Prepping for a business presentation

Editor’s note: Michelle Stockman is an independent consultant with her company, Fort Smith-based Msaada Group. Stockman earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University-Chicago in communications and fine arts, and earned a master’s in entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University. Her thoughts on business success appear each week on The City Wire.

While there are a lot of jokes and humor portrayed to the public about the fears associated with public speaking, many professionals are forced to overcome their fears in order to conduct business. Entrepreneurs are pushed further into public speaking when engaged in raising money for the company, securing partners or winning new customers. However, there are many forms of communications business leaders need to be prepared to engage in throughout the cycle of business.

In business, you will have the opportunity to lead meetings, give sales presentations, present your company to investors, present your company to the public, speak at company events or community events, and provide informational or motivational speeches. Each speaking situation requires different behaviors and preparation.

To prepare for your business presentation, know your audience. What kind of information is your audience looking to learn about? How many will be in attendance? How old are they and how long will their attention span last? What time of day will the presentation be given, will the audience have eaten right before? The more you know about the audience, the better you will be able to tailor your presentation to their needs.

Understand where your presentation will be given and how much time you will have to give your presentation. Know the environment you will speak in, and ask if it will be in large conference room or a small meeting room? Will it be warm or cool in the room? Where is the presentation going to take place, and do you know how to get there? Will there be a projector available? If not, do you need one or do you need to bring one? How much time should be left for the audience to ask questions?

The presentation should not consume the full speaking time as time should be set aside for questions during the full presentation. Memorize your opening and closing statements, but use notes to guide you through the body of the presentation. Either keep a watch or have a timer assist you in keeping your presentation to the allotted time.

PowerPoint has become a standard tool in delivering business presentations, but PowerPoint can be overdone easily. In creating the PowerPoint slides for your presentation, utilize a clean template that does not interfere with the information you wish to portray. Utilize information on your slides that will grab the audience’s attention that is not redundant with your speech. Use PowerPoint to enhance and enforce your words rather than repeat what you are saying. Limit the special effects and animations on the slides as much as possible, these effects are more distracting than enhancing. Lastly, utilize “eye” words within the slides. Charts, graphics, bullet points and more are visuals that speak to the “eye.”

Delivering a presentation takes practice and the ability to overcome the fears associated with speaking in front of others will subside over time. Most people will engage in a nervous habit while they are speaking, so practice will allow you to become aware of your habits and work towards overcoming those (such as twirling hair, rocking back and forth, stuttering, knuckle cracking and so forth).

When giving a presentation to a large audience, practice standing in one place with good posture and keeping your arms and hands in a comfortable position where they are not touching anything else on your body. If there is a podium available, utilize it to keep you in one place and avoiding nervous body movements. You will also want to be aware of your clothes, are they appropriate for the environment? Make sure your clothes will not hinder your presentation in any way (avoid “wardrobe malfunctions”).

Once you have mastered your body position, practice utilizing your voice in an appropriate manner. Knowing your audience will help you know what tone of voice to use, how loud a voice to use and what vocal pitch to use. Too monotone sends a very clear picture to an audience just as a cheerleader voice would. Depending upon your audience, you will want to utilize a variety of vocal cues to emphasis key components to your presentation.

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Stockman can be reached at [email protected]