How many times have you had to sit through a corporate presentation only to find yourself bored to tears by the presenter? The information presented is relevant and informative, but the presenter quickly loses you and your mind wanders to other thoughts.
On the other hand, you may have experienced times when someone has captivated you with their presentation, where you are completely focused on what is being said.
“There’s no such thing as presentation talent, it’s called presentation skills”-David J.P. Phillips
Captivating presentation skills are all it takes to hold an audience’s attention. This can be learned. Knowing how to give a presentation effectively will give a person the confidence to excel.
“According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two! This means that, for the average person, if you go to a funeral, He’ll be better off in the coffin than at the funeral.” praise.” -Jerry Seinfeld
Here are some simple tips on presentation skills:
- Practice: As with any skill, practice makes perfect. Record your presentation on a video recorder and study areas for improvement. When you are satisfied with the quality of your work, make a final recording and ask your mentor or friend for feedback.
- Preparation: The more you know about the topic, the more confident you will be and the more captivated your audience will be. Know your presentation thoroughly. If you have the PowerPoint presentation and it’s on your laptop, make sure you’ve taken a hard copy and backed it up to your external hard drive. If all technology fails, your preparation should have been rigorous enough that you can perform it without props.
- Enjoy it: If you’re passionate about the subject, your listeners will stay engaged with your infectious enthusiasm.
- Project your voice: make sure that when you speak, you enunciate clearly and have different tones; both techniques will better attract the audience.
- Make eye contact – Look around the room naturally, looking at different people in the audience, and make eye contact with as many people as possible.
- Talk, don’t read: There’s nothing worse than someone standing up and reading a speech word for word. It’s boring and inhibits your ability to make eye contact with the audience and they get lost quickly.
- Speak slowly and clearly: Don’t rush your presentation, which is easy to do when you’re nervous. That is why practice is so important.
- Be yourself: The more natural you are, the more people will be able to relate to you. Use stories or experiences from your life to make a point.
- Take a deep breath and relax: A deep breath does wonders to help you relax.
These simple tips will go a long way in helping a person improve their presentation skills. Presentation skills training is a central theme of all leadership training programs, as it is a skill that all people in high-level positions must have. Training typically focuses on three areas: understanding the needs of the audience, creating a powerful presentation, and presenting with confidence.
