Comments on: What are Effective Presentation Skills?

By: Hitha Reddy

Hitha Reddy — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:39:19 +0000

Thanku for the information and all the responses provided these help us a lot.

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 13 May 2010 07:14:04 +0000

The above pretty much sums up what we train people to do on our courses! If speakers concentrated on your list above then their audience can settle down to listen. Wholeheartedly agree with Mel about eye-contact and interaction but you can overdo it as Kathy suggests. It was Sophocles (the great Greek orator) who I believe first suggested the “tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them” structure.

One of the points we always make is that Presenting is about “Distraction Management” – it doesn’t matter how good you are, if your flies are undone (or your skirt is tucked in your knickers) it’s doubtful people will really be listening! And there’s so much that can distract an audience:

– wondering, “whats’ in this for me?”
– their blackberry
– a cold/hot room
– typos on your slides
– a scruffy or wonky screen
– when the next comfort/coffee/fag break is coming
– outside noise etc. etc.

I would add that you need to make sure you finish within your allotted time – and at a conference (unless you’re first on) that invariably means speaking for less time than you were asked to? You must rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse so that you absolutely know how long your presentation is going to take! AUdiences love it if you finish on time and conference organisers love you if you can keep their conference running to schedule.

By: Kathi Browne

Kathi Browne — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:44:54 +0000

Since so many great tips have been addressed, I would like to mention some negatives that ruin my experience as a listener…

- Stuttering a word to stall without saying “uh”
- Over-emphasizing words and pausing too much (as if I’m too stupid to follow a normal speed/inflexion)
- not addressing a key item on a slide
- requesting audience to stand up and physically interact with strangers

By: Cathy Thomas

Cathy Thomas — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:53:24 +0000

I was always told that when giving a presentation
1. you should tell them what you are going to tell them
2. tell them
3. then tell them what you have just told them
dont remember where this came from but think it is a good guideline.

By: Cynthia Schuerr

Cynthia Schuerr — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:12:10 +0000

I love this site. Your words of wisdom make so much sense. I want to say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” We not only need to learn them, but must, also, be reminded of them from time to time.

So, please, stay with us, we need you.

Cynthia
cswriter59

By: Wolf Schumacher

Wolf Schumacher — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:39:31 +0000

I am doing quite a few presentations over the web (webinars). One issue there is that the audience mostly only listens and doesn’t talk due to the passive media. That way I sometimes have problems to connect well with the participants and the results are not optimal. Sometimes I also find that there is an overwhelming positive response and don’t know the reason for it. Do you have any good advice for this type of presentation?

By the way: I love your site and tweets!

Best regards,
Wolf
Sydney, Australia

By: Mel Menzies

Mel Menzies — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:01:33 +0000

I always like to be prepared to interact with my audience. If you make eye contact with them, they’re quite likely to do or say something which allows you to ad lib. In my experience, people like it if they feel you’ve homed in on them and are in touch.

Mel Menzies, author of A Painful Post Mortem

By: Barry Mapp

Barry Mapp — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:40:50 +0000

Agree with all your points and that almost anyone can become an effective presenter with the right training and coaching. Nerves happen primarily when people don’t (or feel they don’t) have the necessary (learnt) skills.

Barry Mapp The Innovation Coach

By: Wendy Wong

Wendy Wong — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:19:03 +0000

You should make the audience pay enough attention to your words and be confident but not arrogant. Always around you emphasis，Lay heavy stress on some key word.