Presentations can be roughly divided into two types: formal and informal. This blog post will look at the defining features of both types, and go into some more depth with specific styles of presentations.
Language
Formal presentations tend to use more formal language. For example, a presenter might avoid the use of slang, or use a more formal register (e.g. ‘Good morning everyone. Thank you for coming here today.’)
Informal presentations tend to use less formal language. For example, the presenter might use more casual structures in their speech (e.g. ‘Hi everyone, glad you could make it’).
Preparation time
A formal presentation may take many days to prepare and is likely to contain visuals such as photographs, illustrations, diagrams and charts.
With an informal presentation, the presenter might have less time to prepare, resulting in potentially fewer visuals.
Structure
A feature of formal presentations is that the presenter has a stricter structure, and will normally request for the audience to leave any questions to the end.
There may be questions and answers during an informal presentation, leading to a more collaborative style as an understanding of the subject matter is built up. The Q&A may also guide the direction of the presentation.
Dress
When making a formal presentation, the presenter is likely to dress more formally, for example, in business or business casual attire. The level of formality in the dress code will depend on the industry. For example, a bank or other financial institution may have a formal dress code that stipulates shirts, ties for men, suits and formal shoes, whereas it might be more appropriate to wear a business casual outfit for presenting to a creative sector company.
Less formal attire is required for informal presentations. This may range from business casual to sports casual, depending on the industry. As informal presentations are more likely to be in-house, the dress code of that institution or company will dictate what is appropriate to wear. Expressions of personal creativity or flair (e.g. a large, decorative watch, unusual or prominent jewellery. If in doubt, look at what other people are wearing in your company!
Pitching to an external client. A formal presentation in business casual clothes
Examples of Formal and Informal Presentations
In education, a lecture to students is an example of a more formal presentation, especially in a large lecture hall or theatre that accommodates several hundred people, whereas a seminar (that is, a discursive-style lecture to a smaller group of students) is an example of an informal presentation. There is likely to be ongoing Q&A, and the structure is likely to be less rigid and linear than in a formal lecture.
New international students attending a lecture-style briefing in a theatre with 991 capacity at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University
Albert Einstein giving a physics seminar at Lincoln University (the first degree-granting black college in the US), c. 1946
In business, pitching to potential clients in a traditional sector company or organization is an example of a formal presentation, as is presenting the results of a creative project to stakeholders. The latter will likely be a statistics-driven verbal report.
Any type of in-house presentation is likely to be less formal and may take the form of a more collaborative chat between a group of people who work together. Introducing yourself to colleagues at a new organization is an example of an informal presentation.
A new member shakes hands with her team at work
That’s not to say that all external presentations will be formal: when you introduce yourself at a networking event or give a 30-second ‘elevator pitch’, this is an informal, spontaneous/impromptu presentation.
In the age of remote, virtual presentations, there remains a distinction between formal and informal presentations. Webinars tend to have larger audiences and are more formally structured. The participants may be unable to see or interact with each other, and the presentation is tightly controlled by the presenter. Questions may be fielded in a chatbox by an assistant to the main presenter, whereas in most team video calls, presentations are less formal and more connector-style, with audience contributions.
Presentation Styles
Below is a non-exhaustive list of different presentation styles.
1. Visual
In this presentation style, the presenter uses images and videos to make and support their points. The slides contain little text.
A visual style is useful for engaging large audiences. If you’re not able to make eye contact with everyone listening, or they are seated too far away from you to be able to pick up on your hand gestures or facial expression, visuals can be a useful way of keeping an audience’s attention.
A video of Hans Rosling using dynamic charts to visually present statistics about world development in 2006
By the same token, in a virtual presentation (where many of the paralinguistic cues such as eye contact and body language are more difficult to gauge), visuals can help communicate ideas virtually through providing a diagrammatic explanation of the points or imagery to help convey a feeling.
2. Free-form
If you are good at telling anecdotes that both engage people and put across points, this is a good style to use. Confidence and good short-term memory are needed as a free-form presentation won’t be structured around slides.
Free-form style is probably best used for short presentations with 2 or 3 main points. If this sounds a lot like a ‘long turn’ in a natural conversation, that’s because it probably is: chatting to someone about your business or product at a networking event is an example of a free-form presentation.
3. Instructor
The instructor style is good for including lots of content and for explaining complex ideas.
An instructor will likely have one main topic, and the slides will be subdivided into sections within that topic. The aim of an instructor’s presentation is both to persuade and build an understanding of the topic in the audience’s mind, and to this end, visuals and texts will probably both feature in the slides. Teachers sometimes use this style to cover a topic.
4. Coach
This is an energetic style which is good for audience engagement because it involves a higher level of interaction with the audience than some of the other styles.
A coach might interact with the audience by using role-play. For example, a trainer at a customer service centre might pretend to be an agitated customer, with one of the trainees cast in the role of customer service agent. Feedback is likely to be animated and encouraging.
5. Story-telling
A storyteller relies on examples made of a mix between the personal and shared experiences. Stories can help bring ideas or concepts to life and make them relatable or realistic.
As it is quite a long form which can be nonetheless engaging, story-telling can be good for conference presentations. Many TED presenters use this style to give the audience some background to their discovery or idea.
A 2014 TED Talk by David Sengeh talking about how growing up in the aftermath of Sierra Leone’s civil war inspired his PhD in developing more comfortable prosthetic limbs
6. Connector
All engaging presenters will have an element of relatability, but the connector style especially aims to put listeners at ease by sharing how similar the presenter is. This style uses Q&A.
7. Lessig
Lawrence Lessig, professor of law and leadership at Harvard Law School invented this method of presenting. This is a style for experienced presenters who are able to accurately time slide transitions with their pace of speech, as the slides move fast (15 seconds each). Each slide will contain only a few keywords or an image. The rapid pace keeps audiences engaged, however, it also denies them time to digest and consider ideas being put forward.
Presentation from Lessig on ‘the talking machine’ – what’s the relationship between chickens and the internet again?
8. Takahashi
This style bears more than a passing resemblance to the Lessig style: there are few words on the slides, but keywords that are used are printed in large bold characters. Unlike the Lessig style, however, there are no pictures. This style works well with a careful choice of words, and especially in languages where one character can convey a lot of meaning (for example, Chinese or Japanese).
Masayoshi Takahashi came up with this method when he had to give a short presentation at a programming conference.
Conclusion
This chart claims that we retain 10% of what we hear, 35% of what we see, and 65% of what we see and hear:
Whichever presentation style you choose, it might be worth bearing in mind that if you want your audience to remember the content, visual aids and interaction are key.
Next, let’s look at some of the skills that you need to give a good presentation.
Presentation Skills
Aside from knowing your subject matter, presenting successfully involves a combination of skills.
Body language
Eye contact and posture can convey confidence and help the presenter appear in command of the situation. Having body language appropriate for the audience is important, though - for example, presenting sitting down can help when you’re presenting to a small, shy group (e.g. traumatised refugees). However, sitting down it can convey a lack of energy and investment in what you’re saying if you choose to sit down when presenting to clients, for example.
Preparation
After researching your subject and planning what you want to say, perhaps with an outline of the slides, having good visuals prepared, and making sure the tech works are key to preparing.
Technical skills
Technical skills might include being able to move the slides on within a presentation or getting video links to work.
Engaging the audience
As anyone who has given a wedding speech will probably confirm, humour is a good way of engaging the audience. If people are laughing, they feel relaxed and will naturally be more tuned into what you’re saying. Equally, anyone who wasn’t paying attention may well be encouraged to listen when they hear laughter. No-one wants to look like they haven’t got the joke!
Time management
It’s important to make sure you don’t overrun. Time slots and schedules need to be respected, but people also tend to switch off after a while.
Pace
Don’t go too fast or too slow. Too fast and you might ‘lose’ listeners who can’t follow the gist; too slow or repetitive and people might tune out.
Adaptability
Be able to adapt to technical problems that arise, or move on from parts of your presentation that don’t seem to be engaging your audience.
Language
Pitch the level of language formality so that it’s appropriate for the audience.
Vocal skills
Finally, adequate projection and clear pronunciation are important no matter who your audience. Depending on the cultures, nationalities and situation, a varied intonation can also support your meaning and keep people engaged. In addition to intonation, your tone of voice can also carry emotion and meaning – think about the impact of a ‘stage whisper’ into a microphone or how an animated delivery style can convey your enthusiasm for your subject.
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