ALICE WASS
Exploring Media

The focus of this workshop was to help improve our presentation skills. Giving presentations, whether formal or informal, is an important life skill. In the next few weeks, I have to give two presentations, one individually and the other as a group, which will be assessed. As I have never given an assessed presentation before, this workshop could not have come at a better time.

 

The key thing to remember when presenting, is that it is not about ourselves! The aim of a presentation, is to get information about a topic, from our head into the heads of our audience. This means that overall delivery, tonality and body language are more important than the words spoken. There is no need to repeat a presentation word for word, as the aim is to get the overall message across.

 

The workshop taught the best way to structure a presentation. Firstly, explore the purpose of the presentation by asking ourselves what we are trying to achieve. Once the objective has been defined, the relevant research can be carried out. It is important to understand our audience and be clear about our outcomes, along with giving consideration to the facilities available.

 

Preparation is the next challenge, including deciding what format it will take and whether this will work okay. It was suggested that the best way to prepare for a presentation is through mind-mapping, helping to organise the content of a presentation into a structure. Once all of the information is in a mind-map then it can be edited by using ABC (A = essential, B = desirable and C = unimportant). In this drafting process the presentation should be divided into its beginning, middle and end. Also during this stage, it might help to make a PowerPoint presentation as a visual aid. However, the presenter should not be looking at this and it should not be filled with information. A PowerPoint should be: creative, the colour and text should be balanced, it should use images, have only one message per slide and stay relevant. The slides are there to work for the presenter, not the other way around.

 

The last stage is practice, which should be done ideally five times, to help build confidence, and once in front of others. When delivering the message, it is important to stay confident (and if not, just fake it!). To achieve this, make sure to maintain composure, relax and move, think about eye contact and body language, make sure to talk with the audience, and only allow questions at the end.

 

Once we had received all these tips, we were set a group activity, including planning, preparing and delivering a presentation. Our group decided to do a presentation about holidays, encouraging people to consider some specific destinations. This activity demonstrated how important each stage was and when it came to delivering the presentation, it went extremely well. We received positive feedback as a group, for example all smiling which made our audience smile. One of the workshop leaders also told me I was highly engaging, supplying the important information in a clear and concise way which carried the audience along with me.

 

After this workshop, I now feel confident about my forthcoming assessed presentations, as I know how to plan and achieve a good presentation. Also the positive feedback I received has helped to increase my confidence about my ability and I will hopefully be able to do well when giving my presentations.