Defining objective

Having a clear idea of what the people in the audience are: their knowledge on the subject, status, age, business culture, specific interests – these help identify the needs of the audience. The information you are going to present should be tailored to meet the needs of the listeners.

The presenter should know exactly where and when the presentation is to be given. Its length should be planned beforehand. Presentations made in the form of short, condensed talks are the rule in the management world. Outlining the subject matter of the presentation should be in full conformity with its targets.

Devising the format which is most appropriate to the subject of presentation is of prime importance. After providing answers to the seven basic questions: why? to whom? what? where? when? how long? how?, the presenter gets down to the script of the presentation.

Writing the material of the presentation in note form with brief outline of the subject matter as its core is rather useful for a speaker.

Experience tells us that in most cases the presenter cannot do without some background information. Before he gets down to the problem itself, he has to survey the history of a problem, the factors which influenced the failures or successes of a project, the present state of things in a particular area, the home and overall market for a particular commodity, all the potential competitors, the standards of performance in the key area, etc.

Structure of presentation. Getting started

A presentation also has an overall structure. Most presentations follow this sequence:

Greetings and introduction

If there is no one else to introduce you at the start of your presentation, you should greet the audience and introduce yourself. In your introduction you should tell them something about yourself, your company or your responsibilities, whatever is relevant to the presentation.

It is useful, before you start, to tell the audience when you will deal with questions, either during or after the talk.

It is also helpful for the audience to know whether they will receive handouts or whether they will need to copy your visuals, etc. You will be more likely to have the audience's attention if they know they can just sit and listen without having to make notes.

Don't start your introduction until the audience has settled down and you have got everyone's attention.

Stating the purpose and giving an outline of the presentation

After your introduction, tell the audience the subject and purpose of your presentation. This focuses the audience's attention on what you are going to talk about and why.

Then, give them a brief outline of what you are going to say. This means telling them in which order you will deal with different items. You should give an overview of your key points so the audience will understand better what follows.

Your outline should

• get audience attention and focus it on your theme

• give an overview of the key points of your presentation

• tell them the content and structure of your presentation

A presentation itself commonly divides into three main sections: introduction, body, conclusion, to put it simply, a beginning, a middle and an end. A typical introduction is divided in its turn in four parts: opening courtesies, stating the target, providing an overview, stating the rules. Common courtesy dictates that the presenter should signal the start, green the audience, introduce himself/herself (or thank the person who has introduced the presenter to the audience) and create a positive emotional atmosphere (by giving a smile, telling a joke, asking questions, etc.) A good beginning makes a good ending. This is true of a presentation: the opening and closing bits are the most memorable ones, thus might be crucial to the success of a presentation.