Presentation and Public Speaking Skills

Transcription

1 Youth Club Young Volunteer Handbook Task Training Presentation and Public Speaking Skills This resource may be used free of charge by local authorities and community groups for the benefit of young people; its use for commercial gain is prohibited without the prior consent of Somerset County Council. Somerset County Council 2014

2 Youth Club Young Volunteer Task Training Presentation & public speaking skills Training Plan Aim: To provide some hints and tips to help make giving presentations and public speaking much easier. Learning Outcomes: By the end of the session the participants will: know how to plan and prepare a presentation, including working out their key message understand what makes a presentation successful have practised giving a short presentation Time: 90 minutes Group size: 4-6 Venue: Large room with chairs Materials: Flip chart paper and marker pens Post-its and pens Preparation and delivery handout Evaluation sheets TIME WHAT WITH 5 mins Introduction: tell the group what they ll be doing and go over the ground rules (listening, respect etc). 5 mins Working as a whole group, ask the young people when they think they may be required to speak in public. Example prompts: management committee, council meeting, peer education, voluntary groups, at school, community meetings. 5 mins Fears ask the group to write down on post-its any fears they have about speaking in public and place them on a flip chart. Explain to the group that hopefully these fears will be addressed throughout the session and that you will return to the post-its at the end. 5 mins Who gives good presentations? What makes them good? Brainstorm 5 mins Your key message: This is the most important thing to work out and you should do it first. When you know what you want to get across, write it in a sentence on a piece of paper and keep it in front of you when planning the rest of your presentation. It will influence all that you do, including your presentation method! Flip chart, post-its and pens Flipchart paper and pens Ask the group to identify the different mediums that can be used for presenting e.g. flip charts and pens, PowerPoint, prompt cards / plans, handouts and speaking from memory. Discuss what they thought as you used each one.

3 TIME WHAT WITH 10 mins Preparation: Tell the group that much of the hassle of speaking in public can be avoided by doing lots of preparation. Ask each participant to list what they can do as preparation for the delivery of a report on their youth centres to the management committee, giving each participant one of the following headings: Prepared flipcharts and pens What will you say? How will you remember? How will you look / present yourself? Equipment and set up How will you cope with questions 10 mins Feedback ideas, ensuring all on the Preparation and delivery handout is covered. Discuss how preparation can help with nerves (practice, drinking water, doing in pairs, prompts / notes etc, sitting not standing, type of prop and presentation method) and stress the need for practice and backup. Give out the handout. Preparation and delivery handout 10 mins In pairs create a short presentation (two minutes each) on something that is of interest to you, could be as simple as riding a bike or making a piece of toast. After doing the presentations, give a little feedback. Give Handouts 15 mins Presentations and feedback 10 mins Revisit fears flipchart and make sure that all the fears have been addressed, ask for questions. Flipcharts, paper, cards, pens Fears flip chart 5 mins Evaluation Evaluation sheets

4 Youth Club Young Volunteer Task Training Presentation & public speaking skills Preparation & delivery Giving a presentation and speaking in public is nerve-wracking at first. However, it does get easier with time. Listed below are some hints and tips to it easier and give you more confidence. You can do it! Preparation What will you say? The first thing to do is work out what you need to say. Don t pad things out or waffle as this will just bore people. Find out who your audience is likely to be and what they already know (or don t know). This way you can judge the depth of the information you give them. Start by writing your aim on a slip of paper and ensuring that everything you say is related to it! Then, put it in a logical sequence. If you are unsure, check it with someone else you don t have to do all this on your own! Then write it out in full. How will you remember? From this write notes, headings or points to remember on cards. If you are using a flip chart (see below) write in pencil underneath the main points only you can see the writing and everyone else thinks you are remembering! Don t try to remember everything off by heart ; always take notes with you. It is easier to talk if you have something for people to look at other than you. Putting main points on a flip chart or Overhead Projector is a good focus for people s eyes and minds. Practise giving your presentation and time it. Let whoever s in charge know how long you will be speaking. Unfortunately, practise makes perfect and there are no real short cuts so practise as much as possible. What will you wear? Whilst a suit and tie isn t a must, dressing appropriately is a useful tool. It shows you are taking things seriously and are being trustworthy what ever that means! It may be very informal, in which case wear what you like, but try for clean and tidy. If more formal, look a bit smarter. People will judge what you say on the way you present yourself so dress is worth thinking about. The checklist Always check you have everything you need remembering that you have forgotten your notes or handouts halfway through is a nightmare! Make a checklist beforehand and use it! Starting Introduce yourself, tell people what you are going to do and tell people how long it will last. This will excite their interest and focus their minds.

5 During the Presentation Body language People take notice of your communication in the following proportion: 58% how you look 35% your tone, volume and speed of speech 7% the words you use So, remember to smile, use open gestures and speak clearly and expressively monotones are off puting. Also, be aware of any possibly distracting behaviour (jangling keys, rocking on your feet etc.) Keeping attention The easiest way is to make eye contact with everyone you re speaking to not all at once and ensuring that you don t just speak to one part of the room. This makes people feel involved and keeps them on their toes. Using humour is also a good idea. It will make the audience (and you) feel relaxed. Don t use too much as people may stop taking you seriously. Answering questions Holding discussions Always remember to ask for questions at the end of a presentation, it gives people the opportunity to clarify things and gives you the opportunity to explain. Always try to answer the question posed and if you don t know say you don t! People do appreciate honesty and can usually tell when you are fudging answers. If you re not sure of the answer but have a view say so. There is a fine line between controlling a group so much that you hog all the limelight and letting the whole thing run riot. Try to get everyone to speak, by asking open questions (e.g. what is your opinion about? rather than do you think that? which can be answered by a simple yes or no). If someone talks for too long, or simply rambles on endlessly, try not to put them down. Instead say something like that is an interesting point of view, what does the rest of the group think?. Never humiliate a group member, be sensitive to people s feelings and watch for non verbal signs that individuals are getting irritated, bored or upset. Silence can be just as difficult as everyone talking at once an activity can help, especially if it s one in small groups, so some of the barriers can be broken down. In the large group if no one responds to an open question, ask one of the confident members by name, or start by sharing your own views and feelings. A few minutes before the time for discussion is up and it is time to move on, thank everyone for their contributions and summarise the main points of the discussion (this means you will have to have been listening very hard) before going on to the next thing.

6 Youth Club Young Volunteer Task Training Presentation & public speaking skills Evaluation Please say how useful the training was in the following areas: Knowing how to plan and prepare for your presentations Understanding the different types of presentation and what makes presentations successful Having strategies to overcome nerves Practising presentations