Ten Ways to Improve Your Presentation

A lot of preparation and work goes in to delivering an inspirational and captivating presentation. Many people feel petrified when asked to make their first public talk, but these initial worries can be reduced by good planning, which will also lays the groundwork for making an effective presentation. If you have a presentation coming up soon and you have no idea where to start. No need to panic. Here are ten ways to help you plan your presentation and make it astounding.

1. Rehearse and check your timing.
The more you run through your presentation, the more you will feel comfortable when presenting. You should always aim to finish your presentation on time, remembering to allow time for questions if appropriate.

2. Arrive early.
It's always best to allow yourself plenty of time to settle in before your talk. Extra time ensures you won't be late (even if Google Maps shuts down) and gives you plenty of time to get adapted to your presentation space. 

3. Structure.
Have a logical order to your presentation: introduction, middle with your main points and a conclusion.

4. PowerPoint.
Keep slides clean and simple. Do not have lots of text on each slide and limit the number of slides you have. It is always a good idea to use a fairly large size font so all of your audience can clearly read the information.

5. Don’t try to Cover too much material.
Yes, your presentations should be full of useful, insightful, and actionable information, but that doesn’t mean you should try to condense a huge and complex subject into a 10-minute presentation. You need to be very selective with your content.

6. Stand.
Rather than sit, stand and move around a little – but try avoiding pacing backwards and forwards!

7. Talk naturally to your audience.
Although it may be appropriate to read short passages avoid reading from a script for the majority of your presentation.

8. Make eye contact with your audience.
Do not stare at your feet, or the podium and avoid looking directly at any one person for more than a few seconds (you don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable), gain eye contact with the individual members of the audience.

9.Visual aids.
Use visual aids where appropriate such as graphs and charts, diagrams, pictures and video - but try not to overdo it. Visual aids should help to illustrate and strengthen your points, but not be an interruption from what you are saying.

10. Actively engage the audience.
People love to talk and make their thoughts heard, but the nature of presentations can often seem like a one-sided proposition, although it doesn’t have to be. Asking the audience what they think, inviting questions, and any other means of welcoming viewer participation can increase engagement and make attendees feel like a part of a discussion.

 

 

 


Rachel Whelan

Rachel Whelan

Natural beauty with a killer smile, always happy to help, impeccable communicator, pays great attention to detail and takes pride in her work, highly motivated team member, loves music and online shopping.