One of the most daunting tasks can be putting together a presentation. However, worry not, here are seven simple steps that you can follow for a memorable, flawless presentation.
- Topic- When presenting its essential that you know your subject inside out. This might sound obvious but when presenting the more knowledgeable you are on your subject, the higher the amount of credit you will receive from your audience. It’s also important to be confident surrounding your topic as this will make your audience pay more attention to your presentation. One of the critical factors surrounding your topic is to make sure you understand what it is you are talking about. By possessing in-depth knowledge yourself, you will also be able to answer any questions easier and explain and expand your main points.
- Slides- Slides are probably one of the first aspects of the presentation you put together to get it ready. However, they can cause some issues as it can be quite daunting creating slides that are visually appealing or that are perfect for your presentation. Online templet tools can remove this stress for you and allow you to concentrate on the context and content of the slides rather than the design. Once you know what you are going to say it would be a good idea for you to plan some slides that will support your points.
- The result- Your presentation should prompt action from your audience. One of the main focuses of a presentation usually is to talk about issues or potential to move forward. What you need to think about is what you want your audience to take away from your presentation. If you would like them to act after listening to your presentation you need to make sure this is clearly conveyed in your presentation. Deciding your result and what you want your audience to take away from your presentation will not only help you clearly get the message across but it will also help you drive your presentation in the right direction when piecing it together.
- Open- opening a presentation can be one of the trickiest parts of it. Thinking about how you are going to open a presentation can help you look more confident while presenting. Your audience will begin to try and figure you and your presentation out in the first few seconds of it so making an impression counts. Your opening line can either be a statement or questions about your topic. This will help your audience identify what you will be talking about.
- Plan- planning your presentation is probably an essential part of putting it together. It’s vital for you to think about all the points that you would like to discuss and divide your presentation into the talking points you would like to address. For your audience to remember your main factors, it’s essential for you to use keywords which will help them retain what you are talking about. One of the best ways to do this is to stick to the rule of three. Sticking to a maximum of 3 point keeps your presentation short concise and prevent you from straying off onto other points.
- Audience- it’s important to know who you are presenting to. Think about who will be listening to your presentation as this will give you a better idea of what they would want to hear and see in your presentation. Some of the best presentations share a three-way connection being between yourself the presenter, the topic you are exploring and your audience. To create a connection and response from your audience it’s vital that you are talking about factors that are relevant to them no matter what topic your presentation is based around. It is crucial for you as the presenter to think about what you know your audience may know already and then what kind of information you can potentially add to their knowledge to enhance it.
- Practice- don’t wing it! Planning an practicing your presentation will make it flow better and will help you address any aspect of it that needs to be changed. It’s important to practice it as going through your presentation will help you achieve focus, fluidity, and clarity in getting your message across as opposed to not having to practice it and not effectively conveying your message to your audience.
By following this seven-step guide, you will be on your way to creating a truly memorable, for all the right reason presentation. It’s important to do as much research as you can surrounding your topic of discussion. This will help you at the end of the presentions when questions are fired at you. Sometimes the questions might not relate to what you may have presented as the audience may be intrigued to know how much knowledge you have surrounding the topic outside of what you presented to always be prepared for the unexpected.
Being nervous when presenting is totally normal, you’re only human at the end of the day. Take some time to breathe which will allow you to think about what your next point is and move on smoothly. Planning can help with this part as discussed above. One of the main aims of a presentation is to get your point across to your audience in a way that is actionable. To ensure this happens, sometimes it’s good to take a step back from your presentation and see it from the audience’s perspective. You must remember they don’t know all the information you know which means you have to feed it to them in small digestible pieces. Following these small easy steps will surely have you on your way to winning presentation.
