3. WHAT IS A PRESENTATION?
o FOUNDATIONALAND FUNDAMENTAL BUSINESS TOOL
o BASIS OF RELATIONSHIP WITH CLIENTS
o REFLECTS:
a) IMAGE OF THE COMPANY
b) ITS VALUE SYSTEM
c) ITS VISION
4. Designing and Delivering
Business Presentations
•Planning
Plan a business presentation
that accomplishes the speaker’s goals
and meets the audience’s needs.
•Purpose
Determine the purpose of your
message (what you want audience to
gain]
5. Vary Your Sentence
Length
•This makes you sound more
interesting and it's easier for your
audience to follow. Think short
and punchy. Or go long and
complex for dramatic effect.
6. Modulate
•Don't speak in monotone for your
whole presentation. Be conscious
to raise and lower your voice tone.
Otherwise, people will tune you out,
and you'll come across like the
teacher in Charlie Brown.
7. •Practice in Front of a Mirror
•What you look like is as important as how you
sound. Pretend as though you're having a normal
conversation and allow your hands to move with
your speech—emphasizing your points. Just
don’t get carried away! (I’m thinking Brene
Brown or President Obama, not your Aunt Jamie
after a few gin and tonics.)
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.
8. Use “Present Mode” When
Rehearsing
•When you finally are ready to hit the Present button in
PowerPoint, make sure you use the Present
Mode option. This allows for you (and only you) to
view extra notes about each slide—just in case you
forget something!
9. Engage the Audience by
Asking Questions
There's no reason that a presentation
should be one-sided. Why not invert the
format and ask your audience a question?
To learn how to create a slide that kicks off a
Q&A, use our article below. These
PowerPoint design tips help you create an
engaging and exciting discussion.
10. Remind Yourself
to Take It Slow
•When we're
stressed or nervous
(or both), we tend to
speak faster.
Consciously, take
yet another deep
breath and remind
yourself to take it
slow!
11. Don't Be Afraid to Be Afraid
• The fear of public speaking is a real
one. Many beginners think that if
they're feeling nervous that a
presentation won't go well or
succeed. That might lead them to
cancel the presentation.
12. Add Charts & Graphs
• Charts and graphs can help you tell
stories with data. It's easy for an
audience to zone out when you throw a
big data table or set of statistics at
them.
• instead, convert those to charts and
graphs. Try out the tutorial below to
learn how to edit those graphs.
13. Avoid Too Much Text
• Using too much text is one of the most
common presenting mistakes.
Presenters often feel they need to
include everything in their slides. This
often manifests itself in over-use of
bullet point lists, paragraphs of text and
tiny font sizes. A couple of sentences
per slide and no more is the ideal and
remember that the audience came to
hear you speak not read.
14. Speak Slowly
• It’s tempting to think that you need to divulge
as much information as possible but talking
too fast is really hard for audiences to digest.
Watch a TV newscaster and see how the
speak slowly with lots of pauses. It’s
definitely a case of “less is more” and you’ll
be amazed how much better the audience
absorb stuff. The breathing space will also
give you more brain ‘CPU time’ to gauge
audience reactions and respond accordingly.
Speaking too fast is a common trait of
nervous speakers but ironically, slowing
down will give you more time to relax and
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC.
15. Practice and Rehearse
• Creating your presentation at the last minute is not a good idea
because it does not allow you to practice and rehearse. Practice is
when you sit with your presentation and mentally review what you
are going to say and how you want the flow to work. Practice is not
enough, although many presenters think it is sufficient. You must
also rehearse your presentation by standing and delivering it as if it
was for real. This is the only way to check your words, your visuals
and whether the message is as clear as you want it to be. It is also
the only way to truly check your timing to make sure you don’t run
over the allotted time. Even better, record your rehearsal and use
these tips to learn what you can improve when you watch the
recording.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY.
16. Use Colors & Fonts
that are Easy to See
• You don’t need to have a graphic
design background in order to design
slides that are visually appealing.
Decide on a simple standard look for
your slides so that the audience has
visual consistency throughout the
presentation. Select background and
text colors that have enough contrast
so that the text will be easy to read.
Instead of guessing at whether the
colors have enough contrast,
17. Keep Your Slides Simple
• Keep in mind that less is more
(effective.) A cluttered slide is distracting.
It causes confusion for an
audience: Which part of the slide should I
focus on? Should I read the slide or pay
attention to the presenter?
• But, a simple, visually appealing slide will
engage your audience,
18. End your presentation on a
high note
• Whichever way you choose to end your presentation,
end it with energy! If you don’t show any passion or
enthusiasm for your topic, then no one else will.
• As well as a more energetic ending, try to lift the mood.
This can be especially important for those presentations
which may tackle a difficult subject or convey some bad
news. You don’t want your audience leaving the
auditorium thinking, ‘well, that was depressing!’
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.
