How a speaker appears to the audience will have an impact on
their reaction to what is presented. It is therefore important to dress
appropriately. All speakers should stand for their presentation, even when
addressing a small group, as this promotes a more professional style. Any
gestures should be natural and fidgeting or shuffling minimized as these are
distracting. You should always face the audience and aim to make eye contact by
moving your eyes across the room.
Try to use a natural conversational tone as this helps to
engage the audience. Use a pace which is slow enough for the audience to hear
and assimilate what has been said. This requires practice as it is common to
rush when nervous, making it difficult for the audience to interpret the
information.
Now, watch the following video:
Audience participation is important during presentations,
but is more difficult to manage if the audience is large. In smaller groups
involving the audience in discussions is helpful in assessing whether the
audience understands the concepts and also helps to break up the session and
maintains the audience’s interest. Participation may differ in audiences with a
different language who are concentrating to understand; it does not necessarily
indicate lack of interest. A lack of participation may also be due to
difference in culture, where asking questions and participating in a lively discussion
is not the norm, especially where different members of the hierarchy are
together in the audience.
Think ahead of questions that may be asked and during
practice sessions ask your ‘mock’ audience to pose questions at the end. This
will give you practice in dealing with questions and will allow you to prepare
some possible answers in advance. Do not be afraid to ask the questioner to
repeat or clarify their question; if you did not understand it is likely that members
of the audience did not understand either.
Watch the following video that summarizes aspects of good and bad presentations:
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