Presentation

Presentation on the Wikipedia Academy 2006 given by Jimmy Wales

This article is about presentation in general. For other uses, see Presentation (disambiguation).

Presentation is the practice of showing and explaining the content of a topic to an audience or learner. Presentations come in nearly as many forms as there are life situations. In the business world, there are sales presentations, informational and motivational presentations, first encounters, interviews, briefings, status reports, image-building, and of course, the inevitable training sessions.

Although individuals most often think of presentations in a business meeting context, there are countless occasions when that is not the case. For example, a Non Profit Organization presents the need for a capital fund-raising campaign to benefit the victims of a recent tragedy; a school district superintendent presents a program to parents about the introduction of foreign-language instruction in the elementary schools;an artist demonstrates decorative painting techniques to a group of interior designers; a horticulturist shows garden club members or homeowners how they might use native plants in the suburban landscape; a police officer addresses a neighborhood association about initiating a safety program.

Presentations can also be categorized as vocational and avocational. In addition, they are expository or persuasive. And they can be impromptu, extemporaneous, written, or memorizes. When looking at presentations in the broadest terms, it's more important to focus on their purpose. There are three basic purposes for giving oral presentations:

1. To Inform
2. To Persuade
3. To Build Goodwill

Definitions

• The process of offering for consideration or display
• A social introduction, as of a person at court
• A demonstration, lecture, or welcoming speech
• A manner or style of speaking, instructing, or putting oneself forward
• The manner of presenting, esp the organization of visual details to create an overall impression
• The formal introduction of a person, as into society or at court; debut

Audience

There are far more types of audiences than there are types of presentations because audiences are made up of people and people come in innumerable flavors. Individuals could be invited to speak to groups all across the country. What the individual says and how they may say it depends on the makeup of those groups. They may ask you the individual to address a room full of factory operations managers who have no choice but to attend their talk, you they may go before a congressional committee looking into various environmental issues. When an individual stands up to deliver a presentation before an audience, its essential that the audience know who the presenter is, why they are there, what specifically they expect to get from your presentation, and how they will react to your message. You wont always be able to determine these factors, but you should try to gather as much background information as possible before your presentation. There will be times, especially with presentations that are open to the public, when you will only be able to guess.

Audiences can be classified into four basic categories:

1. Captives
2. Pragmatists
3. Socially Motivated
4. Committed

Visuals

A study done by Wharton School Of Business showed that the use of visuals reduced meeting times by 28 percent. Another study found that audiences believe presenters who use visuals are more professional and credible than presenters who merely speak. And still other research indicates that meetings and presentations reinforced with visuals help participants reach decisions and consensus in less time.

A presentation program, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, OpenOffice.org Impress or Prezi, is often used to generate the presentation content. Modern internet based presentation software, such as the presentation application in Google Docs also allow presentations to be developed collaboratively by geographically disparate collaborators. The development of information technology has made the use of these solutions possible, but overhead transparencies are still used widely.

Helpful Presentation Tips

• Easy Format
• Organize Your Thoughts
• Know Your Material
• Prep Time
• Outline Your Presentations

Helpful Effective Presentation Tips

Developing a strong, informative presentation may not always be easy and a lot of the time it is a challenge for business people. There are four major steps to follow if you want to give an effective presentation that you will feel good about after.

First off, keep the presentation simple; there is always a temptation to tell everything at once to the clients which tends to be overwhelming. Your clients can only take in so much information at one time so do not overload them or they could potentially shut themselves off to the information.

Second, talk the prospects language. If you talk all model numbers and industry lingo, the customers will not understand what the representative is saying and then pretend that they understand your product or what is going on. You want them to be as involved in the presentation and understand all that you are trying to present.

Third, stress the application of the product or service to the prospects situation meaning tailor the presentation to the application or person at hand . You must adapt your presentation to the situation and person because every person has different views and priorities .

Fourth and last but not least, above all seek credibility at every turn. The entire presentation is nothing if it is not believed . You need to make sure that each statement you make is credible and that you prove each of your points. If you want your products/services to be sold and brought to your client’s attention, you must get the client to believe what you are saying. The real key to successful selling lies in the credibility.

You also want to make sure that you cover all of the bases before, during and after your presentation such as balancing verbal and non-verbal messages, developing and organizing your presentation content, preparing to give the presentation, use visual aids and supportive materials, handling questions from the audience and managing the presentation environment (American Management Association, 2011) Once you have all of these simple tips mastered, the effective presentation will come together.

See also

• Academic conference
• CustomShow
• Lecture
• Persuasion technology
• Presentation program
• Knowledge visualization
• Pecha Kucha Rapid-display format for creative presentations
• Photo slideshow
• Takahashi method - A technique of producing simple bold slides for presentations

For other uses, see Presentation (disambiguation).

References

Definition of Presentations

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/presentation http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/presentation http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/presentation

Content ( Types,Audience,Visual)

Daria Price Bowman. (1998). Presentations. Madison WI: F+W Publications Inc.

External links

"Presentations" redirects here. For the Windows software, see Corel Presentations.

• Ten Simple Rules for Good Presentations
• A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods
• Portable Electronic Presentations (Pacific Northwest Research Station)