Another Handful of Tips 49 – Presentation Rules

Five of the best tips to remember when making a presentation

Many presentations fail because the presenter forgets the basic communication principles.

It is rare for people to recall accurately what they have heard after a presentation. I have carried out over 100 recall exercises in many countries and found recall is generally very poor.

Try to make your message memorable by keeping it clear, simple and timely.

These tips can improve your presentation skills.

1. Tell them something new

If you give people information they want to know they are more likely to remember your presentation.

2. Use as many senses as possible

The more senses you can use the greater the chances that people will remember your message.

People learn much more from seeing than from hearing so back up your talk with simple effective visual aids and give a handout when you finish.

Many visual aids cannot be seen by all because the screen is too low. There may be too much light from windows. Often the visuals are too small, or a bad colour combination has been used so they are hard to read.

3. People must be able to hear you

Many people as they age suffer from hearing loss. Many younger people have impaired hearing after listening to too much loud music.

Project your voice so the people in the back row can hear you and make sure there is a good sound system if you have a large audience.

Always check the room out before making a presentation.

4. Chat to your audience

We don’t talk in sentences and paragraphs – we talk in groups of words so chat to your audience.

Don’t read a written text to them unless it is in the spoken format. It can be boring and many people start thinking of other things and fail to hear your message.

5. Timing is critical

Don’t include too much material or clutter your message with non-essential information.

Keep within your allotted time. If you go over your time you are stealing someone else’s time.

If you want your message to be remembered make no more than three main points and tell them three times.

Tell your audience what you are going to tell them, make your case, then tell them what you have told them in your summary.

Geoffrey Moss
mossassociates.co.nz

“A good rule for communication is to leave unmentioned what your audience already knows – tell them something new!”

SOURCE: “Persuasive Ways” published by Moss Associates Ltd, New Zealand and in Chinese by Shanghai People’s Publishing House and as “Secrets of Persuasion” by Cengage Learning Asia. Also available as an e-book from Amazon.com.