don’t feel confident enough to do this presentation there are other people in the team that are better at delivering the presentation.
25. I have another appointment
26. I have other commitments for the same time of presentation have no time to prepare.
27. I have some important official work and could not attend the presentations.
28. I have to say that I will be going some where else.
29. I pretend to be busy with my job
30. I take a holiday
31. I will do it next time and I am not the right person give it to somebody who has a lot of experience
32. I’m no good
33. I’m too busy
34. I’ve got other work on
35. If presentations to customers: not knowledgeable enough, not prepared, not available
36. I’m ill
37. I’m not ready or I haven’t got enough material to present
38. It would be better given by someone else.
39. Lack of time to prepare, lack of knowledge on subject
40. Leaving the chance to others
41. Maybe someone else can do it better…
42. Take annual leave or have other priorities at work.
43. The cat scratched my face and cut corner of my mouth and it hurts when I speak!

If you’ve got a better reason for avoiding presenting leave a message below.

Alternatively, have a look at some the the articles on this site – they might just give you the inspiration you need to take the plunge and present, next time you are asked.