Presentation plays a  important part in everybody’s life . From winning a successful election campaign like that of Barack Obama to the street vendor next door selling ice-cream everybody needs to present his ideas and his thoughts to the audience. Its how other people often judge your  effectiveness.  We are doing it every minute from the moment we are describing to our friend of a movie or giving a speech post-lunch after parent teacher.  In the corporate world it is perhaps the bread and butter of most of us. This article tries to provide the key factor students and beginners of presentation needs to take care.

A good example of a good presentation can be found at http://www.identity20.com/media/OSCON2005/.

Purpose of a successful presentation : Where you can apply this skill ?

To start of lets outline the reasons why  the ability to present well is treated as a special quality:

It will help you to be persuasive,  It can be useful in the following : Briefing a group, Conducting a training, Customer Care, Making a speech, Obtaining a job Interview, Leading a team, Problem Solving, Making a decision, Running a meeting, Selling a product or service, Getting  action, using phone, teleconference, Pitching for a business, Getting a rise, promotion etc.

The five P’s of Perfect Presentation:

1. Preparation
2. Purpose
3. Presence
4. Passion
5. Personality

Preparation: This concerns everything about being ready for delivery and includes :

i.        Research of the audience

ii.        Devise the presentation

iii.        Organize presentation aids

iv.        Check the venue

v.        Rehearse

vi.        Ready yourself

Purpose:

Every presentation has a purpose , sometimes there may be more than one purpose.  Ideally it is used to explain a new product or feature, report, or achieve a decision. There may be various other purposes like:

i.        Grabbing attention

ii.        Explaining who you are

iii.        Establish Credibility

iv.        Make people smile or laugh

v.        Reassure them

vi.        Alert them into something

vii.        Manage expectations of people.

Presence

By this we mean being present at the moment. One need to make the session lively, interactive, a quality of “being here” that’s generates interest and seeks attention from the audience.  One need not be a charismatic leader to make this happen, but by tinge of humour, interesting graphs, witty reference to stories and other interesting topics you increase the ability to convey your presence.

Passion

Passion is about caring , if we have observed different speakers and analysis their effectivetionness one thing that will come out clear is that they really care what they say and they really mean it. This makes others interested in the content of the presentation and the outcome of the presentation . For example if you are listening to Al Gore’s presentation on Climate Change, you can easily make out the amount of passion and energy in his expression. Remember if you are yourself not believing and caring in the content of your subject why should your listeners be?

Personality

Personality is all about bringing yourself into the presentation. If you are a nervous person outside the room you need to motivate yourself to leave your fear outside of the room before entering a presentation room.

Research the Audience:

One need to put himself in the shoe of the audience and ask the questions

Who am I talking to ?  What they want ? How much time do they have ? What information are relevant for them ? How many people are attending ? Who is the speaker before  me ? What are the special factors ?

Based on the answers of the above questions :

Judge audience knowledge

Decide on appropriate presenting style

Identify suitable presentation aids

Few Special factors to note:

1. Who presents before me ? What are they likely to say?
2. What presentation aids will they use ?
3. How will they leave the audience for the follow on?
4. How can I tailor my presentation to built on or anticipate their expected impact.

Devising the presentation

Using POWER

P : Produce something worth by using metaphors, similies, analogies etc.

O : Organize : Structure your presentation into Introduction, Body and Conclusion

W: Write : Allow a writing flow to come, try to continue with the flow

E : Edit : Once written, better to review with someone knowledgeable and review

R : Refine :Based on your feedback from colleagues, friends.

• During writing categorize topics into must know, should know and nice to know. It is advisable not to use jargons and complicated words.
• Don’t start talking if you have nothing to say.
• To start of a presentation start with something about which you feel very strongly and then build on it.
• At the end of the presentation summarize : the top three points you want the audience to know.
• It is recommended to learn your presentation , rehearse it, then you can be free to concentrate in the audience and not get interrupted to the material of the presentation

Energy level during the presentation:During presentation the presenter needs to demonstrate a high energy level. One need to demonstrate a great deal of vigour and dynamism. Be alert continuously.

Voice modulation: This plays an important role. Your voice should show the enthusiasm at the same time it should not sound over confident. The tone should not be monotonous but rather there should be variations.

Face and Body Language : Your body language should give a comfort feeling to the audience, It has to be natural, instinctive and smart. Your facial expression should match your body language and overall generate a positive appeal.

Dress sense: Remember to dress appropriately for the presentation , if you are not sure of the correct dress , please ask other presenters. Generally formals and suits are the common attire used for a presentation.

Timing : The timing of the presentation is important, the audience mood may change according to the time of the day. If your presentation is scheduled before lunch time or end of day, it is suggested to keep the presentation to the point without going to detail and give ample time for question and followup discussion.  A stop watch can be handy during the presentation, you can keep a track of time you can allot for each section beforehand.

Pace of presentation: You may be a fast speaker , but remember you need to give the audience time to assimilate the information and absorb the information. So you need to take pause and keep ample time in between your presentation for questions and summarizing your key points.

Spontaneity: If there are questions you may answer that or courteously inform the audience that you will respond to that at the end or at a appropriate time. But make sure you react to the question in a positive manner. If you are not aware of the answer you can convey the audience that you are not aware of the same and will get back soon.

Self awareness: Be aware of your sense of humour, integrity, drive, intelligence, and level of knowledge and make yourself prepared for the presentation accordingly. Focus on reducing the gaps by periodic review and constant feedback from others.

Conclusion: Once your presentation is over , remember it is important to do a self analysis of the presentation . This will help to improve your next presentation.  Its better to be a self critic and rate yourself in the 5 P’s. Ask yourself the questions, What went well or what went badly? What had most impact ?What was memorable? Was there anything that was confusing ? What annoyed or distracted me ? Did I seem well prepared ? When did I lose or gain people’s attention ? But whatever be the condition don’t get focussed in too much of your judgements, rather focus on the material and the audience.  Take planned risk and make the desired impact on your audience.

Life is either a daring adventure or its nothing – Helen Keller.

It would be a good idea to listen to the speech of Mr Barack Obama on his recent Cairo visit and observer his pace of presentation, voice modulation and all the 5 P’s as discussed above.

Please do post your personal experience during any presentation you have delivered and any questions  if any.

(Compiled by Balakrishnan , Editor GSG)

In today’s world effective English Communication gives you the booster you need to make a jump start in your career . There are many exams to test the proficiency in English, While IELTS, TOEFL are more needed while applying for foreign universities as per their guideline; BEC is another exam which is designed for the working professionals. Today more of the employers in India are recognizing BEC certified candidates.

This exam has four focus areas : Reading , Writing, Speaking and Listening. While a months preparation of 2 hours per day is necessary for preparation of the exam for average students, it may take more time if english is not your schooling language and your are not fluent in english.

GSG team recommends our readers to prepare for the BEC Higher Certification. If you are not much confident in your english skills , you can take the BEC Vantage first and subsequently the higher version.

The details of the certification are available below in the British Council Site and attached below.

What is BEC (Business English Certificate) ?

BEC is an international examination designed by the University of Cambridge ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages), to assess business English proficiency. The certificate is recognised by educational institutions and corporations worldwide and complements degrees and diplomas. BEC is a qualification that is valid for life and can be added to your resume. In India, the British Council in co-operation with Cambridge ESOL brings the BEC to you.

BEC is practical by nature, so you will focus learning to use English in real world business situations, e.g. Meetings, Presentations, Teleconferences etc.

EXAM LEVELS

BEC Preliminary

Prepares candidates to interact effectively while carrying out routine business transactions, for e.g. speaking to clients over the telephone, writing brief letters, making appointments.

BEC Vantage

Assesses how candidates can conduct and take part in meetings and teleconferences using skills of negotiation to put across a point of view. Ability to draft letters, memos, minutes of meetings and topics for presentation using appropriate business vocabulary and format.

BEC Higher

Assesses proficiency in the use of English for making presentations, negotiating effectively in the promotion of products and services, and in engaging in extended conversations with clients at meetings and seminars.

RECOGNITION

Many employers around the world recognise Business English Certificates as proof of the holder’s ability to cope linguistically in a wide range of professional situations. There is a long list of companies and organizations in India, which have officially recognised or used BEC, either for staff recruitment or as part of their training and staff development programme. Some organizations have even made BEC requirement for recruitment.

BEC is now recognised by over 100 corporate organisations in India and offered by over 120 educational institutes. Download our BEC recognition brochures to find out more:

Download the BEC Recognition Brochure here:

• BEC Corporate Organisations
• BEC Educational Institutes

Click here for details of your nearest British Council office.

BEC Fees

Registration Procedure

http://www.britishcouncil.org/india-exams-bec-dates2008.pdf

Do  post your questions regarding this exam and we will be happy to guide you.

Warm Regards,

Balakrishnan

(Content Manager - GetSetGrow.org)

Competency Development Series in English Language

The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.
~Walt Whitman

I consider it a good rule for letter-writing to leave unmentioned what the recipient already knows, and instead tell him something new.
~Sigmund Freud

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.
~Phyllis Theroux

In our fast paced lifestyle writing good formal emails are a must for everyone.  From a student’s perspective letters are written for official purpose e.g. : for applying for a job, having a dialogue with HR Dept, applying for higher studies in universities, complaining about any issue in your neighborhood etc.

Whatever may be the objective of writing a letter, we can say the letter writing is successful only when it creates the necessary impact in the mind of the reader. Keeping in mind of the requirements of the students and our readers we are introducing our Competency Development Series in English Language. Our first topic today is on writing formal email.

Below are some of the basic tips we need to remember while writing formal letters.

To, cc, bcc list:

Always include people addressed in the mail in To field of mail.
Include people in the Copy (cc) field only if required.
Do not include anyone in the Blind Carbon Copy (bcc) field (unless you decide to purposefully hide the sender email address from others)

Subject line

You can include a maximum of 6 words.

It should give the main idea on the mail being written.

Salutation

Dear Mr/Ms XYZ – End with Yours sincerely
Dear Sir/Madam – End with Yours faithfully
Also check the common culture of the country before writing a letter, (for example Americans generally prefer to be called by the first name.)

Introduce yourself if you are writing for the first time.
You may need to include as to how you got the mail Id as well.

All paragraphs are left aligned.

One idea – one paragraph
It is fine to have only 1 sentence in a paragraph to convey the one idea.
Words in a sentence should not exceed 8 words.

Keep the mails brief

2-4 paragraphs for emails is recommended.

Structure of the mail

a) Opening greeting
Eg: Dear XYZ

b) Connecting with reader
Eg: I got your mail ID from …..

c) Purpose of writing the mail
Eg: I would like to esquire about….

d) Giving Good news/bad news; requests; agreeing to requests
Eg: Could you help me in….

e) Taking action
Eg: I would check on the point you have brought out.

f) Concluding
Eg: We look forward to your support.

g). Closing greeting
Eg: Yours sincerely

In case of requests it is better to start with Could or Would rather than please.
Eg: Could you send me the document by 5 PM today?

It is better to mention the time frame by which you need something.
Eg: Could you send me the document by 5 PM today?

ASAP and EOD are vague terms which have different conclusions for different people.

Avoid using short forms

FYI – For your information
ASAP – As soon as possible
EOD – End of Day
COP – Close of Play
FYA – For your action
FYI and NA – for your information and necessary action.
PFA – Please find attached

Do post your querstions and suggestions you may have. I will be back in the next series.

Regards,
Abhilash Kumaran

(The author is a Project Leader in a software company)