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There are a number of ways that written materials can support and enhance an oral presentation.

I do a lot of public speaking, teaching, and training. I utilize PowerPoint slides extensively.

I also prepare written materials which I distribute to participants to take with them which serve as a reference tool so that when they have a question later, they can use those materials to refresh their recollection and clear up any confusion they may have. I make it a practice to include a cover and table of contents, as well as appropriate authoritative citations, so that the packet will be “user-friendly” and, thus, have an increased chance of being added to the participant’s library. I generally include a printed copy of my PowerPoint show, as well.

I believe that communicating information in three differing formats is the best way to assure comprehension and retention. The PowerPoint presentation serves primarily as an outline containing only key words, terms, and concepts. The written materials are extremely detailed, of course. And depending upon the topic, my speech may contain a lot of examples and illustrations that are not included in either of the written formats, along with some personal recollections.

Whether or not you should utilize such tools in your presentation depends upon a number of factors.

First of all, you must consider the subject matter, of course. What type of presentation are you making? Does the topic lend itself to the use of visual aids such as a PowerPoint show? Will such tools enhance or detract from the main points you are communicating? Will text, graphics and/or music assist your audience in not only understanding your presentation, but also in recollecting the main points over time? Will such displays “pound home” the message or can it be delivered more effectively with just the inflection, dynamics, tenor and tone of your spoken words?

Once you have decided that you want to utilize a PowerPoint presentation as you speak, there are some things you can do to maximize its effectiveness. Most importantly, bear in mind that a slide show or other graphical display should never be a script (although it can effectively serve as an outline, as explained below). I have suffered through too many interminably long presentations where the speaker thought that every salient point should be included in the PowerPoint show and, as if that weren’t bad enough, decided to read the content of the slides to the audience. Sadly, the information being imparted on most of those occasions was of interest to me, but the speaker could not hold my attention once he/she decided to stay “on script” rather than speak contemporaneously.

A PowerPoint show or other graphic presentation should be used solely to augment and clarify your oral commentary, but should never overtake or overshadow it. This is one area where the old adage “less is more” is applicable.

Note that I said bullet points. Not lengthy, rambling paragraphs of text, but, rather, short, concise synopses that the audience can jot down if they’d like. Bullet points can also be read quickly by the audience as you are speaking without deflecting attention from what you are saying. There is nothing worse than looking out into the faces of your audience to discover that they are no longer listening to you because they are focused completely on reading all of the verbiage set forth on the slides you are projecting.

I use custom animation so that I can dictate when specific key words, terms or phrases appear on the screen. For instance, I find that the audience remains engaged if you pepper your presentation with questions. Ask participants if they know the answer to a particular question and open the floor for discussion and questions. When you are ready to conclude the discussion and move on, you can announce, “Here’s the answer” or “Look at how things turned out,” at the moment that the relevant information is projected. This is particularly effective if you ask your audience to guess numbers, percentages or the outcome of hypothetical scenarios. It is fun to hear the gasps when the group is surprised by the correct or actual answer, leading to further enthusiastic discourse and a memorable presentation.

By organizing your PowerPoint slide show, you will find that you have organized your discussion. This is a great way to stay on track. Make sure that you include each and every important point you want to make during your presentation as a bullet or outline point. That way, when you glance at the slides as you are speaking, your memory will be jogged and you will be sure not only to mention those key points, but also elaborate upon them.

Finally, as to the aesthetics of the PowerPoint show, let your topic and audience guide your selections. If you are talking about a very serious, thought-provoking subject, the colors and graphics that you select will probably be different than those appropriate to a more light-hearted or fun conversation. The possibilities are limitless, bounded only by the constraints of your imagination.

“The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public.” (Sir George Jessel)

Have you had this feeling before? Rest assured you are not alone. You might be one of the many who would rate your fear of public speaking alongside or ahead of death! Your fear may translate itself to “FEAR” – Forget Everything And Run!!

Having the ability to present yourself and your message to an audience, whether internal or external, is a necessary skill for a good manager and leader. By following some simple steps you can improve your skills in this area, reduce your fear and build your confidence. As you have more success in making presentations you may well find yourself actually looking forward to doing more of them. Clients, colleagues and other staff will be more responsive and supportive. You will realise the principles apply to groups of 2 – 200 and above, and whether sitting across a desk or in a conference hall.

Why do you want to improve your skills in this area? It might be to reduce the feelings of the nerves – or even panic. Maybe to reduce the risk of making yourself look a fool in front of the audience? Or you may want to be able to present yourself and your message with more confidence and conviction to win people over. Perhaps you want to be able to look forward to making presentations? Whatever your reasons, the principles we will cover here will help you.

The biggest challenge for most people when asked to make a presentation is the way their imaginations start to operate. All sorts of thoughts begin to swirl around – and how many are to do with things going wrong, fluffing the words, audience reactions etc. etc. and compared with it going successfully and being enjoyable? One way to change this initial response is to follow the basic ideas covered below. Also, accept that it is not a bad thing to have some nerves. They trigger a chemical reaction which, harnessed properly, will help to make your presentation a success.

The secret is to remember that when you see good presenters, you are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. A great deal has gone on beneath the surface to enable them to be the person you see. For those who have a real fear of presenting, they make the problem worse. They go into denial of the presentation, use this to keep putting off doing the things beneath the surface with all sorts of excuses and reasons – so that when they come to the actual presentation it does not go well. Then they can say, “Told you so! See, I’m no good at presentations!” The art of self-fulfilling prophecy continues.

To prevent the paranoia – make time to do the fundamentals! Plan and prepare. Also, have a realistic level of expectation. Too many people, when having to make a presentation, spend too much time focusing on themselves. There is a balance to be met – and the secret for a good presentation is to keep the focus on the audience, and your subject and objective. Get the first two right and the third will take care of itself!

To get your planning underway, ask yourself some simple questions:

WHAT: Consider the purpose of the presentation, to inform, influence, inspire, generate action? Be more specific, what are my objectives from this? What are the key things you want the audience to take away with them – or to do?

WHO: Put your focus on the people you will be presenting to. How many will they be? What are their objectives? What is their level of knowledge? Will they be a “willing” audience or were they sent? When you have the answers to these points, you have some idea of what level to pitch your presentation.

WHERE: Is the presentation going to be made in a meeting room, someone’s office, a large venue? What will be the layout? How flexible is it? (You can always ask to have it set-up to suit you, though a boardroom table is hard to adjust!) What equipment is available? What do you need to take?

WHEN: What time of day are you presenting? Are there other presenters before and after you? What impact will these two answers have on your approach to the presentation?

HOW: How long have you got? Remember, longer is not necessarily better! Also, although this may seem odd if you are nervous about presentations, it is harder to plan and prepare a brief, effective presentation than to organise a longer one. (Churchill, amongst others, is quoted as saying something along the lines of, “It takes me 10 minutes to prepare for a 2 hour speech – and 2 hours to prepare for a 10 minute one.”)

Put the answers to these together and you are in a position to begin the preparation of the presentation itself. Some things to consider are:

• Pull together the broad content – what is it you want to say? Think about the headlines for each part. (You can find your own way to do this, though creativity helps with approaches such as mindmapping or just Post-it notes! These are better than just pages of notes.)
• Gather information – get facts, opinions, research and anything else which might help.
• Check back with your objectives – and the audience’s. Make sure there is a match.
• Organise all of this into a sensible sequence. Have a beginning, middle and end, preferably building up the emphasis of your message.
• Develop a story – make sure that there is a flow to the overall presentation. Look to build in hooks for key points or messages. People often recall stories and anecdotes more than dry facts.
• Check the plan against the time you will have. (You will speak at around 100-120 words a minute when your nerves are under control. A 15 minute presentation is around 1,700 words or so, which is only 4-5 pages of A4.) Also remember, you are speaking so choose your language with this in mind, especially when making notes.
• What do you need to support your story or message? Visual aids, props, notes, other material which might be suitable. Remember, these things are there to support you not to take over. If using Powerpoint, avoid “death by…” and use slides sparingly – and keep them clear and easy to read!

When you are comfortable that you have the overall structure, content and support material organised you will feel more comfortable. Check it flows sensibly, covers the main points, meets the objectives and you may even start to look forward to the presentation. PLEASE now work at one vital part – your opening!

The old saying, “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression” is so true. The audience are judging you on many levels as you start and this will influence how they will respond. Add to the fact that you are fighting your own nerves and probably think you have enough to worry about!! By concentrating on getting the opening right, you can achieve several aims in one.

It is important to create your own opening, it can become your “anchor” to help you manage yourself. Practice introducing yourself, stating your reason for being there, what you want to achieve and how you want the audience to be. (eg, when can they ask questions.) If you can deliver this part almost without thinking, you can keep your attention on the audience and their responses. If you are worried about what to say, you will be so internally focused you will not be able to pay attention to them. Whether you use humour, stories or challenging facts to start – or anything else – is a matter of choice. However, be careful with humour. You never know who may be offended – or how you and others will react if the joke or story falls flat.

Another important thing is to handle your nerves. First of all, realise that it is OK to have them! The trick is to learn to use them to your advantage and to not let them take you over. There are some simple things you can do and by practising them you will find that they have applications in all sorts of areas of life.

Visualisation (or “imaginisation”) – put yourself in the presentation and see it going well, you in control of the room and the audience. Experience yourself handling questions, making your points, generally enjoying it. Feel how good it will be at the end of the presentation when you realise that you have achieved your objectives. See the positive.

Breathing – this is one of the most effective ways of handling the adrenaline buzz that comes with heightened nervousness. Take a deep, slow breath – feel your diaphragm moving out as you do this. Hold the breath for several seconds – then let it go, slowly. (Press your hand just under your ribs and feel the lower lungs empty and help them on the way.) Hold the breath again before repeating the in-breath. (Some use a count of 7-4-7-4 for this.) Do this for 3 full cycles and you will notice your heart rate slowing and begin to feel the oxygen levels rise in your blood. Careful of more than this, you may start to hyperventilate!

When you move to start your presentation, take a deep breath as above, step to where you will deliver from, look around the audience as you breathe out and establish eye contact. Now you are ready to begin.

The other element to prepare is your ending. Many nervous presenters are fine with the middle, content part of their sessions. They let themselves down with the front and back – and often lose the potential impact because of this. Work out how you want to summarise and then close things off. If all else fails, use the basic rule, tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em, tell ‘em and tell ‘em what you told ‘em.

“Begin at the beginning and go on until you come to the end, then stop.” Lewis Carroll

This is just a start to cover some of the basics. When you are comfortable with these, there are many more areas you can work on. There are ways you can help yourself if you need to develop your presentation and speaking skills apart from training organisations such as ours. The Professional Speakers’ Association, www.professionalspeakers.org has local “chapters around the UK. You can also find a local branch of Toastmasters International, who will offer encouragement and training – although in a different style.

Are you one of those people who always worries when you buy someone else a present? Do you ask yourself whether the recipient will like it and whether you’ve spent the right amount?

Although there is an undoubted joy involved in giving presents to others, you’re not unusual if you also have an element of concern when you hand someone a gift.

The reality is that you wouldn’t be giving them a gift unless you liked them – they’re most probably a friend or family member. You could save some concern by thinking that they will appreciate the thought, no matter what you actually bought them.

If that thought doesn’t put your mind at rest then you might want too concentrate on picking out something that they’re almost guaranteed to love. This is easier for some people than others.

If your loved one has a particular hobby that they’re interested in then that might provide you with a good starting point. Depending upon your budget, however, it may not necessarily help you to find a solution.

There are various products that most people enjoy receiving and chocolates are surely near the top of the list for most of us. These are associated with special occasions and are perfect throughout the year.

They make particularly good presents because they are so popular and also because they come in all different shapes and sizes.

That means that you can select some that are perfect for any given occasion. It also means that you should be able to find something, no matter what your budget.

Buying chocolates takes a lot of the stress out of the process. There are even a number of internet companies that will allow you to have chocolates delivered direct to another address.

Chocolates are a great idea if you want a great present, at a reasonable cost and without even having to worry about getting them delivered!