Can something make a venture supervisor’s coronary heart sink sooner than being advised that they should give a venture presentation to the board of administrators? The stress. The accountability. Positive, you’re completely satisfied that the administrators of the corporate belief you sufficient that they need your enter within the venture, however having to current in entrance of those highly effective gamers is making your stress ranges spike.
If you happen to haven’t come throughout these presentation requests from senior managers but, you’ll! These situations are frequent on tasks, particularly projects that introduce a brand new product or contain organizational change. However don’t really feel overwhelmed. Giving venture shows could really feel scary, however you possibly can plan and put together for them similar to some other assembly.
What Is a Undertaking Presentation?
A venture presentation is a chance so that you can clarify your venture processes and deliverables to key stakeholders. These could be casual, like a fast replace through stories with a couple of people, or formal. Formal venture shows typically require correct assembly occasions, thought-out slide decks, aim overview and extra. We’ll spend most of our time discussing how one can put together and ship a proper venture presentation.
A proper venture presentation requires good knowledge. Undertaking administration software program can offer you the dashboards and stories it is advisable complement your factors and progress updates. ProjectManager has real-time dashboards that you could share with stakeholders, and eight totally different in-depth venture stories that you could make with just some clicks. Get began without spending a dime at present!
Why Is a Undertaking Presentation So Essential?
A venture presentation is your alternative to convey the significance of the work you and your workforce have been doing. If you happen to’re unable to articulate your progress and achievements, key stakeholders received’t perceive why cash, time and assets are being spent in your venture.
While you consider it like that, it’s no surprise why folks spend a lot time making ready for his or her venture shows. Learn on to see how one can knock your subsequent presentation out of the park.
The way to Put together for a Undertaking Presentation
Making ready for a venture presentation could be extra necessary than you precise supply. That’s as a result of good preparation can set you up for achievement on the large day. Let’s undergo some preparation methods you are able to do in your venture presentation.
1. Create a Calendar Invite for Your Undertaking Presentation
You may’t simply count on folks to show up – they should know that there’s an necessary occasion that requires their attendance, so get it of their diaries. Folks plan their meetings and calendar appointments typically fairly far upfront, giving ample warning. Schedule the presentation as quickly as you possibly can, and test with the people (or their assistants) in case you don’t get a reply about their availability.
When you have been invited to another person’s assembly to speak about your venture, be sure that it’s in your planner and e-book a while to plan for it upfront. If you happen to don’t, you threat operating out of time to arrange your materials.
2. Choose a Format for Your Presentation
How are you going to get your message throughout? If you happen to’ve scheduled a gathering it’s probably that you’re anticipating to do a proper presentation. That’s effective, however how? Will you employ slides or flip charts or mirror your iPad on a monitor? Do you count on the viewers to take part in any a part of the presentation? Are you able to communicate with out notes or would it not be higher to have some pointers with you on the day?
You must also contemplate the place you’ll be giving the presentation. For instance, a format that’s appropriate for a small room and a restricted viewers, reminiscent of a loosely-structured venture replace with a few slides, isn’t going to be acceptable for a room filled with stakeholders, laid out like a lecture theatre with you at a lectern on the entrance.
3. Follow Your Undertaking Administration Presentation
Giving shows is a ability. Follow, observe, observe. Earlier than your huge venture presentation, volunteer to do some smaller ones, like workers briefings or shorter updates at workforce conferences. You need to really feel comfy each standing up in entrance of the room and with the fabric. Run by way of your presentation at house or in an empty assembly room so that you simply bear in mind the place the slide transitions are. Follow utilizing the projector and a clicker to maneuver the slides ahead. Write out your flip charts a number of occasions in order that it turns into second nature.
Follow and coaching will make your supply way more polished {and professional} and provides your viewers a much better expertise.
4. Write Massive So Your Presentation Is Legible
Whether or not you might be utilizing slides or flip charts, write huge or use huge fonts. It’s typically troublesome to see what’s on the display, even in a small room – and which means your message isn’t getting throughout. And it’s an excuse for viewers members to test their telephones as a substitute of listening to you.
A superb tip is to print out your slides and put them on the ground. If you happen to can nonetheless learn them clearly from a standing place, then the textual content is large enough. If you happen to can’t learn the phrases or it’s a must to bend right down to learn them, make the font measurement bigger!
5. Have a Backup Plan for Your Presentation
Projectors break, assembly rooms don’t have convention telephones in, pens run out simply on the essential second. Plan for every part to go fallacious. Your presentation viewers is made up of busy folks and so they don’t need to sit there watching you fiddle with the expertise. Get all of it working earlier than they arrive, and if it doesn’t work if you get going, just remember to have a contingency plan (like a printout of your slides) to be able to keep it up anyway.
The way to Give a Undertaking Presentation
When the fateful day arrives, there are some necessary issues to bear in mind when giving your venture presentation. Observe these greatest practices and also you’ll painting your venture and your workforce in the absolute best mild.
1. Converse Clearly and Don’t Depend on Jargon
Shows depend upon readability and good communication. If you happen to lavatory down your presentation with jargon and convulated reasoning, you’re going to lose your viewers. Just remember to use language that your viewers will perceive, to allow them to observe together with all the key factors it is advisable make.
Bear in mind, not everybody in that assembly goes to grasp all of the intricasies of your venture, in truth, none of them probably will. So communicate slowly, clearly and be certain that you talk.
2. Stick with What Issues and Use Information
When giving your venture presentation, don’t lose sight of the unique targets and necessities of the venture. Your stakeholders agreed on sure targets at first, how are you trending in the direction of reaching these targets? Generally it’s simple to concentrate on setbacks or difficulties, or issues that you could be discover fascinating. Nevertheless, it’s greatest to recenter on essential enterprise targets.
It’s necessary to make use of knowledge to complement your venture presentation as you tackle key targets and initiatives. However don’t use an excessive amount of knowledge! Folks will get misplaced within the numbers and cease listening to what it’s a must to say. It’s a fragile stability.
3. Inform a Story
You’ve gotten most likely sat by way of a good few shows in your time, and I count on you’ve tried to cease your self from nodding off in a few of them. Project status updates could be boring. If the subject material isn’t uninteresting, typically the speaker is. Don’t let that be you.
One solution to maintain the eye of the viewers is to construction your presentation in essentially the most fascinating style. Think about what they may discover fascinating (and it received’t be the identical as what you discover fascinating). Telling the story of your venture is a good suggestion. Take into consideration a begin, a center and an finish to your presentation. Maybe observe the lifecycle from the angle of a buyer.
Deal with the advantages and never the project management course of. If you happen to don’t know in case your presentation materials is sensible, run it previous a pal or member of the family who doesn’t know something about your venture. In the event that they don’t go to sleep, it’s OK!
4. Ask for Suggestions on Your Presentation
When your presentation is over, ask for suggestions. You could possibly do that immediately on the finish of the session earlier than folks depart the room, or a few days later. It’s good to get some suggestions because it helps you’re employed on what to enhance for subsequent time.
Ask folks to present you their impressions each of your presentation abilities and in addition of the presentation content material. You could possibly discover that the content material was actually good however you lacked confidence delivering it, or conversely that you simply had been an interesting presenter however the materials was not related to them. All that is helpful stuff to know and it’ll allow you to enhance your presentation abilities for subsequent time.
Undertaking Administration Shows Take Time to Grasp
Giving shows isn’t an on a regular basis prevalence on tasks however it’s probably that you’ll have to give one or two throughout the venture lifecycle – extra in case your venture includes a number of workshops or person periods.
Don’t panic – presentation abilities are one thing that you could study and you’re going to get higher with observe! Upon getting cracked it, you’ll really feel assured delivering shows and also you’ll discover that it will get simpler to arrange for them sooner or later.
The scheduling features of our software program can be utilized to e-book your shows on the workforce calendar, which could be simply seen on the project dashboard. With it you could have the flexibility to share agendas and slides after the presentation with the web doc library. Then you possibly can keep it up the dialogue after the assembly through the use of the good chat instrument. Try the software from ProjectManager free for 30 days and see how helpful it really is.