Improved Presentation Delivery – How You Can Organize Your Presentation For Better Delivery

How you choose to organize your presentation directly affects its delivery. For you, a well-organized presentation will be easier to deliver. And for your audience, a well-organized presentation is easier to follow, easier to listen to and easier to understand. And that’s all because good organization helps with the flow of ideas for a listening audience. Our choice of organizing techniques is potentially limitless. But five methods are used the most. These are:

  1. Mind maps. Pictures that are uniquely linked together to tell a graphic story are most people’s idea of a mind map. And that’s essentially right. Pictures carry more ideas, meaning and nuance than words when you are under stress during a presentation. With a picture-based mind map your presentation structure is organized with a linked network of pictures and idea flows. A logical flow of ideas can be shown. Causes and effects can be illustrated. Or, perhaps, you can depict stories and vignettes that relate to your main points.
  2. Prompt cards. A set of small cards (postcard sized) can support all your main presentation points. Their sequential order provides the flow to your presentation. Points can be written or typed in large type — probably using one point for each card. Their order is important. So you don’t have a disaster should they be dropped it’s a good idea to tie them together.
  3. Slides and overheads. Undoubtedly the organizing technique of choice for the harried executive. But ensure your reliance on the PowerPoint slide deck is only an organizing dependency; using the screen view you can be prompted at each step of your PowerPoint presentation. But take care of the basics. Don’t be tempted to use too many slides. And don’t be persuaded into reading out your slides — either from the main or the view screen. Should you fall into the trap, then ‘Death by PowerPoint’ is a fitting description of the experience.
  4. Outlines. A one or two page outline of your presentation should include each of your main points. You should also include your sub-points, cue points, places for audience interaction, stories and anecdotes. Readily accessible and easily read, the presentation outline is a serious choice for a well-rehearsed presenter.
  5. Large words. You should not forget the written speech or presentation. Many serious presenters use scripts. And they are very successful. The script technique involves typing your entire presentation word by word. Each sentence should start on a new line. Your choice of typeface and font should be readable at a distance when using a lectern.

When you organize your presentation you present more efficiently. Your delivery will be better. Your pacing and timing will be well-tuned. And, best of all, your audience will appreciate your investment with a better response to your spoken words. It’s worth the effort.

Three Steps to Good Presentation Skills and Public Speaking

Good presentation skills and public speaking begin with preparation. Like any other written or visual communication the key here is to prepare, prepare, prepare.

There are a lot of good books available. It is a good idea to join a public speaking practice group like the International Toastmasters for example. Doing it is the best way to learn.

Here are three keys to preparing your presentations and public speeches which I find have worked best for me.

1. Identify and organize what you will be presenting on a sheet of paper.

2. Break it down into 3 major headings with 3 sub-headings under each.

3. Write the content of your sub-headings then edit to fit on 3×5 or 4×6 cards as needed.

1. Identify and organize what you are presenting on a sheet of paper:

Identify your topic and give it a name, a title, ex.: Four Steps to Good Presentation Skills and public Speaking.

Identify the time frame you will have for your presentation or speech — let’s use 45 minutes for easy sub-dividing.

2. Break it down into 3 major headings with 3 sub-headings under each:

Your 45 minutes will give you 15 minutes for each of your 3 major topic headings.

So under each of the 3 major headings and 3 sub-headings write what you want to tell your audience to fit within the 15 minutes for each major headings.

For example, your three major headings will be sub-titles and will only take a few seconds to mention as you move to your sub-headings content.

Then your 3 sub-headings will have the actual content that you want to deliver to your audience. Time these to be about 4-5 minutes each (3 x 5=15 minutes).

3. Write the content of your sub-headings, then edit to fit on 3×5 or 4×6 cards as needed:

Once you have this organized, re-write them on your cards. You might have 1 card per 3 sub-headings if you only use key words that you will elaborate verbally.

Or you might need 3 cards, 1 for each sub-headings, if you write more information to guide your verbal delivery. Do what works best for you.

Personally, I usually write everything down that I will be saying, and highlight the key points I want to make sure not to miss, with a yellow highlighter; then I just glance at the overall content as I move from one sub-headings to the next. So I end up with 1 card for each of my 3 sub-headings.

Do not read from your card. Highlight the important words that will trigger your memory to speak to your audience.

Then practice your delivery beforehand as many times as you need to, timing the whole to fit within your 45 minutes (or whatever the case may be). If you are going to use transparencies or power-point, make sure to use them in your practice run also. You might need to trade a couple of minutes of your verbal content for the handling of the equipment.

When you do the real thing, simply follow your cards, moving each one to the back as you deliver your material. Don’t focus only on the cards, use the cards to keep you on track. Look at your audience, scanning through every one from left to right, front to back. Don’t stare in one area longer than in another, unless you are answering a specific person’s question.

There are many good books on presentations, with samples. A good one is Leading Workshops, Seminars, and Training Sessions; by Helen Angus, Self-Counsel Press, which includes models of room arrangements and other technical information on equipment, etc.

Often our competition can be a good source of the latest examples of what’s in at the time. Check out what the top companies are doing, and better it! For example financial institutions who give free seminars on their service offerings are a good place to get ideas on presentation skills, while getting some education on financial investment!

Give free seminars to friends, co-workers and family members to sharpen your presentation skills and public speaking. Tape yourself and listen or watch yourself back, making notes of habits you might want to omit or change, etc.

Always be prepared, you never know when you might be asked to do a presentation at work, at church or in a community group!/dmh

Debt Negotiation Firms – What Consumers Need to Know About Debt Settlement

Many US citizens are facing debts these days. People are looking to find the best way to get rid of their debts. The best way is the one by which you can overcome the debt without any burden on your finance, legally and ethically. The person already so much stressed out by debt burden would certainly don’t like to involve himself in complicated solutions.

The most advised way to get rid of your debt is to take help from the debt negotiations firms. These firms comprises of highly skilled individuals who are loaded with all the tools needed for successful debt negotiations. They are very well aware of how the relief programs work, what are limitations of lenders on most issues and what will be the best way to convince your creditor to benefit you as much as possible. Debt negotiation is a legal way of getting your debt reduced to an amount you can afford to pay. It is a technical procedure where, apart from convincing the creditor, you have to follow certain rules and regulation and avoid any violation of terms. The negotiation firms are experienced and take care of all such formalities.

After acquiring all the information about your current financial standing they start the process of debt negotiation. Negotiations are actually about convincing the creditor to grant you debt reduction. The reduction in debt is completely dependent on how your financial condition is portrayed before the creditor. The lender will grant you reduction only when he is completely sure of your poor financial condition. The debt negotiation firms know the techniques to make the creditor agree on terms advantageous to you. Better negotiations can reduce your debt up to 60%.

The remaining debt is easily payable with the help of a debt settlement company. You are just required to make a monthly deposit of your choice in a separate debt settlement account. As soon as enough money is deposited the negotiation firm starts negotiating with the creditor. When an agreement is finalized, the money is transferred to the creditor’s account. This makes you free of debt very easy and very fast.