Read the text and choose one of the tips as a heading for each section.
Highlight important information.
Presenting in a group brings its own unique set of challenges and needs a set of skills
that can be difficult to master. You may find yourself presenting as a group when you
are pitching your company, taking part in a competition or maybe you are a student
presenting group work.
I wanted to outline 4 key skills that you and your group or team can use to improve
your presentations.
1. _______________________________________
If you are giving a group presentation, it's because the audience wants to see, hear,
and get to know everybody in the group. So, it’s important that you take equal
responsibility during the presentation. Give each team member an equal amount of
time in the spotlight if you can.
However, just because you want everyone to present equally doesn’t mean that you
should simply divide your presentation and give each team member their own part. I
hate watching presentations where teams say, “We took 3 powerpoint slides each”
and the team member presents simply because it is their turn.
Let each team member show their contribution to the group, and to the
presentation, by letting them take charge of their specialist area.
2. _______________________________________
During your group presentation you want to show how well you work as a team. The
best groups typically have little moments in the presentation where you all do
something together. Imagine when the Power Rangers say, “It’s Morphin’ time”. It
could be as simple as saying your catchphrase, “oooh-ing” at the big reveal,
celebrating a moment together, or something even more dramatic.
Great “Coming Together Moments” I have seen in team presentations are:
The whole team took off their jackets to reveal a new logo on their T-shirts.
A couple presented an elaborate handshake/high five.
Before a group showed their new video, as they dimmed the lights, they
revealed dark sunglasses and put them on in synchronisation.
3. _______________________________________
It may be tempting to break a presentation down into parts and have the rest of the
team stay silent while one person presents their part, and then move on to the next
speaker with the next part, and so on. This can lead to a boring presentation.
Work on your skills interacting with your other team-mates. Practise friendly
interruptions. Ask each other questions. Throw the presentation around to each
other. When this is well rehearsed and well scripted, it keeps the speakers and the
audience fully engaged and excited.
4. _______________________________________
A great skill to practice is how you transition from one speaker to another. Don’t just
finish your line and hope that your team-mate picks up the presentation from where
you left off.
Examples
“Suzie will tell you more about that in a moment.”
“Here’s Jim to look through the numbers.”
“Thanks for that Dave, let’s dive deeper into the numbers.”
A good hand off shows that your team trusts and respects each other. It is a great
skill to use because it also helps the audience remember the speakers’ names and
specialist areas.
Adapted from: https://gopublicspeaking.com/presentation-skills/presentation-skills-
for-groups/
