HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
ProSkills
HTML 1013
verbal communication
Giving a Presentation About a Web App
The best presentations are planned well in advance of their delivery. The planning pro-
cess is simple and easy, yet inexperienced presenters often forget some of the steps. To
prepare for your presentation, you should study the following four-step process.
Step 1: Plan
As you begin preparing for your presentation, you need to ask a few key questions to
help you plan what to say. If you can't answer these questions at the start, your pre-
sentation will fail to deliver its message or motivate your audience to take any action.
Conversely, with clear answers to these simple questions, you'll be better able to focus
your attention on providing an organized, logical, and meaningful presentation:
• What is the purpose of your presentation?
• Who is your audience?
• How much time do you have for the presentation?
• What kind of output devices do you require?
Some presentations are effectively delivered with on-screen visuals. Others require printed
support materials because there is too much information to be displayed on the screen, or
the presenter wants the audience members to have something to take with them.
Step 2: Prepare
Before preparing your presentation, make sure you know your topic. The more you
understand your topic, the more relaxed you'll be when speaking about it. Your knowl-
edge also will help you answer questions from your audience. This doesn't mean you
have to be an expert, but you must be able to correctly pronounce and explain terminol-
ogy, provide additional information or quantitative data to support your main points, and
be able to logically guide your listeners through your presentation from beginning to
end. There's a classic presentation maxim that goes like this:
• Tell them what you're going to tell them (this is your opening).
• Tell them (this is your message).
• Tell them what you just told them (this is your closing).
It's a simple but effective way of thinking about how to organize your presentation. As
you prepare, start writing down an outline following those three basic points.
Step 3: Practice
Even the most knowledgeable speakers practice their presentations to ensure they know
how the topic flows, what the main points are, how much time to spend on each slide,
and where to place the emphasis. As you practice, get passionate, speak with authority,
and smile. If you aren't excited about your presentation, how do you think your audience
will feel? By projecting your voice with energy, passion, and confidence, your audience
automatically will pay more attention to you.
