*This post is based off the original article from November 2004,
By: Kadi Judd, MASSP Coordinator of Student Leadership Services, MASC/MAHS

As a leader, do you ever have to give a presentation?
Do you find that you're nervous and sometimes unprepared to deal with the stress?
Would you like to enjoy giving presentations?

Here's some tips to being an effective presenter! Most of these tips and this advice you know already. It's a matter of where you stand. When we're in the audience, we know exactly what we like and what we don't like about presenters. When we get up in front of that audience, our systems seem to fail us! I encourage you to utilize this information to help you become less nervous and more confident, less scared and more excited!

When preparing for a presentation, the best way to figure out how to be a good presenter is to ask yourself these two questions, then go ahead and answer them! Make a list for each question:
1. What do you like about good presenters, or what makes a presenter good?
2. What do you dislike about some presenters, or what makes a presenter bad?

There are some things that everyone likes about presenters, and I'm sure as you read down this list, you'll find that many of the things you said in answering question #1 are right here! You knew this information all along!

Basic Tips for Being a Presenter

• SMILE!!! Isn't it nice to listen to someone who smiles when they talk?
• Interest Your Audience! The football team probably doesn't want a speaker to come in and talk about how to golf better, and the golf team doesn't want a speaker to present on how to tackle. When you present to a group, know who you're talking to, what they want to hear, and why they want to hear it. Then leave out everything else, or keep it brief when it comes to those points.
• Respect Other's Opinions! How much would you like a presenter that go up and said - "Here's what I think and you're all wrong!" Understand that many people have different opinions and information and education. Is anyone truly more right in their opinion than anyone else? Does it hurt US if people have a different opinion than we do? Usually not - keep your opinion to yourself and respect other people's opinion.
• Be Friendly! Talking WITH your audience instead of TO your audience makes a difference. Lecturing doesn't work as well as discussion, so talk with your audience about the items of interest in your presentation and ask for their feedback. They'll be more engaged and more attentive!
• Get Them to Say Yes! Asking questions that allow a person to answer in the affirmative will more likely lead them to consider a delicate issue. If they start off answering questions and saying "No! No! No!" - you'll get nowhere fast!
• Be Dramatic and Passionate! If you are presenting something, people can usually tell if you yourself are interested in it. By displaying your own interest and enjoyment in the topic you're speaking on, people will be intrigued by that.
• Know Your Material! Reading your presentation off of a sheet of paper is dull and boring and your audience will feel that it's not genuine. Consider limiting yourself to only a few notecards, if any. Memorizing your presentation word for word might be a distraction if anyone gets you off-track or if you suddenly blank out. Remember the ideas and concepts, not the words!
• Have More Material Than You Need! If you're preparing for a twenty minute presentation, have material for thirty minutes or more! Also prepare to cut short your talk if needed - know what can be tossed and glanced over and what is necessary. Usually people talk faster when they're in front of people than when they're practicing on their own, so we think we have twenty minutes of presentation material, yet when we speed up how fast we talk, we only have fifteen minutes!! NOW WHAT? Be prepared to fill time, even if it's with questions about the topic and not necessarily presentation material, it's better than silence.
• Be Clear and Concise: When presenting your ideas, understand that most people in the audience may not know a thing about what you're talking about. Don't assume they will figure it out. Be clear and to the point in what you say, don't run them in circles.
• Visual Support: Some people say that powerpoints are overdone. By keeping them simple and only using a few key points, powerpoints can be very effective and they give the audience something to look at besides just the speaker! Wouldn't you feel more comfortable if everyone wasn't starting straight at you? Using visual aids of any sort help you to relax as a speaker (if you use them correctly) and helps the audience grasp the ideas you're presenting.
• Forget About It...! No one in the audience knows your presentation better than YOU do, so if you skip something, don't worry! It probably wasn't that important to begin with. You can always come back to it at the very end or decide to keep it skipped over. No one will know you missed a beat and you can continue on as calm and as cool as ever.
• ENTHUSIASM!!! Enthusiasm is a great tool to any presentation. It adds excitement, personality, and fun! Being enthusiastic will make the audience enthusiastic - and who would you rather speak to - bored people or excited people?!

All of the suggestions above talk mostly about internal responses. Below are some suggestions for things to be aware of externally while you're presenting.

Preparing A Presentation

• Body Language: Take time to study your own body language and ask others to observe you while practicing. Do you lean forward towards your audience instead of away from them? Do you stand still or walk evenly instead of shifting feet back and forth? Do you stand tall instead of leaning on a podium or table? Do you hold your head up instead of down? Do you use your arms and hands for emphasis instead of for every word? Do you keep youself steady instead of nervously fidgeting?
• Facial Expressions: Of course, a smile is the greatest gift to give someone, and it's free, so do it a lot!! Having a confident look upon your face and an excited expression will help you to convey that confidence and excitement. Facial expressions tell a lot about us, so be careful in how you react with your facial expressions if someone says something to offend or attack you. Remain calm and smile at them - thank them for their opinion!
• Eye Contact: Connecting with the audience is important. Some people prefer to find a few people in the audience that they are comfortable with or that they don't know at all and keep eye contact with them throughout the presentation. Pick at least 5 people - one on the right, one on the left, one in the back center, one in the front center. If you are comfortable making eye contact with many people, by all means, do so! If you feel that connecting eyes with someone will throw you off when you are just starting off doing presentations, try looking right over people's heads, or at the top of their head. To them, it looks like you're looking at them, or at the person behind them. This will help some people to be less stressed. Eventually, you'll gain the confidence to look people directly in the eyes!
• Speak TO Them: Keep your body to the audience at all times, and tilt your body to the left and right every once in while, looking and speaking to the people on the sides if it's a larger group. If possible, avoid turning in circles to talk to people. Of course, some situations call for a circular setting, so make sure to give all directions equal time! If using an exhibit, don't talk to the exhibit, talk to the audience. If you have to turn around to do something on paper or on a board, either wait until you're done to talk, or make sure you have a strong microphone.
• Attire: Command respect by dressing in a way that places you at the same level or a level higher than those you are speaking to. We don't necessarily like to admit that we judge people based on what they're wearing, but many people do. Be judged positively and with respect by dressing the part you would like to portray.
• Notes: If you absolutely must have notecards with you for your presentation, keep them in a place where you won't drop them, won't depend on them, and won't stare at them. Write big enough on them so you can merely glance down and refer to them and immediately look back up.
• Follow Up! Many times, presenters are stumped with a question from an audience member. Some presenters turn into magicians at this point and pull something out of a hat just so they can be smart enough to answer the question. Is it that smart to give a wrong answer though? If you're asked a question you cannot answer, you will gain immense amounts of respect from your audience by simply saying: "That's a great question and I appreciate you asking that! I wish I had as good of a response for you. I'm not sure of the correct answer and wouldn't want to mislead you, so I will get back to you with an answer after the presentation." Follow up by getting that person's name and contact information and the question they need answered. Do some leg work to get an answer and get back to them promptly, even if promptly means a week later, follow-up!

So in all these presentations you have to give, what exactly do you do to put it together??

Presentation Content

• Clarity and Details: be conscious of what your audience knows and doesn't know and use terminology that can be understood by all attendees. Provide details assuming that they know nothing about your topic. By practicing with someone, you can ask that listener to see if s/he understands everything you've said, therefore gaining a better understanding of what areas need to be clarified more.
• Honest: Be up front with what's going on and tell the truth. Provide accurate information, whether it's good or bad.
• Summarize: Give the audience a recap of past events by telling them the good and the bad, the gains and the losses. They probably don't care for much more than that!
• Propose with Positives, Slip In Negatives, Weigh Out Negatives: It's always best to tell the good stuff first - puts people in a more positive frame of mind. Every so often, slip in a negative and tell how you plan to fix it for next time if it's a recurring event.
• "WIIFM" - What's In It For Me? Your audience wants to know what your message carries for them. Why does what you have to say matter to them and how will they benefit from your message? Tell them how your message applies to them - make it real for them.

Now the presentation is about to wrap up, so what do you do next??

Closing Out

• Emphasize Key Points: Review the main points of your presentation when closing. People will know you're closing out when you do this, so saying "in closing" or "lastly" is almost redundant. If you've asked the audience to do something after the presentation, remind them of that at this time as well.
• Make Yourself Available: Make sure the audience knows who you are from the start, remind them again at the end, and provide your contact information so that people can get more information if interested or confused!
• Thank Them For Their Time: Always thank people - they didn't HAVE to sit there and listen, they could've hid in the bathroom! Thank them for their patience, participation, cooperation, attentiveness, whatever it was that struck you - be sincere!!
• Appreciate Their Hard Work and Dedication: Tell the group that you appreciate them and the people that helped all of this come together (be specific if you can) and that you appreciate them being dedicated to the cause/issue/event.

You've just learned everything you already knew, right? Most of this is common sense - some if it is new. Either way, you're geared up to be able to make presentations now, right? Practice - practice - practice. Most importantly, BE YOURSELF! Add some enthusiasm and professionalism, and you've got yourself a grade A presentation!

If you need more assistance, attached to this page are various articles from outside resources that you might find helpful as well.