Creating a preparation

 

Preparation

Creating and organizing a presentation should begin by outlining these three components:

Introduction

The introduction of a presentation provides listeners with a clear objective as to the purpose of the speech. The introduction serves as a vehicle for sharing the main idea, with the foreshadowing of specific topics to come. An important piece to introducing a presentation topic is to fully engage the audience. Some presentations begin with humor—information designed to be comical or amusing—for this reason. An appropriate joke or anecdote can help ground the presentation in realism and grab the audience's attention immediately.

Body

The body of a presentation includes the supporting points for the specific topic being discussed. If you have gathered primary and secondary sources, the body is the place in a presentation in which you can share that data. The body also consists of fact and opinion statements. Factual statements provide information free from personal belief. For example, a statistic is an example of a fact. Opinion refers to personal beliefs you hold. A presenter must be clear on if he or she is presenting facts or opinions.

Conclusion

The final part of a presentation is the conclusion. Like the introduction, the conclusion should be interesting for listeners. It provides another instance where appropriate humor or anecdotes can liven the presentation. The primary function of a conclusion is to restate the main idea for listeners and to leave them with a powerful closing remark. The end of a presentation is also the most common time in which audience questions may be answered. Designate a time at the completion of your presentation to engage the audience in discussion.