Presentation skills & Types

Presenting information clearly and effectively is a key skill in getting your message across. Today, presentation skills are required in almost every field, and most of us are required to give presentations on occasions. While some people take this in their stride, others find it much more challenging.

Interaction with others is a routine job of businesses in today’s world. The importance of good presentation skills is established on the basis of following points:

• They help an individual in enhancing his own growth opportunities. In addition, it also grooms the personality of the presenter and elevates his levels of confidence.
• In case of striking deals and gaining clients, it is essential for the business professionals to understand the audience. Good presentation skills enable an individual to mold his message according to the traits of the audience. This increases the probability of successful transmission of messages.
• Lastly, business professionals have to arrange seminars and give presentations almost every day. Having good presentation skills not only increases an individual’s chances of success, but also enable him to add greatly to the organization.

Presentation Skills improve

• Research the Audience before Presenting: This will enable you to better understand the traits of the audience. You can then develop messages that can be better understood by your target audience. For instance, in case of an analytical audience, you can add more facts and figures in your presentation.
• Structure your Presentation Effectively: The best way to do this is to start with telling the audience, in the introduction, what you are going to present. Follow this by presenting the idea, and finish off the presentation by repeating the main points.
• Do a lot of Practice: Rehearse but do not go for memorizing the presentation. Rehearsals reduce your anxiety and enable you to look confident on the presentation day. Make sure you practice out loud, as it enables you to identify and eliminate errors more efficiently. Do not memorize anything as it will make your presentation look mechanical. This can reduce the degree of audience engagement.
• Take a Workshop: Most medium and large businesses allow their employees to take employee development courses and workshops, as well-trained employees are essential to the success of any company. You can use that opportunity to take a workshop on professional presentation skills such as those offered by Langevin Learning Services, which are useful for all business professionals, from employees to business trainers and managers.

Types of Presentation Skills

Analytical

The best presenters are constantly improving their skills. To get better, you must be able to look honestly at your performance, assess the feedback you get, and figure out what you need to do to improve. That takes analytical thinking.

More importantly, you need to have a firm grasp of the information you are about to communicate to others. You need to analyze your audience and be prepared to think quickly if asked questions that force you to demonstrate that you are fully aware of the material and its implications.

• Problem sensitivity
• Reporting
• Surveying
• Optimization
• Predictive Modelling
• Problem-solving
• Restructuring
• Strategic planning
• Integration
• Process management
• Ongoing improvement
• Diagnostics
• Dissecting
• Evaluating
• Judgment

Organization

You do not want to be the person who spends half of their presentation time trying to find a cable to connect their laptop to the projector. Many things can go wrong just before a presentation, and they probably will, unless you are organized.

Presentation preparation also means keeping track of notes, information, and start/stop times.

Nonverbal Communication

When speaking to an audience, the way you present yourself can be just as important as how you present your information. You want to appear confident and engaging. You can do this through good posture, the use of hand gestures, and making eye contact with the audience. Practice your nonverbal communication by filming yourself doing a practice presentation and observing your body language carefully.

• Active listening
• Bearing
• Poise
• Confidence
• Emotional intelligence
• Respect
• Facilitating group discussion
• Awareness of ethnic, political, and religious diversity