Speaking & Presentation Tips

PLAY GOLF AMERICA NEWS BUREAU

SPEAKING & PRESENTATION TIPS

The ability to effectively communicate ideas is crucial to business and personal success. Yet, in a survey of 2,000 professionals, speaking in public was reported as their NUMBER ONE fear! Individuals or teams who can confidently deliver organized presentations, are more likely to succeed.

The objective of this section of the Play Golf America News Bureau is to help you:

·  Organize an informative and persuasive presentation

·  Develop more confident and composed delivery

·  Enhance information with visual aids

·  Understand and involve your audience

Tips For Delivery

·  Dealing with Nervousness

·  Vocal Skills

·  Physical Skills

·  Sitting Presentations

Organizing Your Presentation

·  Informative Presentations

·  Persuasive Presentations

Visual Aids

·  Overview

·  Working with Visual Aids

·  Tips for Writing Visuals

Tips For Delivery

Dealing With Nervousness

·  Get a good night’s sleep

·  Listen to music the morning of the presentation

·  Exercise the morning of the presentation

·  Take long, deep breaths from stomach prior to presentation

·  Do relaxation exercises (e.g., tense your muscles and release for each part of your body

·  Understand and know all of the materials you are presenting

·  Wear comfortable clothes

·  Stand up straight and continue to breathe deeply

·  Be optimistic and confident

·  Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!!!

Vocal Skills

Vocal skills are what are called platform skills. If done effectively, you will show confidence, poise and authoritativeness.

Volume

Speakers sound louder to themselves than they do to other people. A loud, projected voice communicates confidence. Let your audience know that you are informed and believe in what you are speaking about.

Inflection

An inflection is a change in the tone or pitch of your voice. Inflections keep the audience’s attention, highlight important points, and communicate moods and feelings.

Pace

Pace is the rate at which we talk. You should vary your pace to emphasize and maintain the attention of the audience. Use a slower pace if the material is important and complex. Use a faster pace if the material is simple and familiar to the audience.

Non-Words

Non-words act as a verbal bridge. People use them to make a transition from one thought to another. Non-words are very common, but contribute nothing to a presentation. In fact, they are usually distracting. A pause of silence should replace non-words. Silence communicates discipline, control and confidence.

Physical Skills

Stance

Good stance shows that you are balanced and have an equal amount of weight on both legs.

Do…

Keep your legs about one foot apart, aligned with your shoulders but not extending beyond. Keep your back straight, but not stiff.

With hands/arms:

o  Rest comfortably at side in neutral position

o  Keep one hand in pocket

o  Bend at elbows with hands held above the waist

o  Cup hands and hold above waist

o  Loose fist together above waist with thumbs up

Do not…

o  Stand with arms crossed

o  Stand with arms behind back

o  Stand with hands on hips or in pockets

o  Stand with your weight shifting from one leg to another

o  Keep your hands together (prayer-like position)

o  Hold on to pants or skirt

o  Fidget with markers, pens, rings, fingers or other items

Gestures

A gesture is a motion of any part of the body that is intended to lend emphasis or meaning to the words being spoken.

Gestures are most appropriate when they accent or highlight a statement or help the audience visualize an idea or action.

Gestures should always be visible. Gestures lose their impact if repeated too often.

Use a variety of gestures. Wide, extended gestures are more effective than gestures close to the body.

Eye Contact

One of the most important physical skills in a presentation is maintaining eye contact with the audience.

The advantages of maintaining eye contact with the audience are numerous:

o  Gets and holds their attention

o  Communicates confidence

o  Communicates control

o  Allows you to read the audience

Do not pan the audience or look over their heads. Hold eye contact with an individual in the audience especially at the beginning and end of a presentation.

Do not look at the ceiling or floor. Do not read from notes.

Facial Expressions

The face is one of the greatest sources of information. A large part of your message is communicated through body language. The face is the greatest source of this type of information.

Facial expressions help you highlight parts of your presentation and communicate feelings and emotions. Communicate different moods and attitudes with exaggerated facial expressions.

Most importantly – smile. It helps you and the audience both relax.

Appearance

The audience begins making their first impression of you the minute you appear. Do not let your appearance have a negative impact on people’s willingness to listen.

Think about the audience and how they will be dressed.

Try not to wear anything that attracts attention and always wear something that is comfortable. To be on the safe side, always check your appearance before beginning your presentation.

Sitting Presentations

Seating Arrangement

o  When possible, try to arrange the seating arrangement so that it results in the most comfortable atmosphere

o  You want to distribute the power, have minimal uneasiness, and the right degree of interaction

Physical Skills

o  Bring your rear end to the back of the chair. Maintain a good erect posture

o  Keep one foot flat on the floor while resting the other on the ball of your foot

o  Keep your forearms, but not your elbows on the table with your hands open

o  When sitting, keep hand gestures close to body

o  Maintain good eye contact

Using Visuals and/or Handouts

o  Everyone in your audience should be able to see your visual

o  Be careful about distributing handouts, especially lengthy ones because members of the audience are tempted to read them rather than listen to the presenter

Organizing Your Presentation

Informative Presentations

1.  State Your Objective

·  Clearly state to the audience what you will be speaking about and the importance/relevance of the subject

·  Provide any necessary background information

·  Provide an introduction that will get the audience’s attention

2.  State Your Agenda

·  Tell your audience, in advance, the main topics you will be addressing

·  Define your agenda in the same order as the design of your presentation

3.  Structure the Body

·  Formulate your main ideas

·  The body should be the most informative section of your presentation

·  Address all points made in the agenda

·  If you want to persuade the audience to buy into your idea, provide supporting material

·  State your main ideas in simple, easy to understand manner

4.  Conclusion

·  Restate your purpose to the audience

·  Strongly and clearly summarize what you told the audience

·  Get the audience to focus on how you want them to feel or act

Persuasive Presentations

1.  State Your Objective

·  Clearly state to the audience what you will be speaking about and the importance of the subject

·  Provide any necessary background information

·  Develop an introduction that will get the audience’s attention

2.  State Your Agenda

·  Define for the audience the benefits they will incur from listening and/or the negative effects of the current problem/situation

·  Define your agenda in the same order as the design of your presentation

3.  Structure the Body

·  The body is part of the presentation where you try to convince the audience of your point of view

Þ  Problem/Issue

Þ  Recommendation

Þ  Evidence/Evidence/Evidence

4.  Dialogue Toward Agreement

·  Anticipate and respond to audience concerns and questions

5.  Next Steps

·  Assertively tell the audience what you would like for them to do, or not to do

Visual Aids

Overview

One of the key strengths of visuals in presentations is their ability to convey information to the audience in a way that cannot be achieved by words alone. If a visual can be tied into a concept in a meaningful way, it is likely that the audience will remember it longer and in greater detail. Eighty-five percent of what we have stored in our brain consists of information that was received through our eyes and ears.

Why Visuals?

·  They heighten interest

·  They clarify material

·  They heighten important points

·  They help the audience track speech content

·  They add professionalism

Visuals of Different Mediums

Deciding on which visual medium to use depends upon a number of factors such as your budget, the size of your audience, the complexity of your material, and the quantity of information you are communicating.

Touch-Turn-Talk Technique

Visual aids not only help the audience understand and retain information, but they also help the speaker make all the points he/she planned. However, nobody wants the speaker to read his/her material to the audience.

The touch-turn-talk method helps the speaker recall information and keep the audience on track.

·  Touch – Speaker points to the item on screen/flip chart that he/she is about to address. During this time, the speaker reads (silently) and recollects the points that need to be made about this item.

·  Turn – Speaker faces the audience and makes eye contact with an individual

·  Talk – Speaker verbalizes information as intended

Working With Visual Aids

Good Visual Aids…

·  Are clear and neat

·  Are large enough for the whole audience to see

·  Keep it to one idea per visual

·  Have no spelling errors or inaccurate information

·  Are attractive and creative

Remember to Always…

Set the Stage

·  Give yourself room

·  Organize your materials

·  Make sure all equipment works properly

Stand to the Left

·  Avoid standing between your visual aid and the audience

·  People read left to right

·  Do not reach across visual aids

Show Visual Only When Referring to It

·  Display visual aid only when it relates to the point you are making

·  Do not talk while switching visuals

·  Have first visual ready when you begin to speak about it

Touch-Turn-Talk

·  Helps you recall information and keep audience on track

·  Allows you to maintain eye contact with audience

·  Always speak to your audience, not your visual aid

Tips for Writing Visuals

·  Use Headline and Bullet Format – Try to avoid whole sentences. We commonly see the mistake of a complete, full sentence or two on a visual. You can easily make the same point if you use bullets and short, incomplete phrases.

·  Place Points in Order of Importance – The most disconcerting thing is to try to follow a presentation that is out of order. If you have followed our basic rules and identified the points to highlight, put them in the most logical and understandable order, and then…

·  Write to Reveal – Reveal your points in an effective, creative, logical way. Your presentation can be far more impactful if you build to your key point and “zing ‘em” right between the eyes with it.

·  Use Parallel Construction – Use the same words for your visual that you use for your audio. If you say something a certain way during presentation, have your visual show an excerpt from the actual words you use. Keep everything consistent and simple. Don’t look for more sophisticated ways of repeating your key verbal points visually.

·  Use Active Verbs – Lastly, use active verbs to give your presentation enthusiasm and energy. Say, “we studied the use of…” rather than using the more passive “studies were conducted on the use of…” The use of passive verbs tends to make what you say “hide behind curtains” rather than “stand out on the stage.”