How to Deliver
Brilliant Class Presentations Revision 1 July 2014
Rhoneil Anthony G. Gabriel Associate Professor, De La Salle University Dasmari単as
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
1
Student presentation
is a common and important learning
method in MBA. As a student,
your presentation skills is important both in terms of class learning and your grades.
This readable
presentation teaches how to deliver your class presentation, brilliantly. It is divided into two parts:
9 Essential Steps in Creating an Impressive Presentation
35 Indispensable Tips on a Masterful Delivery
Let’s get on with it.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
Enjoy reading....
2
9 Essential Steps in
Creating an Impressive Presentation
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
3
1
To start off, know how many slides you can have.
Considering class discussions,
one slide is usually discussed every 5 minutes.
You can therefore determine how
many slides you can have by knowing how much time you are allotted. Remember that nobody wants an
overrun. Follow the table on the right.
Allotted Time
Maximum Number of Slides*
30 minutes
6
1 hour
12
1 ½ hours
18
2 hours
24
2 ½ hours
30
3 hours
36
*Exclude title slides, sectional dividers and other marker slides from this number; they are not discussed. Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
4
2
Know your audience’s preferences.
Know your professor’s preferences
the content of your presentation,
and any special way of delivery.
regarding:
If your professor did not specify these beforehand,
ask him or
her to make sure that you are aligned.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
5
2
Know your audience’s preferences.
Also try to determine
if your classmates are more responsive to certain types of delivery.
e.g. handouts, exercises, debates etc.
If you don’t know, by default, adult learners are more responsive
when given the opportunity to:
share their experiences,
and apply the lessons to their work environment.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
6
2
Know your audience’s preferences.
ď ľ Write these preferences
down. Make sure you follow them as you design your slides later.
Professor’s preferences - include case study at the back - show at least 2 examples - include references Class preferences - none - just ask them to share their experiences
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
7
Study the material. Decide which topics to include and emphasize.
3
Study the material and decide which topics to include
or
exclude, and which to emphasize or just brush over.
Do not blindly follow the original emphasis of the material and drag the discussion through a series of uninteresting and unimportant slides.
Emphasize the portions that are more relevant to the class and their real work environment.
De-emphasize or exclude topics that have little or no relevance.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
8
3
Study the material. Decide which topics to include and emphasize.
Write your decisions down.
Make sure you follow them as you design your slides later.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
Material Content 1. Introduction – just talk through while showing title 2. Pre-test - exclude 3. History – brush over 4. 4 Functions of Mgmt - emp 5. 3 Skills of Mgmt - emp 6. 10 roles – brush over ... ...
9
Make the opening slides. This should be an introduction of the topic.
4
Make the first one or two slides, an introduction of the
topic.
These should always include:
1. The relevance of the presentation to your classmates (WIIFT – What’s In It For Them).
This may be in the form of a realization exercise or an enumeration of possible applications of the topic.
2. And the top-level outline of your presentation (what’s in store for them).
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
10
Make the closing slides. This should be a review of the topic.
5
Make the last one or two slides a quick
review of the topic.
These should always include:
1. The top-level outline of your presentation (a copy of the outline in the opening).
This will be used in the quick review and clarification portion of your ending.
2. An inspiring call to action.
This may be in the form of a relevant quotation.
3. And a thank you note to the class for listening.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
11
Make placeholder slides for the rest of the content and finalize their arrangement.
6
Considering your:
allowed number of slides
step 1
list of audience preferences
step 2
list of sub-topics to include and emphasize
step 3
Make placeholder slides for the rest of the content.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
12
Make placeholder slides for the rest of the content and finalize their arrangement.
6
These placeholder slides should not be fancy and should only
contain:
slide titles,
and short notes about the slide content.
After making the placeholders,
arrange them to comply with
your requirements.
This practice enables you to tweak arrangement prior to finalizing and beautifying the slides. If you finalize slides immediately, you might find out later that you need to modify or delete them. This wastes a lot of time.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
13
Make placeholder slides for the rest of the content and finalize their arrangement.
6
Some tips on arrangement:
In general, arrange your slides in a logical sequence.
Each succeeding sub-topic should be the logical consequence of its predecessor.
This should already be the default arrangement of the original material, but be diligent and double check.
This logical sequence makes the material easier to understand.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
14
Make placeholder slides for the rest of the content and finalize their arrangement.
6
Some tips on arrangement:
When teaching an important principle, follow the sequence: 1. a realization case study or class activity,
2. a discussion of your classmates’ realizations about the case or activity (list them down on the board), 3. and lastly, your generalization of the realizations into the correct principle.
Note that this technique takes a lot of time and should only be used sparingly.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
15
Make placeholder slides for the rest of the content and finalize their arrangement.
6
ď ľ Some tips on arrangement: ď ľ
When teaching a technique or process, follow the sequence: 1. a discussion the procedure and/or an enumeration of the steps,
2. a presentation of complete examples, 3. and lastly, several application exercises for the class to do.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
16
7
Make the slides. Follow the rules of slide design.
Rules of Slide Design
Make simple slides.
Leave plenty of spaces.
Create visuals (pictures, illustrations, graphs, videos) for things that are hard to understand.
Be wary of videos: – Bring and use powered speakers loud enough for the room. – Verify that the video actually runs in the presentation computer. – Note that videos might take a long time and might be boring in portions that are irrelevant to the discussion.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
17
7
Make the slides. Follow the rules of slide design.
Rules of Slide Design (cont.)
Use big, sans serif fonts (fonts without tails like Calibri or Verdana).
Use 16pts minimum for projected presentations.
For cut-and-paste diagrams and tables, make sure that the text is at least as big as 16pt fonts.
Contrast between foreground and background.
Remember that projectors wash-out colors . – green light green – purple pink
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
18
7
Make the slides. Follow the rules of slide design.
Rules of Slide Design (cont.)
Do not put pictures without any purpose.
Do not put superfluous information.
Unnecessary illustrations and information create distractions and may pull the discussion off the topic, wasting time.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
19
7
Make the slides. Follow the rules of slide design.
Rules of Slide Design (cont.)
Use animations only to create a path for the eyes.
Use only Fade. Do not use fancy, dropping, or rotating animations; they are unprofessional.
Do not use sound effects; they are also unprofessional.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
20
7
Make the slides. Follow the rules of slide design.
Rules of Slide Design (cont.)
Use slide titles that describe the content.
Use section dividers for long presentations.
Emphasize you key points (bold, underline, etc.).
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
21
7
Make the slides. Follow the rules of slide design.
Rules of Slide Design (cont.)
Do not use hyperlinks.
They cannot be controlled by the clicker.
They are prone to error.
Instead, just repeat needed slides over and over again in a linear sequence.
Reduce file size.
Compress pictures.
Use metafile instead of objects.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
22
8
Check your presentation.
Check information correctness.
Check grammar. Check if the allowed number of slides is met. Check if audience’s
preferences are met.
Check if your content preferences
are met.
Check compliance to the rules of slide design. Check run-time
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
if within the allotted time. 23
9
And lastly, ask someone to double check.
ď ľ Check for the same things.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
step 8
24
35 Indispensable Tips on a
Masterful Delivery
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
25
1
First and most important: Practice, practice, and practice!
2
Run through the entire presentation several times to make sure that you remember its content and feel its tempo.
3
Check all additional materials and make sure that everything will run well.
Stage fright affects everyone. But if you prepare and practice, its effect will be short and your training will take over almost immediately.
There is no substitute for preparation and practice.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
26
Be responsive
Get continuous feedback,
4
Interpret your classmates’ comments and questions to determine if they understand or not.
5
Check class disposition (sleepy, bored, skeptical, rowdy, etc.).
Then adjust your discussion accordingly
6
Skip content that was already discussed earlier.
7
Hurry through content that is already well understood.
8
Expound on content that is difficult to grasp. Repeat the lesson, if necessary.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
27
Be responsive (cont.)
Be aware of the time
9
Near lunch time or the end-of-class, your classmates will be worried about overrun. Promise them that you will finish on time.
10
After lunch, your classmates are sleepy. Speak louder, use larger gestures, and move about to force their necks to move as well.
Be aware of the room
11
Try to eliminate sources of disturbance before starting your presentation (e.g. an air conditioner that is too cold, or something noisy outside the room).
12
Try not to block the projector or screen.
Being responsive is taken as a sign of intelligence.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
28
Do not undermine
your own presentation.
13
Do not apologize at the start for a poorly made presentation.
14
Also do not apologize for your lack of presentation skills or understanding of the topic.
If you have a bad presentation that you do not understand, why should anyone listen to you?
Instead, exude confidence by being well prepared.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
29
Create an environment conducive to sharing and discussion. 15
Ask for feedback, reflections, or experiences at least once every 5 minutes. More frequently if time allows.
16
Deliver with a sense of humor. Use intellectual humor though.
17
Be lively.
18
Smile.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
30
Connect with individuals. 19
Make eye contact with all your classmates, not just your friends. Make contact for about 5 seconds each person. Do not ogle.
20
Address your classmates by name. Know them beforehand. Mention your classmates in your examples.
21
Do not just read the slides with your back to your classmates.
22
However, you can do this for special slides with long texts that are really intended to be read fully.
Remember, heart-before-mind. Make sure you make your classmates feel that you want them to learn, before actually trying to teach them. This is done by showing your enthusiasm and care.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
31
Avoid distracting
actions:
23
Circling and underlining with the laser pointer. Instead, just point, hold for 3 seconds, then turn the laser off.
24
Flipping through the slides one-by-one when searching for one in particular. Instead, quit the slideshow, jump to the one you want, then restart.
25
Talking in a soft voice.
26
Talking in a hoarse voice (or excessive throat clearing). Instead, take a lozenge before delivery.
27
Repeating the same words, over and over again.
For example: Basically…, Generally….
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
32
In answering questions: 28
Do not take a skeptical question as a personal attack.
29
Check your understanding of a complicated question by paraphrasing it (restating it in summary).
30
Restate the question and answer it addressing the whole class so that everyone is involved, not just the person asking.
31
Give a moderate response (do not start an argument).
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
33
In ending the presentation,
finish strong.
32
Summarize your important teaching points. You may use the closing slide outline for this or even flip through the entire content quickly.
33
Ask for points to clarify.
34
Leave with an inspiring note.
35
And lastly, thank the class for listening.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
34
I know it may be difficult to follow these tips. It...doesn’t...matter.
Follow them anyway. With practice you’ll get faster and better with them. And pretty soon you’ll be your own brand of an excellent presenter. Thank you and good luck, -Prof. G
About the author: Rhoneil works as a quality improvement professional for a global electronics company. He was also a management teacher in a local university. He lives with his wife and two kids in the suburban town of Tanza Cavite in the Philippines. You may contact him through rhoneilg@yahoo.com.ph. Use of this material: You may use this material for your personal education only. Please ask for the author’s written permission first, before sharing it or using it (or part of it) for other purposes like training.
Rhoneil Anthony Gloria Gabriel
35