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What Are Effective Presentation Skills (and How to Improve Them)

Presentation skills are essential for your personal and professional life. Learn about effective presentations and how to boost your presenting techniques.

At least seven out of 10 Americans agree that presentation skills are essential for a successful career [ 1 ]. Although it might be tempting to think that these are skills reserved for people interested in public speaking roles, they're critical in a diverse range of jobs. For example, you might need to brief your supervisor on research results.

Presentation skills are also essential in other scenarios, including working with a team and explaining your thought process, walking clients through project ideas and timelines, and highlighting your strengths and achievements to your manager during performance reviews.

Whatever the scenario, you have very little time to capture your audience’s attention and get your point across when presenting information—about three seconds, according to research [ 2 ]. Effective presentation skills help you get your point across and connect with the people you’re communicating with, which is why nearly every employer requires them.

Understanding what presentation skills are is only half the battle. Honing your presenting techniques is essential for mastering presentations of all kinds and in all settings.

What are presentation skills?

Presentation skills are the abilities and qualities necessary for creating and delivering a compelling presentation that effectively communicates information and ideas. They encompass what you say, how you structure it, and the materials you include to support what you say, such as slides, videos, or images.

You'll make presentations at various times in your life. Examples include:

Making speeches at a wedding, conference, or another event

Making a toast at a dinner or event

Explaining projects to a team 

Delivering results and findings to management teams

Teaching people specific methods or information

Proposing a vote at community group meetings

Pitching a new idea or business to potential partners or investors

Why are presentation skills important? 

Delivering effective presentations is critical in your professional and personal life. You’ll need to hone your presentation skills in various areas, such as when giving a speech, convincing your partner to make a substantial purchase, and talking to friends and family about an important situation.

No matter if you’re using them in a personal or professional setting, these are the skills that make it easier and more effective to convey your ideas, convince or persuade others, and experience success. A few of the benefits that often accompany improving your presentation skills include:

Enriched written and verbal communication skills

Enhanced confidence and self-image

Boosted critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities

Better motivational techniques

Increased leadership skills

Expanded time management, negotiation, and creativity

The better your presenting techniques, the more engaging your presentations will be. You could also have greater opportunities to make positive impacts in business and other areas of your life.

Effective presentation skills

Imagine yourself in the audience at a TED Talk or sitting with your coworkers at a big meeting held by your employer. What would you be looking for in how they deliver their message? What would make you feel engaged?

These are a few questions to ask yourself as you review this list of some of the most effective presentation skills.

Verbal communication

How you use language and deliver messages play essential roles in how your audience will receive your presentation. Speak clearly and confidently, projecting your voice enough to ensure everyone can hear. Think before you speak, pausing when necessary and tailoring the way you talk to resonate with your particular audience.

Body language

Body language combines various critical elements, including posture, gestures, eye contact, expressions, and position in front of the audience. Body language is one of the elements that can instantly transform a presentation that would otherwise be dull into one that's dynamic and interesting.

Voice projection

The ability to project your voice improves your presentation by allowing your audience to hear what you're saying. It also increases your confidence to help settle any lingering nerves while also making your message more engaging. To project your voice, stand comfortably with your shoulders back. Take deep breaths to power your speaking voice and ensure you enunciate every syllable you speak.

How you present yourself plays a role in your body language and ability to project your voice. It also sets the tone for the presentation. Avoid slouching or looking overly tense. Instead, remain open, upright, and adaptable while taking the formality of the occasion into account.

Storytelling

Incorporating storytelling into a presentation is an effective strategy used by many powerful public speakers. It has the power to bring your subject to life and pique the audience’s curiosity. Don’t be afraid to tell a personal story, slowly building up suspense or adding a dramatic moment. And, of course, be sure to end with a positive takeaway to drive your point home.

Active listening

Active listening is a valuable skill all on its own. When you understand and thoughtfully respond to what you hear—whether it's in a conversation or during a presentation—you’ll likely deepen your personal relationships and actively engage audiences during a presentation. As part of your presentation skill set, it helps catch and maintain the audience’s attention, helping them remain focused while minimizing passive response, ensuring the message is delivered correctly, and encouraging a call to action.

Stage presence

During a presentation, projecting confidence can help keep your audience engaged. Stage presence can help you connect with your audience and encourage them to want to watch you. To improve your presence, try amping up your normal demeanor by infusing it with a bit of enthusiasm. Project confidence and keep your information interesting.

Watch your audience as you’re presenting. If you’re holding their attention, it likely means you’re connecting well with them.

Self-awareness

Monitoring your own emotions and reactions will allow you to react well in various situations. It helps you remain personable throughout your presentation and handle feedback well. Self-awareness can help soothe nervousness during presentations, allowing you to perform more effectively.

Writing skills

Writing is a form of presentation. Sharp writing skills can help you master your presentation’s outline to ensure you stay on message and remain clear about your objectives from the beginning until the end. It’s also helpful to have strong writing abilities for creating compelling slides and other visual aids.

Understanding an audience

When you understand your audience's needs and interests, you can design your presentation around them. In turn, you'll deliver maximum value to them and enhance your ability to make your message easy to understand.

Learn more about presentation skills from industry experts at SAP:

How to improve presentation skills

There’s an art to public speaking. Just like any other type of art, this is one that requires practice. Improving your presentation skills will help reduce miscommunications, enhance your time management capabilities, and boost your leadership skills. Here are some ways you can improve these skills:

Work on self-confidence.

When you’re confident, you naturally speak more clearly and with more authority. Taking the time to prepare your presentation with a strong opening and compelling visual aids can help you feel more confident. Other ways to improve your self-confidence include practicing positive self-talk, surrounding yourself with positive people, and avoiding comparing yourself (or your presentation) to others.

Develop strategies for overcoming fear.

Many people are nervous or fearful before giving a presentation. A bad memory of a past performance or insufficient self-confidence can contribute to fear and anxiety. Having a few go-to strategies like deep breathing, practicing your presentation, and grounding can help you transform that fear into extra energy to put into your stage presence.

Learn grounding techniques.

Grounding is any type of technique that helps you steer your focus away from distressing thoughts and keeps you connected with your present self. To ground yourself, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and imagine you’re a large, mature tree with roots extending deep into the earth—like the tree, you can become unshakable.

Learn how to use presentation tools.

Visual aids and other technical support can transform an otherwise good presentation into a wow-worthy one. A few popular presentation tools include:

Canva: Provides easy-to-design templates you can customize

Powtoon: Animation software that makes video creation fast and easy

PowerPoint: Microsoft's iconic program popular for dynamic marketing and sales presentations

Practice breathing techniques.

Breathing techniques can help quell anxiety, making it easier to shake off pre-presentation jitters and nerves. It also helps relax your muscles and get more oxygen to your brain.  For some pre-presentation calmness, you can take deep breaths, slowly inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

While presenting, breathe in through your mouth with the back of your tongue relaxed so your audience doesn't hear a gasping sound. Speak on your exhalation, maintaining a smooth voice.

Gain experience.

The more you practice, the better you’ll become. The more you doanything, the more comfortable you’ll feel engaging in that activity. Presentations are no different. Repeatedly practicing your own presentation also offers the opportunity to get feedback from other people and tweak your style and content as needed.

Tips to help you ace your presentation

Your presentation isn’t about you; it’s about the material you’re presenting. Sometimes, reminding yourself of this ahead of taking center stage can help take you out of your head, allowing you to connect effectively with your audience. The following are some of the many actions you can take on the day of your presentation.

Arrive early.

Since you may have a bit of presentation-related anxiety, it’s important to avoid adding travel stress. Give yourself an abundance of time to arrive at your destination, and take into account heavy traffic and other unforeseen events. By arriving early, you also give yourself time to meet with any on-site technicians, test your equipment, and connect with people ahead of the presentation.

Become familiar with the layout of the room.

Arriving early also gives you time to assess the room and figure out where you want to stand. Experiment with the acoustics to determine how loudly you need to project your voice, and test your equipment to make sure everything connects and appears properly with the available setup. This is an excellent opportunity to work out any last-minute concerns and move around to familiarize yourself with the setting for improved stage presence.

Listen to presenters ahead of you.

When you watch others present, you'll get a feel for the room's acoustics and lighting. You can also listen for any data that’s relevant to your presentation and revisit it during your presentation—this can make the presentation more interactive and engaging.

Use note cards.

Writing yourself a script could provide you with more comfort. To prevent sounding too robotic or disengaged, only include talking points in your note cards in case you get off track. Using note cards can help keep your presentation organized while sounding more authentic to your audience.

Learn to deliver clear and confident presentations with Dynamic Public Speaking from the University of Washington. Build confidence, develop new delivery techniques, and practice strategies for crafting compelling presentations for different purposes, occasions, and audiences.

Article sources

Forbes. “ New Survey: 70% Say Presentation Skills are Critical for Career Success , https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2014/09/25/new-survey-70-percent-say-presentation-skills-critical-for-career-success/?sh=619f3ff78890.” Accessed December 7, 2022.

Beautiful.ai. “ 15 Presentation and Public Speaking Stats You Need to Know , https://www.beautiful.ai/blog/15-presentation-and-public-speaking-stats-you-need-to-know. Accessed December 7, 2022.

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How to find strength in being different, are you weird do other people seem weird to you that's a good thing, argues author olga khazan..

The experience of feeling different or unusual is familiar to many, and I know it well. Growing up as the daughter of a Jewish father and Christian mother who both became Baha’i, and the only white kid in a group of friends who were all first-generation immigrants, I also later married my South Asian partner, raising our biracial child between two continents.

“Immersion in difference is my norm,” I’ve written elsewhere . In adulthood, I discovered that there really were sensory differences I experienced that made my inner life very different from others’, something I write about in my book Divergent Mind .

In her new book, Weird , Olga Khazan dives into various identities that can set a person apart, from religion and race to sexuality and socioeconomic class. As a self-defined poor Russian immigrant Jew growing up in small-town Texas, Khazan experienced life in a way that was defined and etched by the contrast between her family and the southern white American Christian families around her.

And yet—or, rather, because of—this life immersed in difference, Khazan found a unique strength and perspective, which paved the way for her successful career as a science and health journalist with The Atlantic . In the book, she interviews many others like herself, and celebrates being “weird.”

Her conclusions are similar to my own: that it’s important to find ways to connect when we feel lonely or isolated, and that all forms of difference can lead us to be more innovative, empowered, and self-assured.

Jenara Nerenberg: What do you think your book can teach us in this moment in particular, as we all straddle the pandemic?

Olga Khazan: Well, it was not written with a pandemic in mind, but there are a few interesting takeaways. One is that one reason it’s so hard to get people to change norms quickly, and why so much outreach has been required regarding social distancing, is that social norms are just very hard to change quickly. A lot of the behaviors we consider “weird” or out of bounds are non-normative—they break the rules of society—and it’s really hard to change those rules on a dime.

We have these ways of doing things, and when there’s a government mandate from above that says “stop socializing,” it is very disorienting. I’ve also noticed there’s uncertainty—when people leave a building, [they wonder if they] should hold the door open for another or not, because it’s so entrenched, but in fact it’s more polite to avoid one another, get out of the way, and to do so quickly. People are struggling with that, because we have rules that are so ingrained and we don’t like breaking them.

JN: I’m curious about the topic of difference in marriage—interracial couples, interreligious couples. My own family is full of interracial couples and interreligious marriages. Are there those who do seek out difference and are drawn to it?

OK: Yes, first, it’s so surprising how late our country was in accepting interracial marriage. And even with gay marriage, that’s recent in my lifetime. There are people who, because of love and a sense of identity, do push these boundaries and make us rethink what is acceptable and whether the current rules about what acceptability is are actually fair to them.

There’s an association between people who push boundaries in this way—out of a moral or internal sense—and not caring what society thinks. In the book, I mention an example of couples who did online dating [in the 1990s] before that was a social norm—they threw care to the wind and didn’t care if others looked down on them.

Obviously, interracial marriage is much more fraught, but what was interesting was a study from 2003 that found among students who thought gay marriage should be legal, those who felt their view was the morally correct one were willing to stick to their belief even if it was unpopular. This goes to what we know about norm-breakers, pioneers, rebels—they have this strong internal moral compass and when they believe they are doing the right thing, they don’t care that it’s not popular. It’s more important to them to stick by their principles rather than fitting in with the crowd.

There are just some people to whom it’s more important to be on the right side of history than it is to be popular or to be considered socially acceptable.

JN: Was there a common theme about the benefits of being an “outsider” that emerged from your research and interviews?

OK: Yes, a major benefit is creativity. People who are cast out for being “weird” seem to be able to cognitively break the rules in other ways, thinking up solutions that other people might not have come up with.

JN: What research surprised you the most as you were writing?

OK: The most surprising element was the behavioral immune system . Not unlike our individual immune system trying to keep us healthy, the behavioral immune system is this subconscious gut reaction to people who are different. The reason why so many people have negative reactions to immigrants or foreigners or facial disfigurements is because our minds subconsciously tell us to stay away from people who look or behave differently from us, because we’re afraid they might be harboring diseases.

This doesn’t make logical sense, but our bodies tend to overreact to things. This is an example of our mind overreacting to the threat of someone being different, saying, “Hey, stay away from them, because you don’t want to catch whatever disease they might have.” Sometimes this can peak through to the conscious level, when pundits say things like, “Immigrants are bringing diseases across the border,” which makes it overt, but for the most part it’s below the surface. So I thought that was an interesting explanation as to why we so often have these instinctively negative reactions toward outsiders.

JN: What research would you like to see more of?

OK: Speaking of that topic of the behavioral immune system, I actually think it could use more development and hashing out. There have been a bunch of studies and several different researchers working on it, but I was left with some doubts, as there has been some research poking holes in the theory. So I’d like to see more research firming it up—it’s still a bit hazy for me.

JN: Obviously it’s important that we take steps to be more inclusive of differences as a society. In the meantime, how can individuals reframe their situation not as “weirdness” but as “standing out from the crowd” in a positive way?

OK: The way to reframe whatever’s going on with you into something more positive is through a well-known strategy in psychology called “cognitive reappraisal,” which is basically just thinking more positively about whatever is happening. The most famous example of this is when you’re nervous, especially in a performance-type situation, you can tell yourself, “I am excited.” And that can help you feel more positively about whatever is about to happen, because excitement is a positive emotion and nervousness is a negative one. So you can flip your own mindset. In the book, I talk about weirdness in the same way.

Another way is to look at your weirdness as an outsider would, a concept also known as “Solomon’s paradox.” The idea is that people are better at giving themselves advice or deciding what to do if they think of their problem from another person’s perspective.

My own personal issue was often that I didn’t have the same experiences that so many of my peers did—I grew up really poor, I didn’t go to summer camp, etc.—and it just feels like many of my peers in journalism talk about all that they had growing up. So I have a bit of sensitivity around what happens when we all start comparing our lives and our supposed shared experiences, that I don’t share.

Some others I spoke to had the same issue—and many of them are better than me and have found more positive ways of thinking about all this. One guy who went to a wealthy prep school—when others talked about their expensive vacations and he was just sitting at home with his parents, he would play that positively by pointing out how much time he had with his parents or talk about future plans of travel after graduation.

JN: Is it true that those with minority status sometimes band together while simultaneously walling themselves off from potential connection with the larger group?

OK: In the case of my interview subjects, they were usually alone in their status and there weren’t others like them in their communities. For example, a black Muslim woman I interviewed felt she could be friends with other black children or other Muslim children, but there weren’t any other black Muslims to hang out with, and both were huge parts of her identity. So for her it wasn’t a natural fit to just stick with one group, and so she befriended everyone and had a diverse array of friends.

Another woman I talked to who was much older—she was the only black student in her community. Another interview subject [mentioned above] felt like a misfit and kind of found other misfits to form a crew, and he described that as a hugely positive experience, a turning point, and a great salve for what had been a really difficult experience. He was a low-income student at a wealthy prep school, and he felt he really needed moral support.

But for others, there are just so few others like them, which was why I wanted to write about them. I did talk to a very liberal woman who befriended a Republican guy and they just decided together to not talk about politics. Another friend of hers was Christian and repeatedly said, “I’ll pray for you,” and she wasn’t religious but she just accepted it. I remember that from growing up in Texas, many people saying that, and I was always just like, “OK.” I think people try to build bridges, partly because they have no choice, as a way to get support rather than withdrawing.

About the Author

Jenara Nerenberg

Jenara Nerenberg is the author of the acclaimed book Divergent Mind , which was hailed by Library Journal as "extraordinary, jaw-dropping," and endorsed by Steve Silberman, Robert Whitaker, Sundance's Kamal Sinclair, Hollywood's Pop Culture Collaborative, and many more. She is an award-winning writer and producer, named as a "Brave New Idea" speaker by The Aspen Institute, and graduated from the Harvard School of Public Health and UC Berkeley with advanced degrees in political theory, race relations, and media. Jenara is the creator of The Neurodiversity Project and The Interracial Project and sends out event updates at Microphone in Her Throat . She lives, loves, and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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How to give a compelling presentation to a diverse audience

Presentation skills are a critical part of being an effective leader. Whether you’re speaking to your team at a standup meeting, presenting an update at a town hall, or giving a keynote presentation at a conference, there are critical skills needed to communicate in a way that’s clear and compelling.

The  GLOBE leadership study  found that audiences everywhere want leaders to communicate clearly, dynamically, and with vision. But the more diverse your audience, the more you have to adjust the way you present. Clear, dynamic, visionary communication has always been essential for effective leaders. But global leaders go a step further in how they prepare and present information to diverse, distributed groups.

Global leadership is not about geography. It’s about a mindset for leading people from myriad backgrounds and places. Here are a few ways to think about making a presentation to a diverse group:

1. Prepare Content…but revise the “why” and the “logical” order of the presentation

When preparing a presentation, I spend the most time thinking about the “so what” for the audience. MBA students care about cultural intelligence for very different reasons than nurses do. Non-profit leaders think about innovation differently than private sector executives. Most audiences decide whether your presentation is relevant within the first five minutes. 

I obsess over my introductions and how to hook the audience right from the start. I practice it in my head on my morning runs and I keep revising it until I’ve mastered answering “why should I care?” The more diverse the audience, the more time I spend thinking about how to answer that question.

I’m not suggesting that the majority of a presentation should be spent answering the why. That can be incredibly frustrating, particularly for groups who have already bought in and want to hear about the “how”. But if we don’t first stop to understand why this content matters to the audience, our illustrations and application are going to be off course.

The other key difference in how ‘global’ leaders prepare a presentation is to think about how to structure the content. Many public speaking courses present formulaic outlines for how all good presentations should be organized, (e.g. “why, what, how”). But reasoning and logic are significantly shaped by culture so we need to adjust how we present an argument based on the audience.

INSEAD University Professor Erin Meyer discusses this issue by contrasting a principles-first approach versus an application-first approach . Principles-first reasoning uses deductive logic. You spend time defining a problem, describing the theoretical process for addressing it, and eventually arrive at a conclusion. Applications-first reasoning uses inductive logic. You get to the point quickly and briefly reference the process used to get to the outcome. “Why” is less important than “how.”

When I’m presenting to most North American groups, I get to practical solutions as quickly as possible. A long explanation about the theoretical process of how we conceptualized and researched CQ is sure to be met with impatience.  Just get to the bottom line!  If I’m making a presentation about cultural intelligence in Europe however, I’ll methodically walk through the process of how we conceptualized cultural intelligence, the design behind the CQ assessment, and eventually the conclusions reached. If I move too quickly to practical solutions, I’m met with skepticism.  How did you arrive at this conclusion? What were the questions you started with?  It’s inadequate to say, “We used sound, research methodology.” This rhetorical difference is also true with other audiences. Many academics prefer to hear “principles-first” and many North American corporates prefer “applications-first.” 

There are many other considerations for how to prepare a presentation for a diverse audience including using relevant examples, anticipating how much content to share, and the powerful use of stories. But fundamental to preparing your content begins with figuring out the right “why” and logical order based on what makes sense to  them , not you. 

2. Demonstrate passion…but adjust the level of charisma and enthusiasm

Repeated studies have found that the top two characteristics of the most highly rated professors are their content and that they teach with passion . This carries over into what we want from leaders’ presentations. Content matters but it’s equally important to demonstrate your belief in what you’re talking about. Audiences look for authenticity and passion in how leaders communicate.

Diverse audiences, however, have different preferences for how they want leaders to demonstrate passion. I often tell the story about the time I observed a group of emerging leaders in Czech Republic. I was concerned by the limited enthusiasm and charisma most of them demonstrated when giving their presentations. But my Central European counterpart told me that speakers with a lot of visible enthusiasm actually create a barrier for themselves when speaking in places like Prague or Bucharest because many audience members believe that a lot of emotion and excitement from a leader makes them seem too much like leaders from an era gone by when leaders manipulated people with emotional presentations.

If I’m presenting something I’m passionate about, my default is to be loud and visibly expressive. In part, I think this stems from growing up in church environments where fervor and commitment were linked with charisma and enthusiasm. Over the years, I’ve learned that I’m a better global leader and communicator when I regulate my level of enthusiasm based on the audience and context. When I speak to audiences in places like Japan or to a group of engineers, I turn it down a bit, speak a little more slowly, and consider how to moderate my expressiveness based on what will translate best for the audience involved.  

3. Invite questions and comments….but offer multiple ways for audience participation

Many leaders wrap up a presentations with, “Any questions?” I loathe tacking on Q&A at the end of a presentation as an afterthought. Even if you’re presenting to your own team, this is a lazy approach. Inevitably, the same people speak up, often thinking more about how their question or comment makes them look to the rest of the group than asking something that’s going to genuinely help the group at large. I much prefer finding culturally intelligent ways to get feedback and interaction throughout the presentation. 

Global leaders spend as much time considering how to get audience participation as they do developing the content they’re presenting. If you’re presenting to a smaller group, let them know ahead of time that you want them to respond to a particular question at some point in the presentation. This allows the introverts more time to prepare and it enables those from more hierarchical or collectivist cultures to understand that you want them to be prepared to say something. Alternatively, have the audience members pair up with a couple other people during the presentation to come up with a question or comment they would like to raise as a group. 

In larger groups, ask everyone to respond to a poll on their phones and display the results on a screen. Or you can run a low tech poll in the room by simply having people stand or sit in response to various questions (e.g. “Stand up if you’ve been working here 5 years or less”). Just avoid forcing everyone to answer a question that makes them feel uncomfortable in front of a large group.

In a follow-up article, I’m going to address how to give effective  remote  presentations to diverse groups. Platforms like Zoom and MS Teams provide additional ways to engage an audience than what we can do in live presentations. Whatever the context, global leaders give thoughtful preparation to how the audience will have a chance to participate and engage. 

4. Inject humor…but vet it with a trusted “cultural advisor” ahead of time

I somewhat disagree with the conventional wisdom from many cross-cultural experts who say to avoid humor in any diverse setting. I understand the concern. Humor does not translate very well from one culture to the next and it runs the risk of being offensive. But humor is such a powerful way to make us seem more human and there are many studies supporting the psychological benefits of humor. 

Laughter is proven to release endorphins and it’s something experienced across every age and culture. I avoid humor that makes fun of anyone other than myself. But I try to inject  “bonding” humor with an audience—something that the group understands that outsiders may not. Comedian Ellen DeGeneres uses bonding humor extremely well. She portrays a friendly, easy-going personality and puts people at ease with her jovial banter, never really making anyone in the room the butt of her jokes. Many audiences are endeared to leaders who reference inside jokes as part of their presentation.

Ironically, bonding humor is hardest for individuals from some backgrounds to understand. So it takes careful preparation and cultural intelligence to figure out humor that will bond rather than isolate or simply fall flat. Humor in a presentation is never just about the literal words spoken. It’s as much about the one who is saying it and the context where it’s said. There are funny things a Black leader can say that I should never say. This is of course why many experts advocate avoiding humor all together. But I think a more culturally intelligent approach is to inject humor but vet it ahead of time with some individuals who understand the context where you’ll be using it. 

5. Be authentic…but don’t overdo it

Ultimately, we want to hear from leaders who are authentic and real. This desire is consistent among followers across all cultures. People everywhere want leaders who are ethical, clear, and true to themselves. For many leaders, this means being yourself and “shooting straight with people”. For a global leader however, authenticity means,  I’m going to figure out the best way to communicate who I really am and what I care about in light of the audience.  In addition, global leaders understand that there is some information that shouldn’t be shared with an entire group publicly, either because it puts the organization at risk or because it may end up creating too much anxiety and uncertainty that your audience can do nothing about. 

I’ve  written previously  about my growing concern with the over-emphasis on authenticity at the expense of considering what behaviors most effectively communicate our intention to a diverse group. I acknowledge that it’s easy for someone like me to say this given that many of the contexts where I speak are made for “people like me.” But we all benefit when global leaders present in a way that is authentic while simultaneously understanding that authenticity is going to require some adaptation depending on the audience involved. 

Seasoned leaders become adept at giving “stump” speeches and winging a presentation. But an effective global leader always takes at least a few minutes to consider how to communicate to a diverse audience in a way that ensures the group understands the message without unnecessary interference due to limited adaptation by the presenter.

I look forward to following up these insights with some ideas about how to give an effective remote presentation, something all of us are called on to do much more since 2020. In the meantime, I welcome your own observations!

Join me at the Global Leadership Lab to work together on these kinds of global leadership skills!

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The Importance of Presentation Skills: That You Must Know About

Uncover The Importance of Presentation Skills in this comprehensive blog. Begin with a brief introduction to the art of effective presentations and its wide-reaching significance. Delve into the vital role of presentation skills in both your personal and professional life, understanding how they can shape your success.

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Table of Contents  

1) A brief introduction to Presentation Skills 

2) Importance of Presentation Skills in personal life 

3) Importance of Presentation Skills in professional life 

4) Tips to improve your Presentation Skills 

5) Conclusion 

A brief introduction to Presentation Skills  

Presentation skills can be defined as the ability to deliver information confidently and persuasively to engage and influence the audience. Be it in personal or professional settings; mastering Presentation Skills empowers individuals to convey their ideas with clarity, build confidence, and leave a lasting impression. From public speaking to business pitches, honing these skills can lead to greater success in diverse spheres of life.  You can also refer to various presentation skills interview questions and answer to build you confidence! This blog will also look into the advantages and disadvantages of presentations .It is therefore important to understand the elements of presentations .

Importance of Presentation Skills in personal life  

Effective Presentation skills are not limited to professional settings alone; they play a significant role in personal life as well. Let us now dive deeper into the Importance of Presentation Skills in one’s personal life:    

Expressing ideas clearly   

In day-to-day conversations with family, friends, or acquaintances, having good Presentation skills enables you to articulate your thoughts and ideas clearly. Whether you're discussing plans for the weekend or sharing your opinions on a particular topic, being an effective communicator encourages better understanding and engagement. 

Enhancing social confidence  

Many individuals struggle with social anxiety or nervousness in social gatherings. Mastering Presentation skills helps boost self-confidence, making it easier to navigate social situations with ease. The ability to present yourself confidently and engage others in conversation enhances your social life and opens doors to new relationships. 

Creating memories on special occasions  

There are moments in life that call for public speaking, such as proposing a toast at a wedding, delivering a speech at a family gathering, or giving a Presentation during special events. Having polished Presentation skills enables you to leave a positive and lasting impression on the audience, making these occasions even more memorable. 

Handling challenging conversations  

Life often presents challenging situations that require delicate communication, such as expressing condolences or resolving conflicts. Strong Presentation skills help you convey your feelings and thoughts sensitively, encouraging effective and empathetic communication during difficult times. 

Building stronger relationships  

Being a skilled presenter means being a good listener as well. Active listening is a fundamental aspect of effective Presentations, and when applied in personal relationships, it strengthens bonds and builds trust. Empathising with others and showing genuine interest in their stories and opinions enhances the quality of your relationships. 

Advocating for personal goals  

Whether you're pursuing personal projects or seeking support for a cause you're passionate about, the ability to present your ideas persuasively helps garner support and enthusiasm from others. This can be beneficial in achieving personal goals and making a positive impact on your community. 

Inspiring and motivating others  

In one’s personal life, Presentation skills are not just about delivering formal speeches; they also involve inspiring and motivating others through your actions and words. Whether you're sharing your experiences, mentoring someone, or encouraging loved ones during tough times, your Presentation skills can be a source of inspiration for others. 

Exuding leadership traits  

Effective Presentation skills go hand in hand with leadership qualities. Being able to communicate clearly and influence others' perspectives positions you as a leader within your family, social circles, or community. Leadership in personal life involves guiding and supporting others towards positive outcomes. 

Unlock your full potential as a presenter with our Presentation Skills Training Course. Join now!  

Importance of Presentation Skills in professional life  

Effective Presentation skills are a vital asset for career growth and success in professional life. Let us now explore the importance of Presentation skills for students and workers:  

Impressing employers and clients  

During job interviews or business meetings, a well-delivered Presentation showcases your knowledge, confidence, and ability to communicate ideas effectively. It impresses employers, clients, and potential investors, leaving a positive and memorable impression that can tilt the scales in your favour. 

Advancing in your career  

In the corporate world, promotions and career advancements often involve presenting your achievements, ideas, and future plans to decision-makers. Strong Presentation skills demonstrate your leadership potential and readiness for higher responsibilities, opening doors to new opportunities. 

Effective team collaboration  

As a professional, you often need to present projects, strategies, or updates to your team or colleagues. A compelling Presentation facilitates better understanding and association among team members, leading to more productive and successful projects. 

Persuasive selling techniques  

For sales and marketing professionals, Presentation skills are instrumental in persuading potential customers to choose your products or services. An engaging sales pitch can sway buying decisions, leading to increased revenue and business growth. 

Creating impactful proposals  

In the corporate world, proposals are crucial for securing new partnerships or business deals. A well-structured and compelling Presentation can make your proposal stand out and increase the chances of successful negotiations. 

Gaining and retaining clients  

Whether you are a freelancer, consultant, or business owner, Presentation skills play a key role in winning and retaining clients. A captivating Presentation not only convinces clients of your capabilities but also builds trust and promotes long-term relationships. 

Enhancing public speaking engagements  

Professional life often involves speaking at conferences, seminars, or industry events. Being a confident and engaging speaker allows you to deliver your message effectively, position yourself as an expert, and expand your professional network. 

Influencing stakeholders and decision-makers  

As you climb the corporate ladder, you may find yourself presenting to senior management or board members. Effective Presentations are essential for gaining support for your ideas, projects, or initiatives from key stakeholders. 

Handling meetings and discussions  

In meetings, being able to present your thoughts clearly and concisely contributes to productive discussions and efficient decision-making. It ensures that your ideas are understood and considered by colleagues and superiors. 

Professional development  

Investing time in honing Presentation skills is a form of professional development. As you become a more effective presenter, you become a more valuable asset to your organisation and industry. 

Building a personal brand  

A strong personal brand is vital for professional success. Impressive Presentations contribute to building a positive reputation and positioning yourself as a thought leader or industry expert. 

Career transitions and interviews  

When seeking new opportunities or transitioning to a different industry, Presentation Skills are essential for communicating your transferable skills and showcasing your adaptability to potential employers. 

Take your Presentations to the next level with our Effective Presentation Skills & Techniques Course. Sign up today!  

Tips to improve your Presentation Skills  

Now that you know about the importance of presentation skills in personal and professional life, we will now provide you with tips to Improve Your Presentation Skills .

1) Know your audience: Understand the demographics and interests of your audience to tailor your Presentation accordingly. 

2) Practice regularly: Rehearse your speech multiple times to refine content and delivery. 

3) Seek feedback: Gather feedback from peers or mentors to identify areas for improvement. 

4) Manage nervousness: Use relaxation techniques to overcome nervousness before presenting. 

5) Engage with eye contact: Maintain eye contact with the audience to establish a connection. 

6) Use clear visuals: Utilise impactful visuals to complement your spoken words. 

7) Emphasise key points: Highlight important information to enhance audience retention. 

8) Employ body language: Use confident and purposeful gestures to convey your message. 

9) Handle Q&A confidently: Prepare for potential questions and answer them with clarity. 

10) Add personal stories: Include relevant anecdotes to make your Presentation more relatable.   

All in all, Presentation skills are a valuable asset, impacting both personal and professional realms of life. By mastering these skills, you can become a more effective communicator, a confident professional, and a persuasive influencer. Continuous improvement and adaptation to technological advancements will ensure you stay ahead in this competitive world. 

Want to master the art of impactful Presentations? Explore our Presentation Skills Courses and elevate your communication prowess!  

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The Importance of an Effective Presentation

You spend hours crafting your story, building your presentation, and finalizing your speech. Regardless of the contents of your presentation, you likely put a lot of effort into creating it. We get it, you’re passionate about telling your story— and rightfully so. But your hard work is all for naught if your presentation isn’t effective. Of the millions of presentations given everyday, how many are actually successful? And how are teams measuring said success? Understanding the importance of an effective presentation is just as vital as understanding good presentation design. In fact, the two go hand in hand.

When they step down from the stage, most presenters are looking for feedback beyond, “you looked nervous.”  They want to know if what they said resonated with the audience. Did their presentation drive their key points home? Were all of those hours spent fine-tuning their presentation worth it? In most cases, the effectiveness of your presentation can be determined by a simple call-to-action. But there are also so many other ways to monitor your success.

How effective are your presentations?

An effective presentation will do one of two things: it will teach your audience something or it will inspire them to take action. But neither of those things will happen if the audience isn’t engaged. In a perfect world, you’d be able to tell if your audience was paying attention by doing a quick scan of the room. However in our current remote climate, the nature of presentations have shifted. Giving a remote presentation makes it harder to gauge the audience’s level of interest until after the fact. It’s likely that you’re giving a remote presentation via video conferencing, and then sending out the deck as a follow-up. That’s not to say they still can’t be effective. Incorporating video can help engage your audience and increase the effectiveness of your message. Choosing on-brand images, using the right charts and graphs for your data, and the number of slides you include may also play a role in how effective your presentation is. 

Why is it important?

Your presentation is your story. Whether you’re teaching an online course, hosting a webinar, making a business pitch, onboarding a new hire, or sharing a campaign with your team, what you have to say is important. You need your audience to listen. The effectiveness of a presentation determines how many people you reached with your story. It represents how much of the information they will take with them when they leave. And it can help you understand what you can do better next time. 

Understanding the effectiveness of your presentation can help you to figure out if your content is resonating with the audience. Was the presentation too long or too short? Are people making it to the last slide or skipping through? What is the longevity of your content— will your presentation continue to drive traffic a month from now? Is there one slide that people spent more time on than others? These all factor into how powerful and impactful your presentation actually is. You can find the answers to all of these questions through presentation analytics. 

Tracking metrics

In any business, tracking metrics is important. Data itself tells a story (for those who are willing to listen). It can help you better understand your audience, and their behaviors. It’s how you learn more about what works and what doesn’t, which will ultimately help you scale your business. 

Tracking metrics in a presentation can look a little different for every speaker. Depending on your goal of the presentation, you may want to know how many people made it to the end without skipping ahead. On the same coin, you may care more about the effectiveness of your call to action on the last slide. Regardless of which metrics you’re looking for, having the ability to track presentation analytics is important. 

Beautiful.ai analytics

Beautiful.ai gets it. We know that measuring the success of your presentation can be as simple as tracking your metrics— especially in our new remote world. In Beautiful.ai you can see things like total views, unique viewers, total view time, completion rate, average view time per slide, and how many people shared out the link to your deck. With these analytics, you are able to monitor the effectiveness of your presentation days, weeks, and even months after you first present. 

Check it out for yourself! To find your presentation analytics in Beautiful.ai, follow these three, simple steps.

• Click in to any presentation from your Pro account
• Select “actions” on the left side bar
• Open the “analytics” tab

Do you want to present like a pro? Check out our Pro plan and unlock all of the features you need to present your best work ever.

Jordan Turner

Jordan is a Bay Area writer, social media manager, and content strategist.

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12 Reasons Why Presentation Skills Are Important for Students 

Hrideep barot.

• Education , Presentation

Learning presentation skills as a student is like striking gold in the treasure hunt of life! It’s like having a superpower at your fingertips because, let’s be honest, your learning capacity right now is off the charts! But wait, there’s more! Presentation skills aren’t just about talking in front of the class (although that’s super cool too). They’re like the secret ingredient that helps you master the art of communication.

Think about it – you’re not just learning how to present your science project; you’re learning how to navigate the whole wide world. 

So, why’s this the primo time to become a presentation ninja?

• Super Learning Mode: Your brain is in turbo mode right now, absorbing info like a champ. What you learn about presentations during this time becomes your lifelong sidekick.
• Ace Communicator: Being a student means you’re in a constant chat with teachers, friends, and books. Presentation skills give you the superpower to communicate like a pro.
• World Domination: Okay, maybe not the world, but you’re certainly setting yourself up to shine in any situation life throws at you.

Remember, these skills aren’t just for school. They’re for life! So, grab that mic (or marker or mouse) and get ready to rock those presentations. You’re gearing up to be the superhero of communication! 🎤

WHAT ARE PRESENTATION SKILLS:

Have you ever thought about what makes some presentations stick in your memory while others vanish into oblivion? Well, here’s the scoop: presentation skills are the secret sauce, and they’re not just a bag of clever tricks. Nope, they’re the mighty keys to cracking the code of effective communication, letting you hook, enlighten, and amuse your audience.

At their very core, these skills are all about forging a connection with your crowd, whether it’s your school buddies, coworkers, or even a gang of pals at a shindig. They’re like the crafters of a message that’s crystal clear, totally convincing, and as smooth as a jam session with your favorite jazz band.

But wait, there’s more! Presentation skills are your golden ticket to success in all sorts of life’s adventures, from nailing that class project to wowing your boss in a big meeting. They’re the secret tools that turn everyday tasks into unforgettable experiences, etching your message deep into the minds of your audience.

So, as you embark on the journey to master these presentation skills, remember it’s not just about what you say; it’s how you say it. Whether you’re facing a jam-packed auditorium or a cozy gathering of pals, may the enchantment of presentation skills guide you, transforming every moment into a mesmerizing performance.

The 12 Reasons Why Presentation Skills are Important:

Presentation skills are not just crucial for students but also for individuals of all ages and professions. Here’s why they matter and how they impact everyone:

1. Effective Communication :

• Effective communication is the backbone of all human interactions. Presentation skills equip individuals with the ability to convey information clearly, concisely, and persuasively. Whether it’s explaining a project at work or delivering a compelling speech, the capacity to communicate effectively is indispensable.
• Example : In a business meeting, a project manager adept in presentation skills can elucidate a complex project plan. They articulate the project’s goals, milestones, and potential challenges, ensuring that everyone understands the roadmap to success.

2. Career Advancement :

• The workplace is highly competitive, and presentation skills can be the differentiating factor that propels individuals forward in their careers. Being able to present ideas, strategies, and accomplishments with confidence and clarity garners recognition and opens up opportunities for advancement.
• Example : A marketing professional who excels in presenting marketing campaigns not only impresses the team but also demonstrates leadership qualities. This can lead to promotions and increased responsibilities.

3. Building Credibility :

• Credibility is vital in professional and personal relationships. When you can present your ideas convincingly, you gain the trust of your peers, colleagues, and superiors. Your credibility extends to the content you’re presenting, making it more likely to be accepted and acted upon.
• Example : An environmental scientist delivering a presentation on climate change with well-researched data and compelling visuals gains credibility among policymakers and the public, potentially influencing policy decisions.

4. Persuasion and Influence :

• Presentation skills encompass the art of persuasion. Individuals who can engage their audience, create a compelling narrative, and support their arguments effectively are more likely to influence others. This skill is invaluable in negotiations, sales, and leadership roles.
• Example : A charismatic motivational speaker can use their presentation skills to inspire audiences, motivating them to take action or adopt new perspectives.

5. Problem Solving :

• Strong presenters are often adept problem solvers. They can analyze complex issues, break them down into understandable components, and present solutions clearly and persuasively. This ability is crucial for addressing challenges in personal and professional life.
• Example : During a corporate crisis, a CEO who can present a well-structured crisis management plan to stakeholders demonstrates effective problem-solving skills and reassures concerned parties.

6. Personal Branding :

• Effective presentation skills contribute to personal branding. Consistently delivering engaging and informative presentations enhances one’s reputation as a knowledgeable, confident, and trustworthy professional.
• Example : A tech entrepreneur known for captivating product launch presentations builds a strong personal brand, attracting media attention, investors, and customers.

7. Adaptability :

• Presentation skills encompass the ability to adapt to various formats, audiences, and settings. This adaptability is invaluable in today’s diverse and ever-changing work environments, where individuals must navigate different communication channels and styles.
• Example : A teacher who can seamlessly transition from in-person classroom presentations to delivering engaging online lessons demonstrates adaptability in response to changing circumstances.

8. Lifelong Learning :

• Embracing presentation skills encourages individuals to engage in lifelong learning and self-improvement. As presentation techniques evolve and audiences change, individuals who continually refine their communication abilities remain relevant and effective.
• Example : A retired professional who continues to develop presentation skills for community workshops and public speaking engagements not only shares their expertise but also stays engaged in lifelong learning, adapting to new challenges and opportunities.

Presentation skills are universally essential as they enhance communication, facilitate career advancement, build credibility, enable persuasive influence, promote problem-solving, strengthen personal branding, foster adaptability, and encourage lifelong learning. These skills empower individuals to succeed in various personal and professional endeavors, making them essential for everyone.

Let’s look at a comprehensive overview of these trending presentation skills:

Allow me to introduce you to the 12 skills that encapsulate the very essence of the world’s most exceptional presenters.

1. Effective Communication:

Presentation skills are the ability to communicate ideas, information, or messages to an audience clearly and persuasively. It’s about conveying your thoughts with impact and resonance.

2. Audience Engagement:

These skills encompass techniques to engage and capture the attention of your audience. It’s not just about talking; it’s about connecting with your listeners on an intellectual and emotional level.

3. Organization and Structure: 

Presentation skills involve structuring your content logically and coherently. It’s about creating a roadmap that guides your audience through your message, ensuring they follow and understand your points.

4. Visual Aids Usage:

Effective use of visual aids, such as slides, graphics, and multimedia elements, is a crucial component. It’s about enhancing your message with visuals that reinforce your content without overwhelming your audience.

5. Confidence and Presence: 

Presentation skills entail projecting confidence and a strong presence while speaking. This includes body language, tone of voice, and maintaining eye contact.

6. Adaptability: 

These skills are versatile. You must adapt your presentation style to suit different contexts, audiences, and purposes. Whether you’re giving an academic lecture, a business pitch, or a motivational talk, adaptability is key.

7. Preparation and Research: 

A significant part of presentation skills is the preparation phase. It involves conducting thorough research on your topic, understanding your audience, and meticulously planning your content.

8. Problem Solving: 

Effective presenters are skilled at handling unexpected situations, such as tough questions or technical difficulties during a presentation. Presentation skills also encompass the ability to think on your feet and respond confidently.

9. Storytelling: 

Storytelling is a potent tool for presentation skills. It involves weaving narratives that resonate with your audience, making your message memorable and relatable.

10. Time Management: 

Presentations often have time constraints. These skills include managing your time wisely, and ensuring you cover all key points within the allocated time frame.

11. Feedback Utilisation: 

Presentation skills are a continuous learning process. It involves actively seeking and utilizing feedback to improve your future presentations. Constructive criticism is invaluable for growth.

12. Audience-Centred Approach: 

A critical aspect of presentation skills is adopting an audience-centred approach. It’s about tailoring your content and delivery to meet the needs and interests of your specific audience.

What is the purpose of a presentation?

A) information sharing:.

At its core, the purpose of a presentation is to share information. Whether you’re in a classroom, boardroom, or on a stage, you’re conveying knowledge, insights, or ideas to an audience. This information can range from academic research findings, business proposals, and project updates, to even personal stories or creative concepts.

B) Education and Understanding:

Presentations are powerful tools for education and comprehension. They provide a structured format to break down complex topics into manageable, digestible pieces. By presenting information in a clear, organized manner, you help your audience grasp concepts more easily.

C) Persuasion and Influence:

In many situations, presentations aim to persuade and influence. Whether you’re convincing potential investors to fund your startup, persuading your classmates to support your project, or advocating for a cause, effective presentations can be a catalyst for change.

D) Engagement and Connection:

A well-crafted presentation can engage your audience emotionally and intellectually. It’s an opportunity to connect on a human level, share personal experiences, and evoke empathy or enthusiasm. Storytelling is a powerful technique to create this connection.

E) Problem Solving:

Presentations often tackle real-world issues and problem-solving. Whether it’s proposing solutions to business challenges, addressing societal problems, or discussing scientific breakthroughs, they serve as a platform to present ideas that can bring about positive change.

F) Decision-Making: 

In professional settings, presentations play a pivotal role in decision-making processes. They provide decision-makers with the necessary information and insights to make informed choices. Presenters aim to influence these decisions in their favor through compelling arguments and evidence.

G) Inspiration and Motivation: 

Some presentations are designed to inspire and motivate. They encourage the audience to take action, pursue their goals, or embrace change. This purpose often applies to keynote speeches, commencement addresses, and motivational talks.

H) Celebration and Recognition: 

Presentations aren’t always about serious business; they can also serve as a platform for celebration and recognition. Think of award ceremonies, where individuals or teams are honored for their achievements.

I) Entertainment and Artistic Expression: 

Presentations can be a form of entertainment and artistic expression. Think of performances, artistic displays, or creative storytelling. Here, the purpose is to captivate, entertain, and stir emotions.

J) Knowledge Transfer: 

Lastly, presentations facilitate the transfer of knowledge from one person to another or from one generation to the next. This is particularly important in educational settings, where teachers present information to students in a structured manner.

In essence, presentations are versatile tools with multifaceted purposes. They are not just about delivering information but about connecting, persuading, educating, and inspiring. Understanding the specific purpose of your presentation is the first step toward creating a compelling communication experience for your audience.

Why is it important to have good presentation skills for students?

Imagine this scenario: You’re sitting in a classroom, and your professor asks you to present your research findings. Your heart races, your palms sweat, and the butterflies in your stomach have a party of their own. Sound familiar? Well, that’s where good presentation skills come into play for students, and they’re more than just a ticket to survive the classroom spotlight. They’re a gateway to personal and professional success.

First and foremost, presentation skills are the ultimate communication tool.

They help students articulate their thoughts, ideas, and findings with clarity and confidence. In an academic setting, this means you can engage your peers and professors effectively, making your voice heard and your ideas stand out.

But it doesn’t stop at the classroom door. These skills are your secret (because not everyone knows this) key in the professional world. Picture yourself in a job interview. Your potential employer asks you to discuss your qualifications and why you’re the right fit for the role. With polished presentation skills, you’re not just answering questions; you’re painting a vivid picture of your capabilities and potential.

Furthermore, good presentation skills are a confidence booster.

They transform nervous jitters into a sense of empowerment. When you can stand before an audience and convey your message convincingly, it’s a feeling like no other. This newfound confidence seeps into other aspects of your academic and professional life, making you a more resilient and adaptable individual.

In essence, good presentation skills are the key to unlocking doors of opportunity. Whether you’re excelling in class discussions, wowing your professors with a well-structured thesis defense, or nailing that crucial client pitch, these skills are your trusty companions on the journey of personal and professional growth.

So, the next time you find yourself in the spotlight, remember that presentation skills aren’t just about public speaking; they’re about showcasing your potential, building confidence, and paving the way for success. Embrace them, and watch your academic and professional horizons expand like never before.

What are the benefits of learning presentation skills for students?

I. effective communication: .

Good presentation skills are the linchpin of effective communication . In both academic and professional settings, students must articulate their thoughts, ideas, and findings clearly and persuasively. Without these skills, even the most brilliant concepts can get lost in translation.

II. Academic Success: 

Strong presentation skills can significantly impact academic success. Students who can express themselves eloquently often excel in class discussions, group projects, and thesis defenses. They stand out as knowledgeable and confident learners.

III. Confidence Booster:

 Public speaking and presentation practice are fantastic confidence boosters. They empower students to express themselves in front of their peers and teachers, gradually reducing anxiety and building self-assuredness.

IV. Leadership Development:

 Presentation skills are often associated with leadership qualities. Students who master these skills tend to emerge as leaders in group projects, clubs, and extracurricular activities. They can effectively convey their vision and rally others behind it.

V. Professional Readiness:

 In the world of work, professionals are frequently required to present their ideas, proposals, and reports. Students who develop strong presentation skills are better prepared for their future careers, making a positive impression on potential employers and clients.

VI. Critical Thinking: 

Preparing a presentation necessitates critical thinking. Students must organize their thoughts, conduct research, and analyze information to craft a compelling narrative. This enhances their analytical and problem-solving skills.

VII. Time Management: 

Creating a presentation involves managing time effectively. Students must set priorities, meet deadlines, and allocate resources wisely. These time management skills are valuable both in academia and the professional world.

VIII. Adaptability:

Presentation skills encompass various formats, from traditional speeches to multimedia presentations and virtual meetings. Students who can adapt to these different modes of communication are better equipped to thrive in today’s technology-driven world.

IX. Networking Opportunities:

Presentations often provide opportunities to network with peers, professors, and professionals. Building connections can open doors to collaborations, mentorships, and job opportunities down the road.

X. Problem Solving:

During presentations, unexpected challenges may arise, such as tough questions from the audience or technical glitches. Students learn to think on their feet, respond confidently, and solve problems as they arise.

XI. Enhancing Creativity:

Crafting engaging presentations encourages creativity and innovation. Students seek unique ways to capture their audience’s attention, whether through storytelling, visuals, or interactive elements.

XII. Global Communication:

In an increasingly interconnected world, students with strong presentation skills can effectively communicate with diverse audiences from different cultures and backgrounds, fostering cross-cultural understanding and collaboration.

These skills equip students for success in various aspects of life and contribute to their personal and intellectual growth.

How can students improve their presentation skills?

Improving presentation skills is a gradual process that requires dedication and practice. By following these steps and staying committed to self-improvement, students can become confident and effective presenters.

1. Practice, Practice, Practice:

The foundation of presentation mastery is practice . Start small by presenting in front of a mirror or recording yourself. Pay attention to your voice modulation, gestures, and overall delivery. This self-assessment helps you identify areas for improvement and build self-confidence.

2. Preparation is Key: 

The best presenters are often those who are the most prepared. Know your topic inside-out. Create a well-structured presentation with a compelling opening to grab your audience’s attention and a memorable closing to leave a lasting impression. Visual aids can enhance your message, but use them sparingly to avoid overwhelming your audience.

3. Real-Life Experience: 

Gain real-life presentation experience by participating in clubs, engaging in debates, or volunteering for class presentations. The more you expose yourself to different audiences, the more comfortable and adept you’ll become in handling diverse situations.

4. Learn from the Pros: 

Study presentations by seasoned speakers and experts in various fields. Watch TED talks, analyze speeches, or follow your favorite orators. Observe their techniques, storytelling abilities, and audience engagement strategies. Incorporate these insights into your style to make your presentations more captivating.

5. Feedback Fuels Growth: 

Don’t be afraid to seek feedback. Share your presentations with peers, friends, or teachers and ask for their honest opinions. Constructive criticism is like a roadmap to improvement. It highlights your strengths and pinpoints areas where you can refine your skills.

6. Embrace Growth as a Journey: 

Remember that improving presentation skills is a journey, not a quick fix. It takes dedication and time to refine these skills. Be patient with yourself, and celebrate small victories along the way. With consistent effort, you’ll see significant progress and reap the benefits of enhanced communication and self-assuredness.

So, as you embark on your journey to become a presentation pro, keep these elements in mind. Each step, from practice to feedback, preparation, real-life experience, and learning from experts, contributes to your growth. Over time, you’ll not only become a confident and persuasive presenter but also open up doors to academic and professional opportunities. You’ve got the potential; now, let it shine!

Conclusion:

So, here’s the scoop—presentation skills aren’t just about fancy speeches. They’re your superpower for rocking academics, acing your career, and unleashing personal growth. Mastering these and mastering your life would be the best way to put it. We wish you all the best for your presentation and hope this article helps you.

If you wish to know more about how you can communicate effectively, you can try our coaching here .

Enroll in our transformative 1:1 Coaching Program

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Powerful and Effective Presentation Skills: More in Demand Now Than Ever

When we talk with our L&D colleagues from around the globe, we often hear that presentation skills training is one of the top opportunities they’re looking to provide their learners. And this holds true whether their learners are individual contributors, people managers, or senior leaders. This is not surprising.

Effective communications skills are a powerful career activator, and most of us are called upon to communicate in some type of formal presentation mode at some point along the way.

For instance, you might be asked to brief management on market research results, walk your team through a new process, lay out the new budget, or explain a new product to a client or prospect. Or you may want to build support for a new idea, bring a new employee into the fold, or even just present your achievements to your manager during your performance review.

And now, with so many employees working from home or in hybrid mode, and business travel in decline, there’s a growing need to find new ways to make effective presentations when the audience may be fully virtual or a combination of in person and remote attendees.

Whether you’re making a standup presentation to a large live audience, or a sit-down one-on-one, whether you’re delivering your presentation face to face or virtually, solid presentation skills matter.

Even the most seasoned and accomplished presenters may need to fine-tune or update their skills. Expectations have changed over the last decade or so. Yesterday’s PowerPoint which primarily relied on bulleted points, broken up by the occasional clip-art image, won’t cut it with today’s audience.

The digital revolution has revolutionized the way people want to receive information. People expect presentations that are more visually interesting. They expect to see data, metrics that support assertions. And now, with so many previously in-person meetings occurring virtually, there’s an entirely new level of technical preparedness required.

The leadership development tools and the individual learning opportunities you’re providing should include presentation skills training that covers both the evergreen fundamentals and the up-to-date capabilities that can make or break a presentation.

So, just what should be included in solid presentation skills training? Here’s what I think.

The fundamentals will always apply When it comes to making a powerful and effective presentation, the fundamentals will always apply. You need to understand your objective. Is it strictly to convey information, so that your audience’s knowledge is increased? Is it to persuade your audience to take some action? Is it to convince people to support your idea? Once you understand what your objective is, you need to define your central message. There may be a lot of things you want to share with your audience during your presentation, but find – and stick with – the core, the most important point you want them to walk away with. And make sure that your message is clear and compelling.

You also need to tailor your presentation to your audience. Who are they and what might they be expecting? Say you’re giving a product pitch to a client. A technical team may be interested in a lot of nitty-gritty product detail. The business side will no doubt be more interested in what returns they can expect on their investment.

Another consideration is the setting: is this a formal presentation to a large audience with questions reserved for the end, or a presentation in a smaller setting where there’s the possibility for conversation throughout? Is your presentation virtual or in-person? To be delivered individually or as a group? What time of the day will you be speaking? Will there be others speaking before you and might that impact how your message will be received?

Once these fundamentals are established, you’re in building mode. What are the specific points you want to share that will help you best meet your objective and get across your core message? Now figure out how to convey those points in the clearest, most straightforward, and succinct way. This doesn’t mean that your presentation has to be a series of clipped bullet points. No one wants to sit through a presentation in which the presenter reads through what’s on the slide. You can get your points across using stories, fact, diagrams, videos, props, and other types of media.

Visual design matters While you don’t want to clutter up your presentation with too many visual elements that don’t serve your objective and can be distracting, using a variety of visual formats to convey your core message will make your presentation more memorable than slides filled with text. A couple of tips: avoid images that are cliched and overdone. Be careful not to mix up too many different types of images. If you’re using photos, stick with photos. If you’re using drawn images, keep the style consistent. When data are presented, stay consistent with colors and fonts from one type of chart to the next. Keep things clear and simple, using data to support key points without overwhelming your audience with too much information. And don’t assume that your audience is composed of statisticians (unless, of course, it is).

When presenting qualitative data, brief videos provide a way to engage your audience and create emotional connection and impact. Word clouds are another way to get qualitative data across.

Practice makes perfect You’ve pulled together a perfect presentation. But it likely won’t be perfect unless it’s well delivered. So don’t forget to practice your presentation ahead of time. Pro tip: record yourself as you practice out loud. This will force you to think through what you’re going to say for each element of your presentation. And watching your recording will help you identify your mistakes—such as fidgeting, using too many fillers (such as “umm,” or “like”), or speaking too fast.

A key element of your preparation should involve anticipating any technical difficulties. If you’ve embedded videos, make sure they work. If you’re presenting virtually, make sure that the lighting is good, and that your speaker and camera are working. Whether presenting in person or virtually, get there early enough to work out any technical glitches before your presentation is scheduled to begin. Few things are a bigger audience turn-off than sitting there watching the presenter struggle with the delivery mechanisms!

Finally, be kind to yourself. Despite thorough preparation and practice, sometimes, things go wrong, and you need to recover in the moment, adapt, and carry on. It’s unlikely that you’ll have caused any lasting damage and the important thing is to learn from your experience, so your next presentation is stronger.

How are you providing presentation skills training for your learners?

Manika Gandhi is Senior Learning Design Manager at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. Email her at [email protected] .

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21 Ways To Improve Your Presentation Skills

Published: April 07, 2023

You know the feeling of sitting through a boring presentation. A text distracts you. A noise outside pulls your gaze. Your dog begs for attention. By the time the presentation ends, you question why you needed to sit and listen in the first place.

Effective presentation skills can stop you from boring an audience to oblivion. Delivering strong presentations can help you stand out as a leader, showcase your expertise, and build confidence.

Table of contents:

• Presentation skills definition
• Importance of presentation skills
• How to improve presentation skills
• Effective presentation skills
• Presentation skills for executives

Presentation Skills Definition

Presentation skills include anything you need to create and deliver clear, effective presentations to an audience. This includes creating a compelling set of slides , ensuring the information flows, and keeping your audience engaged.

Speakers with strong presentation skills can perform the following tasks:

• Bring together different sources of information to form a compelling narrative
• Hook audiences with a strong beginning and end
• Ensure audiences engage with their content through questions or surveys
• Understand what their audience wants and needs from their presentation

Importance of Presentation Skills

At some point in your career, you will present something. You might pitch a startup to a group of investors or show your research findings to your manager at work. Those in leading or executive roles often deliver presentations on a weekly or monthly basis.

Improving your presentation skills betters different aspects of your working life, including the following:

Communication: Improving your presentation skills can make you a better communicator with your co-workers and friends.

Confidence: 75% of people fear public speaking. By working on your presentation skills, you can gain confidence when speaking in front of a crowd.

Creativity: You learn to understand how to use imagery and examples to engage an audience.

Management: Presentations involve pulling together information to form a succinct summary, helping you build project and time management skills.

How To Improve Presentation Skills

1. create an outline.

Before designing slides and writing a script, outline your presentation. Start with your introduction, segue into key points you want to make, and finish with a conclusion.

2. Practice, Practice, Practice

Almost 8 in 10 professionals practice their presentations for at least an hour. So, practice your presentation in the mirror or to a close friend.

3. Start With a Hook

When presenting, grab your audience with a hook. Consider starting with a surprising statistic or a thoughtful question before diving into the core information.

4. Stay Focused on Your Topic

You might want to cover everything under the sun, but information overload can overwhelm your audience. Instead, stay focused on what you want to cover. Aim for key points and avoid including unnecessary details.

5. Remember To Introduce Yourself

At the beginning of the presentation, introduce yourself. Kill any tension in the room by mentioning your name, your role, and any other helpful details. You could even mention a fun fact about yourself, putting the audience at ease.

6. Work on Your Body Language

55% of people look to nonverbal communication when judging a presentation. Straighten your back, minimize unnecessary gestures, and keep your voice confident and calm. Remember to work on these aspects when practicing.

7. Memorize Structure, Not Words

You might feel better knowing exactly what you want to say. But skip the script and stick to memorizing the key points of your presentation. For example, consider picking three to four phrases or insights you want to mention for each part of your presentation rather than line-by-line memorization.

8. Learn Your Audience

Before crafting a killer outline and slide deck, research your audience. Find out what they likely already know, such as industry jargon, and where they might need additional information. Remember: You're presenting for them, not you.

9. Reframe Your Anxiety as Excitement

A study conducted by Harvard Business School demonstrates that reframing your anxiety as excitement can improve performance. For example, by saying simple phrases out loud, such as “I’m excited,” you then adopt an opportunity-oriented mentality.

10. Get Comfortable With the Setting

If you plan to present in person, explore the room. Find where you’re going to stand and deliver your presentation. Practice looking into the seats. By decreasing the number of unknowns, you can clear your head and focus on the job.

11. Get Familiar With Technology

Presenting online has unique challenges, such as microphone problems and background noise. Before a Zoom presentation, ensure your microphone works, clean up your background, test your slides, and consider any background noise.

12. Think Positively

Optimistic workers enjoy faster promotions and happier lives. By reminding yourself of the positives — for example, your manager found your last presentation impressive — you can shake off nerves and find joy in the process.

13. Tell a Story

To engage your audience, weave storytelling into your presentation — more than 5 in 10 people believe stories hold their focus during a presentation. Consider ways to connect different parts of your slides into a compelling narrative.

14. Prepare for Questions

At the end of your presentation, your audience will likely have questions. Brainstorm different questions and potential answers so you’re prepared.

15. Maintain Eye Contact

Eye contact signals honesty. When possible, maintain eye contact with your audience. For in-person presentations, pay attention to each audience member. For online ones, stare at your camera lens as you deliver.

16. Condense Your Presentation

After you finish the first draft of your outline, think about ways to condense it. Short and sweet often keeps people interested instead of checking their phones.

17. Use Videos

Keep your audience’s attention by incorporating video clips when relevant. For example, videos can help demonstrate examples or explain difficult concepts.

18. Engage With Your Audience

Almost 8 in 10 professionals view presentations as boring. Turn the tide by engaging with your audience. Encourage audience participation by asking questions or conducting a live survey.

19. Present Slowly and Pause Frequently

When you get nervous, you talk faster. To combat this, remember to slow yourself down when practicing. Place deep pauses throughout your presentation, especially when transitioning between slides, as it gives you time to breathe and your audience time to absorb.

20. Start and End With a Summary

A summary at the start of a presentation can pique your audience’s interest. One at the end brings everything together, highlighting key points your audience should take with them.

21. Ask for Feedback

You will never deliver the perfect presentation, so ask for feedback. Talk to your managers about where you could improve. Consider surveying your audience for an unbiased look into your presentation skills.

Effective Presentation Skills

Effective presentation skills include communicating clearly, presenting with structure, and engaging with the audience.

As an example, say a content manager is presenting a quarterly review to their team. They start off with a summary. Their introduction mentions an unprecedented 233% growth in organic traffic — numbers their team has not seen in years. Immediately, the presenter grabs their team’s attention. Now, everyone wants to know how they achieved that in one quarter.

Alternatively, think of an entrepreneur delivering their pitch to a group of investors. They start with a question: How many of you struggle to stay awake at work? They then segue into an exciting product designed to improve the sleep quality of working professionals. Their presentation includes videos demonstrating the science behind sleep and surprising statistics about the demand for their product.

Both examples demonstrate effective presentation skills. They incorporate strong attention grabbers, summaries, and attempts to engage the audience.

Think back to strong presentations you viewed as an audience member. Ask yourself: What made them so memorable, and how can I incorporate those elements into my presentations?

Presentation Skills for Executives

Presentations take up a significant portion of an executive’s workload. Executives regularly showcase key company initiatives, team changes, quarterly and annual reviews, and more. Improving your presentation skills as a leader can help with different parts of your job, such as:

Trust: Delivering great, effective presentations can build trust between you and your team.

Confidence: Most people dread presentations — so a strong presenter projects the confidence needed by a leader.

Emotional intelligence: A great presentation taps into the audience’s perspectives, helping executives improve their emotional intelligence .

Expertise: Presentations help executives display their subject-matter expertise, making employees safe in their hands.

Delegation: At times, executives might need to pull information from different sources for a presentation — improving their ability to delegate as managers.

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14 effective presentation tips to impress your audience

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Anete Ezera July 15, 2022

An effective presentation can communicate key ideas and opinions, save time, and contribute to your overall success as a business, but good presentation skills don’t come naturally to everyone. In this blog post, you’ll find 14 effective presentation tips you can implement in your next presentation to make it a success. 

Whether you’re preparing for an important presentation at work or school, or you’re looking for ways to generally improve your presentation skills, you’ll find these presentation tips useful. We’ve gathered a list to help you impress your audience from the get-go. You’ll find tips for creating and presenting your slides, talking in front of an audience, and other effective presentation techniques to help you stand out. 

Most common presentation mistakes

Before we list our top effective presentation tips, let’s explore the most common presentation mistakes. If you’ve made one or more mistakes in this list, you’re not alone. Most people have made at least one mistake. However, what’s important is to be aware of these errors and try avoiding them next time.

#1 A poor start

One of the most common mistakes people make is undermining the importance of the first few minutes or seconds of their presentation. 

Let’s say you’ve practiced your key talking points meticulously and gone over your slides a million times, but when you’re in the spotlight and need to say your first line, do you know exactly what to say to wow the audience? 

The start of your presentation is crucial. Not only because how you start sets the tone for the rest of your presentation, but also because people generally require around 8 seconds to decide whether they find the subject interesting enough to keep listening. Starting your presentation with a captivating intro is even more important than you think. To ensure you start off right, read our guide on how to start your presentation . 

#2 Lack of preparation

Yes, even though it’s clear that you should prepare before giving a presentation, it’s still a common mistake amongst presenters. Preparing content and talking points is an obvious start, but there are other steps that you might be overlooking.

Before you even join a meeting or walk into a room where you’re going to present, consider the technical requirements and get familiar with the equipment. If you’re presenting online, make sure to test-run your presentation and the visual aids you’re going to use. The last thing you want is a broken video link, poor audio, or a weak connection when you’re presenting. 

Also, consider the questions your audience might want to ask you about the topic. Think about how you’d answer those questions, or do even further research to really impress the audience with your answers. 

Explore other ways to prepare for a presentation to feel even more confident when presenting.

#3 Losing track of time

It’s great to feel passionate about your topic. However, you’ll have to consider your audience’s level of interest and knowledge. Some details might seem fascinating to you, and you’d like to talk about them for hours, but for your audience, too much information will drain their energy and lose their attention. 

Therefore, make sure to keep track of time. Also, consider your audience’s interests. A concise presentation is always better than a long one with a ton of information. Plus, you’ll have a higher chance of keeping your audience’s attention throughout the presentation. 

Effective presentation tips

Now that we’ve looked at some of the most common presentation mistakes – let’s dive into effective presentation tips that’ll help you excel in future presentations. 

#1 Tell a story

Stories connect, inspire, and empower people. Telling a story can entice action, help understand an idea, and make people feel connected to the storyteller. It’s also one of the most effective presentation tips. A study by organizational psychologist Peg Neuhauser found that a well-told story is easier to remember than facts, which makes it a highly effective learning technique. 

With that in mind, telling a story when you’re presenting can engage your audience and make it a more memorable experience. You can either share a personal story or a historical event, just make sure to have a clear connection between the story and the topic you’re presenting. 

#2 Work on your body language

Body language can make a huge difference in how your presentation is perceived. It’s one of the presentation tips you definitely shouldn’t overlook. 

Body language says a lot about a person’s confidence level, emotions, state of mind, and even credibility. For the audience, it’s a way to understand what the person is saying and how interested they are in the topic. 

Therefore, work on your body language to better convey the message you’re trying to communicate. Practice in front of a mirror before your presentation and be conscious of your hand gestures and facial expressions. 

#3 Understand your audience

Before crafting your presentation, you must know who you’re speaking to. Understanding the interests, demographics, professional background, and other valuable information of your audience is crucial in making your speech successful. 

If you’re speaking at an event, contact the organizers to get more information about other speakers and the audience. If you’re presenting at work, you may already know your audience fairly well. Use this information to your advantage and create content you know they’ll resonate with.

#4 Use high-quality visuals

What’s one of the most effective presentation techniques? Use of visuals. They play a crucial role in your presentation. However, only high-quality visuals will make a good impression and effectively communicate your message. Use high-quality visuals like images, videos, graphs, maps, and others to really land your point. 

Using visuals is a great way to convey your ideas as they’re easier to process than text. If you’re not sure where to find great visuals, check out our blog post on presentation visuals for five free resources.

P.S. the Prezi library holds a variety of images, videos, GIFs, stickers, and other visuals, including different charts and maps to spice up your presentation. It’s all available in your dashboard .

#5 Use data visualizations

Do you want to showcase statistics or other datasets in your presentation? Use data visualizations to make your data stand out and impress your audience. 

There’s nothing more boring than a bunch of data presented in a flat way. If you want to tell a story with your data, use interactive infographics or slides enriched with eye-catching visuals. Showcasing data will make your ideas appear more trustworthy and credible. 

Prezi Design offers a range of templates to choose from. You can start creating data visualizations from scratch or choose a template and edit the data there. 

#6 Make it engaging with interactive elements

It’s not easy to deliver an engaging presentation. People can easily get distracted or try to multitask, especially in the virtual environment. Sometimes, it’s difficult to focus on the speaker and the written text. Other times, the content just isn’t impressive enough to hold the audience’s attention. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

You can make your presentation more engaging for everyone by including interactive content like graphs and charts. With interactive data visualizations, you’ll make the data discovery process more engaging and exciting for your audience. 

Your audience will be able to hover over data points and click on certain icons or datasets to discover information on their own. Interactive visualizations will make the presentation more memorable and impressive. 

As you can see in the example below, you can discover different data by engaging with the infographic. 

#7 Stay consistent with fonts and color styles

You want your presentation to look visually appealing and highlight essential information. To make that happen, stay consistent with font styles and color schemes throughout your presentation. 

Use one or two fonts max to make the text easy to read and understand. Also, use a carefully selected color scheme that’s not too distracting. If you’re using Prezi Design, you can easily copy and paste styles by right-clicking on your data visualizations and selecting “copy styles.” This makes it easier to stay consistent and saves time when picking matching colors. 

#8 Structure your presentation properly

Before creating your presentation, think about its structure. What’s the main idea you want to convey? Use that as your starting point, and only include information that adds value to the narrative. 

Plan out the first topics carefully to properly introduce your argument. Add the essential information in the middle part of your presentation. Lastly, close your presentation with a summary of the main points and leave your audience with an afterthought. Also, plan when you’re taking questions and for how long. 

For more insight, watch this tutorial on how to structure your presentation:

#9 Practice your public speaking skills

Public speaking may not be your forte, but you can get better with practice. Don’t decline a great opportunity to share your ideas with a larger audience just because you feel nervous speaking in front of a group of people. 

One of the best ways to improve your public speaking skills is to practice in front of your family or friends – people you feel comfortable with. Also, focus on the topic you’re presenting and get excited about the idea you want to convey. This way you’ll appear more confident and feel less nervous about public speaking. 

Explore other public speaking tips from Jessica Chen, the founder, and CEO of Soulcast Media: 

#10 Show your slides next to you on-screen

If you’re presenting on Zoom or in a virtual meeting , think twice before you share your screen. The days of hiding behind slides are over. People want to see and connect with other people, not sit through another run-of-the-mill screen share. To do that, use Prezi Video to showcase all your content right next to you in your video feed. 

As a result, your presentation will look more engaging than a traditional virtual presentation . Also, your audience will have the chance to read your body language and follow along with what you’re saying even better. 

If you already have your slides prepared, don’t worry – you can easily integrate them into Prezi. 

See Prezi Video in action and check out our video templates to get started.

#11 Calm down before presenting

Being in front of an audience can feel nerve-racking. However, there are ways to calm down before presenting that will make you feel more centered and confident. The last thing you want is all your hard work to go to waste just because of stress. 

Try breathing exercises or a five-minute guided meditation before presenting. The trick is to remove all distractions and focus on the present moment so you’re not overthinking right before starting your presentation. Also, be fully prepared and know exactly what to say and when which will help you feel more collected. If you want to discover other ways to feel and look more confident, read how not to be nervous before a presentation . 

#12 Use transitions and animations 

Add movement to your slides with transitions and animations. You’ll make your presentation more visually appealing and engaging. However, be careful not to overwhelm your audience with your choice of transitions and animations. 

Choose a transition that matches your presentation visually and use it throughout your presentation. Consider what animations will be relevant to your audience and select a few to add to your slides. Don’t overdo it. Keep the focus on the message you’re trying to convey, and use animations to only support that message. 

#13 Be enthusiastic 

When you’re in a room with a positive and enthusiastic person, you can’t help but feel uplifted as well. High-energy people have this effect on others. Most importantly, a lot of people tend to mimic people’s behavior and mirror their energy when they feel a connection or relate to them. That’s called the chameleon effect . 

When you’re presenting, you want your audience to feel curious about what you’re presenting. You may also want to leave your audience feeling uplifted, interested to know more, or inspired. To have that effect on others, try to convey those emotions when presenting. Practice your speech, slow down your narration at times, or take a pause after you’ve delivered a statement, and use different presentation techniques to present your project and really drive your points home. 

#14 End your presentation in a memorable way

The first few minutes of your presentation are crucial for captivating your audience’s attention. However, don’t underestimate the importance of ending your presentation as powerfully as you started it. 

The way you end your presentation will play a crucial part in how your audience will remember it. You want to make a memorable impression by closing your presentation with a summarizing statement, a rhetorical question, a call to action, or another impactful way. Discover 10 ways you can end your presentation in our guide.  

There are a lot of factors to consider when creating and delivering a presentation. You want your slides to look professional and visually appealing while conveying your main points. You also want to look and sound confident even if you’re nervous about public speaking. Whatever your concerns may be, remember that preparation is essential. Practice and dedication are the keys to giving a successful presentation . Make sure to follow these effective presentation tips to excel in your future presentations. If you’re interested in creating a captivating presentation with Prezi, contact us to learn more or try it for free . 

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Do You Have What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation?

• Michael Foley

Three skills anyone can learn.

Great presentations are all about how well you engage your audience. Here are three ways to do that:

• Be balanced: Strike the right balance between structure and improvisation during your presentation. Rather than preparing your content in a narrative form, take the time to segment it by topic. Leave room to respond to your audience’s immediate needs, even if that means going off script for a while.
• Be generous: You goal should be to offer your audience something of value. Let this  principle guide the content you choose to present.
• Be human: Rehearse to familiarize yourself with your content, but do not memorize it. If you go blank for a moment, don’t apologize and act flustered, just pause, take a breath, collect your thoughts and continue on. Your audience wants you to be relatable.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Have you ever seen a really great presentation? Honestly, they’re pretty rare.

• Michael Foley is an educator and coach, and founder of Clarity Centra l, a communications training and consulting firm based in Chicago. He is also an adjunct lecturer of leadership at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

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I Don’t Fit In: 15 Benefits of Being Different in 2023

As a child, you instantly recognized you didn’t fit in. Making friends was tough and you often hung out alone, even though you didn’t want to be. As you grew older, you began to realize that you stand out like the glowing full moon at the darkest hour, but deep down you wish you blended it so you could simply be accepted by others for once in your life. Being different is hard. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an upside to standing out. While it’s always wonderful to have a group of supportive friends and allies, having a distinct personality makes you special, wonderful, and dare I say memorable. In this article, we’re going to share the benefits of being different so you begin to own who you really are. 

15 Benefits of Being Different When You Don’t Fit In

1. you can build a legacy.

The most remarkable people in history are different. They did something extraordinary that no one else ever did. From standing up to human rights or celebrating their inner weirdness, the people you never forget have something that makes them distinct. If your whole life is spent in the mundane, doing what everyone else is doing, no one will remember you. However, if you’re constantly doing something different you’ll stand out. Whether you’re posting unique videos on social media or you’ve got a unique look that separates you from the crowd, you can build a legacy for yourself from being different. To become famous, many people often try to make themselves different to help them become well-known. You don’t need to put in as much thought or effort to do that, because you’ve got what everyone else has: a unique edge. 

2. You can offer a unique perspective

Sometimes, people stand out because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, or some other factor. It’s especially hard when what makes you different isn’t the norm or socially acceptable. However, no matter what makes you unique, you could offer a unique perspective that can be shared to others. A vegan can share their perspective on animal rights. Someone who struggles with mental health can offer empathy when another struggles with a hard time. A person who grew up in a rougher environment can share their story of overcoming obstacles . Being different simply means you know something that can help other people learn. Use your experiences to educate, help, and lift people. 

3. People will still love you

Being different can make it harder to find “our people.” You may have a tougher time making friends , getting along with coworkers, or saying the right thing at the right time. While this is likely the hardest part of being different, it’s not a dead end. People who stand out may be more likely to polarize people, but there are just as many lovers and supporters as there are haters . You just need to find your people. Those who stand out might get along well with people who have similar interests, birthdays, careers, or lifestyles. Once you figure out what the group you belong to is, you’ll start looking for people who have that thing in common. You’ll find comfort knowing that you’re not alone, while feeling accepted by your group. You can fit in, you just haven’t found your group yet.

4. You stand out from the crowd

In a world of sameness, being different means you genuinely stand out. At times, being a wallflower seems to be more comfortable, or what we secretly crave. But when you realize you’re born to stand out, you realize you could lean into it. Standing out in a crowd allows you to achieve more in life. How can you land your dream job? By standing out from other applicants. What does it take to become famous? A unique angle. How can you go viral? By making something different. If you’ve got this extraordinary one-of-a-kind brain and personality that makes you think, look, and act differently, it’s time to lean into that. You never know where you’ll end up just for being different. 

5. You’re honest and authentic

One of the benefits of being different is that you’re being true to yourself. When people don’t accept their uniqueness, they become inauthentic or dishonest about who they are. They may even hide their true identity and self. However, coming to terms with the fact that you’re a unique person allows you to become an honest and authentic person. And to be frank, that may be why there’s some resistance from other people. If you find yourself getting haters, it may be simply because they despise that you’re able to be your true self while they still feel the need to hide that aspect of themselves.

People who hide their true selves usually hate people who showcase their true selves because it’s a version of themselves they wish to be but aren’t ready to be yet. But stay true to your authentic self and help give people confidence as they come more out of their shells. 

6. You know the boundaries

People who believe “I don’t fit in” don’t know how far the boundaries of their personality go. They often try to stay in their lane, to blend in, and do as other people do. They don’t know how far their personality can go. For example, if you’re looking to test yourself or how far you can go, you might push yourself to do activities you wouldn’t normally do. You might start taking riskier actions. A person might go skydiving despite telling themselves that they have a fear of heights. The person could complete the activity and say to themselves, “you know, I genuinely hated that activity.” But at least now they know that it’s not for them. Pushing boundaries helps you find out what you like and don’t. It’s totally okay to realize you have to set boundaries for yourself if something doesn’t jive with you. 

7. You’re Brave

In a world filled with judgemental people, quick to tear people apart with a single comment, being different automatically means you’re brave. While we, too, would love to live in a world where being brave and being different didn’t go hand in hand, the reality is today they do. Standing out, putting yourself out there, and being judged for being a bit quirky isn’t an easy feat. However, your bravery gives people the belief that they could do the same thing. So don’t back down. For every person who writes a mean comment or criticizes you, there’s a person who looks at you and thinks, “I’m going to be myself today.”

8. You can speak multiple languages

While this one isn’t a guarantee for everyone, often people who think “I don’t fit in” can speak multiple languages. When we think of “normal” people we often think of people who look, talk, and act like us. If you live in South Korea, people who speak and look Korean are “normal.” Those who live in the United States, think people who speak English are “normal.” However, we’ve got a planet with a population of almost eight billion people. So, if you’re different you likely speak multiple languages. You might speak the language from your homeland while being in a country where that language isn’t the norm. Some people who are different have traveled a lot growing up so they can speak sometimes as many as five languages. 

9. You’re not one dimensional

In the sea of sameness, people often expect people to fit in a box. If you have this one characteristic, then you also have these other fifteen too. Unfortunately, it’s hard to break away from bias and stereotypes. However, being different means you’re not one dimensional. You could be a Trekkie, working as a marketer, who plays violin, and loves dancing to Indian and Spanish music. You don’t need to check all the boxes of what a “normal” person does or likes just because you like one thing. Like anything you want. If your personality is a mishmash of different things, it simply means that you gave yourself permission to try more things to better understand yourself. 

10. You can stand up for yourself

Instead of telling yourself, “I don’t fit in. What is wrong with me? ” it’s time to realize that you’re standing up for yourself every time you celebrate being different. Showcasing your uniqueness means you value who you are and aren’t going to hide it anymore. Celebrate the fact that you’re alive and were given the opportunity to be your own person. Being yourself is a simple way to stand up for yourself every day without having to do anything extra. Don’t let people dim your shine, you’re not worthless , you’re a gem. 

11. You live life on your own terms

Being different means you live life on your own terms. Of course, you still love and support other people when needed. But you beat your own drum. You don’t need to pretend to fit in to feel inner peace . Life is all about showcasing your uniqueness with the world. People deserve to know you. You bring an element into the world that people haven’t seen or experienced before. Let people hear your words, stories, and ideas. You could take people to the next level with your uniqueness. Don’t bow down to make life easier for other people but much harder for yourself. Keep being yourself, beating your own drum, and living on your terms. You know the value you bring to the table. Don’t change unless it’s a decision you’re making for your own self-growth. 

12. You can be a huge success

One of the benefits of being different is that you can become a huge success. Bringing something unique to the table is what helps people and businesses thrive. Having a distinct unique element to yourself means that you stand out. And those who stand out become successful. If you’re super talented at something or have a unique look, there’s a way you could promote yourself to be successful. No matter what it is that makes you different, you can use it to catapult yourself to high levels of success. You could become a best-selling author, a famous influencer, or a supermodel for having distinct features. So embrace your uniqueness and use them to your competitive advantage. 

13. You can provide empathy

Being different usually means you had a harder time in life. Standing out from the norm can make school, work, and life in general much harder. However, there’s a benefit that comes out of that hardship and it’s empathy . You likely can provide better support for those struggling with emotional pain . You’ve been there, at rock bottom, and learned how to climb yourself out of it. Those stories and experiences have shaped you so that you could help others down the road. Use your triumphs and hardships to help pull people out of their dark periods. Lift up the people who’ve been put down. 

14. You’re interesting

You’re automatically an interesting person just for being different. If you don’t fit in, it’s because you have a unique angle to yourself that makes you stand out. Having conversations with you is always an unexpected experience because people never know what will come out of your mouth. It can be an enlightening experience to learn from you, hear your experiences, and grow from your stories. So speak up and speak out so that others can learn from your wild ideas. 

15. You can handle stress

There’s nothing more stressful than a social situation when you’re different. Social anxiety can be particularly tough. When you don’t conform to societal roles, people will often try to make you more like them. This can add a whole lot of stress for you. You wonder why people can’t accept you for who you are. However, as life goes on, you become better at managing the stress of social situations without having to reduce who you are. While you might still experience stress (we all do) you’re better at handling it because you have so much experience at dealing with the rockiness of social settings. Use this experience to help people going through stressful situations. 

If you’ve spent your whole life thinking “I don’t fit in” rejoice knowing that there are many benefits of being different that allow you to become better at providing empathy, help you succeed, and give you a whole range of wonderful aspects such as making you braver, stronger, and more honest than the norm. Okay, so you stand out a little bit, great. The world needs you to showcase that authenticity so people can come out of their shells too. In a world of billions of people, you’re a one-of-a-kind, and that’s the best thing that could ever happen. Can’t wait to hear your story. 

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How to Deliver Great Presentations

Presenting like a pro.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Key takeaways:

• Connect with and understand your audience . Who is attending and why? What are their needs and expectaions?
• Prepare your content . How to start and finish strong. Tips to keep your audience engaged.
• Deliver confidently . Get comfortable with your visual aids. How to use body language effectively.
• Control the environment . Practice, practice, practice! Handling equipment failures. Have a back up plan.

Ever been to a really bad presentation? You know, the kind where the speaker stands behind the podium, uses slides that mirror what he is saying directly, and includes lots of data tables to validate his position.

But. "What's so bad about that?" you ask. "Isn't that how most presentations are given?" Yes. That is how most presentations are delivered, but that doesn't mean that's the most effective way to deliver them. This kind of presentation risks boring your audience to the point where they start wishing for a fire alarm to go off so they can escape. And once you lose someone, it is next to impossible to bring her attention back.

If the information you are presenting is important enough for you to deliver orally, then it demands an appropriate amount of planning and preparation so that the information you present is memorable – for the right reasons. Give a bad presentation and you'll be remembered all right: it just won't be the type of impression you want to leave in anyone's mind.

When someone presents well, it sends the message that the person is capable, confident, intelligent, and competent. These people get noticed and that type of attention bodes well for your career. Even if you don't make formal presentations in your current position, think about the future and keep in mind that you do have to present your ideas and opinions on a daily basis. The same basic principles of effective delivery apply.

Four Principles of Great Presentations

• Connect With and Understand Your Audience.
• Prepare Your Content.
• Deliver Confidently.
• Control the Environment.

1. Connect With and Understand Your Audience

To deliver a great presentation you have to consider the following audience characteristics:

• Profile – Who are they? What is the common element that brings them together?
• Needs – Why are they attending the presentation? What do they need to know after you've finished?
• Wants – What do they want from the presentation? Do they want to increase knowledge, learn something or be entertained? How can you connect their interests with your message?
• Expectations – What do they expect in terms of content and length?
• Current Knowledge – How much explanation do you need to provide? What assumptions can you make?

When you know your audience, you can prepare content that appeals to them specifically. If you pass over this first crucial step you risk delivering a presentation that is content rich and relevance poor.

2. Prepare Your Content

Now that you know who you are presenting to and why they are there, you can determine what to present. Here are some tips for content preparation:

• Don't try to cover everything. As Voltaire said, "The secret of being a bore is to tell all." Great presentations stimulate thoughts, questions, and discussion. Develop your content so that it covers the main points but leaves room for the audience to apply the information to their own circumstances.
• Start off well with a great hook – you only have a few minutes right at the start to fully engage the audience. Don't use this time to present background information. Get your audience charged up and eager to listen. Make the relevance immediately obvious.
• Also, start by telling your audience where you are heading. Don't make them wait for your conclusion, tell them up front what your premise or purpose is. This helps your audience stay focused. They may or may not agree with you at the start, but they will be able to quickly spot all of your supporting arguments.
• Your presentation should have five to seven take-away points. This follows the chunking principle , which you can learn more about here .
• Tell a story, make comparisons, and use lots of examples. Be sure to mix up the type of content to stimulate audience interest.
• Present your ideas logically using supporting evidence as necessary.
• Provide only as much background information as needed.
• Outline actions or next steps that are required.
• Develop a strong close, including a summary. Bring your conclusions back around to audience need and the hook you created. Consider ending with a question designed to stimulate further discussion.

For a similar but a subtly different approach, see our article on the Rhetorical Triangle .

3. Deliver Confidently

There are two main aspects of your delivery: your visual aids and your style. We'll look at them separately.

Unless your presentation is very short, you will need some sort of visual aid to keep the attention of your audience. There is a fine line, though, between drawing attention to your points, and distracting the audience from what you are saying. Here are some key factors to consider when designing slides:

• Keep slides simple and easy to understand.
• When explaining, start with the overall concept and then move to the details.
• The information on the slide should add value to your presentation or summarize it – it is not meant to be your presentation.
• Ensure that any charts, graphs or tables you include are very simple and easy to read. Use them sparingly.
• Use images (clip art and photos) sparingly and make sure the image means something and isn't just there to fill up space.
• Use pleasant color schemes, high contrast, simple fonts, and bold and italic to add meaning to words.
• Don't use fly-ins, fade-ins or outs or other animations unless absolutely necessary to really emphasize a point. How many times have you been put into a hypnotic state watching words or lines fly into a presentation?

Delivery Style

The way you deliver the content is often what makes or breaks a presentation. Here are some pointers to remember:

• Use gestures for meaning, not for comfort. Try not to talk with your hands or move about carelessly. Everything you do should have purpose i.e. gesture to the visual aid to draw the audience's attention.
• Pause for effect after main points or after you present a visual aid.
• Step out from behind the podium and connect with your audience – make sure you have a remote control device to change slides or cue other types of visuals.
• Talk loudly enough for people at the back to hear, or use a microphone.
• Make eye contact and hold it for three to five seconds. Any less and it looks like you are merely scanning the crowd.
• Be passionate – show your audience that you care about what you are saying.
• Consider putting up a blank or low-content screen between slides – this puts the attention where it should be: on you!
• Change your pace and style from time to time.
• Be natural – don't try to be a comedian if you're not.
• Finish early rather than late.

When you present with confidence and authority, your audience will pay attention and react to you as someone who is worth listening to. Fake it if you need to, by turning your nervousness into creative and enthusiastic energy.

4. Control the Environment

You won't ever eliminate all sources of problems, but through diligent planning and preparation, you can mitigate your risks.

• Practice, practice, practice: The ultimate goal is to deliver your presentation note-free. Short of that, you want to be sure you are comfortable with the material and that nothing comes as a surprise. Consider practicing in front of a video camera and reviewing your delivery. Don't take short-cuts here because it shows! The point is for the presentation to look effortless – when you struggle, the audience focuses on you, and not on what you are saying.
• Keep the lights on: when you darken the room, the screen stands out, not you. And it also encourages sleep, which you want to avoid at all costs!
• Always have back-ups and a backup plan. What if you forget your material? What will you do if the CD won't load? What if the equipment doesn't arrive on time? Plan for as many contingencies as possible.
• Dress appropriately for the situation – find out in advance what the dress code will be.
• Have a policy for answering questions – let your audience know when they can ask questions so you aren't inappropriately interrupted.
• Finish on time, every time. Last impressions are just as important as first ones.

Presenting is not a natural activity and to do it well requires careful thought and lots of practice.

You can choose to be average, or even below average, by simply emulating what most other presenters do. Or, you can take your presentations to the next level and leave your audiences with a powerful message that they remember, while keeping them interested and connected from start to finish.

To do this you need to pay strict attention to your audience analysis, content preparation, delivery style, and the external environment. When you control these for optimum audience relevance, interest, and engagement you are ready to deliver a great presentation.

The final element you must add is lots and lots of practice. Make your next presentation great by planning and preparing well in advance and making it look like it does come naturally to you.

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• Speaking Internationally →

Understanding Cultural Differences in Public Speaking

Ever felt lost in translation while delivering a speech to an international audience? This happens when we overlook the role of cultural nuances in public speaking. From body language, gestures to addressing local beliefs, understanding these can unveil new dimensions in your communication style and make you more relatable.

Get ready as we delve into effective strategies that transform your speeches from monologues into engaging conversations! Let’s embark on this journey together!

Key Takeaways

• Cultural differences in public speaking impact communication styles , nonverbal cues, and values/beliefs, requiring speakers to adapt their approach for effective engagement.
• Understanding diverse cultural communication styles is crucial for avoiding confusion or offense and building connections with international audiences .
• Nonverbal cues such as eye contact, gestures, and facial expressions vary among cultures and must be interpreted within specific cultural contexts for successful cross-cultural communication.
• Cultural values and beliefs significantly influence public speaking, shaping language use, nonverbal cues, tonal variations, and body language. Ignoring these differences can result in miscommunication or unintentional offense.
• Common cultural misunderstandings can hinder effective public speaking by impacting emotional expression, conflict resolution approaches, or personal information sharing. Speakers should be aware of these potential challenges to connect with their audience successfully.
• Strategies for adapting to cultural differences include developing cultural sensitivity skills, overcoming language barriers through translation services, and respecting cultural norms/taboo topics during speech preparation.
• Researching the cultural context of a foreign country helps speakers tailor their messages to resonate with diverse audiences while adapting to local customs/traditions. This enhances rapport building and avoids unintended misunderstandings or offense during presentations.

Importance of Understanding Cultural Differences in Public Speaking

Understanding cultural differences in public speaking is essential for effective communication and audience engagement. Cultural communication styles, nonverbal cues, values, and beliefs can greatly impact how a message is received, making it crucial to adapt and tailor one’s approach accordingly.

Cultural communication styles and their impact

Diving into the world of public speaking, it’s a given that your audience won’t always share the same cultural background as you. This makes understanding different cultural communication styles an invaluable asset in your toolkit.

Why so? Let’s get into it. Cultural differences wield notable influence on how people communicate — from the tone and volume to the speed of speech; all these factors are shaped by culture.

In a multicultural environment, this can either make or break your presentation. Misjudging a listener’s cultural communication style means risking confusing or even offending them, thereby creating barriers rather than bridges between you and your audience.

On the flip side, being able to navigate these diverse communication styles allows for more effective engagement with international business partners or at global conferences, further solidifying your position as an inexorable force in public speaking.

So whether it’s mastering social norms or grappling with language nuances, successful adaptation to various cultural communication styles paves the way for engaging speeches and lively discussions across borders.

Nonverbal communication in different cultures

Cracking the code of nonverbal communication across different cultures is crucial for public speakers. It’s not just about what you say, but how your body broadcasts unspoken signals that can either amplify your message or generate a cultural faux pas.

Across different societies worldwide, people interpret actions in social situations differently, making nonverbal cues fundamental components of intercultural communication.

Eye contact and gestures are two aspects of body language that vary significantly among cultures. In some places, steady eye contact indicates trustworthiness and openness while in others it may be seen as aggression or disrespect.

Understanding the significance behind these variations could mean the difference between sealing a deal or causing unintended offense during a presentation.

Facial expressions too, often regarded as universal forms of communication, can stir up confusion if not appropriately interpreted within cultural contexts. A smile might convey warmth and friendliness to one group but might signify embarrassment to another.

Good public speaking isn’t just mastering speech; it involves becoming fluent in the language of nonverbal cues around us—a recipe for successful cross-cultural communication! So next time you step on an international stage with your well-practiced speech remember – it’s not all about words; Interpreting and delivering effective nonverbal cues rooted deeply in cultural norms is equally integral.

Cultural values and beliefs and their impact

Diving into the rich tapestry of cultural values and beliefs illuminates their significant impact on public speaking. Culture is like an invisible hand, subtly guiding our communication styles.

It shapes not just language but also nonverbal cues, tonal variations, body language, and so much more. For example, in some cultures maintaining eye contact while delivering a speech denotes trust and confidence while in others it’s seen as disrespectful or aggressive.

Ignoring this aspect can lead to unintended miscommunication or even offend your audience unintentionally. As speakers venturing across diverse cultures – understanding these differences is essential because what might be persuasive in one culture could fall flat in another due to contrasting cultural norms and beliefs.

Furthermore, deep knowledge about the audience’s values results in speeches that are sincere and respectful – two key elements of ethical communication that resonate with multicultural audiences globally.

Cultural intelligence amplifies your competence as a speaker by fostering genuine connections based on crosscultural understanding – making every word count for you and your listeners.

Common cultural misunderstandings

Cultural misunderstandings can be a significant barrier in public speaking, affecting both the speaker and the audience. These misunderstandings often arise from differences in expressing emotions, conflicts, or personal information.

For example, what may be considered appropriate humor in one culture might be seen as offensive in another. Likewise, the level of directness or indirectness in communication varies among cultures and can impact how messages are received.

Understanding these common cultural misunderstandings is crucial for public speakers to effectively connect with their audience and avoid unintended negative reactions during presentations.

Strategies for Adapting to Cultural Differences in Public Speaking

Cultural sensitivity.

Cultural sensitivity is a crucial skill for public speakers when it comes to understanding and managing cultural differences. It involves recognizing and appreciating the diverse backgrounds and experiences of individuals, promoting empathy and understanding.

Cultural sensitivity goes beyond surface-level observations, requiring an effort to understand hidden aspects of culture. It’s important not to assign values or judgments to cultural differences but instead recognize them as equally valid.

By developing skills in cultural sensitivity, public speakers can improve their cross-cultural communication and effectively connect with diverse audiences from different backgrounds. As our society becomes increasingly diverse, fostering cultural competence, sensitivity, and awareness is essential for creating inclusive spaces where every voice is heard.

Language barriers

Language barriers are a significant challenge when it comes to public speaking, especially in an international context. Speaking different languages can often lead to misunderstandings and gaps in communication, making it difficult to effectively convey your message.

This is particularly crucial for public speakers who want to connect with diverse audiences around the world. Translation services can be a valuable resource in overcoming language barriers, allowing you to bridge the gap and ensure that your message is understood by everyone.

By addressing language barriers head-on, you can enhance the quality and safety of communication during public speaking engagements while promoting collaboration and understanding among individuals from different cultural backgrounds.

Cultural norms and taboos

Understanding cultural norms and taboos is vital for public speakers when navigating different cultural contexts. Different cultures have their own set of expectations regarding appropriate behavior, language usage, and topics that are considered taboo.

It is important to be aware of these cultural nuances to avoid unintentionally offending or alienating your audience.

For example, what may be acceptable humor in one culture could be seen as disrespectful or offensive in another. Similarly, certain gestures or body language that convey a positive message in one culture might have negative connotations in another.

Being mindful of these differences allows you to adapt your communication style accordingly and ensure effective cross-cultural interaction.

In addition, understanding the cultural norms and taboos associated with public speaking can also help you tailor your content appropriately. By recognizing which topics are sensitive within a particular culture, you can avoid potential misunderstandings or controversies during your speech.

Research and Preparation for Public Speaking in a Foreign Country

Researching and preparing for public speaking in a foreign country involves understanding the cultural context, adapting to local customs and traditions, and ensuring language proficiency.

Understanding the cultural context

In today’s interconnected world, public speakers often find themselves addressing diverse audiences from various cultural backgrounds. To effectively connect with these audiences, it is crucial to understand the cultural context in which they operate.

This means recognizing and appreciating the beliefs, customs, values, and behaviors that shape their communication styles.

By understanding the cultural context, public speakers can adapt their messages to resonate with different cultures. For example, knowing that some cultures value indirect communication while others prefer directness can help speakers tailor their language and tone accordingly.

Additionally, being aware of nonverbal cues such as gestures or personal space preferences can ensure effective communication across cultures.

Researching and preparing for public speaking engagements in foreign countries also requires an understanding of the cultural context. Learning about local customs and traditions helps speakers navigate potential pitfalls or avoid unintentionally offending their audience.

Moreover, having a basic knowledge of the local language shows respect and enhances rapport building.

Adapting to local customs and traditions

Understanding and adapting to local customs and traditions is crucial for public speakers when delivering presentations in foreign countries. Every culture has its own set of norms, values, and practices that shape communication styles and expectations.

By familiarizing themselves with these cultural nuances, speakers can ensure that their message resonates with the audience and avoids any unintended misunderstandings or offense.

Researching the customs and traditions of a specific culture allows speakers to tailor their approach accordingly. For example, knowing whether it is appropriate to address elders first or observe certain gestures of respect can significantly impact how they are perceived by the audience.

Moreover, understanding local customs helps avoid taboos or sensitive topics that may inadvertently offend attendees.

Adapting to local customs also demonstrates respect for the host country’s culture, fostering a positive connection with the audience. It shows an appreciation for diversity and creates an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and understood.

Language proficiency

Having strong language proficiency is essential when it comes to public speaking, especially in a foreign country. Being able to communicate effectively and confidently in the local language can greatly enhance your ability to connect with the audience and convey your message.

Not only does it show respect for the culture and its people, but it also demonstrates your dedication to understanding and embracing diversity. Moreover, having proficiency in different languages improves attitudes towards those who are different from us and allows for greater empathy towards cultural values.

So, whether you’re striving for distinguished English speaking skills or working on mastering another language altogether, investing time in developing your language proficiency will undoubtedly benefit you as a public speaker navigating cultural differences.

In conclusion, understanding and adapting to cultural differences in public speaking is essential for effective communication. By being culturally sensitive and aware, speakers can connect with their diverse audience on a deeper level, avoid misunderstandings, and deliver impactful speeches.

So embrace cultural diversity and enhance your public speaking skills to engage with people from different backgrounds successfully!

1. How do cultural differences impact public speaking?

Cultural differences can impact public speaking in various ways, including communication style, body language, and audience expectations. Different cultures may have different norms for eye contact, gestures, and vocal tone, which can influence how a speaker is perceived and understood.

2. What are some common challenges when speaking to an international audience?

When speaking to an international audience, common challenges may include language barriers, varying levels of English proficiency among listeners, differing cultural beliefs and values that shape understanding and interpretation of messages, as well as potential miscommunications or misunderstandings due to unfamiliarity with certain sayings or idioms.

3. How can speakers adapt their presentations for different cultures?

Speakers can adapt their presentations for different cultures by researching the target culture’s communication styles and preferences beforehand. This includes understanding appropriate use of nonverbal cues, using relatable examples that resonate with the specific cultural context while avoiding potentially sensitive topics or offensive content.

4. What strategies can help improve cross-cultural communication during public speaking?

To improve cross-cultural communication during public speaking engagements, it is important to be mindful of cultural diversity within the audience. Speakers should strive for clarity in speech delivery by enunciating words clearly and avoid using jargon or technical terms that might not be easily understood outside of one’s own culture. Additionally addressing questions from the audience respectfully helps create a more inclusive environment where all participants feel valued regardless of their background knowledge on given topic being discussed

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18 Ways to Make Your Presentation More Interactive

November 10, 2017 - Dom Barnard

It can be difficult to hold your audience’s attention for the entire presentation. According to a  Prezi study , half of the respondents said they did something other than listen during a co-worker’s presentation, including:

• Sending a text message (28%)
• Checking emails (27%)
• Falling asleep (17%)

An interactive presentation is much more likely to keep your audience’s attention and build rapport with them, and there are a few simple ways to achieve this, from live polling to asking questions throughout.

This article explores several different effective strategies for making the audience feel fully involved in your presentation and keeping your audience’s eyes away from their smartphones.

Why involve your audience?

Listening to a presentation for any length of time can be a difficult process. If you don’t involve the audience, they’ll start to play with their phones, talk to colleagues and generally lose track of what you are saying. Once this happens and you start seeing that the audience would rather be somewhere else, you’ll start feeling anxious and might try to speed up the presentation.

To engage a  large audience  fully, the presentation needs to be energetic, purposeful and staged, as if it is a direct conversation between both you and your audience. That way, they’ll absorb your ideas and insights and they’ll have learnt something in an enjoyable way.

1. Plan from the audience’s perspective

Before you start  writing your presentation , think about these points:

• What are the most interesting parts in my topic?
• How much will the audience know about my topic? What level do I target it at?
• Which members of the audience will most likely be disinterested?
• How can I help them learn and understand my topic?
• What is the size of the audience?

You can do this by researching the event or conference, investigating other speakers at the event and even contacting the organisers to find out more about the demographic.

By asking these questions about your audience and identifying answers, you are starting to think about your audience’s interests and needs. Remember, the aim is to give the impression that your presentation has been planned according to your audience’s specific interests.

2. Use an easy-to-follow structure

When building your presentation, focus on giving it a structure which people can easily follow. Start by introducing the core concepts and goals, then elaborate on the various points in a bit more detail, draw logical conclusions and leave your audience with a clear takeaway message. You want to flow naturally from one part to the next like you are telling a big story chapter by chapter.

3. Get the audience immediately involved

You audience will come to your presentation in a range of different moods. Try using a simple ice-breaker to re-energise them and get them focussed on your presentation.

For example, ask people to stand up and introduce themselves to their neighbours, or have them identify two or three questions they would like to hear addressed during your presentation. By starting with an ice-breaker, you show your audience that your talk will be interactive and require their participation.

4. Ask the audience questions during your presentation

The audience’s attention drops to zero after just 10-15 minutes of your presentation. To get their attention back, take a break from your presentation from time to time and interact with your audience. Ask for their questions and answer them during your presentation. This will help clear up any confusion the audience might have.

When planning your presentation, identify opportunities in your material for your audience to ask questions. If you’re not comfortable breaking the flow of your presentation, mention that you’ll be taking  questions at the end  so the audience can prepare some questions.

Asking rhetorical questions as you move through your presentation involves your audience by stimulating their own thought processes. This technique also helps move between sections of your presentation as it establishes a clear transition from one point to another.

If you’re comfortable with taking questions throughout your presentation, use a tools such as  Slido , which allows your audience to ask questions anonymously at any time, so even shy people can participate in the discussion.

Example of what can go wrong with audience interaction

Audience interaction:

Watch how the presenter tries but initially fails to get the audience to interact with the presentation. Notice how he encourages them to get involved and eventually they do join in.

5. Use storytelling to make it more memorable

Since our early ancestors, stories have always been a huge part of human culture and civilisation. Storytelling is the most universal way to captivate your audience’s attention, no matter where they are from or what they do for a living.

Stories are much more engaging and memorable than lists of facts and figures, but you wouldn’t think so looking at the majority of presentations (particularly academic ones).

People automatically tune in when you  start telling your story  because they want to know what happens next. A popular storytelling technique is when you present the status quo and then reveal an improved path to that end goal.

Think of your presentation as one arching narrative. As we mentioned earlier, give it the proper structure with a clear beginning, middle and end. Introduce conflict and provide a powerful resolution that reinforces your key messages.

6. Use non-linear presentation software

Instead of flipping through slide after slide, you can show the relationships between your ideas and give your audience the “big picture” view of your topic. Try letting your audience drive the presentation by laying out all of your main points, and then let them choose which topics they want to go to. Your audience will get a truly custom presentation based on their interests, which they will appreciate and more easily remember.

Prezi, shown above, is a popular non-linear presentation tool.

7. Add in a short video

Billions of hours of YouTube are consumed each month and advertisers have identified videos as having a high  retention rate  for users. However very few presentations ever use videos to engage with their audience.

Find a short video clip that reinforces your story or explains a concept better than words can. You can either embed the video directly into your presentation software or include a link to an external website. Just make sure you test your method on the day of the presentation and have a backup on a USB just in case you need it.

8. Invite people onto the stage

If you’re preparing a particularly long presentation, consider having other people to come on stage and talk for a bit. This will help you narrate the story and make the whole presentation more interactive.

Steve Jobs never pulled off the entire presentation by himself; he always invited several speakers, including designers, partners, and other executives, to help him introduce their latest product. Of course, this technique should always be arranged with your colleagues in advance.

9. Poll the audience

Polls are similar to quizzes in that they engage the audience during the presentation. Polls encourage participants to think not only about your questions but also about their answers. Moreover, live polls help create mental breaks, so your audience can regain attention and stay focused throughout your presentation.

By including everyone in answering the question, you also create a group experience that leaves the audience feeling like they all have been part your presentation.

10. Use (appropriate) humour

Some of the best speeches and presentations in the world feature plenty of humour. No matter the subject, a great speaker will use natural charisma, humour and language to convey their points and get the crowd excited about what they are saying.

A great example of building rapport with the audience through the use of humour is Barrack Obama talking about the government building Iron Man.

Another example is when  Morgan Spurlock  offers individuals the opportunity to buy the rights to name his TED talk—which he refers to again at the end, where he reveals the title. He peppers the entire presentation with humorous commentary that nonetheless supports his point.

Create relevant jokes or find a way to bring out the humour in your subject, and your audience will be much more engaged and more likely to remember your words.

11. Practice your delivery, again and again

Practicing is the most important part of delivering an interactive presentation. You’ll need to practice where to use live quizzes, when to accept questions, which points to emphasise with body language and many more. There are several options for practicing:

Practice Presentation Skills

Improve your public speaking and presentation skills by practicing them in realistic environments, with automated feedback on performance. Learn More

• In front of a mirror  – great for seeing and improving your body language, however it can be distracting to what you are saying.
• To friends or colleagues  – a useful way to get feedback on your presentation, try and action the feedback straight away to improve on it. You can also give the person some key areas to focus their feedback on if you believe you are weaker in those areas.
• Virtual reality  – practice in realistic  public speaking environments , whether it be in a virtual conference room or boardroom. Receive feedback on your speech with voice analysis technology.

With all three of these, you’ll want to work on your tone of voice, accent, pauses between sentences and facial expressions. The most important thing is to talk slowly and loudly enough to be heard and understood clearly.

A list of the best presentation skills courses you can practice with:

• Presentation Skills Training Courses

12. Try and relate to the audience

Make comparisons to events from everyday life that most people are more than familiar with. By making things look simple, not only will you help your audience get a better understanding of the subject by enabling them to visualize the information more clearly, you will also draw a connection between you.

After all, you are all just regular people with similar experience, you just happen to be performing different roles at the moment.

13. Strong body language (position, posture and gesture)

Non-verbal communication plays a large part in how we construct meaning, so it makes sense to consider how to use it in your presentation. You can make things more interesting for your audience by using  your body language  to enhance what you’re saying.

Body language goes beyond reinforcing your messaging – it’s useful from a biological standpoint. As discussed in her  body language TED talk , Amy Cuddy’s research found that using ‘assertive’ body language released testosterone and reduced cortisol in both men and women, thereby increasing confidence and decreasing stress.

An effective presenter pays close attention to the physical relationship with her/his audience. If you stand hidden behind an overhead projector or stand too far away from your audience, they will not develop a bond with you and this will limit the effectiveness of your presentation.

Your posture will also dictate levels of audience involvement. If you’re too relaxed and sit slumped in a chair to deliver your talk, the audience might drift away. Find a comfortable but purposeful position in relation to your audience and adopt an upright sitting or standing posture that allows for movement and gesture.

Audiences respond well to the physical energy and enthusiasm being conveyed by a presenter, and thus the use of clear and controlled gestures will greatly enhance your presentation. Gestures that are open and reach out to your audience serve to extend your presentation to them and thus help them feel more involved.

Examples of good body language:

• Use hand gestures when delivering key points
• Use calm, deliberate movements when highlighting certain information
• Keep arms and legs uncrossed

14. Maintain eye contact with all sections of the audience

Making eye contact is one of the most  powerful techniques  for involving your audience. If used well, eye contact can serve to make your address much more personal and thus more effective. If eye contact is avoided, the presenter can appear to be nervous and unconvincing.

It is important to share eye contact with all members of a small audience or all sections of a large audience. Avoid making eye contact with just the people you know, taking particular care not to deliver your entire presentation to the person who’s assessing your work. Remember that you will need to involve the whole audience if you are to make an effective presentation.

If you are nervous, eye contact can be very difficult to establish and maintain. Remember that some eye contact is better than none and that you should try to build your confidence over time.

15. Use live quizzes to better understand your audience

Live quizzes are a great way to understanding your audience better get them engaging with the material.

For example, if you’re giving a presentation on autonomous vehicles, you could ask questions such as:

• When do you think autonomous vehicles will become mainstream?
• Are you concerned by safety issues?
• If someone is injured or killed by the car, who is to blame?

These will surely create some interesting results which you, as the presenter, can talk about and discuss.

16. Use physical props if possible

You don’t need to be giving a product demo to use props during your presentation. Props are a great way to help the audience visually picture what you are talking about. While talking through your presentation, you can refer to the prop at certain points to highlight your point or make it clear to the audience.

Kenny Nguyen  does this will in his TEDx talk on ‘The Art of Saying No’. He refers to the “sword of yes” and “shield of no.” Naturally he picks up a sword and shield from the table to help demonstrate his points.

Another great example is when  Jill Bolte Taylor  brings a real human brain on stage during her TED talk to explain to what happened to her when she had a stroke. She touched the audience with this demonstration and left the audience in complete awe.

17. Extend your usual vocal range

Your tone of voice, your volume, and other vocal aspects affect how people listen and hear your message.

Julian Treasure’s  TED talk on ‘How to speak so that people want to listen’ is all about this, and at the end offers several tips ‘in our toolbox’ for how to master the use of voice, from changing your speaking pace to speaking in a different pitch.

Get feedback from a friend or colleague to see what works best for you.

18. Use language and literary techniques

Your use of language has a huge influence on the way you engage your audience. It’s important to use language your audience understands and is familiar with.

Avoid using language that is too formal or informal, too technical or too simplistic depending upon the nature of your talk and the knowledge base of your audience. Pitching your presentation at the right level can be a challenge but it is very effective for making the audience feel involved.

There are various  literary techniques  you can use, such as the Power or Three, to give greater impact to your message.

Involving your audience is essential to making an impact. Your presentation should pull them in, get their attention and stimulate their thoughts and understanding. This can be done in a number of ways.

The way that you plan your presentation will be critical in terms of using language and ideas that your audience will understand. You must also ensure that there is sufficient time for questions and discussion. The way that you deliver your presentation should create a bond with your audience.

Your use of eye contact, body language, spoken words and energy should  communicate effectively  and enthusiastically with all areas of the room, thus ensuring that the audience receives positive messages about you and your material.

Home Blog Education Presentation Skills 101: A Guide to Presentation Success

Presentation Skills 101: A Guide to Presentation Success

Getting the perfect presentation design is just a step toward a successful presentation. For the experienced user, building presentation skills is the answer to elevating the power of your message and showing expertise on any subject. Still, one can ask: is it the same set of skills, or are they dependable on the type of presentation?

In this article, we will introduce the different types of presentations accompanied by the skillset required to master them. The purpose, as always, is to retain the audience’s interest for a long-lasting and convincing message.

Table of Contents

The Importance of Presentation Skills

Persuasive presentations, instructional presentations, informative presentations, inspirational presentations, basic presentation skills, what are the main difficulties when giving a presentation, recommendations to improve your presentation skills, closing statement.

Effective communication is the answer to reaching business and academic goals. The scenarios in which we can be required to deliver a presentation are as diverse as one can imagine. Still, some core concepts apply to all presentations.

 We define presentation skills as a compendium of soft skills that directly affect your presentation performance and contribute to creating a great presentation. These are not qualities acquired by birth but skills you ought to train and master to delve into professional environments.

You may ask: is it really that evident when a presenter is not prepared? Here are some common signs people can experience during presentations:

• Evasive body language: Not making eye contact with the audience, arms closed tightly to the body, hands in pockets all the time.
• Lack of interest in the presenter’s voice: dull tone, not putting an effort to articulate the topics.
• Doubting when asked to answer a question
• Irksome mood

The list can go on about common presenter mistakes , and most certainly, it will affect the performance of any presented data if the lack of interest by the presenter is blatantly obvious.  Another element to consider is anxiety, and according to research by the National Institute of Mental Health, 73% of the population in the USA is affected by glossophobia , which is the fear of public speaking, judgment, or negative evaluation by other people.

Therefore, presentation skills training is essential for any business professional who wants to achieve effective communication . It will remove the anxiety from presentation performance and help users effectively deliver their message and connect with the audience.

Archetypes of presentations

Persuasive presentations aim to convince the audience – often in short periods – to acquire a product or service, adhere to a cause, or invest in a company. For business entrepreneurs or politicians, persuasive presentations are their tool for the trade.

Unless you aim to be perceived as an imposter, a proper persuasive presentation has the elements of facts, empathy, and logic, balanced under a well-crafted narrative. The central pillar of these presentations is to identify the single factor that gathered your audience: it could be a market need, a social cause, or a revolutionary concept for today’s society. It has to be something with enough power to gather critiques – both good and bad.

That single factor has to be backed up by facts. Research that builds your hypothesis on how to solve that problem. A deep understanding of the target audience’s needs , concerns, and social position regarding the solution your means can offer. When those elements are in place, building a pitch becomes an easy task. 

Graphics can help you introduce information in a compelling format, lowering the need for lengthy presentations. Good presentation skills for persuasive presentations go by the hand of filtering relevant data and creating the visual cues that resonate with what your audience demands.

One powerful example of a persuasive presentation is the technique known as the elevator pitch . You must introduce your idea or product convincingly to the audience in a timeframe between 30 seconds and less than 2 minutes. You have to expose:

• What do you do 
• What’s the problem to solve
• Why is your solution different from others 
• Why should the audience care about your expertise

For that very purpose, using engaging graphics with contrasting colors elevates the potential power of your message. It speaks professionalism, care for details, and out-of-the-box thinking. Knowing how to end a presentation is also critical, as your CTAs should be placed with care.

Therefore, let’s resume the requirements of persuasive presentations in terms of good presentation skills:

• Identifying problems and needs
• Elaborating “the hook” (the element that grabs the audience’s attention)
• Knowing how to “tie” your audience (introducing a piece of information related to the hook that causes an emotional impact)
• Broad knowledge of body language and hand gestures to quickly convey your message
• Being prepared to argue a defense of your point of view
• Handling rejection
• Having a proactive attitude to convert opportunities into new projects
• Using humor, surprise, or personal anecdotes as elements to sympathize with the audience
• Having confidence
• Be able to summarize facts and information in visually appealing ways

You can learn more about persuasive presentation techniques by clicking here .

In the case of instructional presentations, we ought to differentiate two distinctive types:

• Lecture Presentations : Presentations being held at universities or any other educative institution. Those presentations cover, topic by topic, and the contents of a syllabus and are created by the team of teachers in charge of the course.
• Training Presentations : These presentations take place during in-company training sessions and usually comprise a good amount of content that is resumed into easy-to-take solutions. They are aimed to coach employees over certain topics relevant to their work performance. The 70-20-10 Model is frequently used to address these training situations.

Lecture presentations appeal to the gradual introduction of complex concepts, following a structure set in the course’s syllabus. These presentations often have a similar aesthetic as a group of professors or researchers created to share their knowledge about a topic. Personal experience does tell that course presentations often rely on factual data, adequately documented, and on the theoretical side.

An example of a presentation that lies under this concept is a Syllabus Presentation, used by the teaching team to introduce the subject to new students, evaluation methods, concepts to be learned, and expectations to pass the course.

On the other hand, training presentations are slide decks designed to meet an organization’s specific needs in the formal education of their personnel. Commonly known as “continuous education,” plenty of companies invest resources in coaching their employees to achieve higher performance results. These presentations have the trademark of being concise since their idea is to introduce the concepts that shall be applied in practice sessions. 

Ideally, the training presentations are introduced with little text and easy-to-recognize visual cues. Since the idea is to summarize as much as possible, these are visually appealing for the audience. They must be dynamic enough to allow the presenter to convey the message.

Those key takeaways remind employees when they revisit their learning resources and allow them to ruminate on questions that fellow workers raise. 

To sum up this point, building presentation skills for instructional presentations requires:

• Ability to put complex concepts into simpler words
• Patience and a constant learning mindset
• Voice training to deliver lengthy speeches without being too dense
• Ability to summarize points and note the key takeaways
• Empathizing with the audience to understand their challenges in the learning process

The informative presentations take place in business situations, such as when to present project reports from different departments to the management. Another potential usage of these presentations is in SCRUM or other Agile methodologies, when a sprint is completed, to discuss the advance of the project with the Product Owner.

As they are presentations heavily dependent on data insights, it’s common to see the usage of infographics and charts to express usually dense data in simpler terms and easy to remember. 

Informative presentations don’t just fall into the business category. Ph.D. Dissertation and Thesis presentations are topics that belong to the informative presentations category as they condense countless research hours into manageable reports for the academic jury. 

Since these informational presentations can be perceived as lengthy and data-filled, it is important to learn the following professional presentation skills:

• Attention to detail
• Be able to explain complex information in simpler terms
• Creative thinking
• Powerful diction
• Working on pauses and transitions
• Pacing the presentation, so not too much information is divulged per slide

The leading inspirational platform, TEDx, comes to mind when talking about inspirational presentations. This presentation format has the peculiarity of maximizing the engagement with the audience to divulge a message, and due to that, it has specific requirements any presenter must meet.

This presentation format usually involves a speaker on a stage, either sitting or better standing, in which the presenter engages with the audience with a storytelling format about a life experience, a job done that provided a remarkable improvement for society, etc.

Empathizing with the audience is the key ingredient for these inspirational presentations. Still, creativity is what shapes the outcome of your performance as people are constantly looking for different experiences – not the same recipe rephrased with personal touches. The human factor is what matters here, way above data and research. What has your experience to offer to others? How can it motivate another human being to pursue a similar path or discover their true calling?

To achieve success in terms of communication skills presentation, these inspirational presentations have the following requirements:

• Focus on the audience (engage, consider their interests, and make them a part of your story)
• Putting ego aside
• Creative communication skills
• Storytelling skills
• Body language knowledge to apply the correct gestures to accompany your story
• Voice training
• Using powerful words

After discussing the different kinds of presentations we can come across at any stage of our lives, a group of presentation skills is standard in any type of presentation. See below what makes a good presentation and which skills you must count on to succeed as a presenter.

Punctuality

Punctuality is a crucial aspect of giving an effective presentation. Nothing says more about respect for your audience and the organization you represent than delivering the presentation on time . Arriving last minute puts pressure on the tech team behind audiovisuals, as they don’t have enough preparation to test microphones, stage lights, and projector settings, which can lead to a less powerful presentation Even when discussing presentations hosted in small rooms for a reduced audience, testing the equipment becomes essential for an effective presentation.

A solution for this is to arrive at least 30 minutes early. Ideally, one hour is a sweet spot since the AV crew has time to check the gear and requirements for your presentation. Another benefit of this, for example, in inspirational presentations, is measuring the previous presenter’s impact on the audience. This gives insights about how to resonate with the public, and their interest, and how to accommodate your presentation for maximum impact.

Body Language

Our bodies can make emotions transparent for others, even when we are unaware of such a fact. Proper training for body language skills reduces performance anxiety, giving the audience a sense of expertise about the presented topic. 

Give your presentation and the audience the respect they deserve by watching over these potential mistakes:

• Turning your back to the audience for extended periods : It’s okay to do so when introducing an important piece of information or explaining a graph, but it is considered rude to give your back to the audience constantly.
• Fidgeting : We are all nervous in the presence of strangers, even more, if we are the center of attention for that moment. Instead of playing with your hair or making weird hand gestures, take a deep breath to center yourself before the presentation and remember that everything you could do to prepare is already done. Trust your instincts and give your best.
• Intense eye contact : Have you watched a video where the presenter stared at the camera the entire time? That’s the feeling you transmit to spectators through intense eye contact. It’s a practice often used by politicians to persuade.
• Swearing : This is a no-brainer. Even when you see influencers swearing on camera or in podcasts or live presentations, it is considered an informal and lousy practice for business and academic situations. If you have a habit to break when it comes to this point, find the humor in these situations and replace your swear words with funny alternatives (if the presentation allows for it). 

Voice Tone plays a crucial role in delivering effective presentations and knowing how to give a good presentation. Your voice is a powerful tool for exposing your ideas and feelings . Your voice can articulate the message you are telling, briefing the audience if you feel excited about what you are sharing or, in contrast, if you feel the presentation is a burden you ought to complete.

Remember, passion is a primary ingredient in convincing people. Therefore, transmitting such passion with a vibrant voice may help gather potential business partners’ interest.  

But what if you feel sick prior to the presentation? If, by chance, your throat is sore minutes before setting foot on the stage, try this: when introducing yourself, mention that you are feeling a bit under the weather. This resonates with the audience to pay more attention to your efforts. In case you don’t feel comfortable about that, ask the organizers for a cup of tea, as it will settle your throat and relax your nerves.

Tech Skills

Believe it or not, people still feel challenged by technology these days. Maybe that’s the reason why presentation giants like Tony Robbins opt not to use PowerPoint presentations . The reality is that there are plenty of elements involved in a presentation that can go wrong from the tech side:

• A PDF not opening
• Saving your presentation in a too-recent PowerPoint version
• A computer not booting up
• Mac laptops and their never-ending compatibility nightmare
• Not knowing how to change between slides
• Not knowing how to use a laser pointer
• Internet not working
• Audio not working

We can come up with a pretty long list of potential tech pitfalls, and yet more than half of them fall in presenters not being knowledgeable about technology.

If computers aren’t your thing, let the organization know about this beforehand. There is always a crew member available to help presenters switch between slides or configure the presentation for streaming. This takes the pressure off your shoulders, allowing you to concentrate on the content to present. Remember, even Bill Gates can get a BSOD during a presentation .

Presentations, while valuable for conveying information and ideas, can be daunting for many individuals. Here are some common difficulties people encounter when giving presentations:

Public Speaking Anxiety

Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, affects a significant portion of the population. This anxiety can lead to nervousness, trembling, and forgetfulness during a presentation.

Lack of Confidence

Many presenters struggle with self-doubt, fearing that they may not be knowledgeable or skilled enough to engage their audience effectively.

Content Organization

Organizing information in a coherent and engaging manner can be challenging. Presenters often grapple with how to structure their content to make it easily digestible for the audience. Artificial Intelligence can help us significantly reduce the content arrangement time when you work with tools like our AI Presentation Maker (made for presenters by experts in presentation design). 

Audience Engagement

Keeping the audience’s attention and interest throughout the presentation can be difficult. Distractions, disengaged attendees, or lack of interaction can pose challenges.

Technical Issues

Technology glitches, such as malfunctioning equipment, incompatible file formats, or poor internet connectivity, can disrupt presentations and increase stress.

Time Management

Striking the right balance between providing enough information and staying within time limits is a common challenge. Going over or under the allotted time can affect the effectiveness of the presentation.

Handling Questions and Challenges

Responding to unexpected questions, criticism, or challenges from the audience can be difficult, especially when presenters are unprepared or lack confidence in their subject matter.

Visual Aids and Technology

Creating and effectively using visual aids like slides or multimedia can be a struggle for some presenters. Technical competence is essential in this aspect.

Language and Articulation

Poor language skills or unclear articulation can hinder effective communication. Presenters may worry about stumbling over words or failing to convey their message clearly.

Maintaining appropriate and confident body language can be challenging. Avoiding nervous habits, maintaining eye contact, and using gestures effectively requires practice.

Overcoming Impersonal Delivery

In virtual presentations, maintaining a personal connection with the audience can be difficult. The absence of face-to-face interaction can make it challenging to engage and read the audience.

Cultural and Diversity Awareness

Presenting to diverse audiences requires sensitivity to cultural differences and varying levels of familiarity with the topic.

In this section, we gathered some tips on how to improve presentation skills that can certainly make an impact if applied to your presentation skills. We believe these skills can be cultivated to transform into habits for your work routine.

Tip #1: Build a narrative

One memorable way to guarantee presentation success is by writing a story of all the points you desire to cover. This statement is based on the logic behind storytelling and its power to connect with people .

Don’t waste time memorizing slides or reading your presentation to the audience. It feels unnatural, and any question that diverts from the topic in discussion certainly puts you in jeopardy or, worse, exposes you as a fraud in the eyes of the audience. And before you ask, it is really evident when a presenter has a memorized speech. 

Build and rehearse the presentation as if telling a story to a group of interested people. Lower the language barrier by avoiding complex terms that maybe even you aren’t fully aware of their meaning. Consider the ramifications of that story, what it could lead to, and which are the opportunities to explore. Then, visualize yourself giving the presentation in a natural way.

Applying this technique makes the presentation feel like second nature to you. It broadens the spectrum in which you can show expertise over a topic or even build the basis for new interesting points of view about the project.

Tip #2: Don’t talk for more than 3 minutes per slide

It is a common practice of presenters to bombard the audience with facts and information whilst retaining the same slide on the screen. Why can this happen? It could be because the presenter condensed the talk into very few slides and preferred to talk. The reality is that your spectators won’t retain the information you are giving unless you give visual cues to help that process. 

Opt to prepare more slides and pace your speech to match the topics shown on each slide. Don’t spend more than 3 minutes per slide unless you have to introduce a complex piece of data. Use visual cues to direct the spectators about what you talk about, and summarize the principal concepts discussed at the end of each section.

Tip #3: Practice meditation daily

Anxiety is the number one enemy of professional presenters. It slowly builds without you being aware of your doubts and can hinder your performance in multiple ways: making you feel paralyzed, fidgeting, making you forget language skills or concepts, affecting your health, etc.

Meditation is an ancient practice taken from Buddhist teachings that train your mind to be here in the present. We often see the concepts of meditation and mindfulness as synonyms, whereas you should be aware that meditation is a practice that sets the blocks to reach a state of mindfulness. For presenters, being in the here and now is essential to retain focus, but meditation techniques also teach us to control our breathing and be in touch with our body signals when stress builds up. 

The customary practice of meditation has an impact on imagination and creativity but also helps to build patience – a skill much needed for connecting with your audience in instructional presentations.

Having the proper set of presentation skills can be quite subjective. It goes beyond presentation tips and deepens into how flexible we can be in our ability to communicate ideas.

Different presentations and different audiences shape the outcome of our efforts. Therefore, having a basic understanding of how to connect, raise awareness, and empathize with people can be key ingredients for your career as a presenter. A word of advice: success doesn’t happen overnight. It takes dedication and patience to build communication skills . Don’t condition your work to believe you will be ready “someday”; it’s best to practice and experience failure as part of the learning process.

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Business Presentations, Presentation Approaches, Presentation Skills Filed under Education

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5 Ways Neuroscience Can Help You Give Better Presentations

Want people to remember what you say check out these tips..

Posted January 17, 2023 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan

• What Does "Self Help" Mean?
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• Invoking emotion during a presentation can boost engagement and retention, because memories linked to strong emotions are better remembered.
• Experiencing a message in several different ways can increase retention.
• Giving the audience hierarchies of importance—numbers and signals of how essential things are—can help them prioritize important information.

I’ve had several questions lately about how neuroscience can help extend an audience's attention span and better engage the brain. What follows is a quick primer — five insights into the world of public speaking and how to succeed better through an understanding of the human mind.

1. Get your body language sequence right. It’s counterintuitive, but we gesture before we think, consciously. Or, to put it another way, we gesture to find out what our unconscious minds really want us to do. So the proper sequence of gesture and speech is to gesture first, then speak. The difficulty is that if you’re thinking about your gestures consciously, that will tend to slow them down. Thus you’ll be likely to gesture after the idea or word you’re relating the gesture to. And that looks fake. Audiences don’t pick it up consciously, but unconsciously it looks stilted and insincere. They’ll be likely to rate you low on authenticity , engagement, and so on. Always gesture first.

2. Invoke those emotions . Our brains basically remember everything. But then they start discarding. Only memories that are attached to strong emotions (and recalled often) get remembered clearly. If you want your audience to remember something, you must — must — attach a strong emotion to it. Facts alone won’t cut it. You need emotion too. Wrap a strong story around anything you want your audience to care about and take away.

3. Mix it up. If you really want an audience to remember something, let them experience what you’re telling them in several different ways. Tell a story, a joke, get them to ask questions or share with their neighbors, throw a beach ball at them, make them catch it and tell you what you just said — anything within reason to change up your approach and come at the audience with several different kinds of engagement. And no, slides don’t count. There’s no compelling evidence that slides help retention.

4. Help your audience prioritize. Pity the poor human brain, remembering everything. Help it along by giving your audience hierarchies of importance, numbers and signals of how essential things are. Feel free to say, “If you remember only one thing today, make it this...” The idea is to help all those brains out there in the audience trying to remember everything by saying to them, “here are some things you can forget.”

5. End strong by getting your audience to move. OK, I’ve cheated a bit here; that’s really two ideas. Audiences tend to remember the last thing they hear (if they remember anything) so make sure your closing has something important in it. But recall point number one — if we move on some idea or thing, we’re likely to think it must be important. Getting your audience to dance its way out of the auditorium while singing a little ditty about your message might be the cheesiest idea you’ve ever attempted to pull off, but the audience would remember it.

Knowing a few facts about the science of the brain can help you succeed the next time you make a big presentation. Break a leg!

Nick Morgan, Ph.D. , is president of Public Words Inc., a communications consulting company, and the author of books including Can You Hear Me?: How to Connect with People in a Virtual World.

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Why PowerPoint Is Important? (The Benefits Explained)

Presentations can be a great way to share ideas and information, but they can also be overwhelming and dull if not done correctly.

Fortunately, PowerPoint offers a number of features to help you create compelling presentations that can engage your audience and effectively deliver even the most complex concepts.

In this article, we will explore the basics of PowerPoint and why it is important, as well as the many benefits it can offer.

We will discuss how PowerPoint can help improve presentations, the role visuals can play, and the various features available to make the most of your presentations.

By the end of this article, you will be well-equipped to create and deliver powerful and engaging presentations with PowerPoint.

Table of Contents

Short Answer

Powerpoint is an important tool for presenting information in a visual and organized manner.

It allows people to present complex information in an easy to understand and engaging way.

It also enables the presenter to highlight the most important points and helps to keep the audience focused.

Powerpoint is an invaluable tool for anyone looking to present their ideas effectively.

The Basics of PowerPoint

PowerPoint is an important tool for businesses, as it can help to create professional-looking presentations.

It is a presentation software program developed and distributed by Microsoft, and it is available for both Windows and Mac operating systems.

With PowerPoint, users can create slides with text, graphics, animations, and other elements.

It also has features such as the ability to embed audio and video, as well as the ability to animate objects.

Additionally, PowerPoint allows users to easily create attractive visuals and engaging presentations.

PowerPoint also has a number of features that make it easier to organize and deliver complex concepts in an understandable manner.

For instance, it offers a variety of slide layouts to help users structure their presentations in an organized way.

It also provides a range of tools to help create visuals that can help audiences to better retain information.

Furthermore, PowerPoint has a range of animation and transition effects that can be used to make presentations more dynamic and engaging.

In addition, PowerPoint supports the use of templates and themes, which can help to give presentations a more professional look.

It also allows users to easily collaborate and share their presentations with others.

This makes it easier for businesses to collaborate on projects and ensure that all stakeholders have access to the same information.

Finally, PowerPoint offers a number of features that can help to improve presentations, such as the ability to add notes and comments, as well as the ability to insert charts and graphs.

The Benefits of Using PowerPoint

PowerPoint is an incredibly useful tool for businesses, as it provides a range of benefits when it comes to creating presentations.

Firstly, PowerPoint helps users to easily create professional-looking slides with text, graphics and animations.

This makes it easier to create a visually appealing presentation, which can help to engage audiences and make it easier to retain information.

Furthermore, PowerPoint allows users to organize and deliver complex concepts in an understandable manner.

This means that it is easy to break down complex topics into more manageable chunks, making it easier for audiences to understand the concepts being presented.

Additionally, PowerPoint’s features make it easier to create compelling visuals that can help to keep viewers engaged.

Another benefit of using PowerPoint is its ability to help businesses save time.

Presenters can easily create presentations with PowerPoint’s templates and features, allowing them to quickly and efficiently create presentations that are both informative and visually appealing.

This saves businesses time and money, as they dont have to spend time and resources on creating presentations from scratch.

Finally, PowerPoint can be used in a variety of different ways.

It can be used to create presentations for meetings, conferences, seminars, workshops and more.

This makes it a great tool for businesses that need to create presentations for different types of events.

Additionally, PowerPoint can be used to create digital presentations that can be shared online, making it easier to reach a wider audience.

Overall, PowerPoint provides businesses with a range of benefits that make it an essential tool for creating effective and engaging presentations.

With its easy-to-use features, businesses can quickly and easily create visually appealing presentations that are both informative and visually appealing, helping to engage audiences and make it easier to retain information.

Additionally, PowerPoint’s features make it easier to organize and deliver complex concepts in an understandable manner.

Finally, it can be used in a variety of different ways, making it a great tool for businesses that need to create presentations for different types of events.

How PowerPoint Helps Improve Presentations

PowerPoint is an essential tool for businesses, as it helps to make presentations more effective and engaging.

It makes it easy to create professional-looking slides with text, graphics, animations, and other visuals.

This helps to keep audiences engaged and ensure that they are able to retain the information better.

PowerPoint also helps to organize complex concepts and deliver them in an understandable manner.

With its powerful features, businesses can create compelling presentations that are both informative and visually appealing.

This allows them to present their ideas in an organized and easy-to-understand format.

Moreover, the wide range of features that PowerPoint offers makes it easier to create presentations that are both visually appealing and easy to understand.

This includes features such as backgrounds, transitions, images, and animations.

These features can help to add depth and interest to presentations, making them more engaging and memorable.

The use of PowerPoint also makes it possible to quickly and easily update presentations.

This is especially useful for businesses that need to make changes to their presentations on a regular basis.

With PowerPoint, they can make changes in a matter of minutes, without having to start from scratch.

Finally, PowerPoint is a great tool for businesses to share their presentations with the world.

With its easy-to-use sharing options, businesses can easily share their presentations with other people, whether they are in the same office or halfway across the globe.

This helps to ensure that everyone involved in the presentation is able to access it and understand it.

In conclusion, PowerPoint is an invaluable tool for businesses that want to create effective and engaging presentations.

Its features make it easy to create professional-looking slides, organize complex concepts, and quickly and easily update presentations.

Furthermore, PowerPoint provides businesses with the ability to easily share their presentations with a large audience.

All in all, PowerPoint is an important tool for businesses, as it helps to improve presentations in a number of ways.

PowerPoint is an incredibly powerful visual tool that can help businesses craft compelling presentations.

With its simple yet powerful graphical features, it allows users to easily create stunning visuals that are sure to pique viewers interest.

PowerPoints visuals can be used to include text, graphics, animations, and even video clips to clearly illustrate complex concepts in a visually appealing manner.

This not only helps to engage the audience, but also helps viewers to better understand and retain the information.

PowerPoint also offers its users a range of different tools to customize their visuals.

From basic shapes and text boxes to more complex objects like charts and diagrams, there is an endless array of possibilities.

Furthermore, users have the ability to add animation and transitions to their visuals, making them more dynamic and engaging.

The ability to make use of PowerPoints powerful visuals can help businesses create a presentation that will be sure to stand out from the rest.

Organizing and Delivering Complex Concepts

PowerPoint is a great tool for organizing and delivering complex concepts.

Its powerful features make it easy to create visually appealing slides with text, graphics, and animations.

This makes it easier for audiences to understand and retain information more effectively.

For example, you can use PowerPoint to create diagrams to illustrate a concept, or to create an interactive presentation that allows the audience to learn at their own pace.

You can also use different colors and fonts to highlight important information or to draw attention to specific points.

Additionally, PowerPoint allows you to easily and quickly create professional-looking presentations, even with limited design skills.

This makes it a great tool for businesses to use when presenting complex concepts to their audiences.

Additionally, PowerPoint provides tools to help you keep your presentations organized, such as a built-in outline feature and the ability to add notes to slides.

This makes it easy to quickly review your presentation and ensure that you have included all the necessary information.

Finally, PowerPoint allows you to easily share your presentations with others, either online or as a printed document.

This makes it easy for businesses to collaborate and share ideas with colleagues and clients.

Making the Most of PowerPoint’s Features

PowerPoint is an incredibly powerful presentation tool, with a wide array of features and capabilities that make it perfect for creating engaging and informative presentations.

It allows users to easily create professional-looking slides with text, graphics, and animations, as well as a range of tools for organizing and delivering complex concepts.

One of PowerPoint’s most useful features is its ability to create effective visuals that can engage audiences and help them to retain information better.

By using transitions, animations, and other effects, the presenter can create captivating visuals that will help to keep their audience engaged.

Furthermore, users can also make use of the wide selection of templates available to create visually appealing slides in no time.

PowerPoint also offers a range of tools for organizing and formatting presentations.

By using tables, charts, and diagrams, users can easily present complex information in an understandable manner.

Additionally, the Outline View feature allows users to quickly create and organize their presentations, while the Notes and Comments features can help to provide more detailed explanations of the content.

Finally, PowerPoint also includes a range of tools for sharing and collaborating on presentations.

Users can easily share presentations with colleagues, and the SharePoint feature allows for real-time editing of documents.

This makes it easy to collaborate on presentations and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

In short, PowerPoint is an incredibly powerful tool for creating engaging and informative presentations.

Its wide selection of features make it easy to create visually appealing and complex visuals, as well as organize and share presentations with ease.

By making use of its powerful features, businesses can ensure that their presentations are both informative and visually appealing, helping to engage audiences and ensure that they retain information better.

Creating Compelling Presentations with PowerPoint

PowerPoint is an incredibly powerful presentation tool that can help businesses create compelling presentations that engage their audiences and effectively communicate complex concepts.

By combining text, graphics, animations, and other visuals, PowerPoint enables users to easily create attractive presentations that are both informative and visually appealing.

PowerPoint’s features also make it easier to organize and deliver complex concepts in an understandable manner.

The ability to add multiple slides and easily rearrange them allows users to structure their presentation in a logical order that is easy to follow.

Presenters can also use PowerPoint to create animations, transitions, and other visuals that make the presentation more engaging and help audiences retain the information they see more effectively.

Furthermore, PowerPoint allows users to add multimedia content to their presentations.

This can include video clips, audio clips, images and other visuals.

With these features, businesses can create presentations that are more dynamic and engaging, and can further help audiences retain the information.

Overall, PowerPoint is an essential tool for every business, and its features make it easy to create compelling presentations that engage audiences and help them to better retain the information.

By combining text, graphics, animations, and multimedia content, businesses can make use of its powerful features to create engaging presentations that are both informative and visually appealing.

Final Thoughts

PowerPoint is an incredibly powerful tool that can be used to create visually appealing and engaging presentations.

It gives users the ability to easily organize and deliver complex concepts in a way that is understandable and memorable.

By taking advantage of its many features, businesses can make use of PowerPoint to create compelling presentations that can help them to reach their goals.

With the right approach, PowerPoint can help you make a lasting impression on your audiences.

James Wilson

James Wilson has extensive knowledge in the information technology industry.His second love, besides dealing with computers, is smart home technology. He is continually updating information to better comprehend this problem and has a deep understanding of the apartment’s support system.

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7 Tips On How To Make Accessible Presentations

By Aditya Rana , Aug 18, 2023

Once upon a time, presentations were limited to lecture halls and boardrooms. 

Remember Microsoft PowerPoint? Everyone used it to create slides or pitch decks to share knowledge and exchange ideas with an audience.  

But those times are long gone. 

Today, Canva and Adobe Express have become the gold standard for creating presentations with a global audience online. 

And while these tools offer plenty of templates and customization options to make creating presentations easy, none of them prioritizes accessibility. 

This means presentations made on Canva exclude people with visual impairments or other disabilities because the design does not focus on their needs. 

To prevent that, you need graphic design software that prioritizes accessibility, like Venngage. 

In this post, I’ll show you how Venngage can help anyone create accessible presentations with a WCAG-compliant Accessible Design Tool .

Some of our accessible presentation templates are free and some require a small monthly fee. Sign-up is always free, as is access to Venngage’s drag-and-drop editor 

Click to jump ahead:

• What is an accessible presentation?

7 tips to make accessible presentations

• 4 examples of accessible presentations

What is an accessible presentation?  

An accessible presentation is a type of content that can be understood by everyone, including people with disabilities such as color blindness or dyslexia.

An accessible presentation is different from a normal presentation as there is a greater emphasis on ensuring design (slides, images, charts, and text) can be understood by all types of people.

Here’s an example of an accessible presentation: 

Why should you make your presentations accessible?

Making inclusive and accessible presentations is important because they’re no longer limited to a physical presence.  

Anyone can create a presentation and share it online for the world to consume. 

And with the rise of remote work and interactions happening on platforms like Zoom and Google Meet, presentations fall under the category of accessible documents . 

Want to learn about other accessible content types? Check out our other posts:  A Guide On How To Create Accessible Newsletters How to Use Color Blind Friendly Palettes to Make Your Charts Accessible How to Create Accessible Infographics With Venngage

Imagine what happens when someone creates a presentation that isn’t accessible for a remote meeting with a disabled attendee.

It not only renders the content unusable but hinders effective communication, collaboration, and knowledge dissemination.

How do you make a presentation accessible to everyone?

The best strategy to make your presentations accessible is to follow WCAG guidelines 2.2 developed by the World Wide Web Consortium. 

If you’re in the US, you should refer to the ADA standards for accessible design . This is a federal law that was signed in 1991 to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life. ADA standards were later amended in 2008 to ensure websites and digital content are accessible to people with disabilities after a case was settled covering the inaccessibility of Target’s website to individuals with visual impairments.  In the EU, accessibility falls under Web Accessibility Directive (Directive 2016/2102/EU) , which covers accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies.

Regardless of the law that applies to your jurisdiction, most governments follow WCAG guidelines. 

This means to make your presentations accessible, you’ll need to set alt text to images , avoid using tables, choose accessible fonts , use accessible colors , and more. 

I’ll cover each of these factors and more in detail in the next section. 

Typography refers to how you arrange and present text in your slides. 

This covers everything from font selection, text size, and line spacing as these elements can either enhance accessibility or become a barrier. 

When it comes to fonts in presentations, make sure to select a sans-serif type.

Fonts like Arial, Helvetica, and Roboto have a clean appearance, but what makes them accessible are distinct letterforms that minimize confusion. 

This helps make text easier to read for people with dyslexia or other reading difficulties.

Here’s an example of an accessible presentation using the sans serif font Karla:

Text size 

Font size is also another crucial factor in ensuring presentation accessibility.

That’s because a large text size makes content on slides easy to read. 

I recommend at least a text size of at least 16px for digital presentations and 24px for presentations that will be delivered in person.

Why? The back row of a room is much further than the distance between you and your laptop screen. So keep in mind where and how your presentations will be consumed when selecting a text size. 

Limit the amount of text 

Slides are supposed to support a presentation and not be the central focus. 

If you include too much text on a slide, you will lose your audience as they will try to read what’s on the slide rather than pay attention to what you’re saying. 

And if someone has an attention deficiency, they will struggle even more to read a slide and listen to what is being said simultaneously. 

So, limit the amount of text in your slides. 

One method to write great slides is to use short phrases and keywords rather than whole sentences or paragraphs. 

Here’s a great example:

Skip the slide transitions

Transitions between slides used to be a cool thing to do.

I’m sure many of us spent obsessing over them while creating a presentation for a school assignment. 

It was believed that they added visual interest to a presentation, helped break up the monotony of static slides, and could engage an audience. 

But guess what?

They’re a strict no-no for accessibility. 

Slide transitions can be visually distracting for people with visual impairments and cause discomfort, confusion, or difficulty in focusing on the content.

They can also increase the load for individuals with cognitive impairments as rapid or complex transitions may make it harder for them to process the information.

Alt text (alternative text, alt tags, alt descriptions or alt attributes) is descriptive text attached to visual elements like photos, icons, and even graphics in presentations. 

Here’s an example:

If a user with visual impairments using a screen reader comes across this slide, they might not be able to see the image. 

Even assistive technology such as a screen reader cannot provide them context unless you specifically write an image alt text for it to describe the image. 

In this example, you might write: “an image of the Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheion where six maidens take the place of columns in supporting the entablature.”

To write a good alt text for graphics in your slides, follow these guidelines: 

• Describe the intent of the image
• State why the image is important

Want to learn how to write alt text that’s actually helpful? Read our guide here: 

• Write helpful alternative (alt) text for non-text content

Color contrast

A key section in WCAG guidelines 2.2 is color contrast recommendations to ensure content is visible to people with different vision capabilities. 

The minimum contrast ratio recommended is 4:5:1. 

In other words, for every 5 units of luminance (brightness) in the background, there should be at least 4 units of luminance in the foreground text.

But I recommend going a step above these recommendations. 

You don’t know what type of device users will use to view your presentation and this could affect the clarity of your slides. 

A good color contrast scheme will ensure your decks are visible in dim and bright rooms: 

Here are some tips to ensure adequate contrast in your presentations: 

• Use dark colors on a light background, or light colors on dark background
• Use solid patterns to make any elements layered over it more visible

To learn more about contrast as a design principle, read this post:  A Brief Guide to Contrast – A Design Principle

If you were creating a slide deck in Canva, Adobe, or other cloud-based design tools, you’d have no way to ensure color contrast in your slides directly. 

Instead, you would have to first create a presentation, export it, and use a third-party accessibility tool to test it. 

And if your design failed, you’d have to come back to your tool and repeat the process. 

See the issue here? It can get repetitive and waste time. 

But Venngage’s Accessible Design Tool lets you create accessible presentations from start to finish without having to leave the platform. 

Venngage integrates a WCAG-compliant Color Contrast Checker to let you test your slides as you design. 

Here’s how you can use it: 

• Select “File” from the top navigation menu, and select “Check Accessibility” to open the Accessibility panel.
• All elements are tested against WCAG contrast requirements and results will be listed under the “Color Contrast” header.

Reading order 

If you’re not familiar with screen readers, you might know about the importance of reading order. 

Reading order in accessible presentations refers to the sequence in which text and non-text elements are presented. 

A user without a disability might be able to understand the reading order of content by looking at a design, but screen readers require extra information to interpret the order in which they should present content.

If you don’t set the reading order, a screen reader might go off course and confuse users. 

Learn more about reading order in this post:

• Use Reading Order in your accessible designs and documents

Again, most graphic design tools don’t allow you to directly set the reading order of content in your presentations. 

But Venngage’s built-in Accessibility Checker does. 

• Open “Reading Order” in the Accessibility panel by clicking on “File” next to the Venngage logo above the top toolbar.
• Under “Accessibility”, select “Edit Reading Order.”
• Select the page you want to work on. This should open a list of all text elements on the page
• Click on items in the list to highlight the corresponding text box or non-text element
• Move any item in the list into its logical position with your mouse or keyboard

Save in an accessible format 

When sharing your presentation or pitch deck, most people save in the default .ppt or .pptx format. 

It’s always better to share as an accessible PDF instead. 

While PowerPoint files can be made accessible, this process requires additional effort, but a PDF already support features that enhance accessibility.

Again, if you use Venngage’s Accessible Design Tool to create your presentations, you’ll be able to export your slide deck as an accessible PDF.

Note: This feature is only available for our Business users, but anyone can share a link to their design for free without any impact on the accessibility of your design. 

4 examples of accessible presentations  

Presentations are meant to be engaging and leave a lasting impression. 

But depending on the end objective, knowing the type of presentations to help you best achieve your goal is important. 

A sales-format presentation isn’t going to work for an academic presentation, no matter how accessible you make it. 

Informative presentation

An informative presentation is one where the main goal is to provide the audience with valuable and factual information on a topic. 

The goal is to educate, enlighten, and enhance the audience’s understanding.

This type of presentation is commonly used in educational settings, professional environments, and public speaking engagements.

Here’s an example of an accessible informative presentation:

Pitch presentation

A pitch presentation helps present an idea, product, service, or project to an audience to gain their interest, support, or investment. 

Pitch decks are commonly used in business to persuade potential clients or investors. 

Here’s an example of an accessible pitch deck:

Classic presentation

A classic presentation is the traditional approach to communicating information to an audience. 

These presentations follow a structured format that includes a clear introduction, main content, and conclusion. Classic presentations can be used in various contexts, such as business meetings, academic lectures, and seminars. 

Here’s an example of a classic presentation: 

Sales presentation 

A sales presentation is a targeted communication effort aimed at persuading clients or customers to purchase a product, service, or idea. 

Sales presentations are used to showcase the features, benefits, and value. These presentations are used in various industries, from retail and technology to B2B.

Frequently Asked Questions 

How do accessible presentations benefit different audiences.

Accessible presentations benefit different audiences by ensuring information can be easily understood by everyone. Accessible presentations benefit the following groups: people with visual impairments, people with hearing impairments, people with cognitive disabilities, and people using assistive technology. 

What tools can help in creating accessible presentations?

There are many tools on the market that can help you make accessible presentations such as Canva or Adobe Express, but only Venngage offers a comprehensive accessible design tool that allows you to make and export accessible presentations without having to use a third-party tool or other software. 

Are Google Slides accessible? 

Google Slides are not automatically accessible. Though Google provides some accessibility features like setting alt text to images, other features such as an in-built color contrast checker are missing and will require you to export your design to test on a third-party tool. Therefore, I recommended you use Venngage instead of Google Slides to create fully accessible presentations from start to finish. 

In Summary: Making your presentations or slide deck inclusive is not only an ethical obligation but a necessity to reach a larger target audience

How presentations are created and shared has completely changed. 

In today’s digital world, web-based tools like Venngage are leading the way to make it for anyone to create presentations, including accessible presentations. 

Besides the legal requirements, taking a few moments to make presentations that resonate with everyone will pay off in the long run. 

And Venngage will be there with you the whole way to make it as easy as possible for you no matter the presentation type you need. 

So don’t hesitate. Make your next presentation count by making it accessible. 

May 18, 2022

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An Effective Presentation: Why Does it Matter?

The 5 key points we are going to outline here are all about power. Yes, you could present a message with a simple speech. But the truth is that a presentation is going to make the message come out way stronger.

What's Inside?

Have you ever wondered why presentations constitute such an integral part of our lives. With over fifty thousand presentations created daily, it is easy to be lost as to what all these people are creating these presentations about. Who came up with the concept anyways? If you are a common presentation-hater, you might be asking yourself “Why would anyone want to integrate their ideas into these things called slides when you can just have a straightforward speech written on a piece of paper?” We see what you mean. But, we are also here to tell you why.

5 Reasons Why Presentations Matter

The 5 key points we are going to outline here are all about power. Yes, you could present a message with a simple speech. But the truth is that a presentation is going to make the message come out way stronger. How?

1. A presentation helps you create a bigger impact for business purposes:

You are making a pitch presentation for your business idea. Without the support of visual aid or organization that a pitch deck is going to bring to the table, your message may get lost along the way. With a complementary design that properly organizes your ideas, your message will have an even stronger impact. It can also help bring a more positive light to your idea. Having a presentation can help align organizational values, business image and goals with your speech and have it reflect even more boldly.

2. With a presentation you can inform, educate and motivate your audience

You don’t just use presentations for your own purposes. The purpose of the presentation could also be to energize, motivate the public and get something going. Many organizations use presentations for internal purposes such as informing their employees, creating company wide educations, and building a company culture. Many offices observe improvements in productivity after delivering such effective presentations. Things like strategic presentations or business plan presentations can help clearly outline business expectations. For more information on strategic presentations or business presentation templates please refer to our previous blogs . To make sure your presentation makes the impact you were rooting for on your employees, give a presentation that keeps them on their toes, not a presentation where they are counting the seconds until it ends.

3. Get the Attention on Yourself

When you are giving a speech, it is so easy to lose your audience. We are living in a contemporary world where people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. You have one shot at making your audience decide on whether they want to listen to you or take out their phone and browse the internet instead. Make your audience look up from your phone; and there is no better way to do that than presentations. A presentation helps balance speech and visuals to attract audience engagement. A good design, a proper balance of text and image/video/audio, will help you do that. With this tactic, you can help extend your audience’s attention span.

4. Give Your Audience a Breather and Yourself More Flexibility

Modifying a speech is difficult. Modifying and organizing a presentation is much simpler. After all, presentations are all about letting the proper delivery of content. You can easily alter the ordering of the content according to different audience segments and presentation purposes. It is also much easier to reuse a presentation without it being noticed that it is the same essential content. It could also be wise in terms of your budgeting to organize your messages into effective presentations rather than having to make weekly meetings that take hours.

5. Communicate Better

“I assume there was a miscommunication”... If I had a dollar for every time I heard this phrase I would be a millionaire by now. We live in the age of communication and every second matters. That is why finding a way to communicate your message clearly, practically and rapidly means big bucks. A clear and straightforward presentation will help you communicate better with your audience, display the key points, create easy access, and deliver better performance. This communication depends on a lot of presentational factors: color, text alignment, design factors, slide numbers, visual integrations and so on. Consider working with a presentation tool like Decktopus to make sure you are keeping all these factors in mind.

The bottom line is, yes, presentations matter because they help you organize and clarify your goal, communicate it better, connect with your audience in the meantime and so on. If you make a speech in presentation form, you will see the difference!

Some articles for inspiration:

• Ultimate Presentation Tools
• Presentation 101: How to Make a Simple Presentation?
• Public Speaking Tips to Deliver the Perfect Presentation

Also make sure to check out our social media accounts to get daily insights about presentations, public speaking and inspirational quotes:

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