5 Ways to Make Your Presentation Larger Than Life
Making a good presentation is crucial to success in business. Whether a sales pitch or a product launch, getting your ideas across professionally and with impact will help you win over clients and peers. Here are five top tips for making sure your presentation gets the attention it deserves:
1) Get audience participation from day one
No one likes a monologue, so try a short conversation instead of starting with a long speech or a PowerPoint presentation. Ask your audience a question and get them involved from the start. This will not only make people feel more engaged, but it will also give you time to think about what you want to say next.
2) Use visuals
A picture is worth a thousand words, so use images on slides to add extra color and vibrancy to your presentation. Sticking to black and white just won’t cut it. You can choose from thousands of images online for free or buy royalty-free pictures that cost very little.
3) Practice
No matter how good you think your presentation skills are, practice is essential. Rehearsing in front of a mirror will help you improve your timing and delivery, which will ensure that the audience stays focused on what you’re saying. You can also record yourself and play it back to see how other people experienced it.
4) Make sure there’s always something for them to do
A presentation isn’t a lecture with you talking and them listening. Keep the audience engaged by providing tasks to complete at different stages of your talk. This could be as simple as asking people to write down their initial thoughts on a certain topic, or it could involve giving out specific homework at the end.
5) Make it personal
If you’ve done your research, then you’ll know what the audience cares about and will be able to tailor your presentation accordingly. You can do this via small things such as wearing interesting clothes, keeping examples relevant to the topic, and even asking them questions throughout. Presentations don’t have to follow a formulaic structure to get people’s attention. By making it personal, you’ll stand out from the rest.
6) Have an end goal in mind
Before you begin putting together any type of presentation, it’s important to know where you want to take your audience. What is the message you’re trying to convey? Do you want them to create a certain action or change their mindset when they leave? The clearer you are on the outcome, the easier it will be to create a presentation that is truly effective.
- Get your audience involved from day one.
- Using visuals – images on slides helps ad extra color and vibrancy to your presentation
- Practice- no matter how good you think your presentation skills are, practice is essential
- Make sure there’s always something for them to do – a presentation isn’t a lecture with you talking and them listening. Keep the audience engaged by providing tasks for them to complete at different stages of your talk
- Make it personal – wearing interesting clothes, keeping examples relevant to the topic, and even asking questions throughout will stand out from other presentations.
