Essay on Successful Presentation

Setting appropriate Timing

Timing is a significant factor to be considered during any presentation. It will help the presenter provide his content within the allocated time, and to make sure no detail or material is left out. It will also help the presenter to sequence the work to be presented, breaking it into the essential parts, with each section having its time well allocated to it. For this to be successful, the presenter may have to do rehearsals and mock presentations just to be well prepared for the actual delivery. Given that each person has a unique way of speaking, or delivering performance, it is vital to underpin the volume of the material being presented to be able to know the exact amount of time needed to deliver the content at hand (Ashkanasy et al., p. 15). Having a notebook with main points of what is to be read note therein is of the essence as this will help guide the presenter, making sure he does not forget an argument which may lead to wastage of time. It will serve as a summary of the entire content being presented.

Control the Debate

You should ensure that you control it to avoid any technical problem during the actual presentation when using PowerPoint presentation always. Your PowerPoint or handbook should help attract and not to distract the audience. During the presentation, ensure to maintain an eye contact with your audience even if you are reading directly from your texts. However, it is essential to have the written information at your fingertips to enhance eye contact with your audience (Bryman, Alan, and Emma, p. 28). Do not look out of the window or concentrate on one side of the room or look at your paper all the time as this is an aspect of the poor presentation. Ensure you speak up clearly, you are audible and avoid murmurs and mumblings. Connected with the issue of PowerPoint is the slides. A presenter should make sure that the following are incorporated in each slide in a situation where PowerPoint is used: 1) the objective of your presentation, the major points to be addressed and the primary message that you need to put across on the slide. Any additional supportive information that may be vital when discussing the theme should also not be omitted from the slides. Explanation of any animation used and the activities to be carried out should also be included. It will help the recipients of the presentation to understand the details of the content easily and also to help save time on repetitions and repeat explanations. It is essential to avoid scripting of the presentation especially in a situation where one is required to communicate with other people. It would be relevant to make it simple and use bullets in your speaker notes (Ashkanasy et al. p. 17).

Use of Bullets to present information

During power point presentation, it is essential that we all speak in distinctive ways and that the logic in the delivery of information differs from one presenter to the other. By making use of the bullets, it gives the presenter the chance to point out the primary information efficiently which in turn ensures effective delivery. Observing this has the advantage of making even the listener follow the presentation as he is kept aware of the point being elaborated on. PowerPoint presentation is prone to take much longer time, hence it is important always to have the content to be presented topic well prepared in advance. The presentation should be developed primarily on two or three significant ideas, i.e., introduction, body and the conclusion. The content should summarize the essential information that you would wish your listeners to remember. You may have many photographic slides or many texts to explain each message, but the audience will follow the presentation correctly in the case have a simple structure or procedure that is easy to follow or grasp.

In association with the appropriate presentation, one should ensure that the choice of the topic is also paramount during any presentation. One should choose an issue that is exiting and that which will capture the attention of the target audience. People tend to have the exciting details about something even if it the content was limited. The few aspect that captivated them will remain etched in their memory for a long time (Bryman et al., p. 39). A presentation may be done interestingly if it is done from memory, but an occasional glance at the text especially in research presentations may not harm the content delivery. If you choose to present a written document, it should always be appropriate and legible so that it can be read without straining. It should be slightly more informal and stylistically more accessible and meaningful with relatively short sentences, announcements, summaries, and repetitions. It is imperative to ensure that the presentation has a clear structure and commences with something necessary, for instance, an opening statement, a question or a typical case example. It will help in drawing the attention of the listeners to the rest of the presentation. Lengthy introductions should be avoided as they serve to create a negative impression of the presenter in the listener; they become bored and uninterested even before the rest of the content is delivered. Clarify what is new and innovative in your research and present a definite conclusion within a clear and concise argument.

Rehearsal

The third issue to do is to put into consideration is rehearsing on how to go about the actual presentation. In your privacy, conduct a mock presentation. Mimic as if you are doing a performance in front of your audience and also try to peruse the slides in full screen. You can stand up and present your data in a clear voice while assuming that you are in the presence of the audience. This process might be hectic and hilarious at the initial stages, but as you keep on repeating the practice, you will gain courage and the slides will flow without necessarily having to read them repeatedly (Talebinejad, Mohammad and Fariba p. 82). Nevertheless, when you think you are ready you can practice it often alone and then in front of your friends; neighbors to listen or you can look in front of a mirror. These people will be able to give you the much-needed feedback about your performance which will be very valuable in your preparation towards the actual presentation. Do rehearse it again while timing yourself to comply with the time stipulated for the present and also to confirm if the flow is working as anticipated (Gartmeier, Martin, et al., p. 6). The presenter should also prepare on how to handle presentation nervousness. It is normal to feel nervous before making a presentation. However, there are probably tested and tried techniques and strategies that can help one contain fear so that you can focus on presenting an engaging and compelling presentation. One of these is not to look at the people in your audience directly in the eye. Set your sights on their hairlines, as this will still give them the impression that you are looking at them and so they will maintain an eye contact with you.

Rehearsal further helps to learn how to address questions raised during research. Learning how to handle to handle question after the presentation is also part of the necessity here. Learn to spare some time to answer questions from the audience and provide answers appropriately. It is prudent to display some interest when answering questions by either writing down the question or maintaining an eye contact with the one asking the question/s. If a question is difficult, at least try to formulate an idea that is relating to the question. Do not ignore the questions or get scared or be surprised (Bryman et al. 39). At times a question may not be clear; the person asking the questions will the thankful if you assist him to reformulate the question and thereafter provide a comprehensive answer. It would be prudent not to try answering a question you have not quite well understood as this may lead to unnecessary embarrassments. Determine in advance on when and how to handle questions. Certain speakers opt for questions to be asked during their presentation while others may prefer tackling the questions at the end of the presentation. You must make your preferences clear to the audience at the start of your presentation (Lefroy et al., p. 19). You should also organize on how you will handle each question as this will help mitigate stage fright while on the podium. The presentation should allow time for questions keeping in mind that communication is a two-way process. In this way, therefore, how you present yourself will always affect how your audience perceives you as the initial impression is the lasting impression. You have to accomplish the expectations of your audience to capture their attention rather than distract them. Additionally, developing or having a sense of humor is relevant towards enhancing an excellent presentation. Presentations that are most memorable and those that work best are usually the ones where there was some sense of humor (Talebinejad, Mohammad, and Fariba p. 85).

Things not to do

Giving the audience your back

The first thing to avoid during a presentation is to let your audience see your back. Nothing can be more insulting than having to give your audience your back during a presentation. It can be overcome by having an aide to help with running the slides or turning the pages, or you can have the screen controlled by yourself using a remote control device. If it is manual charts, have the stand beside you such that you can flip them in such a way that you necessarily need not to turn your back to the audience. You should therefore avoid over-complicating the idea you would want to put across; make it simple. Dont subject your audience to migraine trying to conjure up what you are communicating to them. Use of childish font and rainbow color palettes should be avoided as much as possible. Some considerations to make to assist a presenter in designing the presentation include cutting your palettes to four or three colors by use of tools like color lovers. Avoid using decorative fonts generated from the internet unless you have an extensive experience in typography. Avoid the use of cheesy graphics since they are not very easy to use (Gartmeier et al. 56).

Avoid reading presentation word by word

Avoid reading your presentation word by word to the audience from the PowerPoint slides. This may make the presentation boring. PowerPoint presentation is much more efficient when accompanied by spoken remarks since it helps explain an argument rather than merely imitate what appears on the screen. Work on engaging your audience through speech rather than reading as this will keep you from looking like a robot (Lefroy et al. p. 28). In this way, therefore, the presenter has to find some consideration to making such as finding methods of gathering the attention of your audience and put a particular humanitarian trait within the presentation not unless you find yourself in front of many computers. The audience may fail to understand your message based on misplaced emotion you may portray (Ashkanasy et al., p. 21). In case your presentation is like narrating the history of exploration of the great lakes or a French fur business, you may begin the presentation using an analogy or a narrative the audience might potentially have a basic idea about. Starting in this format is essential in developing the emotional nail you want in driving your entire presentation home. Moreover, it may be possible that the audience may have the ability to recite all the facts described, but what they will conceptualize is how your whole presentation makes them feel.

Avoid basing presentation on Personal opinion

Your presentation should be b...