How To Give a Great Presentation by Neil Chalmers

Author:Neil Chalmers [Chalmers, Niel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781509814480
Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Over the length of a set-text presentation, sticking religiously to the two pauses would make you come across as something of an automaton: not an ideal result. So the refinement described above will ensure a more relaxed and normal delivery, while still allowing you to punctuate your presentation effectively. It’s going to take a fair bit of rehearsal – once more with a camera and a critical observer – to get the technique to become a comfortable part of your presentation repertoire, but it’s well worth persevering with for those cases where set-text presentations are a regular requirement.

If you’re comfortable with your material, the audience will be too.

2. To autocue or not?

In a set-text presentation, there’s always the possibility of using an autocue. This technique has upsides and downsides. It’s a format that does require some familiarity, as it moves at the pace of the speaker, speeding up or slowing down depending on the delivery. This can have the unfortunate effect of the speaker gathering pace, for whatever reason, and the autocue consequently gathering pace; the speaker then starts to speak even faster to keep up and so on. Such a performance doesn’t tend to lend credibility to any presentation.

There was a Conservative Party conference where it had been decided that everyone, without exception, was to use autocue. However, there were some speakers who weren’t totally comfortable, or hadn’t practised enough, with the technique. Time pressures ensured the autocue had to be persevered with regardless, despite the fact that there’d been some dreadful mishaps at the rehearsal. The result, for one unfortunate senior minister, was that he and the machine slowed down to the point where the audience began to wonder if the speaker was suffering from an illness of some sort. As he was the Health Secretary, this proved particularly galling.

Autocue isn’t the automatic answer.

3. Choosing the set-text option should now be easier

So the use of a prepared text has potential pitfalls and we’ve all been subjected to presentations that have come a cropper. However, there will inevitably be situations where the right format, indeed the only format, is a prepared text. In such instances, making sure that all the advice above has been reviewed and proper rehearsal time ensured will minimize any problems caused by unfamiliarity.

Always ensure you select the most suitable format for the particular occasion.

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