Presentation Skills:
How to Engage Your Audience
By Grace A. Alcid

Have you ever attended a presentation expecting the same boring talk and then be pleasantly surprised at the end to realize that you actually enjoyed it? What made it interesting? Was it the topic, the venue or the speaker? If you want to learn more about a particular subject, where it’s held or who the speaker is sometimes is immaterial. But there are instances when the presenter has the ability to make even the most mundane topic interesting no matter where it’s held. One then wonders whether the speaker was born that way or if he has mastered the art of engaging his audience.

In the past couple of months, John Clements Consultants, Inc. has offered workshops to its employees on “Presentation Skills” with the intent of sharing the art of effective presentations. Using the module of the same title in Harvard ManageMentor 10 (HMM), Harvard Business School Publishing’s (HBSP) most popular performance management tool, participants went through a day-and-a-half of learning the mechanics and tools of putting together and giving a presentation that will achieve the results they want.
 
There are many reasons for making a presentation: persuade an audience to take a course of action, convey an idea, provide a forum for discussion, find out reaction to a situation or an idea, gain commitment or engage people in generating a solution to a problem at hand. Whatever your reason, you need to know your objective for making the presentation so that you can tailor-fit it to what you want to accomplish. You will also need to know your audience so you can slant it to their needs and biases. You never want to alienate your audience or else you will never get your message across.

Once you have defined and refined your message, organizing your presentation will be key. Start with a hook—a comment, relevant story or statement that will catch your audience’s attention. You then develop your problem statement, indicating what you want to solve with your audience. Incorporate relevant arguments, examples and supporting material that will sustain their interest. Ask your audience for their opinions and suggestions in relation to your problem statement. Present your solutions and help them visualize the benefits of your ideas. Make sure you make your audience feel involved in developing it. A strong call to action at the end of your presentation will reiterate your key message. After recommending the action to be taken, obtaining a commitment from your audience will be a fitting end to an effective presentation.

Visuals also add value to any presentation. Words and pictures together are six times more effective than words alone. But be careful the visuals you use are simple and reinforce the concept you want to convey. Use color appropriately.

Once you have put your presentation together, always rehearse it before actually presenting it. Rehearsing will help you decide the best way to deliver your message and keep the tone of your voice natural and conversational. Although you might still be nervous when you actually give the presentation, preparing for it will take off some of those jitters.

The above material was covered during the workshops and is a synopsis of the content available through HBSP’s Harvard ManageMentor 10 (HMM). Although HMM is an eLearning program, the most effective way to impart the ideas and concepts embodied in it is through a blended approach such as the workshop conducted by John Clements.

Various activities were used all throughout the workshop to introduce the material and reinforce the learning. The participants analyzed famous speeches such as the late President John F. Kennedy’s “Moon Speech” and it was interesting to see how many interpretations of the same speech came about. Various film clips were also shown to introduce the different ways of conveying a message. Using the deep and rich content that only Harvard can provide, participants were given the tools necessary to put together an effective presentation. The culminating activity had the participants put together a presentation on a topic of their choice using the tips and tools given to them during the workshop. There was a marked difference in the presentations they had made at the beginning of the workshop – from the way their presentation was organized to the manner in which they delivered their message. They had been shown the art of engaging their audience and were starting to master it.