Do you craft and deliver engaging presentations?

Giving a live presentation in front of an audience can be daunting, whether online or in person. It can also be a thrilling and rewarding experience when you do it well. In order to achieve a great result presenters should do three key things:

Key Points to remember

1. Make time for adequate preparation – structure & learn your content well and then rehearse the delivery for a given audience and context until you are getting it right more often than you are getting it wrong. Don’t wait until the last minute! If you are well prepared you can focus on your delivery instead of worrying about knowing your content or running a demo.

2. Make the effort to be understood, speak clearly & check for understanding as you go along, even if you can’t hear the audience. For more information about identifying your audience knowledge level, see: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/creating-and-giving-business-presentations/identify-your-audience-s-knowledge-level
3. Gain repeated exposure to high pressure situations - staying cool & dealing with problems as they arise without derailing yourself or the audience.

Mistakes happen and that's OK

Even the most practiced presenters will slip up, but what separates professionals from amateurs is how you deal with it.

Time seems to slow down under pressure situations, but only for you! It doesn’t matter if you take a few moments to figure out the problem, your audience won’t be phased at all, just give them respect and ask them for patience and it will be granted automatically.

For more information about gaining exposure to pressure situations and avoiding pitfalls see:

Links:

Content

https://www.ssw.com.au/rules/rules-to-better-powerpoint-presentations

https://www.linkedin.com/learning/speaking-confidently-and-effectively/great-speaking-skills-are-a-must-have see “Give your audience only what they need to know” For more information on creating effective powerpoint slides, see: https://www.linkedin.com/business/learning/blog/productivity-tips/5-best-practices-for-making-awesome-powerpoint-slides

Delivery

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2012/02/13/seven-tips-for-effective-body-language-on-stage/?sh=20a9c335536d

Scott Hanselman, a very well-known Microsoft public speaker, gave these tips in his Pluralsight course: The Art of Speaking: Scott Hanselman

1. Don't touch your face
2. Don't put your hands in your pockets, or if you do, don’t have your keys in your pockets
3. Don't rock back and forth

4. If you’re moving, move deliberately

   • When you're walking, they’ll look at you.
   • When you stop and turn, they’ll look at the slides
5. Stay focused on the topic. Don’t just ramble on

6. Put yourself in the audiences shoes

   • Can they see and hear you?
   • Can they read your screen?
7. Be prepared for demo failures