Microsoft interview - 10 minute presentation

talk random
1

Hi guys,

This thursday I have an interview for MS. Anyway I have to do a 10 min presentation on:

“If you were the general manager of Microsoft UK what key things would you focus on to ensure Microsoft retains its position in the market?”

Well stuff I am covering so far or plan to are:

[LIST]
[]Technologies
[]Marketing
[]Staff
[]Customer Focus
[*]Rival Companies
[/LIST]

My main concern really is a) am I trying to cover too much in 10 mins?? and b) how should I strutuce my presentation??

At the moment I’m thinking:

Introduuction

Quote and simple sentence on what my keyword is RESEARCH

Body

Touch on each of the key points

**Conclusion
**
Sum up what I’ve talked about and their benefits as a whole

I’ve not done many presentations so it would be cool to hear from anyone with experience or knowledege.

cheers

G.

p.s. just out of interest my quote was going to be something like:

“98% of well researched projects sell 3 times as well as their rivals product”

2

in my public speaking class, i practiced my speech about 6 times once. also, i agree with kirupa, time flies.
[ot]

[joke]close microsoft[/joke] sorry to say, but i am really mad at the registry editor and microsoft for that case… :frowning:
[/ot]

please try to think about the following things:

-in a 10 minute speech, how long should your intro be?
in my public speaking class, i always started with something that would get the audience’s attention. in the intro, you have to tell the audience, in a nutshell, what you’ll say…

-how long should your conclusion be?
you have to, in a nutshell, say what you told them in the body.

-once you’ve thought of the things above, how much time will you have for the body?
will you be able to cover all the 5 things you originally listed in that much time?

i hope this helps, and please ignore the joke above. :stuck_out_tongue:

edit: the following was our evaluation form:
**[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=4][LEFT]Critique and Evaluation Form[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=2][LEFT]
Speaker: ___________________ Topic: _________________________ Time: _____________________
Ratings: [/SIZE][/FONT]*[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=2]5-6 = Not Satisfactory 6-7 = Fair 7-8 = Average 8-9 = Good 9-10 = Excellent[/LEFT]
*[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
INVENTION [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1](30 points possible)[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]-Inartistic[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]–Appropriate use of credible and 5 6 7 8 9 10
objective supporting material
–Complete and ethical use of sources 5 6 7 8 9 10
and citations (4)[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]-Artistic[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]–Effective use of persuasion 5 6 7 8 9 10[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
ARRANGEMENT [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1](80 points possible)[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]-Speech organization appropriate to topic,
purpose, and occasion 5 6 7 8 9 10[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
-Introduction[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]–Gain attention and reveal topic 5 6 7 8 9 10
–Establish credibility and
preview main points 5 6 7 8 9 10[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
-Body[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]–Main points balanced, well-organized 5 6 7 8 9 10
and support Specific Purpose
–Effective connectives 5 6 7 8 9 10[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
-Conclusion[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]–Signal end , provide summary, central 5 6 7 8 9 10
idea, call to action (if appropriate)
–Preparation outline contains all
essential elements 5 6 7 8 9 10
–Complete and accurate annotated
bibliography 5 6 7 8 9 10[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
STYLE [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1](20 points possible)[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]-Effective use of language (oral style) 5 6 7 8 9 10
-Effective use of ornamentation 5 6 7 8 9 10[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
DELIVERY [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1](50 points possible)[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
-Verbal[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]–Appropriate use of pauses 5 6 7 8 9 10
–Appropriate rate and volume 5 6 7 8 9 10
–Appropriate vocal variety 5 6 7 8 9 10[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
-Nonverbal[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]–Natural gestures and movement 5 6 7 8 9 10
–Appropriate eye contact 5 6 7 8 9 10[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
-MEMORY [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1](20 points possible)[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]–Suitable use of notes/outline
during delivery 5 6 7 8 9 10
–Speaker’s outline: complete and
appropriate level of detail 5 6 7 8 9 10[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
TOTAL POINTS ______________/200[/LEFT]
**[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=1][LEFT]
Met time requirements (6-8 minutes)? Yes No

Annotated bibliography included? Yes No

Speech delivered extemporaneously? Yes No

Appropriate use of formal language? Yes No

good luck. :)[/LEFT]
[/SIZE][/FONT]

3

greatly appreciated kdd :slight_smile:

I won’t know if I can cover my presentation topics in 10 mins until I’ve practiced it a few times today, so I’ll see what I should leave out etc.

cheers for that sheet really useful :slight_smile:

G.

4

Just take this as true, because I don’t have too much time today so I won’t go into the evidence for everything I say here. Okay, with regards to the introduction/conclusion - they form 10% each, and the main body 80%. You have to determine the type of audience you’ll be presenting to, and direct your presentation depending on that. There are four types:

  • Emotive: people like Branson, short attention spans, unstructured casual presentation
  • Directive: interested in just the facts, give them detail only if they ask, cover points clinically
  • Reflective: academic type, the more the better, and have lots of detail ready for if they ask
  • Supportive: fear change, shopkeepers etc

Microsoft will most likely be directive, depending on the individuals in that room. If there is one person in charge in the presentation, you would focus on his personality type, even if the others around him are different types.

10 minutes is an excellent time frame - anything more would be waffle. The slideshow isn’t that important - it only makes up 12% of the overall impact of a presentation. It should not be a summary of what you’re saying, but a visual aid to communicating it.

Practise as much as you possibly can. You will be nervous, that can’t be helped for even the most experienced people. So just make sure you’ve nailed it. Speak clearly. If you’re going to make yourself cards to read off, make sure that the writing is no more than 3 inches wide on the page - your eyes can see 3 inches of text without scanning along… this makes it look like you’re addressing your audience more and not reading a piece of paper (similar to how autocues work, they’re only 3 inches wide).

There are many tricks of the trade. If I get a chance I’ll post some more advice for you, but I got a coursework on Friday that’s due in tomorrow. Most importantly, good luck :wink:

5

I would have thought Microsoft would be more Supportive :wink:

6

cheers fella :slight_smile:

some good advice there :slight_smile: I’m going to be going for the facts etc. I’m just building up a collection now that I can seemlessly “drop in”.

Good luck with your coursework…thats the worst bit about this week, I have 4 bits of coursework to hand in and this to juggle :frowning:

7

I’ve just realised that I can’t fit all my content into the 10 mins by some way so now I have broken it down into 3 more general parts:

  • Introduction
  • Customer Focus
  • Commercial Awareness
  • Innovation
  • Summary

In that order. Don’t suppose anyone has any feelings on that do they??

I’ll be adopting kirupa style “one word, one page” and bascailly just use those as guidelines, I’ll make sure my words arae decorated to show creativity on my part.

Any suggestions?

8

[QUOTE=λ]I would have thought Microsoft would be more Supportive ;)[/QUOTE]

Actually, I don’t really agree. Supportives tend to be your average Joe… the people behind the till in supermarkets… high in sociability and low in dominance. The people G will be presenting to are likely to be reasonably high achievers, who make their own decisions and are know what they want. It’s not always easy to decide on the audience type, but peg them as much as possible.

G, the concentration of the audience drops towards the middle of the presentation. It can’t be helped, but you can introduce points of interest to grab their attention frequently. Their concentration picks up again for the conclusion. As a result, your presentation shouldn’t be in the order you think so much as the order of importance. Put the most important things at the beginning, so that you’re getting their attention on those topics. I just handed in my coursework, so I have a little space to breathe now!

9

It’s funny I was about to suggest you change your topics… so I’m glad to see you did. I thought that staffing was a pretty bad topic… especially considering you’re tryin to get a job there :lol:

I think the breakdown in that order is good… cause you can go straight from paying attention to the consumer, to what they want, what they want based off of what’s out there and research, and of course how to accomplish that. Has a good structure to it IMO.

I don’t really do a lot of formal presentations but I do a lot of client interviews, and client based presentations… and while you can be a little more loose with them and what you want to do, I think it’s still always good to have some type of humor and humanity through it all. You don’t want to sound like a robot while doing your presentation, there’s nothing more boring than listening to a presenter that is stiff and monotone.

10

^^ Cheers Simp I am much more comfortable with my new layout.

I go into the presentation not claiming to be an expert on delivering presentations, and what Insomniac says is true about concentration half way through.

I go with the intention to deliver my presentation with great passion…hopefully my passion will keep the attention of the people in the room and allow them not to see a “corporate face” but a person who has a genuine passion for technology and even more importantly a genuine passion to achieve in the Microsoft company.

I’ll play to my strength and that is it.

cheers for the extra feedback simp and insomniac :slight_smile:

appreciated.

G.

11

If you want to work on the actual delivery, you need to use rhetoric devices. This is how key speakers make themselves interesting - Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher. Here’s a reference page:

http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm

Things like analogy, to simplify and clarify your point. Delivering things as 3s works well (they tested this, our brains have a response to 3 for some reason). So if you could divide your sections into 3 categories, they’ll pay more attention. These things need to be written into presentations, and can make a speech with no content absolutely awesome. Content is only going to make up 8% of the impact. Your delivery and body language is 45%. If you need any help drop me a PM.

12

The only advice that I could offer is to make sure that you link everything. Make it link really really well because it will sound so much better and help rid your speech of any *“and… err”*s.

Hope it goes well, g. Knock 'em dead (especially that gates fellow muwhahaha)

13

Oh, I’ll add to that. A link needs to be at least 5 seconds long, otherwise the audience won’t catch onto the fact you’re moving on :wink:

14

[ot]:lol: so many rules, I’m a good public speaker… and I have no clue what any of this formal crap is :lol: :wink: hopefully I’ll never need it… would hurt my brain.[/ot]

15

Humour is always good because obviously Microsoft would like someone whose business and technical savvy whilst having a good personality as well. Kirupa’s idea is good and I used that has well last week when I had to do a tutorial class presentation for 15 minutes. Two girls went before me but they just read from an A4 sheet and had no eye contact whatsoever and obviously, half the class was bored or asleep so I tried to make things “simple” and use pictures as well. Although I had much more to cover, keep one main topic for each slide and key/short points underneath and expand what you want to say. Use palm cards for reference if needed. You want them to keep concentrated so add some things that are fun whilst good. Be yourself and lol, just don’t be a jackass.

It’s already great that Microsoft is interested in you. :slight_smile:

16

I’ve had the privilege of having some training from one of the world’s foremost presentation experts, who has trained some of the world’s top executives and TV personalities. You may be a good public speaker, but these are the tips that make great public speakers. I’m not saying I am, but I do know what it takes.

17

i think innovation is a good topic. but it can exist in any aspect of a business, hence i would be more tempted to narrow it to design. an area where microsoft have been weak historically…

18

true…but this is about securing the future of MS UK, and innovation makes a product more maketable, profitable and the product longevity is far greater than aproduct with little or no innovation.

Innovation is the key my friends :slight_smile: lol

cheers for everybodies help :slight_smile: