Frequently Asked Questions

What is this course about? The primary goal of this course is to develop your ability to create and confidently deliver memorable presentations that effectively convey your message to your audience. This course shows you how to assess the needs of your audience, use a structured development process to create effective presentation materials and use proven techniques to communicate your main points in an interactive manner. What background do I need? No special background is required for this course. However, you must have a very basic familiarity with PowerPoint. In PowerPoint, you should be able to: Type information onto a slide Edit information on a slide Add a clip-art picture to a slide Switch to "slide-show" mode and navigate forward and backwards between a set of slides How much will I learn about PowerPoint in this course? This is not a PowerPoint training course. However, PowerPoint will be used as a delivery medium during the course. The primary focus of the course is on developing the skills to effectively convey your message, using visual support materials as the vehicle. How much hands-on computer work will there be? You work together in teams of two to develop short PowerPoint presentations for delivery in the class. What is mind mapping and how is it used in this course? Mind mapping is a creative technique for capturing and structuring information. In this course, you learn how to apply this technique to develop the ideas for your presentation and structure these ideas in a logical manner. Will I be giving presentations during the course and will I receive feedback? Yes. All students create and give two presentations during the course. Each presentation is focused on developing a specific presentation technique. Following each set of presentations, you receive structured feedback from the instructor and your peers. What is unique about this course? This course uses a proven method that allows you to learn effective presentation skills in a structured manner. You first learn how to identify and emphasise the main points in your presentations. You then learn to deliver your main points using interactive techniques that engage your audience. Who will benefit from this course? This course is valuable for anyone who needs to present ideas to their colleagues, customers, clients or business associates. How much time is spent on each topic? Content Hours Introduction and overview 0.5 Developing key presentation skills 2.5 Building an effective presentation 3.0 Communicating the main points 2.5 Adding interactivity to your presentations 3.5 Times, including the workshops, are estimates; exact times may vary according to the needs of each class. How much time is devoted to the workshops? Because this is a presentation course, you learn much of the presentation techniques through the actual experience of creating and giving presentations. Approximately 70% of the course time is spent preparing and exchanging feedback on a variety of individual, pair and group activities including: Improving fundamental presentation skills Leveraging the three modes of communication Identifying audience expectations Capturing ideas using mind mapping Organising the presentation story Selecting the key impact points for your presentation Building audience involvement using interactive techniques Is this course applicable to a Project Management Professional (PMI) certification? Yes. Though the course is not designed as preparation for the exam, this course is beneficial to anyone working toward PMI certification. For those who are currently certified, completion of this course counts as 11 professional development units (Sixty units must be completed every three years to maintain certification). For more details, please see the PMI Registered Education Provider Q&A. If you are an experienced project manager intending to take the PMP exam, you should take Course 276, Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP®) Exam. In this course, you learn essential PMBOK® Guide - Third Edition terminology, tools and techniques. You gain practical test-taking experience through PMI-style practice exams and create your own personal study plan for continued use after the course. How does this course differ from Course 903, Public Speaking: Conveying Your Message with Confidence? In Course 345, Delivering Dynamic Presentations, the main focus is on planning and delivering well-structured, polished presentations using visual support materials. You will use mind mapping to organise your key points into a coherent story and design interactive questions to communicate them in a way that captures your audience's attention. In Course 903, Public Speaking: Conveying Your Message with Confidence, you focus more on practicing specific speaking skills, including body language, gestures, eye contact and vocal variety. The focus is on a broader spectrum of speaking skills, including delivering speeches with and without visual support. You also have the opportunity to improve your speaking style by reviewing selected video recordings of your presentations. How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses? Learning Tree offers other courses in communication, management and planning. The only overlap in content is to the extent necessary for a certain course to introduce skills and techniques that are expanded upon in another Learning Tree course. 905, Facilitation Skills provides the skills to facilitate goal-oriented results through planning, collaboration and consensus 288, Change Management: People and Process provides the knowledge and skills to guide the people in your workplace through the process of change 290, Management Skills covers the key aspects of management--leadership, delegation, motivation and communication--and practical techniques for getting the best from technical people 292, Communication Skills: Results Through Collaboration focuses on specific tools and techniques for improving listening skills, delivering effective messages and bridging different communication styles 294, Influence Skills: Getting Results Without Direct Authority focuses on the specific skills, behaviours and attitudes that enable you to achieve desired results without relying on the use of authority 296, Project Management: Skills for Success provides the knowledge and skills needed to successfully plan, manage and deliver projects 340, Project Management for Software Development provides the tools you need to effectively organise and select process choices, create realistic plans and see them through to successful delivery 344, Effective Time Management provides strategies, techniques and tips to set priorities and manage the daily pressures of meeting important and urgent commitments in your life 246, Managing Information Overload: Techniques for Working Smarter provides the skills needed to process fast-paced information to develop a competitive edge.

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