A recent study by the American Management Association confirmed that communication skills are, by far, the key competence required for successful leadership. This column offers several tips to improve your presentation skills.
1. Remember your primary goal: COMMUNICATION.
Too often the objective of a presentation seems to be getting as many points in as possible during the assigned time. While keeping to the time limit is laudable, achieving a rapport with your audience is what you are really after. Tailor your presentation in a way that makes it easy for your audience to focus and understand.
2. Have a message.
Voluminous does not translate into understanding. Instead of trying to say everything you know about a subject, think about what you want your primary take-home message to be and let the presentation reinforce or support this message. For this column, for instance, the primary message is "Communication should be the goal of your presentation." The other points support this message. Making point after point without a central message confuses the audience.
3. Open with the good stuff.
Too many people make presentations like they write technical papers. They start with the list of partners, talk about the financial and personnel obstacles they had to overcome, and discuss how they organized the effort. The results, or conclusions, are saved for the end. Most people's eyes have converted to screen-saver mode by this time. Get to the point (remember that message you developed?) in the beginning and use the remaining time to support that point and add details. Don't forget to restate your message as you summarize your presentation at the end.
4. Remember your audience.
When you are deciding what your primary message is going to be, think about the audience. Are you talking to homeowners, who are mostly interested in how the subject is going to affect property values? Or is it a group of lawmakers, who are interested in the policy implications? Your basic facts will be the same, but audience interests will help you decide where to place the emphasis and spend the most time.
5. Don't be a slave to PowerPoint.
Many speakers like PowerPoint because it helps them stay organized and keeps the focus on the screen instead of the speaker. While this is helpful for the speaker, PowerPoint can be a negative tool from the audience's perspective. The audience will pay attention and retain more of the message if you maintain eye contact with them. This is hard to do when your focus (and theirs) is on the screen. Furthermore, PowerPoint shows often seem very scripted, which makes the audience hesitant to ask questions or stay engaged.
Work to keep connected with the audience, and aim to use only two to four slides per 30 minutes. For complex tables, give your audience handouts to refer to.
An organization such as Toastmasters is a wonderful forum for practicing presentation skills. Consider joining a local club to help you improve your skills. Visit www.toastmasters.org for more tips and to find a club near you.
To get additional presentation tips, contact Donna McCaskill, communications manager of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coastal Services Center.
