TED’s Secret to Great Public Speaking

“There’s no single formula for a great talk, but there is a secret ingredient that all the best ones have in common. TED Curator Chris Anderson shares this secret — along with four ways to make it work for you. Do you have what it takes to share an idea worth spreading?”

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How to Give a Good Presentation

The students of Access Foundation at Kingston College pass on their wisdom about giving presentations in class.

A Good Presentation that will Amaze your Audience

How to give a good presentation? Giving a presentation is like being in total control of a situation. You have to know what you are talking about and how you talk about it – it is the responsibility of the presenter. Imagine giving people the wrong information or giving the right information but it was understood differently.

However, giving a good presentation is entirely different from having a broad knowledge about a topic. How so? Simply because it boils down to how you effectively presented your topic in such a way that you were able to convey your knowledge to other people successfully. To put it simply, it is the way your audience understood you and was awed by how you made them understand.

There are a lot of tips and tricks in successfully achieving a good presentation. There is really no precise format in doing so. It really depends solely on the person giving the presentation, on what works for him or her. Here are some of them:

Four Objectives of a Presentation

You should, at least, be able to apply any of these objectives in your presentation:

1. Information: Your goal is to inform, to share your knowledge on a given topic. Only discuss related and necessary information. Remember, too much of anything is considered boring.

2. Entertainment: As much as possible avoid jokes and just try to tell personal stories (short ones) that are related to your topic (if possible). It is a sure way to your audience heart because you are giving them a glimpse of you as a person and not just the presenter. But do not dwell on it for too long, just enough to get your audience’s attention and then get straight to the point.

3. Emotional Touch: Tapping the emotional side of your audience is only applicable if the topic calls for it. But do not depress your audience, because sad people will not understand or remember anything. Avoid criticism if you cannot offer a solution.

4. Action speaks louder than words: A good presentation does not stop at just presenting your topic. Early on you should know what you want your audience to do after they heard your presentation. Be direct and specific, you should be able to get a commitment from them.

Preparing for a Presentation

In preparing for a presentation, you should think like a journalist. You should be able to answer the “what, who, why, how, when and where” (The Five Ws and One H) questions:

1. “What” is the purpose of the presentation? – Is it for training, seminar, for report, for planning, and etcetera? You have to know this so you can gather the needed information.

2. “Who” is your target audience? – This is also important because it will give you an idea on what content to use for your presentation that is appropriate to your audience.

3. “Why” are they attending the presentation? – This is relatively important too because you will know that if attendance is compulsory, you have to be able to make them realize that your presentation is not a waste of their precious time.

4. “How” many are attending the presentation? – Some presenters ignore this, which is wrong. It is important that you know the estimated attendees. Especially if you are using visuals, it is important that every attendee can see it.

5. “When” is the schedule of the presentation? – The date is crucial to your preparation because it will give you an estimate of how much time you have to finish your presentation.

6. “Where” is the venue of the presentation? – This is sometimes ignored too, and again it is wrong, simply because to know where the venue is will be important in determining what equipment that you will need to bring or to request. For instance, you might need a projector, microphones, a podium, and etcetera.