Master Confident Presentations

Quiz 1

1. How can you gain audience interaction at the beginning of a presentation?

Start with a question your audience can answer.

Tell them what’s in it for them.

Hint at a mystery you are going to reveal.

2. What should you always build a presentation around?

your audience’s interests

your central message

your available time

3. How can you best finish a presentation?

Leave a “so there you have it” factor.

Ask if there are any questions.

Avoid ending with a call to action.

4. What must you always do at the start of a presentation to gain your audience’s attention?

Hand out notes of your presentation to the audience.

Let the audience know what’s in it for them.

Provide the audience with an agenda.

5. You are going to present to an audience that doesn’t know you. How can you best establish your credibility?

Present your expertise with modesty.

Tell the audience how long your presentation will be.

Provide the audience with an agenda.

6. You’re presenting in front of 100 employees in your company. What is the most effective visual aid you can use?

flip charts you can write on, along with gaps in your presentation

individual handouts, along with gaps in your presentation.

a PowerPoint presentation, but with no gaps in your presentation

Quiz 2

1. If you are nervous about presenting to an audience strange to you, when should you arrive?

very early so you can check out the room and the equipment

when the presentation before yours is happening so you can gauge audience reactions

at the time for your presentation so you don’t have to see the audience members

2. If you are uncomfortable presenting, should you chat with audience members before you begin your presentation?

Yes, because you can find some friends this way.

No, because this will only increase your discomfort.

It depends on the audience and if they know more than you do.

3. You are scheduled to give a presentation in a hotel conference room. What does it mean to make yourself “bulletproof” regarding the presentation?

Have a backup plan in case the room’s technology fails.

Don’t present anything you don’t have the answer to.

Avoid using bullet points in your visual aids.

4. Every time you are asked to give a presentation you get very nervous. How can self-talk alleviate your nervousness?

by focusing on one part at a time while telling yourself you’re doing great

by repeating your presentation in your mind until you can do it in your sleep

by telling yourself it’ll be fine until you start believing it’ll be fine

5. Elena is an experienced presenter. Still, how should Elena do a run-through before giving a presentation?

She should do a run-through of her entire presentation to get the timing right.

She should do multiple run-throughs of her entire presentation.

She should do a run-through of the first minute of her presentation.

6. When you are giving a presentation that you’re nervous about, why should you ask questions during the presentation?

so you know the audience has understood what you’ve presented

so you can see that the audience is with you and following what you’re saying

so you can provide the audience a break between sections of your presentation

7. Your nervousness leads you to conduct your presentation sitting at the projector table. Should you do this if you want to engage with your audience?

Yes, because the audience will see you as informally chatting with them.

No, because standing shows respect to your audience.

Yes, because your audience will understand your nervousness.

Quiz 3

1. What is the biggest drawback of giving out notes before you do your presentation?

If you refer to your notes the audience will feel you are being distant.

The preview of the presentation takes away the excitement.

Audience members will spend time writing questions on the notes.

2. Which type of audience member is the most difficult to deal with?

ones who try to ask trick questions

ones who are chipper-in-ers

ones who are sleepy

3. When building PowerPoint slides, when should you avoid having bullet points appear on the slide one by one?

when you want to keep the screen free from clutter

when the bullet points are related to each other

when you want the audience to wonder what’s coming next

4. If you are giving a long presentation on a complex topic, what should you intersperse your presentation with?

abstract examples

preplanned jokes

real-life stories

5. What is one critical rule you should always follow regarding your appearance when giving a presentation?

Never wear anything districting

It’s best to overdress to be safe.

Always dress how your audience dresses.

6. Which simple trick can you do to ensure your presentation doesn’t go over the allotted time?

Have a section near the end you can shorten or skip altogether.

Put time-related notes in your slides to show how long each one will take.

Provide sign posts to show the audience that the end is coming.

7. Chan is going to present to a company’s IT department. He understands that this group generally works in t-shirts and jeans. How should Chan dress?

slightly smarter than the IT audience

in a suit and tie to display professionalism

in the same way the IT audience is dressed

8. What is the best advice about body language you can give a colleague who is presenting for the first time?

Be natural and comfortable.

Focus your eye contact on one person to avoid nervousness.

Keep your hands in your pockets if you feel nervous

9. From your audience’s perspective, why is it important for you to sign post when you’re giving a presentation?

so your audience knows you’re keeping your presentation to the promised time

so your audience knows what you’re going to be covering next on your agenda

so your audience knows which part of the agenda you’ve covered

10. Your training presentation is going to include some group work. Even though it has some downsides, which room layout should you select?

classroom style

café style

U-shape with chairs

11. You’re going to give an hour-long presentation to 16 salespeople, and you get to choose the room layout. Which layout is most ideal?

two rows of tables and chairs with an aisle in the middle.

a U-shape for the tables and chairs with the closed end away from you

one long table with chairs around each side and at the end

12. You’re presenting to a small group and plan to use flip charts. What should you do with the notes you want to include in your presentation?

Memorize your notes so the audience doesn’t see you using “cheat sheets.”

Have them on a single sheet of paper on a table or chair next to the flip charts.

Have your notes written on individual note cards.

13. You ask your prepared questions to your audience, but you’re not getting responses. Which trick can you use to elicit their responses?

Ask questions that only require the audience to raise their hands to respond.

Split the audience in to pairs to consider your questions, then ask them again.

Avoid asking questions the audience can answer in their head.

14. Your presentation is scheduled for an hour. What’s the best way to utilize the time and keep your audience engaged throughout your presentation?

Have audience members get in groups and do a small presentation of their own.

Ask questions and encourage the audience to shout out answers.

Provide a quiz for the audience at the end of the presentation.

15. How can you overcome an audience’s tendency toward microsleeps when you are presenting?

Say everything important in the first five minutes.

Keep your presentation to less than half an hour.

State your important points twice.