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May 10, 2004
A: FROM MENTOR SHEILA ENGLAND
IN PA
Here are a few important skills...
* creating diagrams to depict design, data flow, etc.
*providing 2-3 examples
*presenting with your audience in mind
*being succint
*not trying to cover too many topics
*eye contact
*voice modulation
*SMILE :-)
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A: FROM MENTOR DEBORAH GRUBBE
IN DE
Most important skill is to know your subject matter, and to
know what key
points you want to make.
Then, tell the audience what you want to tell them, tell them,
and then
close by telling them what you told them.
They will like your talk because they can follow you.....which
is
important.
It is also important to use visuals. One picture or diagram
is still worth
1000 words!
When it comes to giving presentations, it pays to practice!
You will get
better at it the more you do!
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A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK IN
RI
Your question is particularly interesting to me, because I've
been
helping our international teaching assistants with their English.
Part of what we do with them is have them practice presentations
of
material in their fields. I usually sit there thinking, "I
wish
somebody had told ME this stuff!!"
Much of it is very basic, but as no doubt you've already observed,
speakers and teachers often fail at the most basic aspects.
The
audience has to be able to hear you and see whatever you're
presenting. Duh! But speaking LOUDLY enough is hard for a
nervous
person to do, and in a big lecture room it's essential.
Amplification helps, but only if you turn it on and have someone
at
the back of the room tell you if the volume is right. You
can't be
clear if the audience can't hear you.
Your use of the blackboard should be planned out, so a person
whose
mind wandered can look up and catch up with your meaning.
Your
writing should be legible and large enough to be seen from
the back
of the room; big fat chalk is best for big rooms. If you have
whiteboards and markers instead of chalk, be sure your markers
actually write. If you use overheads or PowerPoint you are
able to
present things exactly as you planned, but you run the risk
of being
dull. A speaker who simply reads PowerPoint bulleted items
is deadly
dull. And come early to be sure you know how to operated any
audio-visual equipment.
It's not enough to have organized your presentation. You have
to
make the organization obvious to your audience. Showing an
outline
at the start helps. The old "tell 'em what you'll tell
'em, tell
'em, tell 'em what you told 'em" system still works.
When you're in
the "telling them" phase, it's a good idea occasionally
to remind
them of where the particular idea or fact fits into the big
picture.
I've learned a new word through the ESL classes: "realia".
Real
physical objects help get an audience's attention and clarify
points.
In our recent end-of-term presentations one student brought
in a
chain of paper clips to talk about polymers and another brought
in a
soccer ball to talk about fullerenes. Anything visual helps
-
drawings made on the spot or slides prepared in advance. But
real
3-d physical object have the added advantage of giving the
speaker
something to do with her hands, and they really do wake up
an
audience.
For our accented, non-native speakers, we advise writing key
words on
the board to be sure everyone gets them. That's not a bad
technique
for an American speaker either. If you write something down,
your
students will write it too, they'll know it's important, and
they'll
be more able to look it up or clarify anything you left murky.
Even
if they could hear it clearly, if they don't write it they
are
unlikely to remember it.
If you are nervous about speaking in public (and who is not.
at
first?), remember that your audience is there to learn from
you, not
to criticize. They _want_ to understand you. They _want_ you
to
succeed, because they will be better entertained and informed
if you
succeed. You know more than they do about your topic - and
this happy
fact will become clear to you as your talk goes along. Soon
you will
realize that you will not only survive the ordeal, there's
a rush I
think of as "the lecturer's high" that come from
holding the
attention of a room full of people. I guess some hams are
born but
some can be made! Even out of engineers.
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A: FROM MENTOR MOLLY WILLIAMS
IN MI
The ability to communicate in presentation format is very
important to
any professional. Here are just a couple of tips:
1. Know your audience: What do they already know? What do
they need to
know? Sometimes talking to the group as they come in the room
can allow you
to revise your prepared presentation so that it better suits
the group you’
re talking to.
2. Be sure you know how to use the technology: Whether you’re
using
software like PowerPoint, or something simpler like overhead
transparencies,
slides, posters, or a chalkboard, you must be sure that your
information is
clear and organized. And if it’s a really critical presentation,
you should
have a backup in case the technology fails. Fumbling with
a reluctant
computer system in front of an expectant audience can be a
real disaster.
3. Practice, practice, practice: Run through the presentation
several times
before you do it for an audience. Be sure the presentation
fits the time
allowed, and that you can speak clearly and confidently, facing
the
audience, and even smiling occasionally.
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A: FROM MENTOR MAYLING WONG IN
IL
I work in a research setting where I have to rigorously defend
what I
present to my colleagues. We work in a team setting, also
called a
scientific collaboration, where we research new ideas. As
a team, we must
make sure our results are valid before we publish them. So,
we have to
buy into whatever we present internally. While the setting
may be
different in industry, some skills that are needed for a presentation
are
the same:
* Know your subject well: Whether I am talking to students
or engineers,
I want to be certain of what I present. Usually this is the
case anyway
because I have spent so much time focusing on my project.
The
presentation is simply an opportunity to share my work.
* Know your audience: Whenever I am asked to give a talk,
after I find
out the subject, I find out who I am talking with. While the
subject may
be the same, the words and the method I use will differ. My
talk is not
the same if I speak with other engineers and scientists or
if I speak with
lay-people on a scientific topic.
* Take advantage of props: No matter who my audience is, I
make use of
props in my talk when I can. Drawings, pictures, and photos
liven a
Powerpoint presentation. Show-and-tell items to pass give
the audience a
more informative perspective.
* Practice ahead of time: I value the feedback I receive whenever
I
practice my talk ahead of time or even ask someone to read
through my
presentation.
* It is OK to say "I do not know": This is a "skill"
I picked up along
the way in my job. It does not sound like a skill, does it?
However,
when I do not know the answer to a question, I say so and
that I will find
out the answer. It is better than trying to make up an answer
since
people will see through this anyway.
Best of luck in your upcoming presentations. No matter what
you do for a
living, communicating well through a presentation is important.
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