Five Effective Tips For Presentations

Having a presentation style that works for you is essential to delivering presentations to various audiences. With there being so many different presentation tips, this needs to be factored into how you deliver the content within the presentation.

Whether you are experienced or new to presenting in front of an audience, you need to make sure your presentation style works for you. It takes a lot of practice before you’re comfortable with presenting so it’s key that you have a style that enables you to deliver presentations to new clients or at conferences.

Keystone Training recognises how important it is to ensure that you have a presentation style that works for you. Our Professional Communication Skills Training Course will enhance not just how you communicate online, but also develop your presentation skills. It means that you are able to present different types of presentations to various audiences.

We look at five effective tips that you can utilise in your presentations. From being engaging about the subject matter to utilising visual aids, it’ll ensure that you deliver an excellent presentation that instantly connects with the audience.

Practice the presentation more than once

Before you deliver your presentation, it’s a great idea to practice it multiple times. Presenting in front of a large audience can be a nerve-wracking experience so make sure you’re properly prepared.

It’s worth practising it in front of your friends, family members or work colleagues so you can get constructive feedback. By practising more than once, you can identify the areas that need to be developed or removed to help deliver your message more clearly. You may also want to record your presentation to see if there are certain traits in your presentation style that may affect how you get your points across. The more comfortable you are with presenting in front of an audience, the more you are able to keep the audience engaged during your presentation.

Be passionate about the subject matter you’re covering

When creating your presentation, you want to make sure that you are passionate about the subject you are covering. It’s crucial that the presentation you’ve produced facilitates audience reactions so that questions can be asked and conversations can be started.

The more passionate and excited you are about showing off your subject knowledge, the more engaged your audience will be. You need to make sure that you come across as an expert that’s invested in the subject matter as this puts you in the best position to communicate effectively.

It’s worth noting that questions and comments being asked during your presentation are a positive thing. If you’re the one prompting the audience to ask questions, then it will make for a more engaged and excited audience.

Consider the amount of interaction you want from the audience

It’s worth considering the level of interaction you want from the audience members attending your presentation. This is dependent on how long the presentation is, what you want to achieve, the information you’re sharing and the tone you’re trying to achieve.

If your presentation is brief, it might be worth waiting until the end to have a window for the audience to ask questions to you. When you’re delivering long presentations or covering a complex subject, you may want to create some time for a question-and-answer session.

Alternatively, you could pause the presentation to give the audience an opportunity to ask questions. Considering the amount of interaction you want from the audience, will help ensure that you deliver a presentation that gets your talking points across well.

Make sure it has an easy-to-follow structure for an effective presentation

For any presentation you are delivering, it must have an easy-to-follow structure. It’s worth creating a presentation template that will enable you to deliver effective presentations that audiences will be interested in.

The core structure of your presentation should be broken down into clearly defined sections. Having a compelling introduction that gets into the subject matter means that the audience knows what will be covered in the presentation. The body is a chance to back up your talking points with facts, evidence and examples.

You want to make sure that you conclude your presentation by summing up with some key takeaways. It’s an opportunity to remind the audience of the key focuses and the important topics you want to communicate.

The key to having an easy-to-follow presentation structure is to have as few slides as possible so that the audience can digest what you are presenting. By doing this, it’ll ensure that you get your points across while keeping the audience interested in the topic you’re covering in your presentation.

Utilise visual aids

Visuals are a great way of ensuring that people retain information for a long period of time, helping to get your points across well. Visualisations like pictures and videos are a good way to convey ideas and themes to your audience and help avoid overly text-heavy slides.

Utilising visual aids in your presentation style will make it easier for the audience to understand complex concepts. Having a graphic or photo that explains complicated pieces of information will make it easier for attendees to understand.

It’s worth remembering that the main reason for using visual aids is to enhance what you’re talking about and not to lead your delivery.

Conclusion

Ensuring your presentation style delivers information in an effective way is the key to success. Our five tips here are just some of the ways in which you can ensure your audience leaves with the intended skills and knowledge. Make sure you check out our Professional Communication Skills courses for more information about how you can improve your comms skills.

If you have any questions about how we can implement those tips into your presentation style work for you, please feel free to contact us.