5 Steps to Better Presentations
Nearly everyone can be a better presenter. You may have done lots of presentations at trades shows and industry events. Or, you may be about to do your first ever presentation. But whether you’ve done lots of them, or none at all, you should realize that presentation skills can be learned, and improved. Don’t become complacent with ideas like, “oh, I’m really shy, so I’m no good at presentations,” or, even worse, “people think I’m boring, so this is really going to suck.” Learning to present ideas in front of a group of people involves skills that can be learned by anybody. And, if you put your mind to it, and follow a few sensible steps, you can become–even if you’re shy– a very effective presenter. Here are five steps that will make almost everyone a better presenter:
Step One: Figure out the one single most important message of your presentation. Figure out the point of your talk. Get that one message figured out, and then let that drive all your content. Willie Nelson famously sang, “you can’t make a record if you ain’t got nothing to say.” Well, if your talk doesn’t have one single overriding theme you’re trying to make, you’re probably not going to have sufficient focus to make an effective presentation.
Let’s say you’re a Doctor giving a talk to other colleagues at your hospital about a new medicine that’s come on the market. To make an effective presentation, you’ve got to take a stand on this medicine. You’ve got to say whether your colleagues should use it on patients, or not. Wishy-washy is not going to cut it. Just presenting a bunch of abstract data about the medicine will not make a good presentation. You’ve got to make a point, and build your talk around supporting that point.
If you’re doing a sales presentation, it seems like the point of the presentation would be obvious: to sell the product. But, having seen quite a few sales presentations over the years, I can tell you that not all of them succeed in making this point. But, you clearly want to make the point that you believe this is a good product to buy, and you will present information that supports that view.
Pick the one point you’re really trying to make. Stick to it, and drive all the content to re-inforce that point.
Step Two: Connect with your audience. Now, you’ve probably seen this advice before, and the obvious question is, “how do I connect with the audience. For God’s sake, how in the world do I do that?” To connect with the audience is simple: look them right in the eye. Don’t get stuck staring at your notes all through your talk. Don’t stare at the ceiling, or the back of the auditorium, or at one person in the front row. All through your talk, you should look directly at each of the individuals in your audience, square in the face. Look at one person for a moment or two, then move on to another. You connect with people by looking them in the eye.
Step Three: Keep it moving! Move right along. It’s a big, big help if you can get out from behind the lectern, and actually walk in and among the audience. Walk around among the audience. If you’re on a stage, and can’t really get down to the audience, at least move around on the stage. Because, if you move around, the audience will naturally look to follow you, and this will help keep them attentive. And, if you are in and among them, it will be easier for you to make eye contact with them, and really connect.
Step Four: Keep it short. Shorter presentations are almost always more effective, and have more impact on the audience. Make your point, provide good solid support for it, maybe toss in a memorable anecdote, and then stop, and take questions. Let’s say you’ve been allotted 20 minutes. Your presentation should actually be 5 to 10 minutes, with the rest left for questions from the audience. Getting questions from the audience, that you respond to in a thoughtful way, will help you further connect with the audience. In fact, don’t try to cover every single solitary point about your topic in your talk. This will make your talk too long, and it will eliminate any questions at the end. Questions are engaging for you and your audience, so don’t try to avoid them.
Step Five: Have beautiful Powerpoint slides, and not too many of them. Don’t put too much text on the slides. If the audience can read your talk off the slides, they really don’t need you, do they? They won’t connect with you if they can just read things off the slides. And chances are, they can read faster than you talk, so if you have too much text, it will make your presence annoying. Have 4 or 5 words on a slide, maximum! The slides should just show the key highlights of what you are saying. The detailed content should be in what you say.
And get good slides, so people like looking at them. Get a good designer to make them for you, so they look really outstanding. This will create a great impression on the audience, and it will make your slides, and your presentation, memorable.
Follow these five steps, and you’ll be well on your way to improving your presentations!