Self-Study Workbooks - Prepare a Presentation | Page 9

Prepare a Presentation
Structuring a Presentation
Different types of presentation should follow different structures.

The News at Ten
One of the simplest and most effective ways to structure a presentation is to follow ‘The Ten
O’Clock News’ format. This is especially useful for presentations that are designed to
inform/educate. This type of presentation has three main parts:





Beginning
–
tell them what you
will tell them (10% of the time available)
Middle
–
tell them (75% of
the time available)
End
–
tell them what you
told them (15% of the time available)

The Beginning
The first two or three minutes of a presentation are vital. They
decide whether your audience will be interested and if you will
be able to keep their attention. In this time, you should aim to:





make the appropriate IMPACT
gain the audience’s INTEREST
get into RAPPORT with them
outline the PURPOSE

Firstly, you should introduce yourself - outline the agenda i.e. what you are going to say, how
long it will last, when questions can be asked and (if appropriate) when handouts will be
provided.
It is important that the beginning of the presentation includes an overview of what will be
covered so that your audience knows what to expect.
A simple overview also helps to minimise disruptions as people will be less likely to ask questions
at inappropriate times and