When it comes to giving a presentation, we all tend to get a bit nervous. It is completely fine as long as you have the confidence that you will walk on the stage and take everyone by storm. While most people would say that after a few moments on the stage, they get into the groove and can nail the presentation.
But there are other people, who have a stellar presentation and speech, but when it comes to presenting it on stage, they get stage-fright. It doesn’t go away even after spending a few moments on the stage. If you feel that you come into the second category, don’t fret at all.
It happens, but with a few tricks and tips, you can be confident and can give an amazing presentation that will engage one and all.
Here let’s take a look at these tips to give a good presentation
The first step is to create the presentation in the right manner. You can use MS PowerPoint presentation, or you can try Canva presentation maker for a great display of your data. Let’s see the tips.
How to make a good presentation?
1. Have a starting, middle, and an end
If you want a compelling presentation, keep in mind to create a presentation that people can follow with ease. You need:
- An introduction: Introduce your topic to your listeners and tell them why it is important for them.
- Middle: In this, provide them with graphs or statistics or evidence in support of your title.
- Conclusion: In this, you give the audience some key takeaway that shows them how they can implement the learning from the presentation in their daily life.
2. Keep it short and use bullet points
Make sure that your presentation is not lengthy. You don’t want more than ten slides and each slide should explain the subject using minimal words, and short bulleted sentences.
3. Use images and videos
You need to limit the number of words in the presentation. It is an effective way to make sure people are listening to you speak, instead of looking at the presentation the whole time.
You can include images, Infographics, or even videos.
4. Design matters
You need to be smart with the design of your presentation. Some tips:
- Don’t use too many bright colors as they can be off-putting. Make use of two or one color throughout the PPT so that you have a consistent theme.
- The headline and main text can have different font size and type. But it ends there, to have a consistent feel, use the same font size and type throughout.
5. Check for errors
It will be embarrassing if your presentation has silly grammatical or spelling mistakes. Also, no one likes a presentation with bad alignment. So, before you show it to the world, edit relentlessly. Make sure there are no mistakes that can make you feel embarrassed on the stage.
How to present?
1. Start strong
Before you introduce yourself to them, entertain them. It will help you start strong and grab your audience’s attention. Start with a famous quote or a joke or even an incident. It is a great idea to include a personal story because it can grab attention in mere seconds.
Also, remember to sound passionate and enthusiastic about your topic. If you are authentic and honest while speaking, people will see it, and they will pay more attention to what you have to say.
2. Pay attention to your audience
You want your audience to learn something from the presentation. So, present it to them by making eye contact and knowing what they like can help too.
Furthermore, you need to pay attention to how the audience is responding to your speech and react accordingly.
3. Practice and be prepared
You need to practice a lot if you want to deliver a smooth presentation. Try practising in front of a mirror or record yourself to see how you are saying or if you are missing something.
Moreover, prepare for anything, your machine can fail, so you should have note cards handy. Moreover, maybe what you are saying is not resonating with the audience, so having the confidence to spruce it up is also necessary.
4. Use body language
Keep your body language in mind too. Don’t pace the stage too much, or hold hands at the back, or in pockets, and so on. Also, use gestures to get your points across, but not too much otherwise, it will distract the audience.
5. Leave the audience with emotion
The audience will always remember how they made you feel. So, leave them with a thought or an emotion that stays with them forever.
Presentation is all about connecting with the audience and being confident. If you nail these two things, you will give an unforgettable presentation.
