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Courses Archive
You're the Boss: Creating a Great Informative Presentation
At some point in time, you may be asked to present in front of people who are looking to you for information. And, while entertainment, sales, or education may be a component of the presentation, the bulk of the speech is information. In such case, your job is to inform in a way that is easy for all to understand.
The first step in preparing an informative presentation is to perform your research. Research is also the most important part of the task. This is when you don your investigative reporter's hat and begin chanting the mantra of every graduate of Journalism 101: "who, what, where, when, why and how." Obtaining answers to these questions will give you the informational base on which you'll build your presentation.
Generally, once you've lined up the relevant facts, you'll arrange them in order from most important to least, then examine, interpret and present these facts in ways that may be meaningful to the audience. It might help to think of your presentation as a "story" that you're going to tell.
But before all that, you have to locate the needed information. Fortunately you don't have to look too far in most cases. Sometimes the information is already in your head or the heads of people around you. It may also be at the library, on the Internet, in the newspaper or on TV. Whatever your sources are, you'll still be asking yourself the same questions - the journalist's five W's - and always with the informational needs of your audience in the front of your mind. Whether you're an expert or a novice on the chosen topic, you can employ the five W's in infinite ways, depending on what's right for the needs of your audience. For instance, consider the following questions:
- What are the most important facts?
- What is the best way to relate these facts?
- What might happen next?
- Who wants this information?
- Who is going to be affected by it?
- Who stands to gain or lose?
- Who else does your audience need to know about?
- How is this information going to change the lives of the audience?
- Why is this information timely right now?
- How did this situation come about?
- When will the situation change?
- Where can we go for a drink after the presentation?
You're thinking like a journalist here, remember. The main thing is to try to anticipate anything any member of the audience might want to know about your topic and to deliver that information in a way that cannot possibly be misinterpreted. That means you must be as accurate as possible. If your "story" is a very complicated one, you may have to simply state one simple fact after another for a while. (Fortunately most stories aren't that complex, and you can exercise a little more creativity.)
Once you've assembled the information, it's time to craft it into a story the audience will remember. There are many dynamic tools you can use to grab the attention of your audience, including computers and multimedia projectors. And while technology won't do everything for you, it is an invaluable part of the modern presentation. Specifically, using multimedia options affords you a level of authority that is often difficult to attain. Consider the following:
You must deliver an informative presentation regarding market trends of a particular product to a large group. Instead of handing out a hard copy of the presentation's outline, complete with in-depth charts and graphs, you decide to create these same materials in a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation and project these "slides" during your presentation. In this case, the audience maintains eye-contact with you (and your projected images) -- not the paper. You look like the authority figure, and you maintain their attention!
Regardless of the media you choose to deliver your presentation, it's up to you to assemble the information in a compelling way, and the best way to do this is to create an outline with a beginning, middle and end. Outlining your content should give you a feel for the flow of your presentation. But you also need to ask the tough questions.
- Where is the presentation strong and where is it weak?
- Are all relevant details included?
- Is the overall message conveyed effectively?
- Is there a major point that will stand well on its own?
- Does a shaky contention need to be supported by factual data in the form of charts and graphs?
At this point it may be helpful to create a storyboard for your presentation. This is a tried-and-true convention. Working from your outline, sketch out exactly what you want to say, one computer screen "frame" at a time. If your presentation is going to include multimedia effects (and if possible, it should), this is a good way to plot out where you want to insert video footage, audio, graphics and other features.
As the presenter, you are an informational resource, so be prepared to answer questions from your AUDIENCE including where they can go to find more information on your topic.
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