Page 4 - Successful Oral Presentations for Government Contracts (cont.)

PRESENTING

"Case the Joint." If possible, the entire team should visit the room where the presentation will be made before the big day. Observe where the evaluators will sit, where the electrical outlets are located, if there are easels for flip charts (if permitted by the RFP.). If the room lacks curtains or blinds, will sunlight at the time you are scheduled to present wash out the visuals? Because you wish to neither wash out the visuals nor plunge the room into total darkness, can lights immediately in front of a built-in screen be turned off separately? If driving, determine the traffic and parking availability at the time you will be arriving for the presentation.

Bring your own projector (and screen if necessary). Overhead projectors vary in how they operate. A team that shows up with its own projector (and a spare bulb) sends a signal that it "has its act together," and certainly will know how the projector works. Conversely, a team that does not know how to operate the Government's projector, or that is faced with a blown projector bulb, will appear unprepared. Be ready for the little problems created by visuals, as Murphy's Law has not been repealed. Bringing your own portable screen will permit you to avoid being forced to project your overheads on a built-in screen in front of a bank of lights.

Handling the "I forgot what I was going to say" problem. One of the reasons that speaking in front of a group is the number one fear in America is the certainty many people have that their mind will go blank at a critical time. That is why so many make the mistake of reading their presentations. You can control this fear with just two 3x5 cards. On one card place an anecdote, quotation or statistic relative to the problem posed in the RFP. On the second card, place an outline of your presentation. If your mind goes blank, merely reach for the two cards together, and relate the information on the first card. You will probably recover from your temporary amnesia. If not, slide the second card to the front, and use it to see where you should pick up. The cards are "life preservers" when you are drowning in panic.

Beware the perils of PowerPoint. If you are permitted to use PowerPoint or a similar program, don't let yourself or your team be carried away by ringing all the bells or tooting all the whistles available. Keep these visual as simple as possible so you gain the advantage they provide, while avoiding having the brilliance of the visuals overwhelm the substance of the presentation. You want the audience to remember your recommendations, not how arrows flew in from different sides, and the "creative" use of colors.

Stand while presenting. Inexperienced presenters will prefer sitting while making the presentation. It may be more comfortable, but the presenter who stands has better presence, better voice control, better eye contact. All "Murder Board" presentations should be made standing to help presenters get used to "being on stage."

The Question & Answer session. The RFP generally calls for a Q&A session for clarification purposes after the formal presentation. Unless the evaluators say they wish to direct their questions to specific team members, the team leader from the prime contractor should quarterback this session, directing questions to team members according to their respective expertise. The stress level on presenters will probably be less during the Q & A session because it will take place within the more familiar conversational context. But don't be lulled into a false sense of comfort. Practice Q & A sessions should be an integral part of the "Murder Boards" so as to anticipate the type of question likely to be asked. The Q&A session is where the evaluators' doubts and questions can be resolved, key points driven home by the presenters in their answers, and the confidence level of the evaluators with the ability of the team to "do the job" increased.

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