Giving a workplace presentation to your colleagues or management can be a hair-raising experience. Follow these simple rules to ensure that your next presentation is a success:
1. Be prepared
When you have to give a presentation on a topic that you are not a master of, first hit the Internet. This is very important to learn more about whatever it is you’re supposed to talk about. Write down as many important and/or interesting facts as you can find; it’s better to have too much information than too little, because this gives you room to condense. Having extra titbits in your head will also help answer questions from your audience. And don’t forget to note your sources — you’ll probably have to cite them at the end.
2. Dress the part
There are a lot of people who like to say that appearance doesn’t matter, and it’s what’s on the inside that’s most important. That’s nice, but doesn’t apply in the professional world. When you have just minutes to get to know and make a judgement about a person, appearance is going to be a factor. So look nice, and dress appropriately for the occasion.
3. Rehearse
Here is a rule that you can never neglect. Rehearse over and over again. If you do this, you will know every detail of your talk, all the slides and the order in which they appear. Practice in front of a mirror or even video yourself. This is the best way to find potential tripping points, inconsistencies, and also gives you a chance to weed out the corny jokes.
But more importantly, it will make you so comfortable with the content that you won’t need notes or prompts and you’ll appear conversational but knowledgeable.
4. Be slide-sensible
Nothing is uglier, more confusing or less appealing than a slide with 15 bullet points and a graph. It’s confusing, cluttered, hard to understand and of no value to anyone as a presentation aid. Try to use slides with only one line or graphic/chart on them.
A further common mistake is reading from the slides like a script. The resulting dialogue is unnatural and you’re not engaging your audience. Give them more. Tell a story. Make a joke. Let your voice rise and fall according to what interests you most.
5. Slow down
It’s natural to speed up when giving a presentation — after all, you want it to be over as soon as possible! However, when you rush, you’re more likely to mumble, skip points, and discourage audience participation, all of which will fetch a poor grade. Slow down and let yourself think as you speak, choosing your words with care instead of rambling. This will also give you time to gesticulate with your hands and make eye contact with your audience, attracting their attention in return.
6. Be passionate and energetic
Chances are if you’re standing up in front of people giving a talk, you know what you’re on about – and if you know what you’re on about, you’re probably passionate about the subject.
So make sure you project that passion during your presentation! Raise your voice when it makes sense, be effusive, throw your hands up in the air when you’re making a point! That type of energy is totally infectious and your audience will appreciate the effort.
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