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Emma Ledden, author and editor of The Presentation Book, says that a great presentation is about asking the right questions. It’s not about what you should say, but what your audience wants to hear.
Before I gave a talk to the PMI Southern Ontario Chapter about customer-centric project management, this book was a must-read. It’s a practical book. I found myself focusing more upon the key points than my presentation.
Audience profiling was one of the most valuable topics I have found. I had no idea much about the people who would attend my presentation, other than that they were part of the Chapter and would be attending the annual Development Day conference.
Even though it was too late to learn more, I think spending some time thinking about your audience would be a good idea and would encourage organizers to answer questions.
Practice, practice, practice
Ledden discusses how to create a presentation, and then talks about presentations being performances. Your presentation should be practiced just like an actor. It takes about 10 hours to prepare for each presentation. Part of that preparation is for the preparation of your materials. Some of it is practice time.
Ledden shares 7 rules for presentation success:
Practice your presentations at least 3 times.
Practice loudly, not in the head.
Practice with all your props, slides, and slides.
One rehearsal at the venue.
You should be able to see and hear the back of your room.
Your guests should be at their venue 30 minutes before you are due
Before you leave, make sure you have checked all equipment and have a backup plan in place in case of an emergency.
She also writes about nerves. There are a few pages here, but only one page on managing query queries. This is always the most difficult.
She also mentioned that failure is a sign that you haven’t tried hard enough. I can at least say that I tried my best with my presentations. I was embarrassed when I fell off the stage. I tried to explain to business analysts why project managers were important.
It is important to do it correctly
The chapter on moving forward is focused on action planning and the preparation for concrete improvement activities. This can be done on a short-term or over the next 12 months. This section will help improve your presentations.
Ledden says that you can improve if you want it to be so, but you have to put in the effort. This is what Ledden calls a formula.
The majority of this book is about delivering individual presentations. Project managers will need to do this from time to time. This section is dedicated to managing group presentations. This is a common task for project team members, especially if they are delivering a presentation on work or bidding on it.
This book will help you improve your presentation skills. If you are looking for quick fixes or PowerPoint tips, this book won’t be of any help.
Who wants to see death by PowerPoint? Do your audience a favor and learn how to present effectively instead of just clicking through slides.
Amazon.
