Public Speaking and You
3 What makes a presentation good?
In this chapter you’ll learn the two basics of a great presentation: structure and delivery. You’ll also see examples of presentations ranging from poor to excellent.
Structure
There are lots of ways to structure a presentation, but we like this one best. It’s clear, simple and fits most presentations. This structure has 10 parts:
- Grabber/hook: A very brief and interesting statement or question that grabs the audience’s attention
- Self-introduction including full name & credential: Who you are and why you’re qualified to present this content
- Thesis: What you’re going to speak about
- Overview of main points
- Key point 1
- Key point 2
- Key point 3
- Conclusion: Restate the thesis
- Summary of main points: Restate the overview
- Call to action: What you want the audience to do
You’ll learn the details in Chapter 8: How to structure your presentation.
Delivery
What makes good presenters engaging? What makes you want to watch and listen? Great delivery includes:
- Confidence
- Passion
- Proficient body language
- Eye contact
- Speaking clearly, being easy to understand
- Effective pauses
- Few hesitations or filler words
- Using words and phrases that are appropriate for the audience
- Accurate timing: not going overtime or ending too early
- Smooth transitions between sentences and sections
We’ll discuss these skills in detail in Chapter 9: How to deliver your presentation.
