Presentation Skills
Fear of public speaking is not uncommon. Whilst most of us are happy to talk to one or two people in an informal setting, the thought of standing before a large group fills us with horror. However, public speaking skills can be developed, and anyone can learn to give informative and stress-free presentations.
Individuals wishing to improve their presentation skills are often interested in finding ways to:
- Minimise their nerves and improve their overall confidence
- Project confidence and credibility to their audience
- Plan and prepare their material to ensure a focused, succinct and memorable presentation
- Keep the presentation to time - avoiding unplanned overrunning
- Involve and captivate their audience
- Handle difficult situations, and awkward questions
- Accurately evaluate the effectiveness of their presentations, without being overly hard on themselves.
It is easy to underestimate the skill involved in delivering a focused and informative presentation that captures the attention of the audience. And yet, very little attention is given to preparing people for making an effective presentation beyond equipping them with a title and possibly a few ideas on the content. With some careful preparation and the development of specific communication techniques, anyone can improve their skills and confidence to give a quality presentation that fulfils its purpose.
"It is not how strongly you feel about your topic, it's how strongly they feel about your topic after you speak." Tim Solliday - Artist
How to spot an effective presentation
Is the presenter:
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Calm, confident and prepared - they may be experiencing nerves, but can they manage to avoid sharing these with their audience? Can they harness their adrenaline and use it to fuel their enthusiasm for the subject?
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Making a strong introduction - do they grab the audience's attention within the first few seconds by 'selling' the idea that what they are going to talk about is really worth listening to?
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Connecting to the audience - instead of broadcasting to the back of the room, do they engage with their audience by ensuring that the content of their presentation meets expectations and addresses the audience's interests and needs?
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Focused, clear and concise - is their presentation clearly structured - telling a story with a beginning, middle and end? Is the audience left with no doubt about what the presenter is trying to achieve, and what the key messages are?
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Ending on a high - do they avoid simply trailing off when they have run out of things to say, or apologising for running over time? Do they conclude their presentation with a punchy summary of 'take-aways' or things they want their audience to remember?
Presentation Skills Training from H2
Our presentation skills training is designed to empower our delegates to become more confident and proficient presenters, by learning how to structure and deliver simple, yet powerful presentations. We aim to strike a balance between presenting essential background information, and facilitating participative exercises and discussions that are both challenging and motivating, and that enable useful learning to take place that can be directly applied back in the workplace.
We can deliver presentation skills training virtually, or at a venue of your choice, for any number of participants.
Ready-to-Go Courses: Over the past 24 years, we've worked hard to devise and develop a range of courses that suit the broad needs of our customers. Ready-to-Go course titles relating to the topic of presentation skills include:
- Presentation Skills
- Communication Skills
- Influencing Skills
- Meeting Skills
- Negotiation Skills
- Assertiveness
- Interview Skills
- Training Skills (Training for Trainers)
- Sales Skills
Bespoke Courses: If you have something more specific in mind, we can design and deliver a tailored course for you. Following a short pre-course consultation, we'll put together a course programme that reflects your specified priorities, and that includes exercises based on real-life case studies/scenarios.
One-to-One Training: We also offer presentation skills training for those who may benefit from the undivided attention of our trainer. These one-to-one sessions are entirely focused on the specific needs/interests of the delegate, and are extremely well received for achieving lasting learning and observable improvements.
No-obligation Quote
Please CONTACT US today - just give us a brief outline of what you're looking to achieve, the number of participants and the proposed location, and we'll get back to you shortly.