Day 21 - Presentation Skills

Today’s lecture was about “Presentation Skills”. Objective of this lecture was to discuss,

• How to do a presentation
• How to prepare for a presentation
• Pressure points when doing a presentation

Initially Mr Iranian discussed about many types of presentations. Following are few types,

• Lectures
• Project presentations
• Academic conferences
• Business presentations

After that Mr Eranjan discussed about one important factor which is how to make a good impression. First impression is a key factor because it attracts audience towards the presenter from beginning to end of the presentation.

There are many ways to make a first impression,   

• Gather content before a presentation and go through with it.
• Keep summery card, but only for important points.
• Control the speed of voice, do not rust.
• Summarize main points at the end of presentation.
• Control voice.           
• Maintain eye contact with the audience.
• Act natural.
• Always stick to the subject.
• Make pauses when appropriate.

When someone do a presentation, he/she should use following criteria on the subject,

• Brief
• Precise
• Effective
• Interesting

In presentation first impression is really important. Another important thing is attention of the audience. One can use many techniques to get the attention of the audience and maintain throughout the presentation. Following are some of the techniques,

• Jokes
• Questions
• Quotes
• Videos
• Images

These techniques should be used for small time because it will take away the real subject from the audience. Then Mr Eranjan discussed how to do a presentation. This was discussed in 3 aspects,

Preparation

• Prepare the logical structure of the overall presentation - Opening, Presentation, Conclusion, and Follow up.
• Be familiar with presentation metrical (Que cards) and topics.
• Oral communication – Rehearse is the best way to develop a good oral communication.  

Speaker

• Know the audience
• Body language and gesture
• Dress professionally
• Pause when necessary
• Be confidence
• Maintain eye contact
• Avoid jokes
• Conceder time limit

Delivery

• Speak clearly
• Do not rush, maintain a regular pace, and be natural
• Do not bore the audience
• Change your delivery depending on the importance of points
• Use body language to emphasize points
• Look at the audience; try best to keep eye contact
• Leave time for discussion
• Do not use graphical media for longer time

Reflection of today's lecture

Today lecture was definitely informative and useful. Presentation is something which can be regular in our lives. It can be in university or in office. Because of that learning proper way to do a presentation is so important. Today lecture just did that. It was a complete package about how to tune your presentation skills. As BIT students we have done many presentations for past two years. Until now we didn’t realize the exact way to do a presentation. Today lecture taught us how to prepare, how to present a certain subject in front of a crowd, how to act during a presentation, and how to do a presentation effectively. I hope these things will help me for my future presentations, especially for final year presentation.