Make your next presentation your best one

Most accountants suck at presentations. I’ve said it again. Don’t just take my word for it. Soufyan Hamid research suggests 83% of chief finance officers think that their staff lack presentation skills.

I think there are likely many reasons for this. One is the fact that accountants and auditors get their jobs based on their technical knowledge and skills. Being able to use analyse financial information and building financial models is more obviously an important skill for accountants to have. (Although I think many of them could use some training in spreadsheet good practice in order to reduce errors and save time.)

Another reason is that communication skills are not taught in professional qualifications. Trainees are expected either to know how to write reports before they enrolled or to learn “on the job”.

Yet a third reason is the lack of examples of good presenters. If you’ve only ever seen presentations made with endless built points and cluttered charts you can tell yourself that you’re as good as anyone else at making presentations. If you don’t recognise you have room to improve then you’re not going to make an effort to improve.

I think this third reason is the big one. I think “death by PowerPoint” is an accepted part of working life. Presentations are memorable for their dullness rather than their content.

With the general state of finance presentations being terrible, you don’t have to do much to stand out from the crowd. And in the coming age of artificial intelligence I think it won’t be the accountants who have the best insights who will succeed, it will be the accountants who can explain their insights to others who will.

To help you make a start on your improvement journey, here are 5 tips to make your next presentation the best you’ve ever done.

1?? Write a script: Work out what you want to say BEFORE creating any slides. However tempting it may be, do not begin your preparations by opening PowerPoint and creating lots of slides of bullet points.

2?? Tell a story: Humans like stories and remember them. All stories are about change so show the audience a change. If you're stuck for inspiration, follow Soufyan Hamid who posts a lot on LinkedIn about storytelling in finance.

3?? Keep it simple: Avoid financial jargon and acronyms that your audience may not understand. Stick to simple language and explain any technical terms you use. If you have masses of data to share only put the headlines or summaries on your slides. Detailed tables go in handouts.

4?? Use images: Photographs, charts, graphs, and tables help your audience understand and remember your message. This is because they will actually be listening to you rather than having a quick read of your bullet points and going back to answering emails until you move on to the next slide.

5?? Rehearse: Show your audience the respect of preparing for your presentation and practise beforehand. Rehearsing helps you get your timing right and also helps to settle your nerves.

Want to improve your presentation skills?

In many of my posts I stress how important it is for accountants and auditors to be good at the things that machines can’t do. One of those skill areas is being good at presentations.?

I have set up a coaching service to help finance professionals who want to improve their writing or presentation skills.?

There’s a limited number of places available at any time. As a reader of this newsletter you can save 25% on any coaching plan with the discount code: NEWSLETTER.