I recently attended a Skills for Success
session run by PwC on presentation skills. I found this session particularly
helpful as I, like many people, find that giving a presentation in front of an
audience can make me feel more than a little nervous. The aim of this session was
to show students how to both improve their presentation skills and impress
employers.
At the beginning of the session we identified what made a presentation either effective and engaging, or dull and dry. Some of the following points were highlighted:
At the beginning of the session we identified what made a presentation either effective and engaging, or dull and dry. Some of the following points were highlighted:
WHAT TO DO
- Make clear and articulate points
- Maintain good eye-contact with the audience
- Have a confident presentation style
WHAT NOT TO DO
- Create wordy PowerPoint slides
- Turn away from the audience
- Read from the slides
PwC also gave some really useful tips to bear in mind when giving a presentation:
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Take into account the type of audience you will
deliver your presentation to. This will help you to determine the vocabulary
you should use, the amount of detail you need to go into and the length of your
presentation.
THINK ABOUT BODY LANGUAGE AND TONE OF VOICE
Interestingly audiences only pay attention to 7% of what you say and the remaining 93% of their attention is focused on your appearance and tone of voice. So although the content of your presentation is important, you should be aware of both your body language and tone whilst giving a presentation – because, whether you like it or not, this is what your audience will care about the most!
KEEP IT SUCCINCT
We were asked to give a five minute presentation in small groups and were only given ten minutes to create it. This may have seemed like a hard task, but PwC explained that employers often ask their staff to carry out presentations under similar time constraints. The key is to stick to a few main points, make sure you begin with an introduction and finish off by rounding up your presentation to highlight a take-home message.
And by following these points all the group presentations seemed to flow surprisingly well, despite the tight time limit!
Eleanor (Student Blogger)
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