Presentation Development

Audience analysis

Presentations should always be tailored to your audience. Your knowledge of the audience to which you will speak is an important factor in the success of your presentations. When you understand your audience, their existing knowledge of your topic, and their desires, you can present from their point of view and give examples that relate to their interests. Audiences respond more favorably to presentations they believe are designed for them.

When preparing a presentation, you first need to do an audience analysis by working through the following checklist and then tailor your presentation to the findings:


What is their background (e.g., educational level, experience, gender, cultural influences, and age)?
Why is your audience present?
What knowledge does your audience have of your subject?
What is the audience’s consensus attitude toward your subject?
What is your audience’s attitude toward you personally?
Is there a particular group of audience members that your presentation needs to be geared toward?
What are the group dynamics of your audience?
Who are the leaders in your audience?
What will be the size of your audience?
How much time will you have to present?

Self-analysis

After finishing your audience analysis, you should perform a self-analysis to answer the following three questions:

What is your real knowledge of your subject?
Is your preparation time adequate for the type of presentation that you plan to deliver?
What is your real interest in the subject, the occasion, and the audience?

Once you have completed this self-analysis, collect your thoughts about the presentation by using the following system:

Make notes of what you already know about your subject
Make a list of subject information that you are lacking
Research and gather your missing information
Focus your research to:
Prove your points

Clarify your points
Add interest to your points
Gather a variety of information to use in your presentation
Examples
Quotations
Stories
Comparisons/Contrasts
Statistics
Audio-visual supports

Occasion-analysis

Your third and final presentation development analysis step is to perform an occasion-analysis by finding the answers to the following questions:

What is the purpose of the meeting where you will speak?
What is the location of the meeting?
What facilities will be provided to you?
What is the meeting agenda and your slot on the agenda?
What is your exit strategy after you make your presentation?

In order to be fully prepared for the logistics of your presentation, complete the following arrangements checklist before each presentation:

Contact persons name and contact information (i.e., phone, fax, pager, cell phone numbers)
Clear directions to the speaking location
Written confirmation of the time of your presentation
Travel arrangements
Parking instructions
Availability of speaking tools (e.g., podium; computer, power supply; microphone, lighting)
Seating arrangement of the room
Sound system availability
Water or beverages
Restroom location
Your introduction
The procedure to handle questions
Expectations following your presentation (e.g., meetings, reception, press statement)
Any necessary additional arrangements

Organizational outline

The last step of your presentation development is to prepare your organizational outline using the following format:


Introduction

Allocate 15% of your presentation time
Capture audiences attention
Preview your presentation by telling them what you will tell them
Body

Allocate 75% of your presentation time
Make no more than three main points
Arrange your main points logically in one of the following patterns
Time
Topic
Problem/solution
Support your main points with facts
Conclusion

Allocate 10% of your presentation time
Review main points by telling the audience what you told them
Ask audience to do something in response to your presentation
Close your presentation with a memorable statement

Effective Presentation skill

types of presentation

Types of Presentations
By Randall P. Whatley, President, Cypress Media Group

The first step in preparing a presentation is to define the purpose of your presentation.
The following is an overview of several common types of presentations and their purpose. Each presentation type requires a specific organization technique to assure they are understood and remembered by the audience. The suggested organizational structure is also provided.
1. Informative
Keep an informative presentation brief and to the point. Stick to the facts and avoid complicated information. Choose one of the following organizational structures for an informative presentation:
Time
Explains when things should happen
Works best with visual people or people who can see the overall organization or sequence of events
Use words like "first," "second," "third," to list order
Place
Explains where things should happen
Works best with people who understand the group or area you are talking about
Use words like "Region 1, 2, 3, or 4" to explain order
Cause and Effect
Explains how things should happen
Works best with people who understand the relationship between events
Use phrases like "Because of ____________, we now have to ___________"
Logical Order
Simply list items in their order of importance
Works best with people who are accustomed to breaking down complex data into components in order to digest the material





2. Instructional
Your purpose in an instructional presentation is to give specific directions or orders. Your presentation will probably be a bit longer, because it has to cover your topic thoroughly. In an instructional presentation, your listeners should come away with new knowledge or a new skill.
Explain why the information or skill is valuable to the audience
Explain the learning objectives of the instructional program
Demonstrate the process if it involves something in which the audience will later participate using the following method
Demonstrate it first without comment
Demonstrate it again with a brief explanation
Demonstrate it a third time, step-by-step, with an explanation
Have the participants practice the skill
Provide participants the opportunity to ask questions, give, and receive feedback from you and their peers
Connect the learning to actual use
Have participants verbally state how they will use it
3. Arousing
Your purpose in an arousing presentation is to make people think about a certain problem or situation. You want to arouse the audience's emotions and intellect so that they will be receptive to your point of view. Use vivid language in an arousing presentation-- project sincerity and enthusiasm.
Gain attention with a story that illustrates (and sometimes exaggerates) the problem
Show the need to solve the problem and illustrate it with an example that is general or commonplace
Describe your solution for a satisfactory resolution to the problem
Compare/contrast the two worlds with the problem solved and unsolved
Call the audience to action to help solve the problem
Give the audience a directive that is clear, easy, and immediate
4. Persuasive
Your purpose in a persuasive presentation is to convince your listeners to accept your proposal. A convincing persuasive presentation offers a solution to a controversy, dispute, or problem. To succeed with a persuasive presentation, you must present sufficient logic, evidence, and emotion to sway the audience to your viewpoint.
Create a great introduction because a persuasive presentation introduction must accomplish the following:
Seize the audience's attention
Disclose the problem or needs that your product or service will satisfy
Tantalize the audience by describing the advantages of solving the problem or need
Create a desire for the audience to agree with you by describing exactly how your product or service with fill their real needs
Close your persuasive presentation with a call to action
Ask for the order
Ask for the decision that you want to be made
Ask for the course of action that you want to be followed


5. Decision-making
Your purpose in a decision-making presentation is to move your audience to take your suggested action. A decision-making presentation presents ideas, suggestions, and arguments strongly enough to persuade an audience to carry out your requests. In a decision-making presentation, you must tell the audience what to do and how to do it. You should also let them know what will happen if the don't do what you ask.
Gain attention with a story that illustrates the problem
Show the need to solve the problem and illustrate it with an example that is general or commonplace
Describe your solution to bring a satisfactory resolution to the problem
Compare/contrast the two worlds with the problem solved and unsolved
Call the audience to action to help solve the problem