The Importance and Process of Business Presentation

Dr. Dhananjay Chaudhari (dschaudhari@coe.sveri.ac.in), Assistant Professor & Dean Admissions, Publicity & Protocol, SVERI’s College of Engineering, Pandharpur

Introduction:

A presentation is defined as the process through which a professional person presents a topic/an issue to the audience. There may be a series of points to be presented before the audience. It can be in the form of a demonstration, an introduction to any new concept, a lecture or a speech. Presentations are required at workplace or in business for multiple purposes. The main goals of a presentation include: to motivate, to inform, to persuade, to advertise or to build rapport with the audience. It is formal type of group communication or sometimes interpersonal communication. A presentation is the way to influence the audience with reference to specific matter. It can be done with the help of traditional method of talk and chalk as well as with the modern method of power point presentation.

A. Role/Need/Importance/Necessity of Business Presentation:

The following points highlight the importance/need of business presentation:

1. To inform the audience/clients/consumers: Many times it is the need of any business that the consumers/clients should be informed about specific matters of business. In such case, formal meeting and presentation play important roles. Through presentations, the consumers can get knowledge about the products and services, the ways to utilize them, the terms and conditions of use, the precautions to be taken and so on.
2. To motivate the co-workers/colleagues: It is the need of any business that the co-workers/ colleagues should be motivated for certain tasks and duties. Sometimes the employees may be reluctant/ lethargic for work. In such cases, a motivational presentation can be useful to brainstorm and turn their minds and make them to work with greater force and enthusiasm.
3. To advertise the products and services: Advertising has become the need of any business due to competition in markets. In such cases, presentations play an important role to persuade the customers positively and make them to buy the products and services. The advertising through presentation may be directly for making the customers to buy or for creating a good image of the company in the minds of the customers.
4. To give trainings about technical matters: In modern business scenario, technology and technical equipments/ instruments play a vital role. Many times, the workers are not aware about the ways in which such equipments function. Through presentations, the workers can be made aware about such technical matters.
5. To make decisionsand solve problems: Many times organizations face multiple types of problems. Organizations need to solve such problems to sustain in market. In such situations, the employees of any organization need to be made aware about the problems through presentations. Their opinions about those problems need to be collected to make suitable decisions.

B. Process of Making a Business Presentation/ Steps in Preparing a Presentation

A presentation is the process through which a person presents a topic/an issue to the audience. As a presentation is the way to influence the people, it should be designed systematically by taking into consideration the major and minor aspects related to it.

 a) Planning and organizing the presentation: For planning the presentation, following steps need to be adopted:

1.  Defining the Context and Analyzing the Target Audience

It is the need of successful presentation that the speaker must know the context and the target audience with different points of view. The speaker/ presenter should know the communicative needs, interests, basic understanding/knowledge, maturity level, understanding level, age, and qualifications etc. of the audience. In other words, the speaker should put himself /herself in the shoes of the audience. On the basis of collected information, the speaker can judge possible expectations of the audience and can bring suitable changes in the presentation.

2. Selecting the Topic/Issue

After collecting information about the target audience, particularly about the communicative needs, the speaker should select suitable topic of presentation. Usually the audience is in need of some information, ideas and solutions to the problems they face. In such circumstances, the thoughtfully designed presentation will be relevant and the audience will certainly feel satisfied.

3. Deciding the Objectives/Goals of the Presentation

After selection of the topic, we should decide the objective/goal of the presentation. The objective should specify what the audience will get/learn after the presentation. The number of objectives should be limited to one or two. If we have more objectives, there are chances of digressions from the main issue. The objectives should be in clear terms and free from ambiguities.

4. Preparing the Body/Structure of the Presentation

After finalization of the objective/s of our presentation, we should decide the quantity of information that we as the presenters are supposed to transfer within the stipulated time. The structuring of the presentation should be done by keeping in mind the previous understanding of the audience. Otherwise there are chances of negative reflection among the audience. The words and sentences we select should contribute for the development of central idea of our presentation. To make our presentation more effective we should follow following guidelines:

1. The content of the presentation should be more realistic and less imaginary.
2. The words and expressions should be used carefully.
3. Add short evidences, personal experiences and examples to catch attention.
4. Be careful about the grammatical aspects like tenses, spellings etc.
5. Add visuals like pictures and graphs at suitable places.
6. Use handouts if necessary.
7. Be precise to maintain the interest of the audience.

5.  Preparing the Introduction as well as Conclusion of the Presentation

After finalization of the body i.e. the main content of the presentation, we should decide the ways of beginning and ending the presentation. It is usually said that ‘good start is half completed’ or ‘first impression is the last impression’. In this sense, the beginning of the presentation should be effective to catch the attention of the audience. It should be relevant to the needs and interest of the audience. The topic and purpose of the presentation should be focused. The middle part of the body i.e. main content should maintain the interest of the audience and the ending remarks should conclude the presentation. It is the matter of reviewing and retelling the things that you have told earlier during the presentation.

6. Practicing and Delivering the Presentation

It is usually said that practice is the way to perfection. In this sense, we need to practice it before the actual presentation. With the help of practice, we come across the shortcomings in our own presentation. On the basis of identified shortcomings, we can get the ways to improve. During actual presentation; we should intentionally focus on the vocalic aspects like level of voice/volume, stress, pitch, pauses, intonation etc. The speed of presentation should be enough slow so that the audience will understand properly.  The talk must be supported with most suitable examples at suitable times. There should be logical sequence in the explanation of ideas. To maintain the sequence, we should use the words like –‘firstly’, ‘secondly’, ‘thirdly’ and so on. During presentation, we should maintain eye contact with the audience. We should speak confidently.

7. Sparing Time for Interaction with the Audience

The audience is always curious to know more about the issue of presentation. They may also need more clarification about any of the major or minor points of the presentation. So, some of the available time should be spared for question-answer session with the audience. To satisfy the questions of the audience, the possible questions and their answers should be prepared. The answers should be relevant to the question and they should be supported with suitable examples and numerical facts. The presenter should give some positive compliments about the asked question and should also thank the questioner.

References:

1. The Art of Public Speaking-Dale Carnegie & J. Berg Esenwein
2. Effective Communication Skills for Scientific and Technical Professionals-Harry E.Chambers