How to get the X factor into a presentation

"We would like you to make a short presentation…." the words guaranteed to make even experienced people freeze with worry and anticipation during an interview process. So how do you give yourself the best chance of making a successful presentation, well here are 3 top tips with techniques to help you prepare and deliver a winning interview presentation to get that job!

Tip 1: Objectives - check out what is expected of you:

You would be amazed how easy it is to make a successful presentation by the simple act of asking what precisely the objective of the presentation is , and what is the audience expecting from you. For example, the objective could be to test your knowledge of a subject, if this is the case be sure to check what level of knowledge you should assume the audience will have of the subject. A different objective could be to test your presentation skills. Ask who will be in the audience, how long you will have and what media to use - often computer PowerPoint slides. The interview organizer should help you with answers so you can prepare correctly. Finally ask what size screen your slides will be shown on and how far away people will be sat from the screen. Many presentations are ruined by small text size or weak colours, also ask if any print outs will be needed and if you will be using their computer for the presentation or your own.

Tip 2: Preparation & Rehearsal - the more the better

The secret of every great presentation is the amount of preparation and rehearsal that goes into it. Start by thinking about your objective and write down all the sub-topics that you think relate to the objective. Next try and group the sub-topics under 3 main headings, these will form the main part of your presentation. Three is an important number when making presentations, people can remember 3 points, four or more is too many and people forget.

Start your presentation with a slide stating the objective of the presentation; next have a slide showing the agenda of your presentation. Follow this with the slides that describe each o ne of your three main headings:

• Less is more - limit yourself to between 1 and 3 slides to cover each one of your three main headings 
• Summarising is powerful - finish with a summary slide re-stating your objective and restating the 3 main headings using one line for each.
• Make sure each slide has large, easily readable text in strong colours and limit the words and points, pictures help reinforce points but take care on appropriateness and don't use cartoons. Spell checking it vital, as is the correct use of grammar, check it yourself and get a friend to check it as well!

Print out a copy of the slides - you can use these to make notes on and also remind you which slide comes next. Practice delivering the presentation to a friend and aim to do it in less than the time allowed, this leaves time for questions from the audience. On the last summary slide use this to summarise your entire presentation. Keep facing your audience; refer to a print out of the slides in front of you so you don't keep turning your back. Don't read out the slide contents line by line but instead pick out one interesting point per slide. Get y our friend to ask you questions as this will build your confidence and get honest feedback about good points and things to improve. Make sure all the slides can be read easily from the distance the audience will be sat. Make any changes, re-check the spelling and then e mail your presentation to the organizer and check they can open it and can read it (this avoids the risk of a c# rr * pted file)

Tip 3: A winning presentation in the interview:

As a safety measure copy the presentation onto a memory stick, even if you take your own laptop computer with you, take the memory stick with you as a back up. Also make 2 full colour print outs of the presentation + any copies you have been asked to bring. Arrive early, make sure the presentation is loaded up and working ok. 

• Start by thanking the audience for their time, re- check how long you have for your presentation and then display your objective slide. If you have been given any conditions or assumptions by the organizer repeat those to the audience so that everyone knows what you have been told. Keep facing th e audience and don't stand in front of t he display screen. 
• Use the agenda slide to state clearly the 3 main headings you will present and then cover each of them in turn. Remember to use the summary slide at the end to remind people of the overall objective and 3 main headings of the presentation. 
• Questions may come during the presentation or at the end, if you get too many questions and worry you will not finish on time, ask the organizer to decide on this. If, however, you think your ability to keep control of time is part of the interview test then politely suggest that you answer in detail at the end of the session and continue the presentation. 

Finally be sure to thank everyone for their time at the end of the session - and keep smiling!

So in the spirit of swallowing my own medicine you will note this article has a clear objective,

The top 3 tips to making a presentation in an interview process and it has 3 main headings:

1. Objectives- check out what is expected of you
2. Preparation & rehearsal - the more the better
3. A winning presentation in the interview.

In summary then you have a plan, see that rule of three - it kind of works doesn't it?

Richard Lowe
www.lets-begin.com

Comments

[Peter B-W]

This post definitely gives great pointers preparing for, structuring and delivering an engaging presentation - preparation being the most vital. There's every chance you'll get stitched up at some point and have to do a presentation at short notice but always do whatever is possible to read through and get to know the content.

A technique I find that helps when presenting from powerpoint is using the header as a summary of each slide. If appropriate to the presentation, rather than just a one or two word title, the header can tell the story of the slide, with the content below embellishing on that which you should be able to talk around. A sense check for that is if someone else needs to do the presentation for you, then they can take over the presentation by just referring to the headers.

With preparation and clear direction from the slides, you can spend less time having to read from the screen and give a much more credible delivery of the content, showing you know the topic rather than just reading out loud to your audience