If you work in an office, regardless of your role, there’s likely a situation where you might be asked to give a presentation. It could be pitching to clients, running a training session, or even presenting something silly for an internal event. No matter what it may be, a compelling presentation will make sure everyone has a great experience and gets what they need from it – so here’s how you can make sure your next workplace presentation stands out.
Preparation and Structuring Your Content
A successful presentation starts well before you step in front of your audience. You need to properly prepare your content and structure it around who you’ll be speaking to. Different people will want different approaches, executives might want to see more data and keep things concise, while technical teams could prefer it if you dive into the details.
Once you know your audience, create a flow to your presentation that makes sense. The intro should grab attention and set out your content, the middle should provide the bulk of any essential information, and your end should conclude in a way that reinforces your presentation’s purpose.
Then, it’s a matter of practice. Repetition can build confidence and help you to sound more assured as you deliver your content, rather than trying to remember what comes next.
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Using Engaging Visual Aids
Adding in visual elements can help your presentation be more memorable and pull out key information so it sticks in your audience’s minds. Programs like PowerPoint or Google Slides can provide templates for presentations you can structure around what you want to say.
Images, charts and graphs can display complex information in more succinct ways, allowing you to focus on presenting the key information supported by these elements. If you do have any slides with text, keep them short – rather than putting everything you’re saying on there. Simply reading from slides can create instant disengagement from your audience.
Before you present, test your equipment thoroughly including any essential connectors and other tech items. Technical problems can ruin even the best presentation, so arrive early to make sure everything works properly.
Mastering Delivery Techniques
How you deliver your content can make or break your presentation. Talking with your audience in a charismatic, engaging manner will help them follow your content, while a monotonous, quiet delivery can cause people to switch off.
Eye contact and hand gestures can keep people focused on you, while varying your pace and tone will make your presentation more dynamic. Naturally, many presentations can raise questions too. Try to preemptively think of what topics people might ask and prepare answers ahead of time, just so nothing catches you too off guard.
By following these three points, you can turn regular workplace presentations into powerful opportunities to influence and inspire others.