How To Improve Presentation Skills And Public Speaking

The Power of Presentation Skills: Overcoming Fear and Engaging Your Audience

For some, one of the easiest things in the world is to stand in front of a group of people and to talk. Others may look scared and be ready to rush for cover at the sight of an audience. Why this difference? Moving on to the premise that both categories of speakers are familiar with the subject matter, some excel in the art of making presentations. In contrast, others turn out to be naturally atrocious speakers. The basic difference lies in their level of expertise in presentation skills and their overall approach to delivering a talk.

Speaking before an audience is an opportunity/platform provided for the speaker to express their point of view. If he can overcome the initial fear and nervousness and proceed on the assumption that speaking and interacting are enjoyable, the whole floor will unfold before him. In addition to keeping his audience engrossed, he could convey his message creatively and engagingly.

When several factors are taken into consideration, mastering presentation skills to deliver a talk in front of a large audience is not as difficult as it might seem. The speaker’s attitude toward the audience and the situation is the most critical factor. A positive tone is crucial. To cultivate the appropriate perspective towards participants, it is essential to define what that perspective entails. Through their body language and oral delivery, the speaker should emerge as an assertive communicator with a positive thought process, showcasing strong presentation skills.

Cultivating a Positive Presenter Attitude

One way to cultivate a positive attitude is to energise the audience by sharing information openly and transparently. This is a step-by-step procedure in which the speaker opens up, shares, and asks for feedback or further information. As greater interaction is sought with the audience, enthusiasm, open-mindedness, and decreased resistance increase. If, on the other hand, participation increases and the presentation is accepted with greater enthusiasm, the responses will be equally lukewarm, with minimal feedback and an attitude of indifference towards the speaker.

The first thing to keep in mind before beginning a presentation is to remind yourself that you are an expert in this area. Your presentation should reflect this attitudinal change as it enhances your presentation skills and increases your self-confidence. Transmission of confidence to the audience increases the likelihood of being accepted as an expert in the discipline.

**Exhibit 4.1 Attention-Grabbers**
	Communication Styles
Verbal Content	7%
Voice inflections, modulations, and articulation	38%
Body Sport	55%

Beyond Words: The Power of Non-Verbal Communication in Presentations

To make any presentation successful, having a sufficient amount of well-prepared material is foundational. However, effective presentation skills extend far beyond just content. Body language, often referred to as ‘body sport,’ is a silent yet powerful form of communication that demands refinement and perfection to enhance the overall effect. Negative body language, such as nervous pacing, excessive movements, hand rubbing, covering the mouth while speaking, using a pen or pencil as a pointer, lack of eye contact, and fidgeting, can severely undermine a speaker.

A significant portion of audience participation and concentration hinges on effective body language and voice inflection. These non-verbal and vocal factors astonishingly account for about 93% of audience attention. It is worth noting that during a presentation, the audience’s attention to the spoken content is minimal, at just 7%. Maximum interest, up to 55%, depends on ‘body sport,’ while inflection determines the remaining 38% of vocal expression. Therefore, if a speaker can master these aspects of presentation skills and retain the audience’s attention on these two crucial counts, they can be confident that the audience will pay greater attention to the verbal content.

Understanding and Connecting with Your Audience

Remember, the size of the audience is never stable; it could vary from ten to a hundred. The smaller the group, the easier it will be to reach a large audience. If participants are made to feel that you are genuinely interested in achieving every one of them, the process of acceptance becomes relatively simplified. Their confidence in you as a worthwhile speaker begins to grow, and they can come forward with ideas and suggestions.

Even with well-honed presentation skills, facing an audience can still be terrifying due to the perceived eagerness of some to ‘pounce on’ and ‘critique’ the presentation. Audiences are not typically expected to empathize with presenters. On the contrary, a crucial aspect of effective presentation skills involves the presenter actively trying to empathize with the audience, understanding their viewpoints so that ideas can be best tailored to fit their cognitive scheme.

Exhibit 4.2 Exercising Control
Exercise Control Over…	Controlled Factors
1. …the material	Listing Structuring Visual Aids
2. …the self	Pause to relax
3. …the audience	Pitch Volume Pauses Language Question-Answer sequences

The Three Pillars of Effective Presentation Skills

For the successful handling of an audience, effective presentation skills demand excellence in and control over three critical domains:

The material to be presented
the self and
the audience.

Mastering Your Material: The Foundation

Preparation of the material is the initial step in honing your presentation skills. At the planning stage, there’s no harm in preparing more material than strictly necessary. Once ready, this content needs strategic structuring—outlining what comes first, what follows next, and so on—to meet the audience’s needs and fit the overall presentation structure proposed by the presenter. To prevent energy and content from being dissipated, it is essential to distinguish between the objective of making a presentation and the assignment itself. The aim is to deliver the topic in such a manner that the points and issues are comprehensible to the audience.

From Assignment to Impact: Crafting Your Message

The assignment, on the other hand, is to make a compelling presentation that effectively engages the audience – a core objective of strong presentation skills. To meet the above-stated requirements, a session of personal brainstorming is necessary. A significant amount of pruning is performed at this stage, involving the deletion of all superfluous data. The attempt here is the achievement of the objective, not merely an elucidation of the assignment.

Delivering Ideas, Not Just Memorizing Words

For effective presentation skills, having a thorough understanding of all the nuances of delivery is essential. A pertinent question that plagues the minds of many speakers is: Should the material be presented or memorized? Absolutely not! Delivery by rote methodology can put the mind under tremendous pressure, with the material haphazardly swirling. A slip or mistake at any one point can break the chain and prove disastrous. Instead, to enhance your presentation skills, try to remember the verbal components of the ideas and thoughts to be conveyed. Make the purpose and objective of your presentation clear to the audience at the very start; this will enable them to understand your message clearly. Additionally, mark your key areas in order of importance, and keep the summary readily available.

The Power of Preparation and Self-Control in Presentations

Effective presentation skills are built upon diligent preparation. Preparing for a presentation requires a significant amount of time and effort to ensure its success. Imagining your presentation as an iceberg, with 90% hidden and 10% visible, is a great way to think about this crucial aspect of presentation skills. The audience should be made to realize and appreciate the considerable amount of preparation that went into the presentation.

The matter is now ready to be presented. The second stage involves exercising self-control. Making a presentation will likely make you nervous. Take a deep breath at this stage. It naturally tends to relax the nerves. Pause for a moment. Try to harmonise your ideas and physical activities so that both elements operate harmoniously. In case there is any turbulence in your mind, it is bound to be reflected in the verbal/ non-verbal manifestation of ideas. For example, uneasiness at the thought of making a presentation is likely to manifest in the form of jerky, uneasy, and uncertain body movements. There, I could also be unnecessarily fidgeting, pacing up and down, clenching and unclenching my hands, and so on.

Projecting Confidence Through Your Presence

Once you are relaxed, you can start paying attention to other factors that portray you in a positive and confident light. It is essential to consider the following three key aspects.

(a) Maintain eye contact. Ensure you connect with your audience by maintaining eye contact throughout your presentation to truly engage listeners, to ensure everyone feels included and connected.

(b) Put your feet firmly on the ground. There should be no unnecessary movement of the lower limbs, and they should preferably be stationary. If you have to sit and deliver a talk, ensure that you make no unnecessary movements of your feet, as the audience can easily see them under the table.

(c) Keep the shoulders back and straight. Draw yourself up to your full height without a droop to the shoulders or an overall slouch. If you are sitting, avoid the humped back and try to sit straight to project a confident personality.

Engaging Your Audience: Strategies for Impactful Delivery

Successfully taking control of the audience is the final, crucial step in demonstrating effective presentation skills. This involves determining their needs and requirements to ensure your message is clear, simple, and readily accepted. A presentation should be composed in a way that allows the audience to understand it easily. To accomplish this, specific strategies, inherent in strong presentation skills, must be adopted.

The Power of Language and Relatable Content

One of the most significant factors is language; its role cannot be overstated. You should speak a language that the participants are familiar with or whose pronunciation is close to theirs. Using big words or jargon alienates them. When anecdotes are narrated or examples cited, those closest to their hearts or with which they can easily relate will have more appeal. Trying to explain, for example, Einstein’s theory to junior school children is of no use, regardless of how simple or effective the mode of communication may be.

Visual Aids: The BIG, BOLD, and BEAUTIFUL

Now, it’s time to think and devise strategies to capture the audience’s attention – a hallmark of strong presentation skills. It is beneficial to use visual aids when presenting, though they should never be used casually. A lot of effort should go into their preparation so that their usage leaves a positive impact on the minds of the listeners. A strategy that might work is to limit yourself to the three Bs: the BIG, the BOLD, and the BEAUTIFUL. Once these visual aids have been selected, it’s time to prepare for your delivery.

Mastering Your Voice and Strategic Pauses

Effective presentation skills also mandate incorporating variations in pitch and volume into the presentation of material. It is crucial to precisely select the right words at the right time. Additionally, strategic pauses should be used. Their impact can last for a long time if used correctly. In addition to giving the audience time to absorb what is being said, well-placed pauses allow them to think about the content. They can also serve as a theatrical device, where you break eye contact, feign searching for the right word, and then resume your delivery. This serves a dual purpose: it reveals that the speaker is thinking, modulating, and speaking impromptu, while allowing the listener to absorb the speaker’s words.

Enhancing Engagement with Stylistic Devices

Other stylistic devices, crucial for robust presentation skills, such as question-and-answer techniques, can also be employed. These would be most effective if utilized at the end of each key area and before the summary. This procedure helps clarify any doubts in the minds of the audience. Furthermore, allow respondents time to collect their thoughts and raise queries for greater clarification before launching a second round of ideas or issues related to the topic being discussed.

The Trifecta of Control: Material, Self, and Audience

In the process of establishing control – a core aspect of superior presentation skills – neither the material, the self, nor the audience can be ignored or bypassed. A truly successful presentation requires all of them.

SIX GREAT HELPERS

To improve one’s presentation skills, it is essential to enlist the help of the six great helpers—the five W’s and one H’s.

Why
Who
Where
When
What
How.

Rudyard Kipling introduced the concept of using the above as a handy tool for writing fiction. Experts in these fields subsequently realised the need for these helpers in various disciplines. Communications, too, incorporated them as props to explain the basic concepts of presentation and interaction.

**Exhibit 4.3 Six Great Helpers**
Helpers	Determining Functions
Why	The purpose is to inform, persuade, influence, educate, empathise, entertain, and sympathise
Who	The characteristics of the listener, such as his or her personality, age, education, status, knowledge, and anticipated response
Where	Place-formal or informal
When	Context/time
What	Subject matter-scope and need
How	It is essential to determine which slides, pictures, words, and transparencies need to be incorporated and which need to be deleted.

WHY. For a presentation to be successful, the speaker must clearly understand its purpose. Presentations should be made with a clear understanding of their purpose. When it is frivolous, with the basic intention of cementing social relationships, problems do not arise. If the emphasis is on a transaction-oriented presentation, care must be taken to concretise ideas at appropriate points in the presentation. The following questions help us streamline our objectives.

Purpose of Presentation

A crucial aspect of presentation skills is clearly defining your purpose: Why am I making a presentation? What is my message really about? How will my presentation benefit the audience? To effectively formulate ideas in a logical sequence, a personal brainstorming session is necessary. One way to do this would be to list all the ideas and thoughts that crowd the mind. The sorting or prioritizing of them based on importance or presentation style can be done later. The initial phase of the process involves listing out all the ideas. Following this, one should determine the listener’s reaction: what would you hope to accomplish through a successful and efficient transmission of your message—a change in attitude, belief, or an increase in knowledge?”

Here’s the content with “presentation skills” integrated meaningfully in several places:

Your purposeful message has been formulated as a result of answering this question. The purpose, a crucial aspect of effective presentation skills, could be manifold:

(a) To inform. A variety of details, facts, and figures can be included in the provided information.

(b) To persuade. It is wise to adopt face-saving devices or politeness tactics, such as asking “please,” “thank you,” and so on, as part of your presentation skills to influence.

(c) To influence. You can exert your influence over your audience by using talk tactics such as name-dropping or leveraging your power and position to force the other person to accept your point of view.

(d) To educate. The receiver needs to be made aware of all aspects of the issue to gain a better understanding of it.

(e) To empathise. Empathy is observed by adopting an empathetic attitude. To enhance your presentation skills, empathize with the interactant; feel or at least indicate, that similar feelings are being shared. It can be verbal, such as expressing condolences or showing concern, or it can be non-verbal, such as putting an arm around someone’s shoulders.

(f) To entertain. You can elevate the mood and break the monotony of the presentation by using strategies such as humor, anecdotes, quizzes, or even music, all contributing to engaging presentation skills.

WHO?

Who is my listener? Having a good understanding of the co-participant is crucial to effective communication and strong presentation skills. To effectively answer questions related to the organization, an interviewee must become familiar with it. The presentation format, tone, and manner are determined by the audience’s personality, education, age, status, and knowledge level. For example, speaking to a group of young executives might entail a lecture-demonstration approach. Discussing the same topic with a semi-literate audience would likely require more use of visual aids and a more straightforward presentation technique, allowing them to comprehend the topic more effectively.

In that regard, young audiences would expect an active and lively encounter with the speaker. Boring presentations, on the other hand, would ideally suit a moronic supervisor. One of the most important questions to ask when making a presentation is: How will the participants respond? Ideally, this question should be answered before the presentation begins. Participants’ responses will depend on their understanding of the topic. If their information level is high, watch out! Your preparations need to be meticulous for successful presentation skills.

Adapting Your Message to the Environment

These imply the place and the context. When you’ve formulated your message, a key element of presentation skills is visualizing your co-interaction partner’s perspective. Where would he be when he receives your message? If you plan to deliver your message in a different setting, you should adjust the format and tone accordingly. For example, if the need arises to discuss a pay raise, the location where the conversation takes place will make a difference. Consider talking with your boss as an example.

(a) At the workplace. It is always transaction-oriented at the workplace, i.e., directed towards achieving a specific goal.

(b) At home. Communication at home is a combination of relational and transactional elements (e.g., promoting and cementing social relationships). A first situation is highly formal and precise, while a second situation can range from formal to informal, depending on the relationship you share with the other communicator. A formal relationship can land you in trouble, while an informal relationship can avoid inevitable unwarranted slips. Communication is a one-to-one relationship between the communicators determined by the way the message is positioned. The Board of Directors (BOD) metes out rough treatment to an employee. If this is coupled with a bad presentation from a co-communicator, it can result in a highly uncordial and hostile reception of the communicative intent. On the other hand, if the situation is cordial and pleasant, the acceptance of the message will also be greater, reflecting positively on your presentation skills.

WHAT.

Naturally, this revolves around the subject matter you wish to communicate and the message you want to convey. Is it necessary to do so? The answer to these questions can be determined by analyzing the profile of the target audience. By doing this, you will gain insight into their expected responses. A sufficient understanding of the listener would enable you to discern between what is essential and what is redundant in the presentation, as well as what can be omitted or used at that time, all part of refined presentation skills.

How?

How do we achieve the right effect? What can we do with the five W’s to secure the audience’s undivided attention through our presentation skills? We can achieve this effect by adopting the tone and delivery that conveys the message. How would you organize the points? It is best to arrange them in order of importance, starting with the main point and moving on to the subsidiary points. It is essential to consider the audience’s needs when organizing the topics for discussion.

Use of Language

Organizing the details in order of importance is not enough; prioritizing them is also necessary for effective presentation skills. The use of language should also be considered along with certain other factors. Using words correctly is one of the most important things. Which words would be most effective? What are the best ones to use, and which ones should be avoided? Colloquialisms and slang should be religiously avoided. The temptation to display one’s knowledge or use superfluous words may be significant. It is still important to exercise restraint as it can negatively affect the presentation and make it sound pedantic, dull, and monotonous. The words that should be used instead are those that are precise, simple, and non-technical, reflecting refined presentation skills.

Tone

Next is the tone, a vital component of presentation skills. By emphasizing and pausing appropriately, you can leave a lasting impression on the recipient. No histrionics, please! It could have an adverse effect. Along with tone and word choice, which are equally important, the appropriate medium for communicating the message should also be considered. Would you like to limit the presentation to pictures? If so, which pictures, slides, or transparencies would you like to use? Those that meet the audience’s expectations. Your message will be more effectively communicated if pictures and visuals stimulate and appeal to both the visual aids and helpers. Through the sense of hearing, communication is continuously conducted. However, specific questions need to be satisfactorily answered before you formulate the message, ensuring your presentation skills are fully leveraged.

SEVEN STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL PRESENTATION

When making a presentation, it is essential to follow seven basic steps. There is a direct correlation between the amount of effort put into the seven preparatory stages and the success of the delivery.

**Exhibit 4.4 Seven Steps to Successful Communication**
Steps	Purpose
1. Decide upon the objective	Concretise ideas
2. Manner of presentation	Adapts to the audience’s needs
3. Mode of presentation	Secures the attention of the receivers, Confident Presentation
4. Preparation of Script	Confident Presentation
5. Preparation of (a) Visual aids (b) Handouts (c) Feedback forms	Generates interest Increases retention Assesses competence
6. Rehearse	Brings perfection Instils confidence
7. Presentation	Sharing ideas, information and knowledge

Decide upon the Objective

What do you want to accomplish at the end of the presentation? Your objective should be crystal clear. Do not stray or move away from the main point or focal area. The more you focus on the thrust area, the greater the chances of achieving positive results.

Manner of Presentations

To achieve your goal, decide whether you will present formally or informally. By understanding the audience’s needs, you can tailor your message to their specific profile. Once you decide which is the best method to be adopted to achieve your objective, you can proceed accordingly.

Mode of Presentation

It is necessary to formulate a strategy for presenting the topic effectively. When the manner of presentation changes, the manoeuvres will also change accordingly. For example, formal presentations typically include professional slides or transparencies and a formal seating arrangement. At the time of giving a presentation, the entire atmosphere will be permeated with a need to sound impressive. In contrast, an informal presentation does not require a formal seating plan or formal slides. To achieve the best results, it would be crucial to elicit as much information as possible from participants.

Consequently, the speaker should present in such a way that the participants do not feel alienated or uncomfortable with what they have to say. Both cases require convincingly presenting the points and changing the attitudes of the receivers toward the issues. When presenting in a formal setting, politeness, tact, and showmanship are observed. In an informal setting, these aspects are relaxed in exchange for greater proximity to the audience, whether through delivering information or building a relationship.

Preparation of Script

Preparing the script is one of the most tedious and arduous tasks. At the same time, you have all the ideas and points well-stored; they need to be presented in a proper format so that there is greater acceptance by the audience. You need to decide whether your move will be from the periphery to the core of the subject matter or from the core to the periphery. You could also stick to the core so that the receivers do not get lost in the labyrinth of unnecessary details.

The points in the scripts should be put on cue cards, which you should carry with you. This is a much better strategy than taking an entire foolscap sheet from which you just read out the text. In addition to giving the presentation a professional appearance, the cue cards also indicate that the speaker is merely using them as props to enhance the presentation.

Preparation of Handouts, Visual Aids, and Feedback Forms

Preparing visual aids well in advance is always a good idea. Leaving them to the last minute can sometimes result in you rushing through the entire process. There may be instances when there is little or no scope for concretising the points one wishes to make, and errors are bound to creep in. The use of visual aids in presentations is integral to their success, so mistakes in these aids will hurt the audience’s perception. When we see something, we tend to believe it more, which leaves a lasting impression on us. To prepare visual aids effectively, pause for a moment during the preparatory stage and give yourself time to think. The transparencies or slides should be prepared neatly with no overwriting or spelling errors. The material should be well-spaced and written in capitals or block letters so that listeners sitting at the back can also decipher the contents.

Preferably, there should be five to six points on a transparency, with each point being no longer than five or six words. The longer the points, the more time it takes to comprehend them as they become increasingly convoluted. Since the audience is concentrating on both the spoken words and the visual cues being provided, it is always better to pause for a short while as they absorb the content of the visuals. The written material on the transparency should be verbally presented to the audience. Remember to never turn your back on them as a professional courtesy. It is preferable to memorise the points so that you can see their reaction to your performance, as well as the transparency and slides. If it is favourable, you can proceed; else, otherwise, stop at a particular point to elaborate and discuss.

Optimizing Supporting Materials: Handouts and Feedback

Handouts should also be prepared meticulously and carefully. Before the session, participants should receive them so that they can come prepared with focused questions during the presentation. In applying this strategy, the time that would otherwise be spent generating questions would be saved. Participants will take these handouts home after the session and likely share the experiences and insights gained from the presentation with friends and colleagues using the same handouts. A sloppy performance is surely going to reveal you in a poor light. Participants’ acceptance of your presentation, as well as your handouts, is greatly influenced by the quality of your presentation.

It is also essential to prepare feedback forms well in advance so that they can be handed out to participants after the presentation. Several points need to be elaborated in the feedback form:

Information about the audience
The level of acceptance of the speaker
Scope for improvement
Inadequacies, if any, in the presentation
Expectations from the presentation
To what extent were they met
Gain from the session
Scope for further interaction
Grading the speaker based on various factors such as delivery, ideas, use of visual aids, handling the group, empathy, and listening skills.
Suggestions, if any.

Rehearse

Presentations are not easy to make. To improve the quality of the presentation, we must recognise the importance of rehearsing. The presentation should not be attempted until you have rehearsed adequately. The more you practice, the better your performance will be in front of an audience. Rehearsals are essential in the early stages of a project because they eliminate the element of fear. In the later stages, it helps you improve your presentation style and reveal your self-confidence. When this art is mastered, it can lead to acclaim and recognition, but if it is not, it will bring shame to the speaker. To achieve positive results, one must work diligently and consistently. If you delay, the situation will worsen, and you will be unable to address and improve it.

Rehearsals are the culmination of the preparatory stage. As part of this exercise, the OHP (overhead projector) or slide projectors would also need to be prepared and tested for operation. When making a presentation, clumsy movements such as trying to fix the plug or arrange the slide or transparency incorrectly can be detrimental to the audience. Moreover, the projectors should be positioned so that all participants can see the screen, even those at the far end. Visual aids should be presented in a way that allows all interactants to read the text without straining their necks. During rehearsals, we try to make the presentation as flawless and immaculate as possible.

Could you do it?

The presentation is ready to go, and everything is in order. The only thing left is to leave a mark on the audience by facing them confidently and positively. You must be very careful about the introduction and conclusion of your presentation when presenting Imatter to the audience. Keep one thing in mind when you begin: make the opening spellbinding so that you capture the audience’s attention right away. You will lose your audience forever if you don’t capture their attention right at the start. Using stylistic devices at a later stage will not help you to regain their confidence in your presentation skills.

If you succeed, they will be with you throughout, but if you miss out on some count, I will have to put in a lot of effort to mould them into your way of thinking. Several strategies can be employed to accomplish this. For example, a quiz, music, or game could be used. These are commonly known as “ice-breakers.” As a result of these manoeuvres, the interactants can overcome their initial hesitations and warm up for the session. They are no longer shy of the presenter and open up naturally to him.

Assessing Audience Mood (or “Reading the Room”)

The participants could also draw out what is commonly known as a mood meter at the beginning of the session. By sketching facial expressions during the forenoon, noon, and afternoon sessions, they could record their moods. A chart example could be prepared. It would be helpful to you as well as them if you assessed their moods at the beginning and the end of the session. The more creative you are in devising strategies for capturing their attention, the greater their response will be to accepting you.

The conclusion is equally important. While you were able to secure their attention with your impressive introduction or opening, you must leave them with a sense that the entire presentation was complete and of great significance. The presenter often gets carried away by the audience’s responses. Little does he know that his presentation has come to an end. In such situations, an emergency stop may be necessary. Ultimately, it leaves the listeners with a sense of incompleteness. The presenter might also employ a maze strategy, where he entangles the audience and then concludes, leaving them to search for solutions.

The Art of Ending Your Presentation Effectively

The device, once again, yields relatively ineffective results. Then, there could be the conclusion, which ends with a clichéd climax. The speaker could close with a cliche or a commonly used statement revealing his knowledge or familiarity with cliches. “How boring/mundane” could be a thought. Which might occur to the listeners. At the end of the session, they want the presenter to be creative so that they can carry back some of the speaker’s mannerisms with them. Similarly, asking for suggestions at the end is, again, not a very good strategy. There could be several suggestions from various quarters that are challenging to address at the very end, as one is running short of time. Suggestions should be made or solicited during the discussion so that they can be incorporated suitably.

Speakers should keep in mind that their conclusion or grand finale is their show. The audience will accept him based on how he conducts it. The presenter needs to keep the time factor in mind and reserve the last ten to fifteen minutes to summarise their presentation, incorporating all the ideas and suggestions they have gained during the presentation. Alternatively, the sender should respect both the unspoken dictates of time and the audience’s expectations. To succeed, he must know when to STOP and where to STOP.

FORMAT OF A PRESENTATION

The process of preparing a presentation can be divided into six tiers. The preparation should also follow this sequential order.

Ice-breaker
Opening
The need for a new idea or its clarification
THE IDEA
Accruing results/benefits
Summary/Conclusion.

**Exhibit 4.5 Format of the Presentation**
Stages	Purpose
Ice-breaker	Warming Up
Opening	Introduction to the topic
Discuss the need for a new idea	Solicit willingness and co-operation
The idea	Thrust area
Accruing results/benefits	Importance, significance of the idea
Summary/conclusion	Improve recall measures

Involvement of the Participants

Interspersed between these six stages, we must include activities that engage the participants and help them understand the importance of the presentation. A one-sided presentation undermines the communication process, as it provides little or no feedback. It is essential to engage participants in the process by organising an activity that suits their needs. Based on the statistics on recall measures, an individual can recall 20% of what they listen to, 30% of what they witness, 50% of what they listen to and watch, and finally, 70% of what they do. A mere lecture methodology will prove contrary to the speaker’s expectations, as retention will be minimal. The percentage of recall increases when visual aids are used. Achieving the best results requires participants to be actively engaged in the ongoing presentation, making them feel part of the process.

While making a presentation, keep one thing in mind: it is you who is an outsider in a group of people united by some attribute or another. This could be due to social status, hierarchy, or any other sociological or psychological factor. Breaking the ice is the first step to gaining acceptance. If you can succeed in doing so, your presentation is a success, and your skills are laudable. It requires a lot of effort, but once you have made a positive start, the going is not all that tough, as your audience will endeavour to help you make the entire session a success.