Nail that big presentation you've got coming up by following these ten easy steps to ensure you deliver your presentation perfectly. A three minute read.
10 Step to delivering the perfect presentation:
1. Be Prepared
Learn your presentation, the less you refer to notes or the text on screen, the more professional you'll appear. Will you need a remote? This may be better than running back and forth to your laptop for the next slide.
2. Rehearse
Type out the key point you intend to make and scan your eyes over them as you go through your slides. Reading out loud will help you memorise each point and will ensure you’re prepared to speak in a professional manner. Rehearsing enables your slides to act as visual cues, reminding you of key information, helping you stay calm while presenting
3. 10-20-30
The 10-20-30 rule states that a PowerPoint slide should:
have no more than 10 slides
last no longer than 20 minutes
have no text less than 30 pt font
4. Arrive Early
No matter how outstanding your presentation content, if you arrive flustered, scrabbling around for various wires, frantically rummage through bags and clicking manically, the first impressions not going to be great! Give yourself the time to set up correctly and collect your thoughts
5. Tell A Story
Take your audience on a journey they can easily follow, using a stories natural momentum to grab their attention and retain it. Offer some possibilities and opportunities; get their imagination whirling. Portray yourself as the ‘hero’, whom your story (the success of the company) relies on. Storytelling also helps reduces jitters and eliminates the worry that your brain will have to seek complex information.
6. Speak Slowly
Slow down and remain calm. Not only will these give you time to process your thoughts, but it actually makes it far easier to listen to you and understand your ideas.
7. Project
When presenting to large groups of people, it's important to have an authoritative and appealing tone of voice, helping the audience relax and enjoy the presentation.
8. Maintain Eye Contact
Making eye contact with your audience during a presentation gives them a sense of involvement, helping convey your objectives on a personal level. Maintaining eye contact also makes you appear more confident and professional, allowing you to read your audiences body posture and facial expressions to adjust your presentation accordingly to ensure your presentation is as interesting and engaging as possible.
9. Uhm's & Ah's
It’s natural to get a little flustered when under pressure, sure! But too many pauses or hesitations can be distracting and diminish your credibility and professionalism. The best way to avoid this is practice! Record yourself, practice with someone else and just keep at it.
10. Believe in yourself
If you don’t appear passionate about the subject you’re presenting, why would anyone else? By this point, you've done all the hard work - you know your words, you have some cues, you’re prepared. Now it’s time to shine! Confidence is key, appealing hugely to employers.
