Making the perfect Job Presentation

Making the Perfect Job Presentation

How to Ace a job presentation

GREAT PRESENTATION EXAMPLE

Sometimes as part of the interview process you may be required to give a presentation to show the interviewer(s) and other members of management who have a hand in the selection process that you have what it takes to perform the role. Standing up in front of an audience, with every eye locked squarely onto you, and delivering a good presentation can be a very challenging thing to do indeed. Whether you’re making a sales presentation, pitching for a job, or presenting anything in-between, it’s usually regarded as quite a nerve-wracking experience, even for those of us with prior experience of speaking infront of large audiences. With that being said, the advantages of an effective presentation can be numerous, not only when it comes to your own job prospects, but when it comes to any other cause or pursuit you might be involved with, and is normally a lot easier than it seems once you get up on stage and actually do it. Delivering an effective presentation can not only give your job prospects a huge lift, but on a more personal level, it can also be great for your self-esteem, giving you a huge confidence boost as you continue on to traverse other parts of your interview

You’ll find job presentations will only ever be required in a very limited number of roles; certain sales roles, important managerial roles, roles requiring a high degree of technical specialization where the position you’re entering into is regarded as highly important to the core success of that organisation, or roles where you may be required to give presentations regularly as part of your everyday job duties (such as positions where you may be required to pitch for grants, or present plans and proposals to investors or committee’s). These can be areas such as B2B sales, project support roles, some mid and senior management level roles, or roles where a high degree of technical expertise is required

Remember that although you may feel nervous, everyone else who gets up on stage to give their presentations will be feeling exactly the same way too, whether it shows or not!

That’s why when doing any kind of presenting or public speaking, whether as part of an interview or for any other reason, it can be really helpful to keep in mind that irregardless of whether they’ve chosen to or not, your audience are people who are taking the time to give you their undivided attention, and as such, they want to be entertained…they want to be intrigued…and they definitely want you to succeed! This is a basic fact that people speaking in front of audiences often overlook. Also keep in mind that there are numerous tools and strategies you can use to aid your presentation to make it more interesting and enjoyable for your audience, and while we’ll be focusing on how to ace your presentation in a job interview, many of these same strategies can also be utilised when giving presentations as part of your everyday workplace functions…so…let’s not waste any more time…why don’t we get started and take a look at some of these now

Also – Keep a look out because at the end of this we’ll show you how to present the perfect Job Presentation to your employer

Step 1 – STARTING OFF
If you know you have to give a presentation as part of a job interview, you’ll want to have a clear outline of what this entails. To do this, make sure you collect clear instructions from the employer on the following:

The specific topic you’ll be expected to cover
This is one of the most basic, and important, things for you to establish pre-presentation. If you’re at all unsure about what you’re expected to cover, don’t be afraid to ask! Covering the correct topic is of fundamental importance when delivering any presentation where a job interview is concerned. Because if you don’t implicitly cover what is specified by the employer you’ll be heavily marked down, to the point at which it will seriously jeopardise your chances of landing the role.

An employer might specify you conduct a presentation on any multitude of different subjects. This might range from things like a technical aspect involved with the role you’ll be performing, a fictitious sales presentation if the job is for a sales role, how your particular management style is best suited to drive efficiency and promote productivity within the workplace if you’re applying for a mid-level or senior management role, to perhaps something altogether more straightforward if you’re applying for any other type of role – Such as what you’ll be able bring to the company or what makes you the ideal candidate for the role

Length of time you’ll have
You’ll need to know how much time you’ll have to deliver your presentation so you can plan it out and prepare for it accordingly.
If you have 10mins to deliver your presentation, try to plan out a presentation that will last for 9 mins, if your presentation lasts for 20 mins, plan to out one that lasts for 18 mins, etc. That way you’ll have a small window of time left in case you run over

Equipment available
Another vital aspect of any preparation, you’ll need to know specifically what equipment you’ll have at your disposal to do your presentation with. Knowing this will help you prepare both mentally and practically with the right slides and visual aids

A visual outline of the venue if possible
Knowing this can help you mentally prepare as you visualize your presentation while you rehearse

Index Cards
Check with the employer if index cards are permissible

Step 2 – WRITING OUT YOUR PRESENTATION

Writing out your presentation can often times be more fun than you think

You’ve made the effort to collect all the details you’ll need from Step 1, which means you’re now familiar with the topic you’ll be covering and the length of time you’ll have to present it, and that now means you can start to write out a great presentation that you can be sure to wow your audience with

When preparing for a job interview, before you even start to write anything down, deciding on a prevailing message for your presentation and sticking with it throughout the course of your presentation is the first thing you should do. This could be things like

Why you’re the ideal candidate for the role
What unique skills you’ll be able to bring to the organization
What you can do for the organisation that others can’t
Why you’ve always wanted to work for that organisation
…Anything else you can think of that will help you put across the best presentation possible…

Keep the content in your presentation simple and straightforward and tie it in as best you can to the prevailing message you’ve decided to go with throughout presentation

The best way to write out a presentation is to start by planning it out first. Do this by writing a chronology in the form of a numbered list of points you want to cover on each slide. From there, write out the presentation that you plan to deliver to your audience on separate pages of single-sided A4 paper (each page representing a slide in your presentation), and you should number these pages accordingly

Slide 1, Slide 2, Slide 3, Slide 4, Slide 5

The great thing about this method is that you can rehearse each page individually, and time how long it takes to deliver each one as you go, that way you can plan out your presentation accordingly. Not only is this a great way to keep your presentation on track, but it will also help you rehearse it more easily too. (When writing each page out, remember you can plan out and indicate where you want to incorporate the visual prompts into each slide too, this way you can subtly remind yourself what to cover during each slide)

Once you’ve written the pages out for your presentation, next write out the content for the slides you’re going to use in your presentation, using the A4 pages as a guide

Another great thing about this method is that it also gives you a quick and convenient way to write out your index cards if you’ve decided to use them. Simply summarize each page A4 page you’ve written on an index card and number them according to each slide

Next – Add your multi-media aids

You’ve written out a presentation that’s going to captivate your audience and have them hanging on your every word, now you have the option of taking it even further by adding some amazing audio and visual effects that will enhance your presentation even more…music, audio narrations, videos, GIFS, quizzes, multiple-choice boxes, and hover effects, are among the main ones you’ll have at your disposal. The great thing about using audio-visual aids is that they can not only drastically enhance your presentation, but they can also reduce the amount of time you need to spend talking, which for you means less time needed rehearsing. Just make sure the aids that you use are appropriate for the setting and audience you’re presenting to

Sometimes people find it easier to start by planning out how the presentation is going to go first, (which is recommended). Do this by writing a chronology in the form of a numbered list of the points you want to cover on each slide

What you’re presenting should tie in with how you can add value to the role
That’s why when writing out the content for your presentation, be sure to heavily emphasize your main skills, qualities, and accomplishments throughout – giving practical examples of how they can be of use in the role itself

Any presentation given in a job interview should centre heavily on the company itself. Do this by emphasising how much your skills and accomplishments can benefit their company as a whole

There are multiple strategies you can employ to captivate your audience when delivering a great job presentation. This can range from things like using humour, telling anecdotal stories, using quotes, asking your audience questions, making proactive statements, or using props…on top of a large variety of multi-media aids you can also employ to enhance your presentations delivery such as music, audio narrations, videos, GIFS, quizzes, multiple-choice boxes, hover effects, and more. The great thing about these is that they can not only help to make your presentation that much more fun and interesting, but where audio-visual aids are concerned, they will also reduce the amount of time you need to spend talking, and that means less time you’ll need to spend rehearsing. (On top of which, the use of multi-media aids can provide a valuable respite during a presentation, giving you a badly needed pause that will help you gather your thoughts and give you additional time to build your composure levels back up as you make your way through the presentation)

Presentations are almost always exclusively delivered via slides on played using projector or video files:

The reason for this is simple. Slides provide the optimal format for a presentation as they provide a valuable visual element that not only allows the presenter to stop and present a given point or topic, but at the same time provide a visual reinforcement that emphasizes the topic being presented at the same time

Rules of Presentation

When making your presentation, you should adhere to the following rules

Stick to one main theme per slide
Check with the interviewer before using index cards…
If you’re not confident enough to deliver a presentation unaided, another tactic you can use is to deliver your presentation using index cards. By referring back to these cards as your talking it will ensure you keep the structure of the presentation intact and stay on track, and will help you cover all the main points of your presentation.
(Using this tactic as part of a presentation where a job interview is concerned may get you marked down by some employers, but if it helps you deliver a more effective presentation, the trade-off may well be worth it)

A typical slide should contain no more than 6 lines of text (this equates into one long paragraph per slide at most). In these slides, you should try and incorporate all the visual cues you need to keep yourself on topic so you can cover all the points you want to make during the presentation
When writing out your slides make good use of bullet points

When writing out your presentation, you should be looking to do this in three stages

These are referred to as the presentation stages, and they go as follows:

The Introduction – Here you will introduce yourself and tell your audience what you’re going to cover during your presentation

Having a strong start is very important in a presentation, and you should pay close attention to how you prepare your introduction to ensure it has the impact on your audience that you need. There are several possible ways you can do this

Start the presentation off with the aid of a prop
Make a provocative statement
Open by asking your audience a thought-provoking question
Open by telling an interesting short story (funny/ personal/ factual)
Open with an amazing fact or statistic

The Presentation Stage – Is where you make your actual presentation to the audience

The are several simple tactics you can use to enhance your presentation and captivate your audience

Smile when talking
Make good eye contact with your audience
Concentrate on projecting yourself through tone of voice
Make you presentation with confidence. If you look and sound like you believe in what you’re saying, your audience will too!

When writing content for your slides – Try writing short catchy phrases, instead of long bulky paragraphs. For instance, instead of writing a whole paragraph like this:

‘The speed and effectiveness of the resolution have been identified as the two most important aspects of customer service in surveys performed across dozens of different industries. This confirms what has long been thought of when training front line staff as two of the central most elements in creating a satisfying customer service experience’.

The same information can be conveyed much more effectively in a short snappy statement like this:

‘The speed and effectiveness of the resolution are two of the most important things needed to create a satisfying customer service experience’.

The Presentation Closing

This is where you recap and summarize what you’ve covered over the course of your presentation

Closing with a ‘call to action’ is always a good way to end a presentation

(A call to action is where you encourage your audience to take proactive action in regards to a particular cause or pursuit, in this case, something you’ve covered in your presentation. It could be encouraging your audience to read a book, it could be asking them to go to the polls and vote, or in the case of a job presentation, it might be something audacious like closing with a statement such as, ‘let’s do our best to give our customers the best experience possible by hiring the right candidates for the job’)

Mentally preparing for your presentation

Rehearsal is not only required so that you’re ready and able to give an effective presentation on the day, but it’s also of the best ways to alleviate nerves on the day too. Exactly the same principle applies here as if rehearsing for the actual interview itself, and in just the same way that rehearsing for an interview will give you more confidence before it begins, so too will effective rehearsing for a presentation ensure you’re at your best and ready to go when the time to deliver it comes. Your rehearsal will also be that much more effective if you’re able to do it in front of friends or family members. That’s because as the one giving the presentation, rehearsal in front of actual people makes it feel more like the real thing, on top of which, they’ll also be able to give you valuable feedback and pointers that will help you refine your pitch so that it’s absolutely perfect on the day
Remember that it’s okay to feel nervous, and it will help if you remember that every other candidate who gets up in front of the interviewer(s) to give their presentation will feel the same way that your feeling
Remember to anticipate questions at the end of your presentation

Using slides in your presentation

Don’t use fonts smaller than 30-point size
Try not to read too much off of your slides during the presentation
It’s best to stick with one main (message) theme per slide
(For a non-interview presentation only). Stick to the 10-20-30 rule when using PowerPoint. This states that no presentation should be longer than 10 slides – Last longer than 20 minutes – and use any fonts smaller than 30-point size

Using Index cards
Check with the interviewer before using index cards

If you’re not confident enough to deliver a presentation unaided, another tactic you can use is to deliver your presentation using index cards. By referring back to these cards as your talking, it will ensure you keep the structure of the presentation intact and stay on track, and will help you cover all the main points of your presentation.
(Using this tactic as part of a presentation where a job interview is concerned may get you marked down by some employers, but if it helps you deliver a more effective presentation, the trade-off may well be worth it)

Fact Checking
Where delivering a presentation, it’s really important that what you present is not only relevant, but is factually accurate as well. Presenting information that is untrue or incorrect is sure to ruin all of the hard work you’ve done to put together an otherwise great presentation! For that reason, be sure to check all the facts you include in your presentation before it ever begins. This is something that’s quick and easy to do, an online search is normally a good place to start, and there are also sites like FactCheck.org and The Trust Project that specialise in this type of information fact checking. If one source tells you something, try and corroborate it from a different source if possible, and if you’re unsure about something, don’t include it in your presentation

Practicing your presentation
Rehearsing your presentation until you’re comfortable delivering it properly is a must!!!

When practicing your presentation use a timer! Timing yourself as you rehearse is the best way to go about practicing, that way you’ll know exactly how long your presentation will take, so you can amend it accordingly.
Rehearsing in front of friends or family members is the most effective way to rehearse. It will feel more realistic, and you’ll get more from the experience. On top of this, they’ll also be able to give you useful tips and pointers that will help you hone your presentation even further

See our great presentation example below

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