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Tips on delivering the best presentation

Presenting can be tough especially for those of us not born with natural eloquence. To be a better public speaker, one has to develop a personal speaking style. You can do this by packing the presentations with enthusiasm, unique data and having plenty of jokes and short stories relating to the topic.

 

How do you deliver a great presentation?

Practice

Rehearse your lines in various positions – standing up, sitting down, with arms open wide. The more you mix up your position and setting, the more comfortable you’ll feel with your speech. You can also do a practice run for your friend or colleague and evaluate areas that you need to work on. The more you practice, the more your confidence grows.

 

Arrive Early

It’s always best to allow yourself plenty of time to settle in before your talk, preferably 45-60 minutes before your presentation. Extra time gives you a chance to check the room out and make sure the layout is the way you want it, to test and re-test all the equipment and ensure that everything works for you. Don’t trust the sound guy or computer tech who says, “I checked everything and it works fine.’’You also get a chance to do some meet and greet and this makes the attendees feel more at ease.

 

Smile

Smiling replaces anxiety with calm and makes you feel good about your presentation. Smiling also exhibits confidence and enthusiasm to the crowd. This tip works even if you’re doing a webinar and people can’t see you. Just don’t overdo it!

 

Work on Your Pauses.

When you’re nervous, it’s easy to speed up your presentation and end up talking too fast, which in turn causes you to run out of breath, get more nervous, and panic! Pausing helps to emphasise certain points and to help your talk feel more conversational. If you feel yourself losing control of your pace, just take a nice pause and keep cool.

 

Actively Engage the Audience.

People love to talk and make their opinions heard. Asking the audience what they think, inviting questions, and other means of welcoming audience participation can boost engagement and make attendees feel part of a conversation. It also makes you, the presenter, seem much more relatable. Don’t be put off by unexpected questions – instead see them as an opportunity to give your audience what they want.

 

Be Entertaining.

Even if your presentation is packed with useful information, if your delivery bombs, so will your session. Include some jokes and light-hearted stories in your presentation to help you feel more comfortable especially when presenting a great deal of heavy information. .However, it’s important to maintain a balance.

 

Attend other presentations

Attending some of the earlier talks by other presenters give you a chance to scope out their presentation skills and get some context. Deconstruct their speech by highlighting their approach, tactics and execution. You can always borrow something from other speakers that you can use in your own presentations.

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STEP UP WITH YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS!

STEP UP WITH YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS!

Most of us have experienced dull, irrelevant, or confusing presentations.  But think back to the last really great presentation you saw – one that was informative, motivating and inspiring. Wouldn’t you love to be able to present like that? We share some insights on how you can improve;

1.All in the Preparation

Steve Jobs was an inspiring speaker. His speeches may have looked effortless, but, in reality, each one took days or weeks of preparation. Careful preparation is important. The amount of time you spend on planning depends on your situation, but it is really good to do it early as you can never be too well prepared. Proper preparation also helps you manage presentation nerves. When you know your content inside out, you are far less likely to feel nervous.

2.Check out the Equipment and Venue First

Imagine that your presentation starts in an hour. You arrive at the venue and, to your horror: the projector won’t work with your laptop! The slides you spent hours preparing are useless. This is a disaster!

You can avoid such a situation by taking time to familiarise yourself with the venue and available equipment at least the day before your presentation. Often, the sort of problems that can jeopardise your presentation will be situations beyond your control, but this does not mean that you are helpless. Conduct a risk analysis to identify potential issues, and come up with a good “plan b” for each one.

3.Your Presentation is for your Audience, not you!

Sometimes, speakers can get so wrapped up in delivering their presentations that they forget about the needs of their audience.

Start your presentation by telling your audience what to expect. Let them know what you will cover first, whether and when you will stop for a break, if you will be taking questions during the presentation and so on. Providing these ‘signposts’ up front will give your audience a clear idea of what to expect, so that they can relax and concentrate on your presentation.

4.Pitch your Content Accurately

The primary purpose of any presentation is to share information with others, so it is important to consider the level you will pitch it at.

Do some research on your audience. Why are they here? How much do they already know about your topic, and what do they most want to learn from you? It is no use giving a presentation that is so full of information that no one understands you. But you would also not want to patronise people either.You can also try to greet individuals as they arrive on the day, and ask questions to get a feel of their level of knowledge. This will also help you to personalise your presentation and make a connection with each person in your audience, so that they will be more attentive to what you say.

5.Keep it Simple

Short, concise presentations are often more powerful than wordy ones. Try to limit yourself to a few main points. If you get too long getting to your point, you risk losing your audience’s attention.

The average adult has a 15 to 20 minute attention span, so, if you want to keep your audience engaged, stick to the point!

For more on presentation skills or any other soft skill training please contact us on 0702 369224.

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