Presenting Skills
Abstract
Carl and Fred share their experiences in presenting, what they have learned, what is most important in achieving excellent presentations.
Key Points
Join Carl and Fred, as they discuss the length and breadth of presenting. This is a large subject, so many different aspects are covered in the podcast.
Topics include:
- Don’t read slides, face the audience
- Goal in presenting is to convey knowledge and influence the audience
- Presentation skills can be learned
- Use stories that are brief and meaningful; reference our podcast on use of stories
- Know your audience
- Begin with the end in mind
- What do you want people to understand?
- Craft and hone your message, simple and clear
- Use your natural passion and interests
- Be cautious with humor
- Prepare thoroughly before starting
- Watch and listen to audience, and make adjustments as needed
- Your slides need to be simple and easily readable
- Build in interactivity with audience
- Make a connection with your audience
- What are you trying to convey, and why does it matter?
- Practice the timing of your presentation so it fits easily within the time you have
- Leave lots of time for questions
- Remember to breathe and be relaxed
- Each time you present, get feedback and make improvements for your next presentation
Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches.
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Show Notes
Great chat as always gentleman. You hit the nail 100% on the head that this skill is generally one that is lacking from the engineering toolkit.
I find the “three-minute thesis” a handy style to replicate when compiling your presentation, or the “BBQ Chat” approach. The intention being, if you cant explain your project/findings in a short time to an audience who may not be across your line of work, you need to refine your presentation. You either have too much information, potentially not distilling down to the real key messages, and/or using too much jargon or technical language. As you guys indicated, we are often too guilty of information overload in these situations as we believe it is all important. This is where this process comes to the front, as if you cant get the info out quickly, then you haven’t distilled it down enough.
Another tip is to set up the problem your project is looking to solve too, and relate everything back to that. This is further to knowing your audience but follows a similar vein. Distil it back down to the “why” behind this meeting/project and the presentation should flow smoothly. This also allows you to anticipate questions and come prepared with answers for those (e.g. backup slides or verbal responses).
Hi Nik,
Thanks for your comments and suggestions. I like your “three-minute thesis,” providing the BBQ attendees are similar to your intended presentation audience.
I agree that understanding the problem your audience is interested in solving can be an excellent part of preparation. Knowing the “why” behind any presentation or meeting is essential.
Carl