Presentations to Local Groups
A service you could offer is to give talks and presentations to local clubs, associations or groups. These could be about road safety generally, safe driving, specific topics, such as ‘speed’ or a local situation. Again, avoid a hard sell of your services, but give road safety information and promote road safety messages.
When giving talks:
Know Your Audience
Consider the target audience when preparing your slides and when explaining and delivering the information. Take care to explain professional jargon and acronyms; don’t presume that everyone will be familiar with those well known to you.
Decide Your Key Messages
Choose a small number of key messages that you’d like the audience to go away with. Once again, avoid being commercial. Delegates who see your presentation as a sales pitch will switch off very quickly, and miss your important points.
Stick to Your Time
The audience’s attention will wander if you speak too long, or if you are delaying their coffee break. Generally, 25 – 30 minutes is a good length. If you are speaking for longer, try breaking up the talk by, for example, asking the audience questions, or showing a film, or just pausing for a few minutes for people to stretch their legs.
Use Visual Aids
PowerPoint is a good tool to use, but computers and projectors may not always be available. Slides produced on PowerPoint can be copied onto Overhead Transparencies (OHTs) for use with an overhead projector. Use your slides to display main points only. Too much detail on a slide is difficult to read. Save the detail for your own explanation. This will help hold audience attention. Sample PowerPoint slides on road safety issues which can be used, or adapted, for talks can be downloaded from the Road Safety Talks section.
Be Positive
It is useful to explain the context, with some facts and figures about road accidents, but the focus should be on how to prevent them. Try to keep eye contact with your audience. Vary the tone of your voice and be enthusiastic about your topic.
Rehearse Your Speech
If you’re not used to giving speeches, or it’s a new topic, rehearse your talk in advance (in front of a small audience if possible). Try not to read directly from your notes; use prompt cards with key words or a print of your slides as an aide memoire.
Prepare Handouts
The easiest way to prepare handouts is to use prints of the PowerPoint slides you have created for the talk. Also, try to get materials from the Free Resources section, but remember to request them well in advance.
Finish with Questions & Answers
Audiences usually appreciate the chance to ask the speaker a few questions.
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