Five P’s to a Poised and Perfect Presentation
The five P's to a perfect presentation are: planning, preparing, practicing, previewing and presenting. The first is planning which is probably the most important. Before giving a presentation you need to know who your audience will be and plan accordingly. Find out the amount of time that you will have and stick to the main ideas and make it interesting. If you use slides make sure they are clear and easy to read. Leave enough time to allow people to ask questions. Second is preparing for your presentation. If you are going to use a laser make sure you have extra batteries. If you need a cart or a table make arrangements ahead of time. Make sure you have enough supplies or paper for everyone. Next is practicing for your presentation. Practice your presentation several times and try to practice in front of someone. Do not use equipment that you will not have for your presentation. Keep track of your time so that you will know if you need to add or take off anything from your presentation. Another thing to keep in mind when presenting is previewing. Visit the place where you be presenting and make sure that all of your equipment is there and working. Preview your slide and test your microphone. Finally, present in an exciting way. Keep eye contact with your audience and watch for their general reaction and adjust accordingly. Speak slow and maintain a good sense of humor no matter what happens. Don't read the talk but make it sound like a normal conversation. At the end thank your audience and answer any questions that they have.
Reflection:
This was a great simple guideline for giving a terrific and well planned presentation. I wish everyone could read these basic ideas before they give presentations. So many times I have attended workshops or trainnings where the presentor is not prepared or does not know how to run the equipment or does not have enough papers for everyone. By not following those basic guidelines you really can start off wrong with your audience and many times it will be very hard to get them interested in what you have to say when you lose them right at the beginning of your presentation.
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2 comments:
I've also been to those workshops. Unfortunately, I've also given workshops where Objective 13 (technology frustration) was a factor. I've since learned to get there early and check out the equipment. I think the most important P though is the first one, planning. So many people skip that step and try to wing it. Bad idea!
I think the 5Ps should be something that is handed to the speaker when asked to present a presentation. It could be a nice reminder of to keep it simple and sweet. I also have been to those workshops and within the the first ten minutes the speaker has just lost his/her audience.
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