Giving a presentation at work - tips please!

[hollyblueivy]

What are you like for giving presentations? They fill me with dread!

I question how I talk, how I look, if my mind will go blank, if I'll sound silly, if I'll get asked a question that I won't know the answer too, if I'll look as scared and embarrassed as I feel.

I have to give a presentation at work and I'm pleading with you for your top tips on how to forget all the worries and deliver a half decent talk?

Would love to hear from anyone that perhaps used to be like me and has somehow overcome the fear?

Thanks

I love presenting and I do it a lot for work, on Teams and in person (less so but I still do it). Great tips here. Agree especially with prepare well & practice.

I'd add that if you can make any of it interactive, do. But only if it's appropriate. So if you want opinions, ask people to vote. You can use technology on phones or go old school and get people to put their hands up or give them coloured pieces of paper (red or green for yes or no, don't make it too complicated). But make sure you know what you're going to do with the info if you ask for voting. Does it count for anything? Or are you sure they're all going to say yes? So use judiciously.

I also like to use photos or analogies if it's relevant and I'm trying to get a point across. For example, I've used "this is what our data is like now - messy, disorganised, hard to find anything" with a photo of a very messy room and "this is how we want it to be: tidy, easy to find everything, organised" with a picture of the same room completely tidy. It was my daughter's shit tip of a room before and after she went to university 😁

And it's fine not to know the answers to questions, you can just say "great question. I don't know the answer but I'll find out and come back to you"

Good luck.

BTW I used to be scared of presenting but I've been doing it so long now I love it. I do remember what it was to not like it and the difference between then and now is practice and doing it a lot.

Size 16?

More like size 60.

The slides/deck/PowerPoint used to illustrate your talk should make little sense in isolation. You shouldn't be able to send them on afterwards to anyone without major revisions. Put your 16pt text into that, not into something you're going to stand in front of.

Also, read this brilliant book:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Everything-Know-about-Learned-PowerPoint/dp/1788167376

Stand still if it feels natural, but don't be afraid to move a bit if it's better- take purposeful steps if you move.
Maintain eye contact with everyone in the room for 3 seconds at a time.
Ensure you know your slides and make sure you can expand on them well.
At the end, always ask if anyone has any questions and if you dont know, don't bluff it - say you'll take it away and look into it.
Good luck!

I do a lot of public speaking in my work, in-house to colleagues and to the public. I agree with adding visuals. I also like to use short videos here and there if relevant.

A previous poster mentioned doing a video of yourself presenting. I think this can be helpful. I went to a speakers' training several years ago where this was done, and it was very helpful to me.

Be careful about doing anything interactive. Often it comes across as "oh I need to stick something interactive in here." It should flow easily and be organic to the presentation.

I've presented a lot over 30 years of work. I am usually presenting quite complex information and numerical data which can be difficult to understand immediately.My key tips for presenting are in order of importance

1 know your audience . How much detail they need, what are they expecting and how much do they already know and tailor your presentation appropriately. This is the ideal but If this is difficult to find out , then assume they know very little . Explain what you are going to tell them and give some context before launching into the detail. Summarise what to u have told them at the end

2 Understand clearly the points you are trying to make and present only the information you need to support those points . Keep it as concise and clear as possible

3 Practice beforehand out loud to yourself at least . You will be surprised what strikes you as you do that if you can a practice audience that is better but not usually very practical

4 Imagine you are presenting to one person, just talking them through what you are saying .

I have to admit I don't generally get that nervous but I always make sure I know what I am going to talk about very well and 80% of the time I always do at least one run-through to myself out loud , usually more than one .

The 20%of times I don't do the verbal run through are when it is a very simple presentation or one I've done before and already know well

Do not worry if you can't answer something . Just say you will get back to them ( and make sure you do)

Good luck

No matter how good (or crap) your presentation, after about five minutes most people are thinking about lunch or home time. It’s never as high stakes as it feels

Perspective - that's what I need to remember

Lecturer here. You've had loads of good tips so far. Only thing I'd add is that everyone hates people who run over but no one ever minds someone who runs slightly short. So if your slot is 10 mins plus time for questions, plan to speak for 8 minutes. Make sure you can see the time, and have an idea of where you can skim over if you're running short, or expand if you've got extra time.

Yes that's a good idea thanks

A good trick is light housing. Look at peoples foreheads as you speak. Move your head from one side of the audience around to the other side, pausing from time to time. It looks like you're making good eye contact. Also don't talk too quickly. Better to go slower and use pauses to make your points. Start by stating you will take questions at the end or else you'll get interrupted and might lose where you were.

Practice out loud is good. Several times. Have your headings written down, chances are you won't need them but if you do, no worries. Just say 'Im just checking to see I don't miss anything - ah yes I wanted to tell you about yada yada'
Move. Physically move. It's relaxing, so pass round a visual aid/handout or hold up a book. Have some resources on a table near you and encourage people to look at them after, hold up the best and tell people why its really good.
Catch people as they arrive and ask them what experience they have about the subject. As you start, reference it. 'I know some of you know already about such thing, but some of our colleagues from marketing were hoping I could say a bit about blah blah and Derek from facilities is interested in xxx so I'm happy to cover all of that' Then say exactly what you had already planned.
Give your time scales 'So it's 10.00 now. I'm going to talk for 30 mins about 'the thing' then we'll have 15 mins of questions and feedback and we will all definitely be finished by 10.45'
First slide will be the structure of the talk. 'I'm going to break it into three main areas...' If no slides, still tell them what the structure of the talk will be, then off you go.
If you've got an hour or longer, you need to break it up. Anything. Show a video, have a quiz, think about something in a small group, have a comfort break, whatever.
When someone asks a question, repeat it back ostensibly so the audience all get to hear it, but also gives you time to think. If you really don't know the answer say you will email through the answer to the organiser who can mail it out. Or throw it open to the group. 'tbh I've never had to do that thing - I wonder if any of you people from social care have experience of this?'
At the end thank them for coming, say you hope everyone has something useful to take away and say you'll kick about near the coffee machine for a few minutes if anyone has anything else they'd like to ask about
Get a coffee, gather up your stuff. Done and dusted.

I work with a senior manager who is physically small and softly spoken. She does"She Ra" power poses in a mirror and talks herself up before public speaking '

Practise out loud to your dh two or three times. Try a 360- what questions would people ask, and then decide if you’ve missed anything out. Have answers to questions to hand.

Practise talking standing up. If your hands get awkward, take a prop to keep them busy

Don’t eat lentil and carrot soup the day before 🥲

Pitch to the back of the room. Have water to hand in case your throat goes dry. Wear something you are comfortable in that will not rise up or affect your talk.

Visualise for five minutes your talk going smoothly, everyone being interested, asking lots of questions and you feeling good afterwards.

Make sure you know your first slide and the transition from slide 1 to 2 forward backwards and inside out.

If the worst happens, it's not that bad. I had crippling anxiety prior to presentations. The first presentation of my PhD. I went completely blank of the title page. In a blind panic I ran from the room. After a panic attack and composing myself. I went back and did the presentation without too many hitches. I have found them so much easier since then. Not easy but not horrendous any more.

Get your slides right and get as many people to look over them and ideally present to them a few times. In my job any external presentation is presented to the team at least once before the external talk and we practice internal talks together too.

If you can't explain something simply you don't understand it is one of those things that gets traipsed out. I wouldn't say it's true but if you find there is a slide or a transition that you keeps stumbling on. There's something wrong with your order or content and it needs some work to get the narrative right. Endless practice isn't going to remedy it.

Make sure you have IT sorted and I always take a pdf of my slides with me too as a back up.

Don't fill your slides with text. Photos are ideal.

Make your points in threes. It's easier for both you and your audience to remember.

Put a decent amount of thought into your start and conclusion.

Speak slowly.