Chapter 2 Preparing For An Effective Presentation

CHAPTER 2
PREPARING FOR
AN EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION
Transforming lives, Enriching future

ELEMENTS TO CONSIDER FOR PREPARATION
•The objective
•The subject
•The audience
•The place
•Time of day
•Length of talk

The Objective
• Ask yourself 'why?' What is the purpose of the

presentation, what is the objective, what outcome(s) do
you and the audience expect?

The Subject
•The subject of what you are going to talk about

comes from the objective but they are not
necessarily one and the same thing.

The Audience
• Tailoring your talk to the audience is important and the following

points should be considered:
• The size of the group or audience is expected.
• The age range - a talk aimed at retired people will be quite
different from one aimed at teenagers.
• Gender - will the audience be predominantly male or female?
• Is it a captive audience or will they be them out of interest?

The Audience
• Will you be speaking in their work or leisure time?

• Do they know something about your subject already
or will it be totally new to them? Is the subject part of
their work?
• Are you there to inform, teach, stimulate, or provoke?
• Can you use humour and if so what would be
considered appropriate?

The Place
• Ideally, try to arrange to see the venue before the
speaking event, as it can be of great benefit to be
familiar with the surroundings.
• It does much to quell fear if you can visualise the place
while you are preparing your talk.
• Additionally, it would also give you the opportunity to
try out your voice.

The Place
• If at all possible, you need to know:

• The size of the room.
• The seating arrangements and if they can be altered.
• The availability of equipment, e.g., microphone,
overhead projector, flip chart, computer equipment.
• The availability of power points and if an extension
lead is required for any equipment you intend to use.

The Place
• If the room has curtains or blinds. This is relevant if you intend
to use visual aids, and so that you can ensure the correct
ambiance for your presentation.
• The position of the light switches. Check if you need someone
to help if you are using audio/visual equipment and need to
turn off the lights.
• The likelihood of outside distractions, e.g., noise from another
room.
• The availability of parking facilities so you do not have a long
walk carrying any equipment you might need to take.
The Time
• Often there will be no flexibility in the time of day that a
presentation is made.
• If you do have a choice of when to give your presentation -
consider the following points:
Morning:
• The morning is the best time to speak because people are
generally at their most alert. However, late morning may start
to present problems as people begin to feel hungry and think
about lunch.

The Time
Afternoon:
• Early afternoon is not an ideal time to make a presentations since
after lunch people often feel sleepy and lethargic. Mid afternoon is a
good time, whereas at the end of the afternoon people may start to
worry about getting home, the traffic or collecting children from
school.
Evening or Weekend:
• Outside regular office hours/ weekends, people are more likely to be
present because they want to be there rather than have to be
there. There is a higher likelihood of audience attention in the
evening (if it does not take too long when people may have to leave
before the presentation has finished).
Length of Talk
• Always find out how long you have to talk and check if this
includes or excludes time for questions.
• Find out if there are other speakers and, if so, where you are
placed in the running order. Never elect to go last. Beware of
over-running (taking too much time), as this could be
disastrous if there are other speakers following you.
• It is important to remember that people find it difficult to
maintain concentration for long periods of time, and this is a
good reason for making a presentation succinct, well-
structured and interesting.
DESIGNING POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
BIG
Make it BIG
Make it BIG
Make it BIG
Make it BIG
Make it BIG
KEEP IT SIMPLE
TEXT PICTURE SOUNDS

KEEP IT SIMPLE (TEXT)
• Please do not use too many colours on your slides. We are not trying
to celebrate an occasion here. Next, do not use too many fonts and
styles even though there are a lot of choices provided. Last but not
least, do not be too detailed and write everything on your slide.
TOO DETAILED!
KEEP IT SIMPLE (PICTURE)
• Art work may distract your audience
• Use appropriate pictures
MAKE IT CLEAR
NUMBERS COLORS
FONTS BULLETS

MAKE IT CLEAR (FONTS)
•Serif fonts are difficult to read on screen
•San serif fonts are clearer
•Italics are difficult to read on screen
•Normal or bold fonts are clearer
•Underlines may signify hyperlinks
•Instead, use colours to emphasise
MAKE IT CLEAR (NUMBERS)
Use numbers for lists with sequence
For example:
How to put an elephant into a fridge?
1. Open the door of the fridge

2. Put the elephant in
3. Close the door
MAKE IT CLEAR (BULLETS)
Use bullets to show a list without

•Priority
•Sequence
•Hierarchy, …..
MAKE IT CLEAR (COLOURS)
•Use contrasting colours

•Light on dark vs dark on light
•Use complementary colours
CONSISTENT
•Differences draw attention
•Differences may imply importance
•For instance:
Hey you! Look here!
No I mean here!
ACTIVITY 1
• Work in small groups. Spend few minutes thinking about a time you were
travelling when something interesting happened. Tell your anecdote to your
classmates and try to keep your audience’s attention. Make notes about
these points:
a) How to travel to/from?
b) Why need to go there?
c) What was so interesting ?
d) How did you feel?

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CHAPTER 2

Transforming lives, Enriching future

Transforming lives, Enriching future

• Ask yourself 'why?' What is the purpose of the

Transforming lives, Enriching future

•The subject of what you are going to talk about

Transforming lives, Enriching future

• Tailoring your talk to the audience is important and the following

Transforming lives, Enriching future

• Will you be speaking in their work or leisure time?

Transforming lives, Enriching future

Transforming lives, Enriching future

• If at all possible, you need to know:

Transforming lives, Enriching future

Transforming lives, Enriching future

TEXT PICTURE SOUNDS

Transforming lives, Enriching future

Transforming lives, Enriching future

How to put an elephant into a fridge?

1. Open the door of the fridge

Use bullets to show a list without

•Use contrasting colours

Transforming lives, Enriching future

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