Technical Presentations Book 1 Strategy Preparation and Planning

7/27/2019 Technical Presentations Book 1 Strategy Preparation and Planning

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B Nita K. Pate

IEEE-USA E-Bks

BooK1State -Pepaatin and Pannin

BooK2Stuctue - Anatmf a Successfu Pesentatin

BooK3Ste - Dnamic Deive Tecnique

BooK4

Effective Visua Aids

Tecnica PesentatinsA seies f fu bks discussin w t pepae, wite and effective deive tecnica pesentati


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4 Imptance f Effective

Deivein yu Pesentatins

Engineers and scientists are requently required to present technical inormation to a broadspectrum o individuals, including co-workers, executives and potential clients in a varietyo ormats, such as conerence papers, training materials and unding proposals. Even i you do

not present conerence papers or other ormal presentations, you must present your ideas and

opinions daily.

Most technical experts present acts in-depth and in their rame o

reerence. Technical experts requently think that acts are sel-evident;

that is, acts, statistics and data speak or themselves. Not so! Facts

require analysis, assessment, and evaluation. Facts require translation

and interpretation rom your knowledge base to that o the audience(Witt, Presentation Tips).

As a technical expert, you must know and understand the technical acts. But, to ensure that

others interpret this complex data the same way you do, you have to presentthe acts through

clear, concise and correct speech.

When presenting, you should lter just enough o the data, research and inormation necessary

or the audiences comprehension and understanding, both o which are prerequisites or

acceptance. I your audience does not understand, they will not accept your ideas.

Figure 1: Speakers Purpose Funnel Data or Understanding

TEChNICAl PrESENTATIoNS: BooK 1. STrATEgy - PrEPArATIoN AND PlANNINg

Facts are not

sel-evident.


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Simply providing the acts is not sucient to

conveythe cause o system ailures,

convinceyour colleagues to adopt your coding standards,

persuadeyour manager to und your program,

explain the complex interactions o your experiment or

train a new engineer.

You are responsible or extracting the essential components rom a large quantity o complex,

technical data and then translating this data or the background and knowledge o your

audience. You must present the inormation in such a way that others can understand, care

about and use it.

The key to successully presenting complex inormation is not what you say or do but what

your audience hears and sees. Your ability to communicate simply, passionately and clearly

will oten determine whether your idea is accepted, your proposal is unded or your training

is understood.

Planning and preparation are the most important elements to eective presentation and

communication. Preparation is a better determinant o presentation success than knowledge,

experience or even talent. Preparation is also the best way to reduce nervousness, combat

ear and ensure success.

As a result, proessional speakers recommend preparing thirty minutes or each minute o the

presentation. Preparation does not simply mean practicing. Preparation means dening a strat-

egy. Preparation involves planning, researching and understanding the audiences needs and

your message.

Technical Presentations Book 1:Planning and Preparation describes how to properly plan andprepare your presentations.


It takes more than three weeks to

prepare a good impromptu speech.- Mak Twain


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6 Five Ws (and ne h)

A Pepaatin Tecnique

When asked to present, most people procrastinate. The remaining people begin withwriting and talking. I recommend you start with thinking and inormation-gathering(and not procrastinating). Without a strategy and appropriate preparation, a presentation will

be unocused, not apply or ail completely.

The next sections outline a ramework or you to prepare or your next presentation. The

ramework is based on the inormation-gathering technique taught in my ourth grade history

class. Journalists requently use this technique to convey all the important inormation o a

story. The technique is the Five Ws (and One H):

Who? Quis? Who is involved?

When? Quando? When does the story take place?

Where? Ubi? Where does the story take place?

What? Quid? What is the story?

Why? Cur? Why did the story happen?

How? Quomodo? How did the story happen?

For a nal exam, my history teacher required us to research and write about a topic o our

choice using this technique. I honestly cannot remember much about the research (other than

my selected topic was Alexander the Great). However, the technique has remained with me

all these years.

This technique ensured that my report covered the ull story (or which I got an A). You

will be properly prepared, too, i you answer these six simple questions at the onset o your

next presentation.


There is nothing impossible to him

who will try.

- Aexande te geat


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W? Knw yu Audience

Knowing whomyou will address may be more important than knowing whatyou will pres-

ent. It is imperative that your presentation be appropriate or your audience. You intuitivelyknow that you would not present the same speech at your parents 50th anniversary celebration

as you would at your riends bachelor party. So why would you present the same inormation

at a management unding request and at a technical design review?

Knowing your audience is critical to developing your speech,

particularly with complex technical topics. You must rame

your inormation in such a way that the audience will

understand. Presentations are not or your (or your egos)

benet. Presentations are about the audience, their needs,

perspectives and desires. As a result, you must understand your audience.

Analyze the audience to help you understand them. Discover inormation that will create a

link between you and the audience. The more you know and understand about your audience

and their needs, the better you can align your material to their needs. The better aligned your

inormation is to their needs, the better they will respond, remember and react.

Proessional speakers send multi-page questionnaires (example provided in Appendix A) to

conerence organizers to gather enough inormation about the audience and the speaking

event to properly customize their speeches. Whether or not you use a questionnaire, you

must assess your audience.

Who is the audience?

Identiy the audience and its individual members. Determine i the audience is a group o

ellow design engineers, the board o directors or end-users. Each type o audience will

require not only dierent inormation, but also a dierent presentation technique.

Begin by answering the ollowing questions:

Who are they?

What do they have in common?

What are their dierences?

Is it a mixed group?

Who are the decision-makers?

What is their learning style?

Presentations ocus on

the audience, not you.


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8When presenting at a large technical conerence, you may not know who will be in the audi-

ence. To nd out, greet audience members as they arrive. Discuss the upcoming presentation

and topic with them to understand their perspectives. In addition, ask your audience a ew

quick questions at the start o the presentation to learn about them. Getting to know audience

members will also alleviate some o your presentation nervousness. It is easier to speak to a

group o people you know (even minimally), rather than to a group o strangers.When presenting to a mixed audience, identiy the audience

members and rank them in terms o importance; that is,

importance with respect to the presentation purpose. Identiy

the key individuals and decision-makers in the group. Identiy

any individuals that are dominant or infuential. Identiy those

in the audience who agree with you and determine whether

you would benet by having them agree with you more. Once you have identied the more

important or infuential people, give them their inormation rst.

For example, consider presenting at a design review that is a government-contract gate such

as a System Test Readiness Review. Your peers, your boss, maybe one additional level o yourcompanys management team, government subject matter experts (SMEs), and contracting

ocers are attending. The contracting ocer may ultimately make the decision to continue the

contract. However, he will likely rely heavily on recommendations provided by the government

SMEs. As a result, your primary audience is the group o SMEs, not the contracting ocer. Do

not worry about impressing your boss or peers with your technical expertise. Focus on making

sure the SMEs understand where you are in the design and assure them that you are ready to

pass through the test-readiness gate.

What are the demographics?

What are the demographics o the audience?

Age

Gender

Occupation

Nationality

Income

Hobbies

Social status

Belies

This inormation is necessary or you to construct an audience-appropriate presentation. With

this knowledge, you will be able to choose relevant examples, acts and stories to convey

your inormation to the audience. You will nd common characteristics between you and the

audience. With this inormation, you can construct your presentation to ocus on shared traits

or emphasize dierences to illustrate points.


Present important

inormation to key

decision-makers rst.


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Obtain demographic inormation so you can rame your message in terms o your audiences

range o needs. Sometimes the demographics do not align with your message. You must

decide whether to shit your message to meet the demographics or to proceed with your

original intent.

Consider the ollowing examples in which the presentation topic is the same, but the presenta-

tion is vastly dierent due to audience demographics:

(1) Presenting image stabilization concepts to high-school math students interested in

engineering versus a group o college proessors researching the topic

(2) Providing a tour o your engineering lab to a group rom the local senior center versus a

group o section IEEE members

(3) Discussing leadership skills with a girl-scout troop versus industry executives

How many?

How many people will be in the audience? Speaking to a small group o ve to ten people in

a conerence room is dierent rom speaking to 200-300 people in a ballroom. With a small

group, you can be more inormal in your tone, use smaller gestures and be relaxed in your

presentation style allowing you to connect more with the audience. With a larger group, you

must be more ormal, use larger gestures, and speak with more authority.

What do they know?

Whether you are trying to teach a concept, persuade or inorm an audience, knowing how

much they know about your topic will determine what details you include, what you omit and

how you structure the material.

Consider the ollowing questions: What do they already know specically about your topic?

Are they technical or non-technical?

Are they experts or novices?

Do they view you as an expert, outsider, peer, boss or subordinate?

Will they understand the technical jargon or should you avoid jargon?

Do you need to provide details?

Do you need to review undamentals?

Avoid jargon or those outside your eld o expertise.

You do not want to nd yoursel talking over their

heads and completely losing the audiences interest.

Nor do you want to talk under their level o educa-

tion. Do not spend time telling the audience what is

obvious to them. On the other hand, do not overlook

basic terms simply because they are obvious to you.


Do not talk over or under

peoples level o experience

or understanding.


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10Technical presenters oten present in very detailed, jargon-lled, precise terms. Only do so i

your audience is technical. Otherwise, it is your responsibility to not only bridge but also narrow

the gap between your audiences knowledge and yours. Interpret the acts and inormation,

rather than providing them in excruciating detail.

For example, i you are presenting at an IEEE conerence on laser driver technology, you need

not explain the dierence between active or passive Q-switching. However, i you are talking toa general group o IEEE members at a section meeting, explain the undamental principles o

lasers beore discussing the details o your laser driver design.

Why are they there?

People attend presentations or dierent reasons. Answer the ollowing questions as you

prepare:

Why are they attending?

What is their interest in the subject?

Do they have a stake in the presentation?

What do they expect to learn or hear rom you?

Did they come voluntarily or were they required to attend?

I you are providing a tour o your lab, IEEE members may be interested in the systematic

details o the experiment. A group o high-school students simply wants to look at the cool

gadgets and understand one or two concepts. Knowing how interested your audience is allows

you to plan material appropriate to their interest level.

Vary the level o inormation you present based on the interests and backgrounds o the

audience. Technical people like details. We assume that everyone else likes details. In a sense,

they do. However, the details dier with the reason why people are listening. For example,

the CEO probably wants details about the opportunity costs about a project, rather than details

about test methodologies.

A voluntary audience, that is, a group o people who have chosen to come to the presentation

o their own volition, is easier to address because they are interested in hearing your presenta-

tion. Voluntary audiences are more homogeneous, that is, their demographic similarities, rather

than their dierences, characterize them.

Mandatory audiences, a group o people required to attend, require a greater understanding

o their motivation and biases. Mandatory audiences are more heterogeneous, that is,

demographic dierences among individuals characterize the group (Adams).

For example, you would structure your presentation dierently when addressing your sta in a

mandatory meeting about sotware-coding standards versus a brainstorming session to develop

new coding standards. Understand why your audience is attending as you prepare so that you

can present material appropriate to those interests.



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1What do they think?

Understand what your audience thinks about your topic and about you. You should consider

their biases, opinions and prejudices. Determine whether the group is open to new ideas.

Consider i you need to change their views or i they already agree with you. Determine how

credible they think you are.

I the audience believes you are a credible expert, you will sway them with your message. I an

audience does not believe you are a credible expert, you will need to spend time at the start o

the presentation explaining why you are a credible source or the inormation you will present.

Establish trust, so they are receptive to your inormation.

Understanding their perception o you and the topic is particularly important or persuasive

speeches. To persuade the audience, you must address their biases beore you can persuade

them o the benets o your perspective.

Who are they?

Understanding the audience is a critical preparation step. Your goal is to categorize andunderstand your audience to dene a common set o characteristics. However, do not lose

sight o the act that the audience consists o unique individuals with unique needs, wants

and expectations.

Each individual will learn, understand and interpret your

inormation dierently. Each individual will listen with

a dierent bias, perspective and knowledge base.

Consider how each individual will organize and process

the inormation. When you prepare your material, you

will want to provide inormation in dierent ormats.

Think about the audience in broad categories when selecting your topic and organizing thepresentation. Tailor your material to their individual needs and expectations with personal

examples and stories when writing the presentation. Incorporate material that will be

meaningul or unique, specic individuals when delivering your talk.


The audience consists

o individuals.

The best audience is intelligent,

well-educated and a little drunk.

- Aben Wiiam Bake


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16. Team Review (variable length) In a team review, team members present their

contributions on a particular project. Presentations include multiple disciplines, such as

mechanical, optical and electrical. One challenge in this type o presentation is coordinat-

ing all speakers to ocus on a common purpose. Another challenge is balancing technical

content or the technically diverse audience.

7. Panel discussion (30-60 minutes) Each panelist covers a dierent aspect o a specicsubject. The goal is to provide dierent perspectives and inormation so that material

does not overlap. The audience composition varies.

Types o special-occasion presentations:

1. Entertaining speeches (typically 30-45 minutes) The most common type o

entertaining speech is the ater-dinner speech. The ater-dinner speech is a lighthearted

speech delivered ater, beore or during a meal. Even i the audience is highly technical,

the presentation is geared towards a non-technical audience because the audience

is relaxed and in the mood or a light topic ater a nice meal.

2. Keynote address (45-60 minutes) A keynote address sets the underlying tone or

summarizes the core message o an event. An opening keynote address at a politicalconvention outlines the issues under consideration. I you are presenting a keynote

address at the start o a conerence, you should energetically set the tone or the

conerence. I you are presenting a keynote address at the end o a conerence, tie

all the events together and look orward to a uture meeting. The audience is typically

very diverse. Address them as a non-technical group.

3. Commemoration (45-60 minutes) A commemoration recognizes important events,

people or places. The commemoration address is celebratory and marks an important

milestone. An example is a commencement address at a graduation. The audience is

typically very diverse.

4. Speaker introductions (1-3 minutes) Speaker introductions are necessary in all pre-sentation settings. The introduction can be as short one sentence or as long as a three-

to ve-minute speech. An introduction prepares the audience or and motivates them

toward the upcoming speaker. When introducing another, you should not upstage the

speaker; thereore, the introduction is typically brie, ocusing on the speakers topic and

credentials. The audience varies according to the presentation purpose.

5. Award presentation (1-3 minutes) When presenting an award, communicate the

importance o the award. Explain why the recipient is receiving the award. Present an

award in simple, non-technical language with illustrative examples.

6. Award acceptance (1-5 minutes) Express gratitude and honor or recognition in an

acceptance speech. You should present as though the audience is non-technical.

7. Tribute (2-5 minutes) A tribute, also known as a toast, is a brie recognition o a person

or event. A roast is a humorous tribute to a person. A eulogy is a tribute to a deceased

person. All tributes are brie and highlight positive attributes o the event or person. The

audience varies.



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14 Time

Find out what time o day you are presenting. I you get nervous presenting during a meal, have

a snack beorehand and skip the meal during the presentation. I there is a presenter beore

you, consider how to condense the presentation, in case the previous speaker goes over time.

I you are giving an inspirational presentation ater a long day o technical talks, plan how to

energize the group.

Arrive 30-60 minutes beore your presentation. I you are

presenting at a conerence, upload your presentation slides

well in advance o your presentation time. I given the

opportunity to test the microphone, take it.

Allow at least 20 minutes beore your presentation to mingle with the audience. You can

nd out why they came to your presentation, what they hope to learn and to hear their stories.

You never know, you may hear a story or get an idea rom an audience member to use in your

presentation.

Allow another 20 minutes ater the presentation or audience members to ask questions or pro-vide comments. You will get immediate eedback through this process. I no one approaches

you to ask a question, take this action as specic (although not necessarily positive) eedback.

Duration

Identiy the duration o your presentation. Will you have 20 minutes, our hours or two days to

present your inormation? Determine i the time includes a question-and-answer session.

For longer presentations, you have more reedom to explore your topic in depth. Allow partici-

pants to explore concepts through exercises and provide extra examples. Remember that the

audience members can only absorb a limited amount o inormation at a time. They have only

one opportunity to hear the presentation. They cannot go back to review the inormation thatyou share. Thereore, you should take requent breaks to allow the audience to think about the

key points presented in each segment o a longer presentation.

A short presentation, on the other hand, needs to be very clear, concise and direct. You must

work harder to ocus your inormation to a central message, with relevant examples or short-

duration presentations. It takes longer to prepare a short, ocused presentation than a longer

presentation. Be sure to actor the extra time into your planning.

Neverexceed your speaking time, whether you have only fve

minutes or fve days. When you go over time, you break the

contract you have with your audience. Negative emotions creep

out when you go over time, no matter how interested you thinkthe audience is in your topic. Nobody will complain i you nish

a ew minutes early.


Arrive early. Stay late.

Do NOT exceed

your allotted time.

A winning eort begins with preparation.

- Je gibbs


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1Wee? Scut te lcatin

As a presenter, you must know whereyou are presenting and understand how the location

will aect your delivery. Identiy your audio/visual needs and ensure those needs are met.

Location

Location is both geographic; that is, location on the world map, and spatial; that is, location in

relation to the audience.

When considering the geographiccomponents o location, ask yoursel:

Are you presenting in another country?

Are their special travel constraints you should take into consideration (visa, passport)?

Will you be staying nearby or will you need to travel to the meeting location? Are there any unique cultural dierences o which you should be aware?

Will language be a barrier to clarity?

Do you know the appropriate etiquette or the international audience?

Should you worry about seasonal weather?

I you need to travel to your presentation location, do not wear your presentation clothes while

traveling. They will wrinkle. Carry one set o your handouts and your presentation in your carry-

on just in case your luggage gets lost. You could also mail your materials to the acility ahead o

time and ensure their arrival.

When considering the spatialcomponents o location, ask yoursel:

Where will the audience be?

Where will you be in relation to your audience?

Will you be in outside or inside?

Is this a conerence call or webinar?

Will everyone be able to see and hear you?

Presenting a webinar (in which you denitely want a script) will require dierent preparation

than presenting in a stadium seating 5,000 (in which dynamic delivery is important).I the room is not ull, encourage people to move towards

the ront o the room. Having people sit toward the ront

and close together will encourage the audience to respond

as a unit. I the number o seats is greater than the number

o people attending, remove a ew chairs rom the back o

the room.


Ask people to sit

together to encourage

a sense o community.


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16 Room

Consider the ollowing questions regarding the presentation room:

How big is the room?

Is it relatively quiet?

Is there a lectern (a reading stand behind which a speaker stands)?

Will you present rom a podium (a raised platorm on which a speaker stands)?

Does the heating and air conditioning work?

Is the room cluttered?

What is the seating layout?

Do people have a writing surace with pen and paper handy?

Is there adequate lighting?

Can you easily control the lighting?

I the room is small (seating 20-30 people) you will not need a microphone. I the room seats

more than 50-100 people, then you should use a microphone so that everyone can hear you

evenly.

Clear out any equipment or chairs that may clutter the speaking area. Remove easels, posters

or any other urniture that has nothing to do with your presentation. These items can be

distracting and divert your audiences attention away rom you during the presentation.

Identiy how you would like to have the room organized. I you plan to have people break into

small group discussions, request round tables so that each table can be a team. I you need

people to take notes, organize the room in a classroom ormat. I you would like the audienceto eel connected, request the room be setup in a theater ormat where the chairs are closer

together. Identiy how much o the seating arrangement can be changed i you need people to

move around during the presentation.

Audio/Visual (A/V) equipment

Know your equipment, its capabilities and requirements beore you present. Determine i

you need a whiteboard, chalkboard, laser pointer, wireless mouse or fip chart. I no lectern is

present or you want something less intrusive, consider a oldable music stand. The stand will

easily hold your notes and you can put the stand to the side to allow more stage area.

Determine i you have easy access to props, electricaloutlets, internet connections and/or your computer.

Identiy the location o the screen, projector or pointer

in relation to where you will be. Determine whether you

will have assistance in case equipment ails during the

presentation.


Know your equipment

and its capabilities

beore you present.


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1Find the switches and experiment to get the maximum lighting or your presentation. I you

want to present slides or a video, make sure people at the back o the room can see the slides.

Veriy that you can turn down the lights without turning o all the lights. You do not want to

speak in a dark room. Only turn down the lights over the slides and try to avoid lighting that

creates shadows.

You should also consider any demonstration props that

you have. Test out the demonstration in the location and

in connection with the A/V equipment you will be using

during the presentation. You should practice all items

in a demonstration, especially when there are multiple

presenters with dierent components. I you are

demonstrating sotware (or any technical product), do not make any last-minute tweaks without

going through the entire demonstration to veriy all eatures are still working.

Ater identiying details regarding the room and A/V equipment, visit the location prior to writing

your presentation i possible. You will have a better idea o what delivery techniques will or will

not work. Arrive early and walk around the room on the day o your presentation. Test out theequipment i you have the opportunity, and make sure you have everything needed beore the

start o the presentation.


Practice all product

demonstrations.

I you dont know where you are going,

any road will get you there.

- Cesie Cat, Aice in Wndeand


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18 Wat? Detemine yu Fcus (Cntent)

Understanding your audience, where you will present and the occasion completes only hal

the planning required. You must dene whatyou want to say. It seems obvious that youshould know the ocus o your presentation. However, most speakers ail to dene their core

purpose in simple, concrete language beore spending time writing the presentation.

Dierentiate whatrom why. Whatis the content. Whyis the

message. The content is the topic, idea or inormation. The

message is the meaning o the content. The message explains

how the inormation ties together, how the audience can use

the content or what the content means. Technical presentations

tend to be heavy on content; as a result, the message gets lost

in the data.

Design all presentations, regardless o their complexity, with a single purpose. State that pur-pose at the beginning o the preparation process and keep this purpose in mind throughout the

presentation development.

Unortunately, there is an innite number o presentation topics. How do you choose the

one best suited or you and the audience? First, identiy your areas o expertise and passion.

Second, understand your audience. Third, clariy the occasion. With these three items o

inormation, brainstorm topic ideas you know and care about, and that the audience is

interested in.

Your Interests

To identiy your interests, consider these questions:

What technology or topics are you knowledgeable about?

What topics are you excited about?

Which topics will you enjoy researching?

- What related experiences do you have?

What is your point o view?

What problem exists? What are its causes? How has it been addressed in the past?

Take time to identiy which topics you know. Select a topic with which you are amiliar. Memo-rizing material or a presentation is not the same as knowing the material you will present.

Selecting a topic in which you are knowledgeable will give you condence in preparing and

presenting the material.

Select a topic about which you are passionate. Audience members can eel your excitement (or

indierence). I you are not passionate about your topic, it will show.


What = Content

Why = Message


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1Most technical presenters spend lots o time brainstorming

and researching their topic. This results in lots o inormation

and little interpretation. I your topic is too broad, you cannot

discuss it in depth. I there are too many points, your audi-

ence will not remember the inormation. Brainstorm until

you have a ocused topic. I you have a long list o topics,think about combining potentially similar ideas into an overarching theme.

As the expert, you must know what inormation to include and, more importantly, what not to

include. Know your topic well, so that you can explain it in a way that is easy to understand and

remember.

Audiences Interest

Ask yoursel the ollowing questions to determine your audiences interests:

What is important to your audience?

Which topics are relevant to your audience? Which topics are applicable to their lives?

Does the topic t the audience?

What one idea does your audience need to know most?

Based on your analysis o the audience, identiy topics that are specic, practical and relevant

to them. Once you have identied the topic, simpliy. Decide how much o the inormation

is relevant to the audience. Do not include material that is not relevant to the audience you

identied.

Technical proessionals have a tendency to cram as

much inormation as possible into the time allotted

to impress their audience. Instead o cramming

inormation and boring the audience, rerame your

thinking. It is your responsibility to understand your

topic so thoroughly that you can make it simple

enough or the audience. Your job is to identiy the relevant inormation and align it to the

audiences interests.

Use the inormation you gathered during the audience analysis to help identiy a central topic.

Your audience will remember items that resonate with them. The audience hears and absorbs

inormation i they see a connection between what you present and what they eel.

I they can connect personally to the topic, they are likely to pay attention. I the inormation is

directly applicable to them, they are likely to use it.


Know what and what

not to include in your

presentation.

Understand your topic sothoroughly that you can

simpliy it or your audience.


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20 Intersection o Interests

Andrew Dlugan suggests you think about the intersection o your interests, the audiences

interests and your passions (see gure 2). Choose a topic in this region or maximum eect. I

you speak on a topic where you have no knowledge, your content will be empty and shallow.

I you are passionate but the audience is not interested, your audience will tune you out. I you

talk about the audiences interest but are not excited about the topic, your delivery will be fat.

Figure 2: Topic Selection

Fortunately, most technical presentations, especially conerence papers, meet the intersection

criteria. You present a conerence paper on a topic about which you are condent, interested

and amiliar. Additionally, the audience is interested in your topic or they would not attend your

session.


Be Prepared.- B Scut Mtt


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2W? Identif te Imptance (Messae)

Whyare you going to present? You might present to get the audience to volunteer their

time, renew your grant or implement your process. Whydescribes the response thatyou want rom your audience.

Work to ocus the general topic into a specic message. Focusing the content (i.e., what) into a

concrete message (i.e., why) is a necessary step in the preparation process.

Questions to consider include:

Is your objective to motivate? Inorm? Persuade? Recommend? Report? Teach?

Entertain?

Which message do you want to convey?

What is the purpose o this speech?

What do you want to accomplish?

Do you want to convey an idea, evoke an emotion or elicit a specic response?

Do you want the audience to challenge your assumptions or conrm your data?

Presentations, regardless o their complexity, must

have a single purpose. A core purpose is the main

action, thought or eeling you want your audience

to remember, think or eel because o your

presentation. The core purpose will provide ocus

or the presentation. Inormation incorporated into the presentation should support, explain or

emphasize the core purpose.

Brainstorm

Jot down in one concise sentence what you want the audience to know, do or eel. This is

rarely a question o what you know. Rather, it is a question o what they need to know.

Brainstorm or a while (a ew hours or a couple o days) to identiy your core message. Do not

try to be clever, perect or catchy when brainstorming. Write down whatever comes to your

mind. Pare down the ideas later.

IdentiyIdentiy your core message by ocusing on the audience, not on you or generalities. Do not

succumb to the temptation to insert your objective into your core message. You must stay

ocused on your audiences objective.


What reaction do you want

rom the audience?


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22As you work to identiy your core purpose, ask yoursel these questions:

Which message is the most interesting, appropriate and relevant to my audience?

I the audience remembers only one item rom the presentation, what should it be?

What surprised me while I was thinking about or researching this topic? Would it be

interesting to the audience?

What one item does my audience need to know most?

What one action do I want the audience to take when they leave here?

Table 1 presents a comparison o core-purpose statements rom a general, speaker and audi-

ence perspective.

Table 1: Core Purpose Comparisons

Generic Purpose You-Centric Audience-Centric

Statement Statement Statement

To inorm others on how Convince people to use a Explain how to use athey can use my technology blackberry to track e-mail blackberry to track e-mail

to improve their lives to stay connected when

out o the oce

To engage people in my Persuade people to help Provide opportunities to

project me with the project tasks expand skills by helping

with monthly project

reports

To get people to change their Motivate people to turn o Demonstrate how people

daily habit the lights when leaving a can aect the environment

room and save money by turningo lights



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2Crat

Once you have identied the core purpose, crat it. Make

the message specic and concrete. Eliminate jargon. Be

direct, accurate and concise. Try to make the message as

short as possible, but no shorter. The shorter the message,

the easier it will be or you to repeat and the audience toremember. However, brevity should not come at the expense o meaning.

You will have identied an appropriate core message when you can identiy the relevance to

your audience. Memorize the message. I you cannot, it should not be the essence o your

presentation. Ask others to judge your key message or you. I someone woke up in the middle

o the presentation and heard just the core message, would they have a clear understanding o

your purpose?

The reality o any presentation is that the audience will retain only one or two points. Unlike a

written article or book, the audience does not have the luxury o reviewing material or reerring

to a passage again. You must design your speech so that your audience remembers your core

message.

You can eectively convey only onemessage to an audience in a single presentation. You are

responsible or identiying that single ocus.


An audience retains

only one or two points.

Success demands singleness o purpose.

- Vince lmbadi


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24 hw? Detemine te Best Fmat

Once you know what you want the audience to do, you can ocus on howyou will present

the inormation. Consider whether you will present the inormation in an inormal chat, aseminar or a training workshop. Identiy the presentation approach that will best convey your

message. Consider whether you should be direct or beat around the bush.

Once you are ready, organize your thoughts

in one o the three basics types o speeches:

(inormative, persuasive or entertaining).

Realize that the line between these types o

presentations is neither clear nor straight.

Inormative speeches can be highly entertaining.

Persuasive speeches, by their nature, must inorm

to be eective.

Presentation Types

The three basic types o speeches are:

1. Speeches that Educate (Inormative) - This speech serves to provide useul inorma-

tion to your audience. Even i your goal is to inorm, you must dene what action you

want your audience to take with this inormation.

For example, a seminar about circuits; a speech explaining how to bake brownies; a

corporate brieng outlining the status o an acquisition

2. Speeches that Motivate (Persuasive) - This speech works to convince people to

change how they think, how they act or what they believe.

For example, a candidates election speech; recruiting a volunteer to IEEE; a coachs

speech to the team beore a big game; a business proposal to potential investors

3. Speeches that Entertain (Entertaining) This speech strives to amuse the audience.

The ater-dinner speech is a typical example o an entertaining speech. You provide

enjoyment or the audience.

For example, a water-cooler story about your weekend; a able; a toast in celebration o

the 4th o July


A clear line does not exist

between educating, persuading

and entertaining.


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Inormative Presentations

In an inormative speech, you infuence how the audience sees a subject or makes sense o

the world. You should research acts and present material in an organized manner, i your goal is

to inorm. There are our major types o inormative presentations:

1. Explanatory (about Objects) This speech ocuses on reports o current or historicalpeople, places, events, inventions or products. The objective is to explain or dene.

For example, analysis o Ronald Reagans Berlin Wall speech; a lecture on the military

ormations used during the Civil War; a discussion about the laments used in light

bulbs

2. Denitional (about Concepts) This speech denes the meaning o concepts, theo-

ries, philosophies or issues that may be unamiliar to the audience. Typically, these

concepts are abstract so you must provide real-lie, applicable examples.

For example, an explanation o Tesla coils; a discussion about Keynesian economics; an

introduction to Jainism

3. Descriptive (about Events) This speech describes in vivid detail a person, animal,place or object. Determine the characteristics, eatures or unctions you want to

describe.

For example, a layout o Heisenbergs lab; a description o the Sahara desert; a story

about the Tortoise & the Hare

4. Demonstrative (about Processes) This speech demonstrates (shows) how a task is

done. You may simply explain the process or walk the audience through the process.

For example, the steps to baking brownies; steps to building a web page; an explanation

o a pulse-measuring experiment

Persuasive Presentations

The essence o persuasion is matching your message to exactly what your audience values,

wants or needs. The aim o the speech is to infuence values, ideas or attitudes. In a persuasive

speech, you emphasize benets, rather than eatures or specications. Persuasive presenta-

tions typically incorporate statistics, expert testimony and stories appealing to the audience.

The structure o a persuasive speech typically consists o three components:

1. Identiying the need (problem)

2. Providing a plan or solution (plan)

3. Proving the solution (practicality)



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26There are three common proos used in persuasion as originally dened in Aristotles Rhetoric:

Ethos Ethos is an appeal to credibility. You appeal to the audience by highlighting your

education level, articulation and/or presentation skills.

Pathos Pathos is an appeal to emotion. You appeal to the emotions and values o the

audience.

Logos Logos is an appeal to rational thought. You appeal to the intellect or rationality

o the audience.

Entertaining Presentations

In an entertaining speech, you seek to amuse the audience. The speech does not have to be

explicitly unny. It could be a drama, a poem or another orm o diversion. The speech should

not require great depth o thinking or concentration. The speech can have a message but the

message should not be the central part o the presentation.

Entertaining speeches must include simple, vivid details in a narrative ormat. In a typical

entertaining speech, you are trying to bring people together or a shared occasion or experi-ence. As a result, most entertaining speeches are special-occasion speeches such as toasts,

roasts, award presentations or ater-dinner speeches.

In an entertaining speech more than any other, the

audience will refect your mood. I you are not passionate,

the audience will not be passionate. I you are not smiling,

the audience will not smile. I you are not enjoying

yoursel, the audience will not enjoy themselves. Smile.

Laugh. Have un. Be personable.

Dierent purposes require dierent presentation styles. Choose your speech style beore

writing your material. Your style will determine the structure o your outline and infuence yourdelivery techniques.


The audience refects

the speakers mood.

Spectacular achievements are always

preceded by unspectacular preparation.

- re Staubac


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2


Pepaatin Pcess

Preparation ensures readiness or the writing process. Most technical proessionals

delve immediately into writing. Only later, i at all, do they think about how to present theinormation. To improve your presentations, invert the process. Research who, what, when,

where, why and how, rst. Keep notes. Analyze the data. Formulate plans. Ater these steps

are complete, create an outline and begin the writing process.

Plan and prepare with the Five Ws (and One H)technique. Once you have dened the

audience, message and speech type, the details o the presentation and delivery will ollow.

In Book II: Structure - Anatomy of a Successful Presentation, we will explore the details

o how to structure your material in a clear organized manner.

Normal sequence o product design

1. Management announces the product

2. Technical writing publishes the manual

3. Engineering begins designing it

- Wiiam htn


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28 Appendix A Sampe Audience Anasis

Questinnaie

General Logistics

1. Date, start time and duration o presentation

2. Meeting location (address, phone number, room)

3. Contact person or presentation (name, phone number, e-mail)

4. Attire (business, business casual, ormal)

5. Room setup (round tables, classroom, theater)

6. A/V (lectern, microphone, fip chart, whiteboard, projector, lights)

7. What options are available i the A/V ails?

8. Will the presentation be taped or broadcast?

9. Is this a teleconerence, web presentation, or in-person presentation?

10. Who (audience, organizer, executive) will evaluate the presentation?

11. Will ood and/or beverages be served?

Group Demographics

1. Approximate ages, percentage o males/emales, educational backgrounds

and occupations

2. How many people will be attending?

3. Will there be special guests in the audience?

Group Interests/Needs1. What are the three main challenges/concerns aced by members o your group?

2. Why is this presentation being coordinated or the group?

3. What is the groups overall opinion about attending this meeting?

4. What is the groups overall opinion regarding this subject?

5. How much does the audience know about this topic?

6. What specically are you trying to accomplish with this meeting?

7. Are there any specic topics you eel I should include?

8. Are there any specic topics you eel I should exclude?

9. What actions do you want your group to take?

Historical Inormation

1. Is this a recurring meeting?

2. What speakers have presented in the past?

3. What topics have been presented beore?

4. What three most signicant events have occurred in the group in the past year?



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2Bibiap

Adams, Tyrone and DeCaro, Peter. Public Speaking: the ACA Open Knowledge Online Guide.

n.d. Web. 3 January 2010.

Booher, Dianna. E-Writing: 21stCentury Tools or Eective Communication. New York: Pocket

Books, 2001. Print.

Dlugan, Andrew. The Speech Preparation Series. Six Minutes. 28 February 2008. Web. 31

December 2009.

Maxwell, John. The 17 Essential Qualities o a Team Player. Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.,

2002. Print.

Mitchell, Olivia. How to Crat a Memorable Key Message in 10 Minutes. Speaking about

Presenting. n.d. Web. 31 December 2009.

Sloan, Trey. Know Your Audience to Deliver an Eective Presentation. Video Proessor. n.d.Web. 28 December 2009.

Technical Presentations, Advanced Communication and Leadership Program, Toastmasters

International, 1992

Witt, Chris. Presentation Tips, Strategy. Lie ater PowerPoint. n.d. Web. 31 December 2009.



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30 Acknwedements

Thank you or taking time to learn about preparing and planning or a technical presentation.

Your presentation prociency will not improve overnight. However, by incorporating andpracticing the suggestions provided in this book, you willimprove. For those wishing to improve

their presentation skills signicantly, I strongly recommend Toastmasters International, a sup-

portive and positive organization in which you will learn communication and leadership skills.

Thank you, Alex. Your constant support and willingness to give up many evenings, and the rare,

ree weekends made it possible or me to write this book.

Thank you, Mom and Dad. You taught me the solid principles o excellence, persistence and

ocused work, without which I would not be where I am.

I am grateul to Bob Macemon or listening, editing and reely sharing ideas.

I am grateul to Deb Nowak or reviewing, commenting and providing thoughtul eedback.

I am grateul to Lucy Paine Kezar or providing experienced, writing advice.

I am grateul to Audrey Selig or providing helpul, stylistic comments.

I am grateul to the many Toastmasters members who have helped me improve my presenta-

tion skills, and have continually inspired me to incorporate eedback to achieve excellence.

I am grateul to Georgia Stelluto, IEEE-USA Publishing Manager, or encouraging and editing

this book.



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3Abut te Aut

Nita Patel, P.E., PMP, DTM, is a practicing systems/sotware engineer and an active IEEE and

Toastmasters International volunteer. Nita is a Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest levelo certication in Toastmasters, and typically presents thirty to orty speeches each year. She

received her BSEE, BS Mathematics and MSCpE degrees rom Southern Methodist University,

Dallas, TX. Nita can be reached at [email protected].



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Documents

Technical Presentations Book 1 Strategy Preparation and Planning