According to a Prezi survey, 70% of employed Americans believe presentation skills are essential for career success. In today’s competitive job market, the ability to effectively communicate ideas through a presentation can set you apart from other candidates precisely because presentations give you the unique opportunity to connect with your audience. Whether speaking at a job interview, in front of friends and family, or at a large conference, strong presentation skills can make a huge difference in how your message is delivered.
To change your presentation, you must prepare well, master body language and delivery, and engage the audience.
Preparation
The last thing you want is to stand up in front of a large audience and not know what you’re saying. To prevent this from happening, research your topic thoroughly enough so that you can confidently answer questions when asked questions. According to Inner Drive, one of the most effective ways to check if you know something is to teach it to someone else. So, what are you waiting for? Grab a friend or family member and start teaching them the topic you’ll be presenting if you feel confident enough about the subject, good job! If not, keep practicing until you know it, like the back of your hand. Additionally, practice summarizing your key points without relying on note cards and see if you remember the major “moves” of your presentation.
Mastering body language and delivery
If you’ve seen a good speaker, you’ve probably noticed three things: eye contact, gestures/movement, and voice. An excellent way to keep your audience engaged is through maintaining eye contact. In doing so, you appear to be more confident and your talk becomes a dialogue in which your audience can reply through head nods and smiles. If you’re too nervous to dart your eyes around a large crowd, pick a couple of people in different areas of the room and focus on them. Additionally, work on using natural hand gestures to emphasize your points. It is expected that you feel the need to fidget while speaking. Instead, focus on strategically and calmly moving around the space. Finally, focus on your voice. Ask yourself: am I talking too fast? Too slow? Is my flow good? Ensure you vary your tone and pace to keep your audience engaged!
Engaging your audience
Do you want to sit through a boring presentation spoken in a monotone voice with only words up on a projector? If you answered no, assume your audience will also do so. Ensure you engage your audience by asking them questions or including an interactive poll. If you’re scared they won’t answer, give them time to think about it, guide them through it, or turn it into a rhetorical question. Also, visuals are key. Incorporate videos, props, music, and graphics in your presentation to enhance it even more. Additionally, you can engage your audience even further through a relatable story or example to make your content more memorable.
Once again, to ensure you nail your next presentation, you must prepare well, master body language and delivery, and engage the audience. Just remember, presentations are a skill that takes time to develop, so make sure you don’t feel discouraged and practice, practice, practice!
