Project Management Presentation Skills (Part 2 of 2) [32:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2101)

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In today’s second of two podcasts in a series on project management presentation skills, we conclude our discussion with Joe Friedman, of the consulting group Zehren-Friedman Associates, Ltd. 

Show Commentary

In Part 1 of 2 Joe and I discussed why people tend to become anxious when it comes to public speaking, how to overcome the jitters of speaking in front of a group, and the steps to take to prepare for an informational or persuasive presentation.  In Part 2, Joe and I continue our discussion on presentation skills with discussions on visual aids, basic delivery tips, answering questions during a presentation, and being prepared when interviewed by the media.

Visual Aids

Once you have put your content together as we discussed in Part 1, you need to determine what visual aids you want to use during your presentation.  As part of the planning process you need to determine what is the best method of getting your message across - will you be sitting, standing, using presentation handouts, or maybe a demonstration tool to help make your points during the presentation?  You also need to determine if your environment will allow you to use the method that aids you in the most effective way.  For example, if a particular room does not have the capability to allow you to demonstrate how you can blow up a car using only a match and a piece of string, you may need to find another room (or a nearby fire station).

Frequently people create their visuals, especially PowerPoint slides, so that they can be “read” later by the attendees of the presentation or those folks that were unable to attend.  The problem with this approach is that the visuals now contain so much content that it is difficult to effectively present it.  The slides become too “wordy” with multiple sentences instead of bullet points, causing the audience to focus on reading your slides while you present rather than listening to your presentation.  Worse yet, presenters frequently end up reading each of the wordy bullet items to the audience, while adding redundant paraphrasing that causes monotony and overkill on points.  Can you say “Hello snooze-ville?”

The solution to having overly wordy slides is to keep your visuals extremely simple.  If you need to provide supporting information, provide it as a separate appendix to your presentation rather than part of your presentation.

Joe recommends the “five-by-five” rule:  use a maximum of 5 bullet points with no more than 5 words per bullet point on a slide.  Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson also features some easy-to-apply techniques to help you clarify, visualize, and present your ideas using PowerPoint that stresses minimizing the amount of words on a slide.  By giving your audience a relevant graphic and limiting the number of words per slide you will be able to help them remember the message of your presentation better.  Also, stay away from the dancing baby graphic that eveyone seemed to love in the early ’90’s.  No presentation exists that can be improved by using that!

Three Delivery Tips

Here are three simple delivery tips to remember for your presentation in order to have the biggest impact on your audience:

1. Stand up straight
2. Look at one person at a time
3. Speak loudly

Once you master these three tips, you can focus on all 9 skills of presenting which focus on:

1. Movement
2. Stance
3. Hands
4. Gestures
5. Eyes
6. Volume
7. Speaking pace
8. Animation
9. Non-words (”ums”, “ahs”, “errs” “like,” etc.)

You should practice your speech using pauses instead of non-words.  Also, practice using pauses instead of “ums” or “errs” during meetings, on voice mail messages, and with friends.  I personally would also like to recommend practicing elimination of non-words to those of you that like to talk to yourselves on the train or bus.  I would like to see a little better presentation from you in those situations.

Videotaping yourself is a great way to help you become better at presenting while practicing skills and detecting your use of non-words.  In most cases you will discover that you appear a lot more confident than you feel while presenting.

Answering Questions During Your Presentation

The reason that some people get nervous while answering questions during a presentation is because they have not planned how they will answer questions to their subject matter.  This can be compensated by thinking through what questions might be asked and how you would answer them.  Being honest and answering a question with “I don’t know, but I will get back to you,” is better than stumbling through an answer…  However, using “I don’t know” should be used sparingly throughout the Q&A session, or you will come across as the village idiot in the subject area.

Dealing with the Media

When a celebrity like yourself is being interviewed by the media, the first question you have to ask is, what is the intent of the interview?  If you or your company is being made to look bad or evil, be sure to weave into your speaking points short answers that get your message across.  By keeping it short and to the point, you don’t have to fear having your interview edited in such a way as to make your message unclear or even the opposite from what you are trying to convey.  Ask yourself, “how are my comments going to be used, how much editing might be done, and how do I stay on message?”  If those techniques don’t work, try having a little dog tucked under your arm during an interview like Paris Hilton.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

And finally, when it comes to presentations the biggest thing to remember is that there is no substitution for practice!  There is simply no way to stress that enough!  The more you practice, the more comfortable you will feel during your presentation and the more comfortable you are going to appear to your audience.

And that’s the conclusion of our two part series on Project Management Presentation Skills.  Be sure to check out Joe’s company, Zehren-Friedman Associates, and their website at www.zehrenfriedman.com.  You can also contact Joe directly if you have questions at jfriedman@zehrenfriedman.com.

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