You ARE your audience
Hi Liz,
One fundamental mistake a lot of people make when doing presentations is presenting what YOU want to present - not presenting what your audience want. Let me explain...
Your audience want something off of you otherwise they wouldnt be asking you to do this presentation, ie (my assumption) that you are the right person for this role. Ok, so what do you think they are looking for?
Once youve answered that question, try to break your presentation down into three stages...
1) what you beleive they are looking for (unless they tell you this then you will have to make a judgement on this - but this will also be what they are looking to get out of you). Dont worry if this part turns out to not tick all their boxes - they will be looking at you to determine if you are on the right wave length and if they can develop you to what you want.
2) demonstrate that you are the right person to do this role by answering each point as directly as possible. Dont waffle, give facts where you can and keep it short and swift. Dont labour on any points as this will make you run out of time and you could end up in a debate (a big NO NO in this situation as you are under a time constraint and you MUST control the presentation).
3) Summarize points 1 and 2, be brief and finish on the fact that you honestly beleive you fit this role.
Advice:
Be confident - but not cocky (you must believe you can do this role!)
Be factual - not subjective (facts arent open to debate)
Finish within your time (otherwise they may cut you short and you'll not have had time to sell yourself)
If you get any questions during the presentation politely answer that you may come on to answer that point in your presentation or alternatively you will pick it up at the end (this way you are controlling the presentation and controlling your time allowance)
Presentation Style
If you are going to use PowerPoint keep your slides brief, DONT PUT ON YOUR SLIDES EVERYTHING YOU SAY (biggest NO NO there is!!!!) use your slides as prompts to support what you are saying.
I hope this helps.
Good luck.
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