Showtime: Delivering Your Presentation
You’ve spent many hours preparing, tweaking, and rehearsing your presentation. Now the big day has arrived; all of your hard work is about to pay off. But remember, as for a great athlete or musician, preparation is only half the story. You still have to perform. Whether this is your first talk in front of an audience or your two hundredth, you’ll need to give it your all to achieve the lasting impact that is the goal of all meaningful presentations.
Before leaving for the venue, check and double-check your materials. If possible, get there early.
Example. Tom had done his homework regarding the classroom in which he was scheduled to speak, visiting it a week beforehand. Fortunately, however, Tom arrived a bit early on his presentation day and discovered sunlight streaming through a big window right into his eyes. After some fiddling with clunky window shades, the situation was much improved. Tom had the situation under control before anyone else arrived.
Now relax. You are as prepared as the whole situation, to this point, permitted you to be. So when the time comes, just take a deep breath and …
Things to remember:
• Keep breathing.
• Face the audience.
• Eye contact.
• Appropriate volume.
• Rate of speech.
• Enthusiasm, some controlled movement, gestures.
• Communicate (don’t read your slides).
• You have the floor!
What makes a person a strong presenter is that their presence shines through, showing their expertise and passion for their topic.
Example. Sandy had several speech classes and remembers being told to “maintain eye contact!” However, it wasn’t until she was giving a talk to a local high school group that she realized how much more this phrase means than just looking at people. While scanning the audience, Sandy noticed a girl who perked up and smiled each time she made eye contact. She decided to look to this girl whenever making a key point, to judge the impact of her message. Afterwards the girl came up to Sandy and said “I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed your talk — it was like you were speaking directly to me! It’s tough being a girl who likes engineering. I was thinking of trying something else in college, but your talk was so inspiring that I think I will stay with it! Thanks!” Sandy then realized that the true purpose of eye contact is to make a real human connection with the audience.
Try these tips:
1. Envision yourself as a successful presenter. Harness the psychological power of positive visualization. The image you have of yourself in your mind’s eye can have a huge impact on your performance.
2. View your audience as friends and colleagues. This can make you instantly more comfortable. You don’t have to regard your listeners as menacing strangers! At a minimum, they are probably engineers or at least persons interested in some aspects of engineering activity.
3. Don’t tell the audience how nervous you are. They don’t need to know that. Chances are good that you look much better than you feel on stage anyway.
4. Focus on your message and information. This way you’ll place less of your focus on yourself.
5. Forgive yourself for glitches. We’ll have more to say about this important practice in Chapter 7.
6.4 When the Unexpected Occurs
In a word, adapt. Roll with it! Keep smiling. Remember your primary job and do your best to get the information across regardless of what just happened. And don’t say anything you’ll regret afterwards.
Example. Aldo had recently come up with a change to a manufacturing process that would save his company quite a bit of money. He was presenting his concept to the division head and several managers when his boss, Henry, started to get agitated and glance repeatedly at the division head. Eventually Henry stood up and said “I told you that we have a constraint that must be met and you’re not considering it!” Aldo knew that Henry had never mentioned the constraint and was probably trying to save face with the division head. Rather than confront Henry and say something that he would regret, he immediately altered the direction of his presentation and said “OK, we can deal with that. Let me show you how this would work under that constraint.” It took some finesse and quick thinking, but Aldo was able to outline a rough plan. The result impressed everyone in the room — including Henry.
If nothing else, you’ll have a fun story to tell later on; everyone understands how challenging it is to speak in front of an audience, and they enjoy the occasional story illustrating Murphy’s laws.
Example. Matthias regularly presented his work at a regional conference and thought he knew the drill. Presenters were expected to bring electronic copies of their slides and place them on the computer in the auditorium at the start of their session. Being somewhat overcautious, Matthias always brought copies of slides on two different USB memory sticks. He was a bit perturbed this day when the computer refused to read the first USB stick. “Well, good thing I have a backup,” he thought, but the computer refused to read the second stick as well. As the first speaker in line, Matthias needed a quick solution to his predicament. Scanning the room, he noticed an old-fashioned overhead projector in the corner. He was able to salvage the situation by writing his presentation on the projector in real time, copying from a printed practice set of his slides. The talk was well received; furthermore, Matthias now had a great example of “if things can go wrong, they will.”
Here is a simple algorithm for accepting questions from an audience. First, recognize the audience member if they have their hand up.
Example. Yes, a question?
Now listen carefully to the question and decide whether you understand it fully. If not, ask for clarification before attempting to answer.
Example.
Audience: What about kids playing nearby?
Speaker: OK, are you asking whether the system will be safe for children?
If you do understand the question, then repeat it back to the audience before saying anything else. It is often hard for people sitting in the back row to hear another listener pose a question.
Example.
Audience: What kind of approximation did you use there?
Speaker: The question pertains to the kind of approximation I used here.
At this point, you must decide whether and how to answer the question. It is possible that the question would take too long to answer,. You certainly have no obligation to answer a question that is more appropriate for a lengthy discussion after your talk is finished.
Example.
Audience: Can you outline for us the proof of Hubert’s theorem?
Speaker: The listener has asked me to outline the proof of Hubert’s theorem. I’d love to do that, but unfortunately there’s not enough time. However, I’d be happy to discuss a proof after the session, or provide a reference for you via email.
The question could be too far outside the scope of your presentation.
Example.
Audience: Can you tell us the curing time of the polymer you used?
Speaker: The question pertained to the curing time for our polymer. Well, as you know, curing time depends on many variables that are determined by the process employed. Since our choice of process hasn’t been made yet, and isn’t really relevant to this discussion, the specification of curing time is outside the scope of my presentation. I’d be happy to talk with you after the session about some processes that our group is considering.
The question may not be answerable (by you, at least) at this time.
Example.
Audience: Can existence of a solution to equation (10) be established?
Speaker: The question is whether existence of solution can be proved. Unfortunately I don’t know the answer to that at this time. But it is something that interests us and we’re currently working on it.
It is possible that only a partial answer can be given within the time constraints.
Example.
Audience: Can you outline for us the proof of Hubert’s theorem?
Speaker: The question is whether I can outline how to prove Hubert’s theorem. A full outline would take us too far afield, but the basic idea is that we subdivide our region of interest and apply equation (5) in each tiny subdivision. It turns out that all the interior contributions cancel, leaving us with the theorem statement.
Finally, it is possible that a full answer can be given. If so, it is good policy to ask whether the answer was understood and found satisfactory by the listener.
Example.
Audience: What kind of approximation was used to obtain equation (12)?
Speaker: The question is in regards to the method of approximation used to get equation (12). The binomial approximation was used there. That’s why the exponent conveniently disappeared in the next line. Is that a sufficient answer to your question?
6.6 Checklist: Delivering Your Presentation
□ I have double-checked that I have all my necessary materials
□ I have given myself sufficient time to travel to the venue
□ I have put myself in the proper frame of mind
□ I have gotten sufficient sleep
□ I have eaten a good meal
□ I have allowed some time before the talk to ‘de-stress’ and become calm
□ I am giving myself feedback during the talk
□ I am maintaining eye contact
□ I am speaking with enthusiasm and using appropriate gestures
□ I am speaking with appropriate volume
□ I am aware of my pace and the time remaining
□ I am aware of my personal quirks
□ appearance
□ stance and movement of arms or hands
□ overly repeated words or phrases (you know, like, hey, moving forward)
□ pause fillers (um, uhhhh, throat clearing)
□ I am prepared to adapt
□ I have an exit strategy
□ I have rehearsed with an audience
□ I have a strategy for handling questions
□ I repeat questions after they are asked
□ I ask for clarification if needed
□ I defer questions that would take too long to answer
□ I admit when I don’t know the answer
□ I am prepared to offer suggestions of outside references
1. Any speaker, regardless of their venue or purpose, has to engage the attention of the audience.
2. Early arrival at the venue can give you a chance to address unforeseen problems.
3. Relax, keep breathing, eye contact … you have the floor!
4. Don’t stand in front of your visual aids; let the audience see.
5. Talk to the audience, not to your visual aid.
6. Adapt, roll with the unexpected, keep smiling.
7. Have a plan for handling questions.
6.1. Outline strategies for handling the following Q&A situations.
(a) Someone asks a question in a hostile tone of voice.
(b) Someone crosses professional boundaries and asks you a personal question.
(c) Someone asks a question that you, in effect, have already answered.
(d) No one asks a question.
6.2. Prepare a 15-minute technical presentation on a topic of your choice.
6.3. Construct a rubric to evaluate how well you have prepared to deliver your presentation developed in Exercise 6.2. You may wish to use the checklist from Section 6.6 as a guide.
6.4. Construct a rubric for evaluating how well you deliver your presentation from Exercise 6.2. You may wish to use the checklist from Section 6.6 as a guide. Deliver your presentation while a colleague uses the rubric to evaluate your talk. Discuss the results during a debriefing after your talk.
6.5. Make a list of your personal quirks based on the results of Exercise 6.4. Deliver your presentation again and see if your evaluation improves.
6.6. Attend the presentation of a speaker that you admire, and apply the rubric developed in Exercise 6.4.