How do you use industry insights to improve your presentation?

1 Know your audience

Before you design your presentation, you need to research your target audience and understand their needs, challenges, preferences, and expectations. What are their pain points and goals? What are their buying criteria and decision-making process? What are their common questions and objections? How do they consume information and what format do they prefer? By knowing your audience, you can tailor your presentation to address their specific interests and concerns, and use the language and tone that resonate with them.

2 Showcase your expertise

One of the main reasons people attend trade shows is to learn from industry experts and discover new trends, best practices, and solutions. You want to position yourself as a credible and authoritative source of information and insights that can help your audience solve their problems or achieve their goals. To do that, you need to demonstrate your knowledge and experience in your field, and provide valuable and relevant content that educates, informs, and inspires your audience. You can use case studies, testimonials, statistics, stories, or examples to illustrate your points and show how you have helped other customers or clients with similar challenges or needs.

3 Differentiate your offer

Trade shows are also a competitive environment, where you have to compete with hundreds of other exhibitors and presenters for the attention and interest of your audience. You need to show what makes your products, services, or solutions unique, superior, or innovative, and how they can benefit your audience more than your competitors. You can use industry insights to highlight the gaps, opportunities, or challenges in your market, and explain how your offer fills those gaps, leverages those opportunities, or overcomes those challenges. You can also use industry insights to anticipate and address the common objections or concerns that your audience might have about your offer, and show how you can provide more value, quality, or satisfaction than your alternatives.

4 Engage your audience

A presentation is not a one-way communication, but a dialogue between you and your audience. You want to capture and maintain their attention, interest, and curiosity throughout your presentation, and encourage them to interact with you and your offer. You can use industry insights to spark a conversation, ask questions, solicit feedback, or invite participation from your audience. You can also use industry insights to create a sense of urgency, relevance, or excitement for your offer, and motivate your audience to take action or follow up with you. You can also use industry insights to create a connection, rapport, or trust with your audience, and show that you understand their needs, challenges, and goals, and that you care about their success.

5 Adapt to the situation

Trade shows are dynamic and unpredictable events, where you have to deal with various factors that can affect your presentation, such as time constraints, technical issues, audience size, mood, or behavior, or unexpected questions or requests. You need to be flexible and adaptable, and ready to adjust your presentation according to the situation and the feedback you receive from your audience. You can use industry insights to adapt your presentation to the context, the environment, or the audience's needs, preferences, or expectations. You can also use industry insights to improvise, add value, or provide additional information or resources that can enhance your presentation or address your audience's questions or concerns.

6 Practice and prepare

The final and most important tip to use industry insights to improve your presentation is to practice and prepare. No matter how much you know about your industry, your offer, or your audience, you need to rehearse your presentation and refine your delivery, content, and visuals. You need to practice your timing, your voice, your body language, and your transitions, and make sure that your presentation is clear, concise, and coherent. You also need to prepare for any potential issues, challenges, or questions that might arise during your presentation, and have a backup plan, a contingency plan, or a plan B in case something goes wrong. By practicing and preparing, you can ensure that you deliver a confident, professional, and effective presentation that uses industry insights to impress and persuade your audience.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?