Page 11 - 2020 March E-issue

Get to the Point!

Presentation Phobia (1): From Power Point Poison to Standing Ovation

Every day engineers and technicians are being called upon to stand up and Once you know your audience, list as many questions as you can that
say a few words about their work. On paper, this sounds straightforward, they may ask about the topic. Try for at least 15 questions. This will help
but to those who have to make the presentation it can be a traumatic you identify the areas to address and the audience’s concerns before you
experience. Much of their nervousness can be reduced (it can seldom be prepare your content. Now you can answer the audience questions before
entirely eliminated, as any experienced speaker will tell you) if they learn a they even ask them. This turns your presentation from a speaker-focused
few simple public speaking techniques. presentation (This is everything I know about this topic.) into an audience-
focused presentation (Here are the answers to your questions on this
In the next several articles, I’ll present the Three Ps of Presentations: Plan, topic.).
Prepare, and Practice. This article will focus on the most common mistake
presenters make: not taking the time to plan. Most audience questions evolve from fears or concerns. Here are some
examples:
Establish the Circumstances  How will we do this?
Before you begin, your first step is to understand the circumstances affecting  Will it be expensive?
your presentation. You must have answers to the following questions:  Who will be responsible for what?
1. Who will be in my audience?  How long will it take?
To focus your presentation properly and use appropriate terminology,  What needs to be done to complete the task?
you need to know whether your audience contains technical people  What experience do you have in this field?
who have experience in your field, managers who only have a general Organize Your Information
appreciation of the subject, or laypersons with very little or no technical
knowledge. Once you have identified your audience and listed their questions and
concerns, you are ready to start structuring your presentation content.
2. What will they know already?
If you are to avoid boring your listeners by repeating information they In their book The Short Road to Great Presentations, (IEEE Press and
already know, or confusing them by omitting essential background Wiley-Interscience, 2003), Peter and Cheryl Reimold introduce a formula for
details, you need to find out how much they know now about your structuring a presentation. They call it the Universal Presentation Structure
subject, or will have been told before you address them. which is especially helpful for technical professionals who relate well to
3. How long do you have for the presentation? formulas:
Find out how long you have been given. The answer will directly
influence how much depth you can give the topic. Do you need to Introduction: 1 to 2 minutes
simply give the highlights, or can you provide details? There is nothing
more stressful than having 40 minutes of content and finding out too Body: 3 to 5 key points
late that you only have 10 minutes to present. Conclusion: 1 minute
4. Where is the presentation taking place?
Identify whether the location is in your company’s board room, at a This structure works for all types and lengths of presentations. If you have
client’s site, or in a large conference size meeting room. You will also only 10 minutes or if you have 90 minutes, all you do is expand the Body.
need to find out what equipment will be available and what you But never go over 5 key points; you will overwhelm your audience.
should carry with you. For example, do you bring your own computer
and projector? What about a flipchart or white board? Tell Your Story Three Times
Another way to view this structure is the TELL-TELL-TELL method. You
Determine Your Audiences Needs have to tell your audience what you have to say three different times in three
We have all sat through boring, long-winded presentations that seem to different ways:
have no direction. We are in the audience and wonder “What does this have Tell 1: Tell your readers what they most need to hear: the key points. Then
to do with me?” Yet there are other presentations that seem to be tailored outline briefly the main topics you will cover.
specifically to the group. How does the speaker do this? Tell 2: Tell all the details associated with the key points, in the same order
you mentioned them in Tell 1.
The major problem with many presentations is that the content is speaker- Tell 3: Sum up by briefly repeating the key points, and possibly offering a
focused rather than audience-focused. This is an easy trap to fall into. recommendation.
When asked to give a presentation, most inexperienced speakers jot down
everything they know about the subject. This is a big mistake. What happens In my next article, I’ll discuss the second P, Prepare.
then is that the presentation becomes just that: everything they know
about the subject and not what the audience needs to know about the © 2019, RGI Learning
subject. Lisa Moretto is the President of
RGI Learning, Inc. For 24 years she has
List Audience Questions helped engineers improve their oral and
The best way to make your presentation audience-focused is to start by
identifying your audience (this is similar to the way you determine your written communication skills. Visit
reader in a written document). You need to know the type of person who www.rgilearning.com or
will attend your presentation, the level of knowledge and interest they call (866) 744-3032 to learn
have in your topic, and what they will do with your information. about RGI’s courses.

get to the point MARCH2020 The ROCHESTER ENGINEER | 11