You want to impress your boss with your presentation skills. How can you make sure they remember you?

1 Know your audience

Before you start working on your presentation, you need to understand who you are talking to and what they expect from you. What are their pain points, goals, and interests? How familiar are they with your topic and terminology? How much time do they have and what format do they prefer? By answering these questions, you can tailor your presentation to your audience's needs and preferences, and avoid wasting their time or confusing them with irrelevant or technical information.

3 Design your visuals

Visual aids can enhance your presentation by making it more attractive, informative, and persuasive. However, they can also distract or overwhelm your audience if they are poorly designed or used. To avoid this, follow some basic principles of visual design, such as using simple and consistent fonts, colors, and layouts, avoiding clutter and unnecessary elements, choosing relevant and high-quality images and graphs, and aligning your visuals with your verbal content and tone.

4 Practice your delivery

No matter how good your content and visuals are, they won't have much impact if your delivery is weak or inconsistent. To improve your delivery, you need to practice your presentation several times, preferably in front of a mirror, a camera, or a friend who can give you feedback. Pay attention to your voice, body language, eye contact, and timing, and try to sound confident, enthusiastic, and natural. Avoid reading from your slides or notes, memorizing your script word for word, or speaking too fast or too slow.

5 Engage your audience

One of the best ways to impress your boss with your presentation skills is to engage your audience and make them feel involved and valued. You can do this by asking questions, soliciting feedback, telling stories, using humor, or showing empathy. You can also use interactive tools, such as polls, quizzes, or surveys, to get their opinions or test their knowledge. By engaging your audience, you can create rapport, spark interest, and stimulate discussion.

6 Follow up

After you finish your presentation, don't forget to follow up with your boss and your audience. Thank them for their time and attention, and ask them if they have any questions or comments. Provide them with a copy of your presentation or any additional resources they might need. Also, ask them for feedback on your performance, and use it to improve your presentation skills for the future. By following up, you can show your professionalism, appreciation, and commitment.

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?