What are the most common mistakes to avoid when delivering a group presentation during a crisis situation?
Delivering a group presentation during a crisis situation can be challenging and stressful. You need to communicate effectively, collaborate with your team, and address the concerns of your audience. However, there are some common mistakes that can undermine your presentation and damage your credibility. Here are some of the most common mistakes to avoid when delivering a group presentation during a crisis situation and how to overcome them.
One of the worst mistakes you can make is to show up unprepared for your presentation. This can lead to confusion, inconsistency, and errors in your content and delivery. To avoid this, you need to plan ahead, rehearse your presentation, and anticipate possible questions and objections. You also need to coordinate with your team members and assign clear roles and responsibilities. Make sure you have a backup plan in case of technical issues or interruptions.
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One thing I've found helpful is practice. Practice a lot. If possible, dividing presentation as per sections will be a great idea to keep track of the flow. Mock Presentation in the same room with same devices will be a great way to coordinate the team with presentation, lighting and seating. Technical issues are bound to happen. Always keeping multiple sources to access presentation will help. Multiple laptops, flashdrives, and in the cloud are great Plan B.
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In my experience with group projects, you will need to clearly set out the roles on who is presenting what section. Otherwise, some team mates may end up speaking about your part, or going over the time limit.
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Avoid taking sides and at the beginning lay the ground rules. Always summarise what has been said to make sure that everyone is on the same page. With every point, get straight to the point because in times of crisis people usually don't have much patience.
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Delivering a group presentation during a crisis situation requires careful consideration and effective communication. Here are some common mistakes to avoid: Lack of Preparation: Failing to adequately prepare for a crisis presentation can lead to misinformation, confusion, and a loss of credibility. Ensure that you thoroughly research the crisis, understand the key issues, and have a well-developed plan for your presentation. Unclear Messaging: During a crisis, clarity is crucial. Avoid using jargon, complex language, or ambiguous statements. Be clear, concise, and transparent in your messaging to ensure that your audience understands the situation and the steps being taken.
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Not preparing for your presentation is a big no-no. It's like walking into a potential mess. So, plan ahead, practice what you're going to say, and think about what could go wrong. Talk to your team, assign tasks clearly, and have a backup plan in case things get a bit wonky with technology or unexpected interruptions. It's the key to a hassle-free presentation.
Another common mistake is to have a poorly structured presentation that does not have a clear purpose, message, or flow. This can make your presentation boring, confusing, or irrelevant for your audience. To avoid this, you need to have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion that follow a logical sequence and highlight the main points. You also need to use transitions, signposts, and summaries to guide your audience through your presentation and keep them engaged.
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dont reduce the discussion on a specific crisis about value judgments on people; often there is a real procedural, structural or communication issue rather than ill intent or incapability; dont call out examples of specific teams or individuals if the crisis applies to all teams; reckless use of names results in erosion of their faith in the system and objectivity of the brainstorming and rectification process
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Some ways to avoid common mistakes: 1. Have a minimum of 1 and up to a maximum of 3 key purposes. The key purpose should answer this question, "Why should the audience listen to your presentation?" 2. Have a clear flow to your presentation. What's the story you're trying to tell? Is it about a problem you've identified that you've solved? Is it a roadmap session you're giving, highlighting the chronology of your product? 3. Not having a call for action at the end could prove to be a costly mistake. Do you want the audience to invest in your product? Do you want customers to buy it? Define your purpose and have a clear call for action. 4. Adding anecdotes, and customer stories, would make your product more relatable, hence more appealing.
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While communicating a message the structure of the presentation should strong enough. Because when the presentation is given to a team or group. There may be various individuals without knowing what the presentation is about and some will be partly aware about about the presentation. To overcome this the speaker should understand the audience and frame a structure and flow of message by understanding the group of peoples. This create a strong structure and the audience will be engaged to the presentation from the beginning till the end.
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What I learned a lot from developing different types of presentations to different audiences is that you need to tell a story. The first slide must connect with the other and so on, to maintain logic. And an important point is also that the content varies depending on the audience.
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Make it clear and concise. Keep it simple to avoid blinding your audience with science. However, avoid talking down to people, that is also a serious error.
A third common mistake is to use an inappropriate tone for your presentation that does not match the context, audience, or objective of your presentation. This can make your presentation seem insensitive, disrespectful, or unprofessional. To avoid this, you need to adapt your tone to the situation and the expectations of your audience. You also need to use positive, polite, and respectful language that acknowledges the challenges and emotions of the crisis situation and offers solutions and support.
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Be careful about using humor. In a crisis situation, the team may be hyper-sensitive and may misinterpret it, no matter how great your intention was.
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1. Understand your audience. Sometimes, sales jargon is boring for developers, other times, too many technical details aren't interesting to customers. Find out, what is the most important thing for your audience to know. 2. Keep the general tone of your presentation friendly and professional. Don't belittle your competitors just to shine out. If your product is indeed good, it will take care of standing out. 3. Different cultures have their way of doing things. Respect the culture of your audience.
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Show empathy and be willing to calmly accept feedback. You're entering a high-stress, high-stakes situation. Your words will carry weight. Validate the stress level being experienced by your listeners. Building trust is critical. This will be especially challenging if you yourself have additional duties in the crisis situation. You may be experiencing significant stress, yourself. Your experience is valid. At that moment, you are being called to lead and influence others. Speak slowly, calmly, and with confidence. Positivity is great, but be realistic. People working in a crisis situation will shut down if they think you don't understand their challenges. Being overly positive in this scenario can come off as insensitive & dismissive.
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The tone that a sender of the message should be courteous and constant throughout the presentation. Difference in tone of communication will cause a unbalanced audience.
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We have to very sensitive and need to use humour to avoid any type misinterpretation. That will help to tackle the situation smoothly.
A fourth common mistake is to have a lack of interaction with your audience that makes your presentation seem monotonous, impersonal, or detached. This can make your audience lose interest, attention, or trust in your presentation. To avoid this, you need to involve your audience in your presentation by asking questions, soliciting feedback, using polls, surveys, or quizzes, or inviting comments or questions. You also need to use eye contact, gestures, and facial expressions to convey your enthusiasm and confidence.
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Often we don't leave any time for audience interactions or questions. This might lead to the audience still having doubts about the content. Preferably, we should allocate a min of 10% of our time for QnA. There might be questions that might be common to many audience members, and answering those could elevate the understanding of most of them. Audience engagement could help us as speakers to gauge whether the content was good enough or do we need to enhance it. A good QnA session is as important as the actual content to add an air of credibility to ourselves as speakers.
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Beginning presentations with a question for the audience elicits diverse ways to understand the information. Additionally when the audience answers a question, the answer can act as a summary for the information the presenter will present, bolstering audience understanding.
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When doing presentations its important to know that we can also learn from our audiance just as much as they can learn from us thus involve them by allowing them to ask questions, share their views and own life experiences. This adds so much value to your presentation and to the learning experience. Remember adult learning is obout learning and sharing from each other then just preaching to you audiance thus involve them throughout.
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A presentation should not be completed with the ‘oneway communication ‘ it should be a interactive session ,once the presentation is completed you need to ask for the queries form the audience and solve if any.
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Interaction is very much required. And it is the key to success. The more you will interact and more you will learn the team and it will help to grow.
A fifth common mistake is to overload your audience with too much information that makes your presentation complex, dense, or overwhelming. This can make your audience feel confused, frustrated, or bored by your presentation. To avoid this, you need to simplify your information and focus on the key points that are relevant and useful for your audience. You also need to use visual aids, such as charts, graphs, images, or videos, to illustrate your points and make them easier to understand and remember.
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It’s already confusing for the audience when the whole group is presenting. Keep the message direct and simple. Remember that each group member is presenting a part of the project and not a presentation within a presentation. Don’t overload your slides and don’t try to cram more info in less time.
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Nobody likes to be bombarded with information. You’ll find that most people just end up zoning out and not taking in what you’ve said. Think of your key message here, what do you want your audience to takeaway, what’s really important. By focussing on that you’ll be able to deliver what’s necessary to be absorbed.
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The presentation should not be overloaded with lots of information it cause a difficulty in delivery of the message to the audience and have a chance of misunderstanding the information. To overcome this, the presentation should be short and simple with the righteous information, so that, The audience can feel easy to understand the concepts and engaged throughout the entire presentation.
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Clearly define the objectives and key messages of the presentation. Focus on the most important points that support these objectives. Utilize visual aids such as slides, charts, and graphs to convey complex information in a more digestible format. Visuals can help simplify and clarify key points. Encourage interaction and engagement with the audience. Incorporate activities, discussions, or Q&A sessions to keep the presentation dynamic. Use clear headings, bullet points, and transitions to guide the audience through the presentation You can ensure that group presentations are informative and engaging without overwhelming the audience with excessive information.
A sixth common mistake is to ignore the feedback from your audience that can help you improve your presentation and achieve your goals. This can make your presentation seem ineffective, unresponsive, or arrogant. To avoid this, you need to listen to the feedback from your audience, whether it is positive or negative, and respond to it appropriately. You also need to thank your audience for their attention, participation, and feedback, and follow up with them if needed.
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Ayobami Onakomaiya
Strategy & Innovation | Development | Economic Advisory | Public Policy l Africa
(edited)In short, don't act as though you know it all. It's a crisis situation and may not have all the necessary knowledge to navigate the waters. In fact, it's an uncertain and turbulent moment. Therefore, be open to feedback and input from others, who may be your team members or audience. Also, don't go there unprepared. You'll need all the information you can get to help weather that storm. Your best is required at that point. Do not disappoint your audience with your lack of preparation.
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Prepare a form for attendees to collect feedback end of meeting and then thanking them for their feedback by direct or email communication
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In group presentations, it’s critical to have clear speaker transitions that don’t occur too frequently. If you mixup speakers every couple slides, it can be disorienting to your audience. Consider switching speakers at transition slides between topics for high impact and to reengage your audience
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Usually companies make webinars and they take questions on which they answer after the presentation. This mainly is TBD answer or something similar, they need to find the way to answer questions during presentation and provide actual answers and actions afterwards.
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Avoid not having a plan of action. Let the audience know what the crisis is, be prepared, speak truthfully, provide facts and provide a plan of action. Don’t just say what the crisis is and end it there. Let the audience know what you and/or the company is going to do to ensure that there is no panic or uncertainty.
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I think the key word here is "crisis." Remember that panic is contagious, but so is "calm." I've found that the bigger the potential disaster, the bigger impact (positive or negative) my management can have. With that in mind, it is best to slow down, take a breath, ensure that everyone is focused, *then* start to communicate. You'll have a bigger impact, ensure better understanding, and (usually) resolve the crisis quicker. Panic in a crisis is normal, controlling that panic is critical.
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In a group presentstion addressing immediate needs should also be a priority. Ignoring audience needs in a crisis presentation involves failing to address immediate concerns or providing information that doesn't directly impact their current situation. For instance, if there's a natural disaster, discussing long-term environmental impacts without addressing immediate safety measures or evacuation procedures would be an example of neglecting the audience's urgent needs. Failure to share relevant information can lead to confusion and inability to respond to the situation at hand.
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