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Building Presentation Skills: �Effective Design and Delivery to Communicate Your Research

Shayna Trujillo, Learning & Development Specialist

Wehmah Jones, Principal Researcher: Youth, Family, & Community

May 2023

AIR LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

AIR EQUITY INITIATIVE

AIR PIPELINE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM – AFRICA

AMERICAN INSTITUTES FOR RESEARCH® | AIR.ORG

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American Institutes for Research^® (AIR®)

AIR’s mission is to generate and use rigorous evidence that contributes to a better, more equitable world.

The Pipeline Partnership Program launched in 2020 with three U.S. universities and is funded by the AIR Equity Initiative. The initiative is �our 5-year, $105 million investment in research, technical assistance, and partnerships to address the underlying causes of systemic inequities and increase opportunities for people and communities.

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AIR Pipeline Partnership Program - Africa

January 2023 – partnerships with University of Dar es Salaam and Nairobi
Education and training focus – AIR will deliver seminars, workshops and lectures on technical topics and professional development.
Mentoring and career advancement focus – PhD students will have the chance to be mentored by experts in the field
Networking and internships – AIR will offer opportunities for students to work on active research projects and put what they learn into action.

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Our Work Today

Wehmah Jones, PhD

Principal Researcher

Youth, Family, & Community

Shayna Trujillo, MA, PMP

Learning & Development Specialist

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Provide key tips on how to prepare, present, and �follow up.
Modify content and objectives based on your audience.
Practice the skills learned.

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Zoom Tools

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Click here to share a reaction or raise your hand.

Click here to see the chat box, add a comment, or click on a shared link.

Click here to unmute your microphone to speak.

Click here to turn your camera off/on.

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Have you ever attended a presentation that made you want to fall asleep, leave, or grind your teeth in frustration?

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Effective presentations engage you from the first moment.

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How do we shift from ineffective to effective presentations?

You are a technical expert. It can feel daunting to condense your knowledge into a format that articulates your key insights and moves your audience toward the desired impact.

Reflect deeply on your audience’s needs and your own objectives to craft the right presentation for each situation.

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PROBLEM

SOLUTION

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Before Presenting

Preparation Can Make or Break a Presentation

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Adults Learn Best When…

They understand why they are learning something.

They are given opportunities to learn by doing.

They are given opportunities to use their own skills and experience.

The content is relevant and of immediate use.

A variety of teaching techniques are used (audio, visual, etc.).

Knowles, M. S. (1980). The modern practice of adult education: From pedagogy to andragogy (Rev. and updated ed.). Cambridge, The Adult Education Company.

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Knowing Your Audience

Who are they?
What do they already know?
Why are they here?
What do they care about?

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Shayna

Think about the idea or research project that you brought to the session today. Who will your audience be for that future presentation? How might their background and experience impact their experience of your content? Take a few minutes to write down a note or two in answer to these questions. If you're not sure, image a likely scenario and go from there. If you don’t know the answers to these questions, there are ways to find out – such as the pre-work survey we sent to you all to better understand your level of comfort with presenting.

Let’s think for a minute how you might present your current research to your peers vs. a business leader. Your peers might care about knowing the details of your research but business leaders might care more about implications for the profit margins of their company.

Things to consider with regards to knowing your audience:

Technical background
Audience personality (Are they more likely to ask questions?)
What are their interests and priorities ( is your data/presentation linked to interests, politics, “hot topics” either things you might to avoid or bring up if relevant)
Paying attention to you audience in real time (body language, facial expressions, cues to let you know level of engagement)

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Context Matters: Examples for Considering Culture

You are presenting an initiative to an audience that is a mix of individuals from United Nations agencies, local non-governmental organizations, public sector professionals, and research firms.

You are discussing a recent project from your work for a local firm with your colleagues.

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EXAMPLE 1

EXAMPLE 2

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Shayna

Culture plays a key role in how we present and how the audience interprets the presentation itself. During the presentation, how much you move around, make eye contact, ask for participation or use hand gestures will depend both on your personal style and the situation you find yourself in.

In the first example British English will likely be the norm, and the standard lexicon is that of international development, reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) the language of human rights, stuff like that.

2, Students, particularly MA students, will typically end up working for local firms, audience will be local. Presentations will be in English, with Swahili expressions and phrases. If they go to rural areas, the audience may not be fluent in English at all.

The main idea is that you should reflect on the cultural and linguistic context when speaking, and ensure language is inclusive and appropriate. Often when we discuss this topic, it is about ‘the majority’ or ‘dominant group’ being more aware that their audience is not from the majority group. In this case, for a more international audience, our peers would not be considered part of the majority group, and it will behoove them to learn and use language of international development. On the other hand, when interacting with and presenting for some groups, be aware that the audience has limited education, may not understand English well, whether written or spoken.

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When to Go Deep Into the Research?

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Hook Your Audience

An effective hook is relatable, humanizes a technical problem, and gets them curious about your content.

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Hook with a story, something shocking, an important visual, or simply a key question.

Photo credit: Mohamed Nohassi, Unsplash

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Examples of an Effective Hook

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Presentation Design: Start With the End in Mind

Identify the main message/goal.
Identify the key points the audience needs to understand to get there.
Draft learning outcomes.
Reorder key points to flow with logic toward the outcomes.

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Activity: Draft Session Goals

Session goals:

Identify your aim as the presenter

For example: to inform, to educate, to persuade, to inspire

“This workshop will explain the basic principles of how to successfully design and deliver technical content presentations to a nontechnical audience.”

“This session will inform the local community about our organization’s mission and project successes in this region.”

“This presentation will identify our key revenue streams and outline three specific ways in which the board of directors can increase revenue in Q3.”

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Shayna

2 min

Take 2 minutes to draft a session outcome and learning objectives for your participants

Write one or two session goals and 3-5 expected learning outcomes for your participants. It will help to think about your audience - Who are they? What do they already know? Why are they here? What do they care about?

Helpful to use specific action verbs for learning outcomes: such as define, clarify, describe, discuss, explain, compare, apply, -🡪 can use Blooms Taxonomy if you have access to a computer which has a detailed list of verbs for gaining knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis or evaluation

Can also use the “SMART” outcomes idea

Specific: clear and focused terms that describe expected skills, knowledge, performance
Measurable: learning can be assessed through data, observation, or other concrete ways
Attainable or Appropriate or Achievable: doable within any limits and boundaries of the learner or course level
Relevant: the tasks are relevant to what is to be learned
Timebound: can be accomplished in the time accorded

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Activity: Draft Learning Outcomes

Learning outcomes:

Use action verbs and specific, realistic expectations for what your participants will leave with at the end �of the presentation

For example: define, clarify, describe, plan, compare, interpret

“At the end of this session, participants will recognize how to critically analyze the assumptions inherent in the presented economic models.”

“At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of the new water sanitation methods.”

“At the end of the presentation, participants will be able to apply the conclusions of our research to their own community organizing efforts.”

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Wehmah

5 min

Take 5 minutes to draft a session outcome and learning objectives for your participants

Write one or two learning outcomes for your participants. Helpful to use specific action verbs for learning outcomes: such as define, clarify, describe, discuss, explain, compare, apply, -🡪 can use Blooms Taxonomy if you have access to a computer which has a detailed list of verbs for gaining knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis or evaluation

Can also use the “SMART” outcomes idea

Specific: clear and focused terms that describe expected skills, knowledge, performance
Measurable: learning can be assessed through data, observation, or other concrete ways
Attainable or Appropriate or Achievable: doable within any limits and boundaries of the learner or course level
Relevant: the tasks are relevant to what is to be learned
Timebound: can be accomplished in the time accorded

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Presentation Design for Data

Use more visuals than text.
Contrast colors.
Consider data visualization AFTER preparing objectives and content outline.
Use textures in addition to color (for maps).
Use labels to present the actual data.
Think through an accessibility lens to make sure data are not just presented visually.

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Monochromatic Graphs

What are some weaknesses of these graphs?

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Presentation Preparation Key Takeaways

Start with a hook.
Close with the main message.
Script what to say.
Prepare answer slides to potential questions.
Practice.

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Close with impact – repeat a key visual, state the ‘destination message’ again, if you have main messages and leave that up while taking questions, more engaged question session than a blank slide

Script & Practice

Script outline or everything you will say and then practice –
work on voice volume, pace, pauses, hand gestures, strategic eye contact, work to not read

Ensure your preparation – practice with the technical tools before and the morning of your presentation, think specifically about what you will do if someone interrupts you, arrives late, disagrees or brings up something you aren’t prepare for… have a backup to each piece of tech if possible, whether that’s the ability to join on a phone, a second computer or a colleagues office extra printed copies of materials

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During the Presentation

How to Prepare in Order to Stay on Track

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Dealing With the Unexpected

Pause.
Acknowledge as needed.
Maintain control.

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Wehmah

To manage nerves, loosing your place, unexpected questions, interruptions or technical issues, here are some basic tips for how to manage what goes on during your presentation

Pause – accept that you are living in the moment, when something happens, go with the flow. this can be verbal, for example, ‘thank you for that question, let me consider…” and then respond, or “I appreciate your insights, we will come back to that later in the presentation”
Acknowledge – if something happens that the audience didn’t notice, no need to draw attention to it. But in general, acknowledging something happened and simply moving on can be effective. Sometimes this can be uncomfortable but is professional “it looks like we have some challenges with the video today, I appreciate you all continuing to stay online with audio only… or “I hadn’t thought of that perspective before, thank you for bringing it to my attention.” or “I don’t have that information at this time, but I will make a note to follow up with you all about that topic in my follow up to our presentation”
Control – maintaining confident momentum can be key to maintaining control of an unexpected situation – if you have paused, acknowledged that something has happened, make the transition with your tone and comments into the next item on your agenda

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After the Presentation

Follow Up to Remain in Focus

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Post-presentation

Send a session evaluation
Distribute resources and handouts.
Follow up on your action items.

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Breakout Activity

Each participant will have 5 minutes to share goals and outcomes for feedback.
When giving feedback consider:

Are the learning outcomes achievable during the amount of time allocated for this presentation?
Do the learning outcomes provide clear direction for what content/data are needed in the presentation?
Is the goal appropriate for the potential audience of this presentation? Why or why not?

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Takeaways From Preparation Sessions

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Conclusions

Start with goals and desired outcomes.
Understand your audience.
Hook with a story.
Remember, less is more in design.
Prepare for the unexpected.
Practice.

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Links to Learn More

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A health economy should be designed to thrive, not grow (Hook - TED Talk)

Is Africa really “rising” (Hook - TED Talk)

Present Your Science (TED Talk)

7 Effective Tips for Presenting Data at Work

Create and Deliver Standout Technical Presentations (LinkedIn Learning)

Presenting Technical Information With Stories (LinkedIn Learning)

Creating and Giving Business Presentations (LinkedIn Learning)

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AIR Pipeline Partnership Program - Africa

Our next learning event is Wednesday May 31, 2023 5-6:30PM EAT

Technical Introduction to Evidence Synthesis: How to Find and Present Evidence for a Research Topic

Register at: https://air-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIrdOuurDgqHtCW23gjtVVlFsamr48iv4cF

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Wehmah Jones & Shayna Trujillo

wjones@air.org

strujillo@air.org

AMERICAN INSTITUTES FOR RESEARCH® | AIR.ORG

Notice of Trademark: “American Institutes for Research” and “AIR” are registered trademarks. All other brand, product, or company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Copyright © 2023 American Institutes for Research®. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, website display, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the American Institutes for Research. For permission requests, please use the Contact Us form on AIR.ORG.

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