PRESENTATION SKILLS

3 key points to pay attention to

#presentationskills #contentcreation #visualaids #presentationtemplates #voicemodulation

So you think you are a pro at presentation. You’ve made this presentation using all the tools available at your disposal. The visuals are fantastic! You’ve run these presentations by your colleagues and friends…they also say its really good. However, on the day you present your product…it’s the launch of your new product…you find the audience a bit distracted…the company head asks you for some brochures and leaves the presentation hall. You are pretty disappointed.

What just happened?

This happens to everybody in some phase of their presentation making life …and we can easily troubleshoot our way through what went wrong only if we know which factors to examine

Content,Content,Content

A lot of us spend a lot of time prioritizing our visual aid or presentation, format, color and so on over what is actually being said in those slides. Visual aids are just what it says: aids to promote what is actually being showcased in the presentation.

Even if you are making a 20-minute presentation make sure you say all that you want to say in a concise manner. People do not have more than 2-5 minutes of concentration at a time, so make your introduction perfect…something that gives your audience a preview of what is coming. Make sure you construct something that makes the engagement interactive…so that the audience is constantly reacting to what you are saying…you can bring in elements of shock and surprise at some intervals so that the audience is jerked back into concentrating further.

If you are a regular assigned presenter for the company or if you making training presentations, make sure every presentation is different from the previous one…so the content is not repeated, and word goes around that every presentation of yours is worth a visit.

Content creation requires a lot of research and hard work …spend more time building the content …that is, what you are actually going to say…than spending a lot of time deciding about the presentation template or worrying about the images and videos you are going to use.

Know Your Audience

Very important to know who you are going to present to. For example if you are designing an orientation program for your company’s new inductees…a fresher’s program, then you must know the knowledge level of the freshers attending.it is obvious that you have to make a pitch to them about all the company’s achievements so far, the company products, how the company stands ahead of its competitors and so on.

On the other hand, if you are making an in-house presentation about a new product your company is about to launch to a group of seniors in your company, obviously you would not want to bore these people with content they already know.

Knowing the knowledge level of the presentation participants is a must to help you prepare the content.

It also helps if you know the language preference of most of the audience, the age group they belong to, which city, state they predominantly are from. This is because if you make some young age current jokes, it may fall flat with an older audience. Similarly, for a Hindi speaking audience, very heavy English speeches may go above their heads.

The aim of any presentation should be to capture the audience. Therefore, always try and get as much information as you can about the people you are addressing.

Practice voice modulation and gestures

The central point of any presentation is actually the speaker or presenter. Therefore, if you are making the presentation make sure you have a voice loud enough to reach the entire audience. Enunciate your words clearly. Use gestures to attract the attention of the audience. Look at some presentation videos on YouTube or learn from some others who are good speakers.

Above all, look presentable and well groomed so the audience feels good looking at you.