About the Author:
Matthew Lee
Matthew currently serves as Senior Project Manager of
Young Contracting/SE, Inc., a leading healthcare and
retail General Contractor in the Southeast since 1991.
Have you ever had to sit through a presentaon where you
spend the enre me checking you phone for emails and
messages even though you know you haven’t received any new
ones? At some point in your career, whether you are in business
development, sales, markeng, management, or otherwise,
most of us will have to get up in front of a group of people and
make a presentaon. Here are FIVE ps that may help you give
a meaningful presentaon.
Tip 1 - Be Prepared
This is the most important thing you can do. People who ‘wing
it’ WILL FAIL at some point - don’t play the odds.
Content – Write it down, edit it, get it exactly the way you want
it, and pracce.
Notes – I typically will prepare some type of outline. One word
or a short sentence formaed in bullet points, with indented
subtopics to stay on track. Don’t rely on the enre wrien
presentaon; first, you WILL end up just reading it at some
point; second, it makes it difficult to find your place if you were
to lose your thoughts. Be sure your notes are LEGIBLE; double
spaced, large font. You want be able to look at them BRIEFLY and
immediately get back to the audience.
Pracce – No one likes to do this, but it is the most important
thing you can do. If you are presenng as a group, pracce as a
group. If you are presenng by yourself, record yourself on
video. You will be shocked at what you could learn about your
habits watching yourself on video. Pracce will also help you
manage your presentaon into the me slot you need.
Tip 2 - Be Prepared
(Yes, this is that important)
Tip 3 - BE PREPARED
(In case you hadn’t realized it the first two mes, Yes, this is BY
FAR the most important thing you can do.)
Tip 4 - Visual Aids
99% of presenters will have some type of visual aid. Visual aids
are good when they are done correctly. Bad visual aids will RUIN
an otherwise good presentaon.
First, make sure that the informaon is LEGIBLE. Pung up 10 pt
font on a large screen is useless. Also, photos/graphs/etc. need
to be clear - make sure they are formaed to be used on
whatever size screen you are using.
PowerPoint – Oh man, this would be a long one to discuss if I
were wring a dissertaon. I will just say that the MOST effecve
presentaons (for those of us that don’t present for a living) use
one word or one sentence per slide and the presenters use no
more than a few slides. If you give the audience something to
read, it takes their focus COMPLETELY away from YOU. People can
read about things from a book or the internet. In a presentaon,
make sure you are the one communicang the informaon.
Handouts – If you are going to give someone a handout, go
through it TOGETHER. Don’t let them dri through it on their
own - again, this will take their focus off of your message.
Tip 5 - Speaking and Presenng ‘Style’
Good presenters know how important voice and body are to the
presentaon.
Voice – ARTICULATE. Speaking clearly is more imperave than
volume. DON’T BE MONOTONE, a great analogy that I have
heard is to speak like you’re reading a book to a child and use
different tones, speeds, volumes, etc. This will keep your
audience engaged.
Body – This goes back to videotaping yourself (or your group, for
that maer). You need to be aware of your habits; do you
slouch? do you sck your neck out? do you flick your hair or grab
your… shirt? You also need to show your hands, a lot. When
people see your hands it is a sign of trust. NEVER put them in
your pockets - always have them out, in front of you.
Thanks for reading, I hope you were able to take something away
and Good Luck!
How Effective Are Your Presentations?
Key Takeaways:
• Be prepared
• Be prepared
• BE PREPARED
• Visual aids should support your message,
not interfere with it
• Use a confident voice and posture
Interested in writing a future one-page article for the Business Development Best Practices Series and marketing yourself and your
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Published February 2017Business Development Best Practices Series
