Making a Presentation

There are many times in our lives when we need to make a presentation and it is often a daunting experience, here are a few tips to make it easier to present well.

Plan What You Are Going To Say

It may seem an obvious thing to suggest, but we've all been there when the person making a speech to us clearly doesn't have any idea what they are going to say next. This is simply because they haven't planned and as the say, if you fail to plan then you plan to fail.

When designing your presentation try to think about what value you are offering to your audience. If something is of interest to you is it really likely to be of interest to them? Challenge yourself on each and every thing you say and by doing so your presentation will be of much more interest and use than if you simply tell your audience all you know.

PowerPoint and Slides

PowerPoint is one of the most divisive issues amongst presenters with many arguing that it is of limited use with too many weaknesses while others believe that if used effectively it can be a very useful tool.

If you are going to use PowerPoint, or a similar visual aid, ensure that you put information on it that will be of immediate relevance. Far too often speakers will try to cram their entire presentation onto several slides, ensuring that the attention of the audience isn't focussed on them but on a computer generated screen behind them. And if that's the case you might as well just print out the slides, distribute them and go home because you're not adding any value by speaking.

Questions

At the start make it clear to your audience whether you want them to wait until the end to ask questions or that they are welcome to interrupt you mid-flow. Not doing so can lead to some awkward moments and potentially you can lose the flow of your presentation.

Check Out The Venue

This is often overlooked, but it's important to find out whether you can be heard or not when you are speaking. Look at the acoustics of the place - if it has a high ceiling you are going to have to be careful but if it has skytes in it then they may help you to reach that deaf granny at the back. Also, remember that with the room empty your voice will travel that much further, but when it is full the bodies of your audience will muffle some of the sound.

As you can see there are plenty of things to think about for your next presentation to make sure it stands out!

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Fabric Architecture Ltd has been specialising in the design, engineering, manufacture and installation of tensile fabric structures since 1984. Learn more about Fabric Ceiling at http://www.fabricarchitecture.com/archiclad

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