The presentation of products and ideas to potential investors, employees, or business partners is a part of the daily working routine of many office workers, entrepreneurs, and business people.
A presentation can become either their ticket to success or turn this experience into a huge fiasco. In 99% of cases, the result depends on what and how you present. To help you avoid some common mistakes, we’ve collected 8 expert presentation tips that can bring you to success.
Why Do You Need Tips for Presentation?
As the saying goes, it’s better to learn from someone else’s mistakes than from your own. These tips are the result of the analysis of the most common mistakes of people who didn’t manage to achieve their goals during the presentations. So you have a great chance to turn other people’s failures into your success.
1. Create a Quality Presentation
It’s not only oratory skills that matter in a presentation. The visual material you support your words with its design and credibility also matters much. Now when remote work has become a norm for most of us, we need to use new tools for creating a quality presentation. PowerPoint slides can no longer cover the requirements of our time. Giving presentations via a webinar or a conference video call demands using the tools that can widen the audience of your online listeners.
On the web, you can find lots of quality online instruments that can help you with creating a slideshow, Fastreel by Movavi, Google Slides, and Visme, among others.
2. Don’t Overload Your Slides with Text
One of the biggest mistakes of speakers who use slide shows in their presentations is that they forget about the main tasks of visual aids. You need slides to strengthen the impact of your words on the listeners but not to “delegate” your speech to the monitor. Bullets with tons of text are not likely to make people enthusiastic about your talk, especially if you just repeat the things written. Use a slide to give the main idea to make it a bullet that hits the target.
Here is an example of how you shouldn’t do.
And here’s the slide that illustrates that brevity looks much more appropriate with presentations.
Another thing to take care of is the design of your presentation slides. That’s when colors, fonts, sizes, and borders matter. Try to use the background colors that will contrast with the color of the font and images you use. Don’t make it look like a monotonous something. Make it easy for the eye. And avoid the mistakes from the example below.
3. Create an Emotional Contact with the Audience
The best way to get and to hold the attention of your public is to build an emotional contact with them. Tell your story if it reflects the topic of your presentation. Don’t be afraid of speaking about your failures because this will show that you know how to overcome the trouble and become successful. Give examples of other businesses that succeeded due to the ideas you are about to share.
Engage your listeners in what you are saying by being honest with them. In fact, storytelling has been long established a powerful instrument for achieving the target result, so feel free to use it in your presentation.
4. State the Goals You Set for Your Presentation
Clearly outlining the goals you’d like to meet with your speech, you’ll let your audience understand why they should listen to you and what their final benefit will be. Just make sure the targets you announce in the beginning will be achieved by the end of your presentation.
5. Be an Expert in Your Topic
Those who often give or participate in presentations in public know that the listeners won’t trust your words unless they see that you are an expert in the field. Poor knowledge of the subject is impossible to hide. Therefore, the only way you can persuade your audience is to be keen on the topic you present.
Giving a presentation, you are sure to use some notes and visual aids, yet you shouldn’t tie your speech to them only. You should feel like a fish in the water when presenting your product and speak freely. Reading the text from your notes or from the presentation slide won’t let you hold the attention of the audience as there will be no eye contact.; besides, they may hesitate about your professional qualities.
6. Be Interactive
When you plan the presentation, think about the questions that may appear in your audience during your speech. Try to give answers before you are actually asked. Rhetorical questions work well in this regard. They may also be great tricks to proceed between the blocks as well as keep the attention of the listeners throughout the presentation.
Another way to interact with the audience and make your presentation more effective is to turn your monologue into a conversation or discussion. This can warm up the interest of potential partners or clients and show your high professional skills and knowledge.
7. Get Ready to Answer Questions
When giving a presentation, you want the audience to listen and interact with you. Yet the real interaction starts when your time is over, the questions-and-answers session time comes. You should be ready to answer even the toughest questions, as it is the only way to show that you know the material perfectly well. No one will invest in your idea if he/she hesitates about your professional qualities and proficiency in the product or idea you present.
8. Show the Perspectives
Summing up your presentation, show your audience the perspectives and the benefits they can get from buying your product or investing in your idea. Speak about the new horizons they can open for themselves. Describe the opportunities and the next steps you can do together as business partners. Call your audience to action.
The Secret of Successful Presentation
The success of your presentation comprises 80% of your professionalism, charisma, and oratory skills, whereas 20% is given to the visual aid you use to show your product or idea in the best light. Knowing how to make these components work in synergy and making them look and sound perfect, you can guarantee the success of your presentation.
However, all these mean nothing if you are not burning with the idea you speak about. Your passion for the subject is what really matters. We hope that our tips will frame your thoughts into an informative and indulging presentation that will show your potential investors, business partners, and clients that your project is worth paying attention to.