Manufacturing Presentations that Impress!
Typically in manufacturing, presentations center around informing a group of managers or plant employees about a business status or performance update. I’ve done countless manufacturing presentations and the vast majority of them required me to present department, factory or business results and I’m an introvert by nature and so it takes a lot of effort for me to overcome my presentation anxiety. Maybe you are not comfortable with formal presentations too? You are not alone. Presenting in front of a group causes fear and anxiety in most people. But there are some things you can do to reduce your fear and deliver more effective presentations. I'll discuss these tips and tricks in this article about effective presentations.
Early in my career, I joined an organization called Toastmasters International. Toastmasters is a nonprofit public speaking organization, and they teach people how to hone their public speaking skills. Their goal is to stretch and grow speakers, making them more effective. For example I was stretched when I gave a humous speech and an inspirational speech and an educational speech and many other types of speeches at Toastmaster meetings, all in the name of professional development. The audience is also assigned certain roles. One person in the room counts the number of times that a speaker uses “um” as a sentence transition. This person is called an “um counter”. Someone else keeps track of the speaker's time. Other people keep track of the key points to ensure the speaker achieves the speech objectives and there are judges that rank and compared the various speeches that are delivered that day.
Toastmasters training doesn’t eliminate your speaking anxiety, but it helps to get your butterflies to fly in formation. Toastmasters is an excellent organization. I recommend that you look them up at www.toastmasters.org and explore a local chapter near you.
Besides Toastmasters, I’ve had another professional coach help me with my presentations. A speech consultant worked with me and some other plant leaders over a three-day period. This consultant gave us some presentation tips and then they required us to create presentations. Then we presented and the consultant video recorded our presentations, and he used the video to provide us feedback. Then we made some adjustments and presented again while he recorded us. Then he gave us some more feedback. I realize that joining toastmasters or getting a professional coach may be a stretch for you, but you can still hone your presentation skills by using these tips and tricks:
Identify Main Presentation Points: Start by writing down all of the main points that you want to cover in your presentation. Pen and paper are fine. But make sure you capture everything that you want to convey to your audience.
Create Slideshow: Next create your presentation slides. If you are presenting department results, then the slide deck should contain slides covering safety, quality, service, productivity, and costs. Your results should be presented in trend-chart format showing actual result vs. goals.
Then after the chart slides, your next slide or slides should contain talking points regarding the projects that were recently completed in your department. Use pictures, when possible, show your accomplishments or be prepared to pass around samples or props. Maybe you launched a new product? If so, plan on passing around some product samples. Pictures and props provide a sort of intermission in the middle of your presentation. Pictures and props add interest to your presentation, and it gives you a chance to catch your breath and slow your heart rate.
Then on your next slide or slides you want to present your upcoming plans. What are you planning on accomplishing and when are you planning on completing those actions. Finally, your last slide should open up the floor for questions.
It is important that your talking points on your slides are only very short bullet points. Never put a full sentence on a slide. Your bullet points serve only as memory joggers for you. You need to be able to just glance at your bullet points and then expand verbally about that point.
After I get my slides completed, I like to print them out on paper and I use my original handwritten notes and I write my more detailed points on my PowerPoint slides. It’s important that you get a smooth talking flow. Creating smooth transitions from point to point can be difficult so you really need to work on your topic transitions. If you are struggling to make smooth transitions, then rearrange your bullet points. Often reordering the topics or bullet point sequence helps to smooth things out.
Practice: Practice again and again and again. Take your presentation home and I practice some more. I recommend either presenting in front of your family and asking them for feedback or video record yourself and evaluate yourself.
Before game time, you want to know how your eye contact is, and if your are saying lots of “ums”. Also, do your main points make sense? Are your topic transitions smooth? Are you relaxed or tense? You want to practice, get feedback and adjust and then practice again.
Looking for more tips that will hone your presentation? Read my article about game day success! (Aka presentation day success!). Looking to develop leadership talent? Look no further than Tools for the Trenches!
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