So, are you about to present in front of many people? Are you nervous? We all know those feelings, especially when you are in business and the last thing you want is to mess up. But, there are many ways you can improve your business presentation.
It isn’t hard to improve the ways your presentation can be, but something you should be well aware of is that presentations aren’t as hard as you may think. They just want simplicity, and we might have a problem if you can’t deliver that.
Don’t go anywhere because, in this article, we will show you the main points on how you can deliver a compelling business presentation.
13 points out how you can deliver a compelling business presentation
1.Research
In order to have a successful presentation, you need to be well aware of what you are going to present. Good research makes a significant difference in making an excellent presentation.
Your audience can tell you if you are right on your facts or not unless they are entirely out of your niche. Not being familiar with your topic makes you seem inexperienced and lose your credibility.
Before creating your presentation, try to identify two or three sources you can gather information from for your presentation.
2.Know who your target audience is
This is the start of a successful presentation. The more you understand your target audience, the more you’ll realize your goals and their expectations from your presentation. Again, it’s connecting with them on another level, and your examples will make a significant difference, making your presentation more focused and relevant.
3.Slide transitions and sound effects
Sound effects and transitions can become the focus of your audience’s attention, which may distract your audience. Worst case scenario, the results may be sluggish when a presentation contains several effects and changes that make a computer run slower.
Your presentation is mainly for giving out information, and it isn’t a science fair trying to show your audience how cool your animations look. So, if you want the maximum attention of your audience, we recommend you leave out wipes, cuts, fade-ins, and more. Instead, focus on your primary message and not the technology.
4.Reading what you have to say
Many presenters read their presentations directly from their notes or will read precisely what is written on the slides. This leads to an unnatural way of speaking and interferes with how your audience feels. Your audience will see that you aren’t speaking naturally, which will make them lose interest and directly affect how you look as a presenter.
You only have one chance to make an excellent first impression, so instead of reading everything from the slides and looking like a robot, it’s best to practice your speech and get your facts right.
5.Try telling a story
A story will connect people with their audience and deliver better results than data. For example, facts will include sentences that you can’t change or don’t build up any emotions. However, stories build up feelings and catch your attention much easier.
In fact, a 2020 study by Forbes claimed that stories beat statistics 100% of the time. In short, you can’t catch anyone’s attention as you do with stories. The most important part is to make your audience feel the impact of an event at a deep level.
6.Presentation templates
Presentation templates are another easy way to save time and not allow you to create things from scratch. AI presentation makers are also an excellent tool for creating templates customized to your needs. Templates will blend your idea into someone else’s. First, however, you must set up a template that doesn’t have a distracting background and poor color combinations.
There are plenty of powerful templates, so you can consider choosing templates for your business reporting and presentations. In addition, there are plenty of free templates available, and the best part is that they are flexible templates that are easy to customize and free to use.
7.Lack of practice
Practice makes a significant difference in presentations. If you don’t practice enough, you will have difficulties achieving the results you want when presenting. Unfortunately, too many business professionals try to go through a presentation without having the necessary practice because they are either too busy or don’t have enough interest in doing so.
Fortunately, there are many ways you can overcome this. First, try practicing your speech at least twice a day, one week before your presentation begins. For instance, practice in the morning and the late afternoon. Try gathering a bunch of friends and family members, and speak in front of them until you see you are comfortable enough. However, ensure that those listening to you know how to provide criticism when needed.
8.Use infographics
Infographics are another way of allowing people to process information efficiently. It’s much easier to process the information than it would be to read long forms of text. In fact, according to statistics, infographics can gain 94% more views compared to regular text. Above all, visuals are much easier to process in our brains as we don’t have to engage in reading too much.
However, when using infographics, ensure that you aren’t using low-quality images. Instead, keep your image quality high at all times.
9.Avoid long texts
Presentations can be great if they don’t have long forms of text. After all, slides aren’t a suitable medium for reading and details. You want to avoid long paragraphs and quotations to complete sentences. Instead, try limiting your slides to a few lines of text and use more infographics. You want your audience to quickly digest what you have to say and not have to read more than they listen to!
10.Follow the 20-minute rule
Guy Kawasaki was the one who brought the whole idea of 20-minute presentations. Why? Because long presentations won’t only encourage people to lose interest but also not have time to ask questions. So, if your presentation is 1 hour long, it’s best to separate half of the time to answer questions.
Moreover, if you think about it, it’s not worth spending more than 20 minutes on your intro. Instead, it’s time to get the point and present your business product, special offers, concept, and everything in detail. So, your best bet is to keep your presentation short and start a dialogue.
Studies have shown that attention levels drop instantly to just eight seconds compared to 12 seconds in the past.
11.Body language
When you are about to present, the best thing you can do is use your body language. However, there’s definitely a new way of communicating with your audience, and maybe even a way you aren’t aware of.
The way you use your body language is exactly how you communicate with your audience and shows that you have the confidence to use your body language. However, use verbal communication when you use body language. Look everyone in the eye from time to time to show that you are concentrated.
Otherwise, if your body language is poor, you won’t know how to connect with your audience properly.
12.Try explaining one idea per slide
Don’t cramp all of your ideas into one place. It isn’t good practice. It’ll not only confuse your audience but maybe even yourself too. Instead, force yourself to include one idea per slide; your audience will have more time and a better opportunity to engage deeply in what you have to say.
13.Ensuring everything technical is working right
You never know what can happen with your equipment, so the best practice is to ensure that everything is working right before you present. Unfortunately, many business professionals won’t bother checking anything before a presentation; that is where something might go wrong often.
You don’t want to fall into the trap of having to fix something technical in the middle of the presentation. That is definitely not a good practice at all.
Wrapping everything up
That’s about it for this article. These were the 13 main pointers on how you can effectively improve your business presentation. Now, it’s up to you to implement these practices in a real-life case scenario.
Presentations aren’t as hard as you think, but they require simplicity and a calm person to carry them out. Above all, before you present, never forget to practice for a long period of time and often to ensure you are comfortable enough before the presentation. Preparation should be your priority!
