Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

Unit 3:
Advanced Presentation Skills
By: Mohamed M. Elmaghawri
Sept. 2017

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Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

Table of Contents
Unit Objectives:............................................................................................................................................. 4
3.1 : Why Are Presentation Skills Important? ............................................................................................... 5
3.2 Types of Presentation: ............................................................................................................................ 5
3.3 Four pillars of effective presentations: ................................................................................................... 6
How to know your audience: ........................................................................................................................ 7
3.4: Deadly Presentation Pitfalls to Avoid:.................................................................................................. 9
3.5: Key Components of a Good Presentation.............................................................................................. 9
3.5.1: Structure: .......................................................................................................................................... 10
3.5.2: Secondly: The presentation body: .................................................................................................... 11
3.5.3: Thirdly: THE END OR CONCLUSION:.................................................................................................. 12
Activity: ....................................................................................................................................................... 12
3.6: Non verbal communication – “Body Language”: ................................................................................. 13
3.6.2: Positive body language ..................................................................................................................... 14
3.6.3: Negative body language: .................................................................................................................. 14
3.7: Common Applications for creating professional presentation:........................................................... 14
Unit Review: ................................................................................................................................................ 16
References: ................................................................................................................................................. 16

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Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

Before we start: What do you expect to learn by the end of this unit?

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Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

Unit Objectives:

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

 Structure and build compelling presentations
 Build instant rapport and get an audience on your side
every time
 Understand how best to use your voice and image in order
to win
 Feel confident and in control of being you
 Create engaging visual aids which will capture your
audience’s attention
 Create effective and professional presentations
 Deliver an effective presentation

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Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

Before we start:

It’s not obligatory to be a native speaker or to speak English fluently to deliver an effective
presentation. Generally speaking, even native speakers find that presenting difficult. To
overcome this problem you are going to gain the basic tools that will aid you to present
effectively.

3.1 : Why Are Presentation Skills Important?

• Almost every organization lists communication skills as one of their most critical
issues…and presentation skills are a large component of communications
• Presentation skills are crucial to almost every aspect of academic/business life, from
meetings, interviews, conferences, to trade shows/job fairs
• Often times leadership and presentation skills go hand in hand
• It allows you to make the most out of your first impression especially at lectures,
conferences and job interviews

3.2 Types of Presentation:

One of the first things to decide when preparing a presentation is the type of the given speech.

Informational Motivational Demonstration

(provide information)
• The purpose of an
informational speech
is to inform the
audience about a
specific topic or
issue.
(change attitudes) (build new skills)
• The purpose of a • The purpose of a
motivational speech demonstration
is to interest the speech is to teach
audience in your the audience
topic and motivate something new.
them to take action.

Figure 1: Types of Presentations

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Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

3.3 Four pillars of effective presentations:

1. Know your audience Effective Presentations

2. Know your purpose

3. Know your material
4. Know yourself

Your Audience
Your Material

Your Purpose
Yourself
Four Pillars
Figure 2: Four Pillars of effective Presentations

Pillar1 1: Understanding and building on your strengths to connect with audience

Pillar

Why is it important to know your audience?

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Purpose of knowing your audience allows you (the speaker) to determine what
and how you need to present.

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Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

How to know your audience:

Audience Information Why?

Roles and Responsibilities Use job related examples

Age group Ensure the use of age appropriate

content/materials

Knowledge Base Tailor presentation based on knowledge of the

audience
Learning Styles Incorporate all learning styles

Cultural background Use culturally sensitive content/materials

Number of Participants Ensure enough materials/handouts are available

Purpose for Attending Address the question

Table 1: How to know Your audience

Pillar 2 : know your purpose (WHY): It is vital to determine your purpose for
delivering a presentation.
A simple sentence can be a means for defining the purpose of a presentation. In
addition, it can start in helping to determine the content.

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Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

Pillar 3 : Knowing your material:

Be sure to have a strong knowledge base for the material that you are covering.
This will be helpful if a question arises about the topic, moreover it will increase
your confidence.

So prepare your material in advance through:

A. Conducting a research on the topic
B. Using content information from credible sources
C. Incorporating data/statistics that are relevant to the
audience
D. Listing some resources that will be helpful to the
audience

Pillar 4 : Know yourself:

Part of knowing yourself as a speaker is knowing:

a) Your Style: Describe the presentation style you are comfortable with.

b) Your Skills/Strengths: List your skills/strengths (such as: humor, ability to

build rapport with listeners, graphical design, etc.)

c) Your Weaknesses: List weaknesses as they pertain to presenting.

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 Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

3.4: Deadly Presentation Pitfalls to Avoid:

1- Boring opening and weak ending
2- Talking and Taking too much time
3- Overusing colors, graphics, and animation
4- Reading your presentation or reading notes
5- Putting too many words on your slides
6- Having multiple messages on a single slide
7- Presenting the wrong image or information
8- Ignoring the audience’s needs

3.5: Key Components of a Good Presentation

• Structure
• Body Language and Movement
• Verbal Delivery

 Comfort gestures
 Eye Contact
 Use of visual aids

Body Language
& Movement

 Pace or Speed
 Volume
 Use of full vocal
Topic content range

Structure
 Introduction Clear Verbal Delivery
 Body components
 Conclusion
 Smooth flow from
one topic to next
Figure 3: Key components of presentation

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 Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

3.5.1: Structure:
Firstly: Introduction:

The beginning of a presentation is the most important part. It is when you

establish a rapport with the audience and when you have its attention.

AA: Draw the audience's attention and signal the beginning.

Right. Well. OK. Erm. Let's begin. Good. Fine. Great. Can we start? Shall we start?
BB: Greet audience. It is important to greet the audience by saying something

CC: Introduce yourself; (name, position, and institution)

So people can identify you and to establish your authority on the subject
and to allow the audience to see your point of view on the subject (you are a
student, researcher, responsible for).
DD: Give title and introduce subject:
What exactly are you going to speak about? Give a rough idea or a
working definition of the subject.
EE: Clarify your objectives (purpose, aim, goals):

What I would like to do today is to explain to illustrate... to give you the

essential background information on... to outline... to have a look at...
FF: Announce your outline.

You want to keep the outline simple so 2 or 3 main points are usually enough.

GG: Questions and comments from the audience.

You should also let the audience know at some point in the introduction
when and whether they may ask questions.
HH: Make a transition between the introduction and the body.
Now let us turn to point one. Let us now move on to the second part,
which is, as I said earlier.

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Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

3.5.2: Secondly: The presentation body:

A: Content. What information should you give in your speech? All your information should
support your purpose. In most cases you will have to limit the content, as time is usually
precious!

B: Quantity How much information should you give? Enough to clearly develop your ideas.
Don’t forget to illustrate through examples.

C: Sequencing your ideas. Here are a few possibilities for organizing your ideas: logical; order;
from general to specific; from known to unknown; from accepted to controversial;
cause/effect; problem/solution.

D: Keeping the audience's attention The beginning and the end or the first and last parts of a
talk are what listeners will remember best. Think of ways you can keep the audience's attention
throughout the rest of the speech.

The presentation body

Figure 4: How to organize your presentation body?

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 Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

3.5.3: Thirdly: THE END OR CONCLUSION:

In conclusion I would like to say that... My final comments concern... I would like
to finish by reminding everyone that..

Create your presentation

Use Visuals

What are visuals?

• graphs charts
• maps photos
• drawings images
• models video/film
• objects
Figure 5: Samples of Visual aids

Activity:
With your group write down 5 visual aids that you will use in presentation?

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Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

3.6: Non verbal communication – “Body Language”:

3.6.1: What is body language?

Eye contact, facial expressions, posture, movements, gestures

Eye Contact

Facial Expressions

Gestures Posture

Movements

3.6.1: Why is it useful?

It is a natural part of communication:

• to clarify meaning; it is very visual

• to vent nervousness
• to maintain interest
• to emphasize and regulate

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 Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

3.6.2: Positive body language

• Eye contact to keep audiences' attention.

• Facial expressions should be natural and friendly. Don't forget to smile. ·raise eyebrows
to show surprise ·open eyes wide ·squint your eyes ·knit your eyebrows to show
consternation or puzzlement
• Posture – stand straight but relaxed (do not slouch or lean)
• Movement - to indicate a change of focus, keep the audience's attention ·move forward
to emphasize ·move to one side to indicate a transition
• Gesture ·up and down head motion or other movements to indicate importance ·pen or
pointer to indicate a part, a place (on a transparency). ·shrug of the shoulders to
indicate "I don't know!" ·hands - back and forth = two possibilities, more or less ·arm -
movement back, forth

3.6.3: Negative body language:

 Loss of eye contact: looking at notes, looking at screen, at the board, at the floor
 Don't stare, or look blankly into people's eyes
 Back turned to the audience
 Nervous ticks
 Hands in pockets

3.7: Common Applications for creating professional presentation: (Scan & Watch)

PowerPoint Prezi emaze visme PowToon

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Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

Activity : Before delivering a presentation you have to answer the

following question “Group work”

Questions to ask yourself My Ideas

What is the aim of my presentation?

What is my title?

Who I am speaking to

What are the main points I want to make ?

What do I want the audience to do after

listening to my presentation?

Where ?

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 Academic Studies II Unit 3: Advanced Presentation Skills

Unit Review:

1- What are the main types of Presentation?

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2- What are visuals?
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3- List three of Presentation Pitfalls

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References:
Gronbeck B, German K, Ehringer D, Monroe A (1992) Principles of Speech Communication.
Hellstrom, D. (2008) The Certified Peer Educator Facilitator’s Manual.
Kroehnert G. (1995) A Handbook for New Trainers.
Sturrock, W. (2001) English Communication Skills: Technical Writing and Presentations
IHE028/01/1

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