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Great orators have always been a force to moving or influencing people. The world has seen its share of charismatic speakers that have made heads of nations, spiritual personalities, movie or music celebrities, company heads and even dictators. People are moved by the skill of a great orator or the effectiveness of his or her presentation skills. But what is it about their presentation that resonates with so many people? Or should we ask an even more important question – what is a Presentation skill?

While certain specific presentation techniques are universally common, Business Presentation Skills have a certain tried and tested method that anyone aspiring to be a good presenter in the corporate world, can learn from. In this article we will look at a few such aspects that make up the structure of a good presentation:

1. An Agenda With a Purpose: The speaker needs to know where he or she wants to go with the presentation – what is the message that he or she wants to convey? Who is the target audience? These are questions that a presenter needs to know the answers to, well before they take the stage to give a presentation. Proceeding through a plan is much more effective if one has a map and a plan. That should be the primary objective of having an agenda.
2. Meticulous Preparation: Regardless of the confidence of the speaker’s message, they must always prepare ahead of time to do justice to the goal of the presentation. Trying to stumble through the presentation without a plan doesn’t work and neither is it professional. The presenter must be prepared to clarify vague issues and also tackle troubleshooting questions. It also helps to arrive ahead of time in order to get a good feel for the environment.
3. The ‘Sandwich’ Structure: Just like a sandwich, every presentation must have three distinct parts to it that requires slightly different approaches. Most speakers tend to focus only on the ‘body’ of the presentation but fail to make a good first impression or fail to end their message well once done with the body. Beginning with a good attention-grabbing introduction that makes a good impression is vital to starting off on the right note. A good opener sets the tone for a good presentation.

The body of the message is where most of the intended content is placed. The speaker must take his time in unpacking the major elements of the body in a clear and concise manner. Holding eye contact and keeping an ‘open’ body posture helps to relax the crowd and feel connected with the speaker. Often speakers rush through their presentation without proper pausing or spacing due to nervousness or haste and end up looking anxious and insecure. Well-timed pausing can be useful to the presenter and must be used tactfully to allow the depth of the content to sink in to the listeners’ minds and hearts.

Finally, ending a presentation well gives a good finishing touch to the presentation and ends with a note of closure for the listeners. If done well, the listeners will leave with a good appreciation for the value of the message. It helps to finish on a positive note while also thanking the listeners for their time and patience.

Presentation Skills Training is an important aspect of corporate training that helps companies equip their employees with good communication and presentation skills and make them effective speakers or presenters.

Most executives at some point in their careers will have to make a PowerPoint presentation. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I’ve had the opportunity to see numerous presentations both good and bad in addition to the many that I’ve done myself. Based on these experiences, I recommend the following for anyone interested in public speaking:

Know your audience prior to giving your talk. People coming to hear presentations want to know what value will this talk provide them. Understanding your group will help accomplish this task. Provide examples or cases relevant to your audience to make the topics easier for your listeners to grasp.

Visit the room before the event. Knowing the environment builds confidence. Visiting the room before the talk also helps prevent problems related to technology malfunctions, etc.

Smile during the talk. See a nice smile and you’ll see people become engaged. It’s inviting, yet many people seem to have trouble smiling when getting in front of groups.

Use eye contact and avoid reading off of your PowerPoint slides. Eye contact makes people feel like you’re speaking directly with them and engages the audience. Start with the left side of the room, make eye contact for a few seconds, then move your eyes to the middle of the room, repeat the process, and then work the right side of the room. Do this throughout the presentation.

Speak slowly and clearly. Prior to speaking, practice in front of a mirror and tape yourself to hear how you’re coming across. Have others critique you in a dress rehearsal presentation to make sure you’re coming across the way you want. Get a good grade in front of your peers and you’re on your way to a successful presentation when it’s time to go live.

Provide an agenda. People like getting an overview before getting into the details and providing an agenda accomplishes this. It is like serving an appetizer before the main course.

Keep to your allotted time. It is rude to go over or under your scheduled time. If you’re supposed to present for 90 minutes, keep it to 90 minutes.

Use graphics to enhance your slides. Pictures, slides, and charts can all be effective tools to get your points across. Make sure you cite your sources properly. Tools including Flickr and Slideshare can be helpful. Both sites allow free access to pictures and power point slides used by others provided you credit the source.

Another effective tool that can be used to enhance presentations is humor. Making people laugh eases anxiety for speakers and listeners. Video and music are also effective tools that can be used to engage your group as is asking questions to promote discussion and dialog among the attendees.