“Effective Technical Presentations”

How to do effective technical presentations?

“Most presenters are very knowledgeable in their field of expertise and can converse well within the framework of the company or industry.

However, they may be reluctant to and/or are uncomfortable with giving presentations in front of an audience.  Others may be comfortable in giving presentations, but they want to refine and improve their presentation skills so they can be more effective and/or persuasive.

The following article “Effective Presentations For Technical Professionals” written by Frank S. Adamo is for technical (and non technical) professionals who would like to understand how to become effective presenters.”

Enjoy!

Practice is the key to helping you improve on your communication and presentation skills. Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speeches in a friendly environments.  You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.

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Effective Presentations For Technical Professionals
By Frank S. Adamo

Though visual aids have changed tremendously since the late ’60s when I gave my first presentation, the presentation style, in my opinion, has not significantly changed – especially for professional techies. As a chemist and as a business/computer consultant for many years, I have given and have seen many technical presentations at conferences, at work, and elsewhere. The presentations were generally quite informative, technically enriching, and the presenters were very knowledgeable on the subject matter. However, many of them (and I include my own), were rather unexciting and ineffective. I have also seen many exciting, motivational, and inspirational presentations for the general public and also for the technical audience. You don’t need to be a professional speaker to spice up your presentation but by both knowing and understanding some of the same principles professional speakers use, you can enhance your presentations.

WRITING YOUR SPEECH

If you are doing a presentation, most likely you’ve written a report or submitted an article for publication. Perhaps you have used the text for your speech and created PowerPoint slides to help outline the structure. However, I would suggest you write your speech from scratch with emphasis on simplicity and conciseness. Continue reading →