Giving a presentation is one of the most essential parts of almost every professional career. Whether you are delivering a teacher for your students, presenting at a conference, or giving a big pitch to your boss, you need skill and poise to get people’s attention and make them listen. Giving good presentations is not easy and requires practice and consistency to be effective.
In the article, we look at the skills required to work best with different types of presentations you might find yourself delivering throughout your career.
Types of presentations
There are numerous types of presentations, from giving a speech in front of an audience to presenting a report at work. You can make use of PowerPoint themes to help you make effective presentations in a fraction of the time.
Below are the 4 basic types of presentations you might find yourself delivering during your professional career; each type has different concerns and opportunities.
- The Informational Presentation: Giving information about a topic to an audience with no decision-making power (i.e., teachers). These are usually less formal than other types but require clear structure and good content.
- The Persuasive Presentation: Present a speech in front of an audience who will make decisions based on your presentation.
- The Sales Presentation: Give a pitch to clients, bosses, or investors to convince them to buy your product, service, or idea.
- The Business Report: A formal presentation was given at work to a larger group of people to deliver facts and numbers about a topic to decision-makers (i.e., analyzing data and presenting findings).
How to make a good presentation:
Making a good presentation takes time and effort, but it is well worth it. If you do it right, you can win over your audience and sell your ideas effectively. If you do not prepare enough, the audience will lose their focus and interest and eventually leave, turning away from what you are selling.
Here are some of the top tips for making good presentations:
- Prep and Research:
Researching before preparing your speech is important for making a professional presentation that will engage your audience. Look for articles or videos online about the topic you are speaking about and research what has been said about it. This will help you to structure your speech and connect with the audience. You should also do a great deal of preparation before delivering the presentation.
Use the time to practice, memorize your speech and review your notes, especially if you deliver in front of people.
- Structuring is Key:
Make sure you have a basic structure for each type of presentation before delivery. This will help you focus on following the same while delivering the presentation. A polished structure will allow you to keep your audience interested and will leave them feeling satisfied with the message you are trying to convey. Some types of presentations require more structure than others but do a great job of utilizing a basic structure
will go a long way in helping you succeed.
- Connect and Network at your best:
Make sure that you can connect with your audience. Whether by making jokes or relating to them in some other way. This will help the audience respect what you are saying and pay attention. If they do not respect what you are saying, they will not be moved by it.
- Practice, Practice, and Practice:
Most people believe that practice does not make perfect, but in this case, it does. When you prepare for any presentation, the more you practice, the more successful the presentation will be. If you do not practice a lot, you will not have enough time to communicate your message effectively and may end up forgetting parts. In addition, when you do not practice enough, your speech will sound unprofessional, unfocused, and awkward. This will leave your audience wondering if you are even listening to what they say. Do as much preparation as possible for each presentation so you can deliver it properly and easily every time.
- Questions are your friends:
Make sure you are prepared for any questions from the audience at the end of your speech. This will give you enough time to build into your presentation so that you will have the time to answer their questions. If you do not have time built into your speech, then do not be afraid to tell them that and move on to the next point.
- Enthusiasm shows Passion:
Tell your audience why what you are saying is important, interesting, or relevant to them. This will keep them engaged and make them willing to listen to what you have to say. Your enthusiasm will show them how passionate you are about the topic, making it more likely that they will follow your message when they leave later.
- Audience is no Friend, but they are no Foe Either:
Ensure you address your speech to the audience and do not just talk about something that interests you. If you have a specific audience in mind and are speaking to them, be prepared to gain their interest and keep it throughout your speech. Keep in mind who else may be present in the audience. For they may or may not agree with what it is that you are saying. You need to know how they will react and relate to what you are saying so that you can tailor your speech just for them.
- Humor will be your Best Friend:
Humor is one of the best ways to keep an audience interested in what you have to say. If you tend to start the presentation on a soft note and open with a joke, you lighten the mood and set the mood for the kickstart you need. It also takes away the nerves off you and gives you the confidence to boost the presentation.
Conclusion:
In summary, making effective presentations involves a combination of good planning, engaging content, and effective delivery. To plan your next presentation, start by identifying your audience and your key message, later followed by an outline that organizes your content in a logical flow.
To make your presentation engaging, you can make use of certain PowerPoint graphics, tell stories, and include interactive animations or quizzes. Finally, practice your delivery and use techniques such as confident body language and strong vocal delivery to engage your audience. Remember to also tailor your presentation to the audience you are presenting to, so that it is more relatable and understandable.
