3. Making a
good start:
When a presenter is ready to give his presentation he has to practice
the starting of his presentation. The beginning of the presentation should be
effective. If the beginning would be effective then the whole presentation
would get success. It may happen that the presenter feel nervousness when he is
going to start the presentation at that time he should sustain his confidence
and have faith in himself and his presentation. Once if the presenter
successfully make a good start he would feel relaxed because,
“A good start
of a presentation ensures success of the entire presentation”
1. Feeling confident:
- An action plan to build confidence:
1 Write down the real benefits you can offer your
audience:
It is an essential job of the presenter to make his audience believe
that he has something relevant, reliable and interesting contend to share with
his audience. If a presenter is aware with his content and interest, he would
surely feel confidence.
2 Talk through with experienced colleague/colleagues:
Sharing your ideas and views of your presentation subject with
experienced colleagues will help you in “enriching your presentation”. Your
colleagues will definitely having more knowledge about the topic and you as a
presenter would come to know about something more important.
3 Remember your own competence:
Always keep faith in yourself and preparation of the presentation. A
presenter should always keep in mind that he is having more knowledge about the
topic then his audience,
“Don’t
underestimate yourself”
4 Rehearse the introduction intensively:
Rehearsing your introduction of the presentation is good but “don’t over
rehearse it” because it reduces your spontaneity, focus on getting the
introduction fluent. Generally after few minutes presentation goes smoothly.
5 Look good on the day:
Appearance is not important but with good appearance a presenter can give
a good impression in his audience. If a presenter can feel comfortable with his
cloths he would be able to give good presentation. If he feels good by taking
new hair cut and new cloths it can help him to gain confidence.
6 Get Physical:
Take a few breaths, stretch a little walk around and loosen up your body
before you start.
7 Interact with the audience before you start:
As people start coming in the room tries to interact with them this will
help you to make them curious about what they are going to hear, put them in a
good mood.
8 Focus on the positive people around you:
Most of the members in audience will be a mixed bag of an enthusiastic
people and in co-operative people. When you will start the presentation you
will come to know the people who are listening to you and then focus on those
smiling faces.
9 Enjoy the tension:
Anxiety in natural and necessary when you are facing large number of the
audience but if you are not nervous then start getting nervous.
10 Go for it:
Think positive thoughts and say “I can do this” as you stand up to
begin.
11 Keep quiet about your stress level:
If you are nervous don’t show your nervousness by your gesture. Only you
should be aware with your stress.
- Frequently asked questions about building
confidence:
1. When you prepare notes regarding each
slides make sure that you are not using handouts in front of the audience to
elaborate your point.
2. If there is any expert sitting in the
audience, view them as a resource of knowledge not as a threat.
3. If the presenter forgets what he was
saying and what he should say, he should summarize the points and ask questions
or comments to audiences. It can help you to revive your topic of presentation.
4. If someone walks out after sometime
let them leave, they surely would have valid reason to leave.
5. If you start get nervous after
starting your presentation then refocus on the content and then explain points
of audience interest.
2. The first three minutes:
First three minutes of the presentation plays a vital role for a
presenter. In the first three minutes audience fames certain beliefs in their
mind and therefore to give a strong and effective start, first three minutes
are very important. As it is said,
“First
impression is last impression”
There are certain tip that can help presenter to make his first three
minutes interesting and effective.
1. Welcome:
In the beginning of the presentation, a presenter can start his
presentation by welcoming his audience and put them in a good mood. Audience
would feel good if the presenter starts his presentation with light and polite
tone.
2. Say a word of thanks:
The presenter needs to thank not only to the audience but also to the
person who has introduced him. A presenter should say “thank you” to the
audience.
3. Frame positivity:
Expressing positive expectations at the beginning of the message
increases the chances that it will be received positively. Before starting the
presentation a presenter should start his topic by interesting talk.
4. State objectives:
It is must to state your target clearly. The presenter needs to state
the objective not only just once but twice or thrice during the presentation.
5. Offer some personal information:
Most of the audience want to hear about the real life experiences of the
presenter. Audience want to know about “real you”. A presenter can also be
familiar with the audience by sharing his personal information. Audience will
also feel comfortable after knowing your nature.
6. Showing understanding of your audience:
It is also important to show interest in your audience. A presenter
should take an opportunity to know his audience and built good relationship and
increase comfort level in audience.
7. Emphasise benefits:
This is the great weakness of most business presentations. Presenter
starts his presentation by telling objectives and fails to explain the
benefits. There should be a factor of ‘audience’s want’ in the presentation.
Audience should come to know about their benefits from the presentation. There
should be a point that what audience wants.
8. Demonstrate personal commitment:
Showing personal interest involves audience even more in the
presentation. Personal commitment can add more trust on the part of audience.
9. Structure:
Especially international audience prefer ‘explicit’ structure and
interesting start. Audience prefer well organized structure that can help to navigate
them through the concept easily.
10. Clarify the role of the audience:
Before going for the presentation, research your audience. A presenter
should try to prepare his presentation as per the knowledge of his audience. If
he has interested activities or thinking tasks he should make it clear the role
of his audience in the presentation and how the presenter would end the
presentation.
11. Link to start:
Once you are done with the introduction, a presenter should lead his
audience clearly by saying certain sentences that the introduction is over and
the presentation has started.
Remember,
“If you want
your audience enthusiastic about the subject, be enthusiastic first”
3. Objectives or benefits?
By giving presentation the presenter’s job is to focus on audience
concern, which is a key to success. A presenter should convince the audience
that he has something relevant to present. If they will understand the benefits
then only will focus on objectives.
Here are some more ways to
develop a more audience oriented introductions and starts.
1. Acknowledge problems:
A presenter should start a presentation by presenting a problem which
will make audience attentive. Audience will come to know that listening
presentation will be beneficial for them. A presenter should increase interest
in presentation by stating benefits and objectives.
2. Tailor the content to customer needs:
Tailoring the content always help a presenter to acknowledge the needs
of customer. If the presenter has tailored the content he will be able to
deliver it properly. The content should be according to audience’s needs.
3. Stress common interest between presenter and
customer:
Stressing common interest during presentation will create sense of “we”.
Audience will not only relate themselves with the content but also with the
presenter. Stressing common interest in a way ensures that the audience will
listen a presenter till the end.
4. Promise to answer your customers to question:
Ask questions according to the needs and problems of audience and try to
give sufficient answer to your audience.
4. Starting with impact:
When a presentation is
planning his presentation he should focus on how he can give a start with an
impressive impact. A start of presentation should contain personal anecdotes,
great audio-visual clips. A presenter can also start by asking questions or by
controversial statement. Starting a presentation this way will leave long
lasting impact on the mind of your audience.
5. Using humour:
- Reason to use humour in your presentation:
1. To bring a smile on the face of audience. A presenter can use a play
on words. While describing a title in introduction or while explaining any
topic a presenter can use fun visuals for the audience.
2. A presenter can add fun element while giving personal information to
lighten the atmosphere. A presenter can use funny jokes to introduce any point.
3. If a presenter will make fun of his own feelings and mistakes, it
will create humour. Humorous anecdotes from presenter’s life can also create
humour.
A word of warning:
When a presenter is using humour, audience should be able to understand it
exactly the way presenter wants, it should not harm the sentiments of audience.
Reference book - Fifty Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills in English by Bob Dignen
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