How to perform an effective presentation

Presentations form part of life and you may have given one many times. At work, you are often faced with giving a business presentation or sales presentation. Hence, learning how to make presentations and how to give effective presentations is a vital skill which is worth learning. This article will detail out some presentation techniques and some presentation skills tips.

Preparation and planning

Preparation is the key to a successful presentation. If you are unprepared on your topic, you will stumble around for words and will not be able to answer questions. Being unprepared will also make you look unprofessional and it will be clear that you are unsure of your topic. Always plan your project and use cue cards to help you to get across your main points.

Speak clearly

Always speak clearly when making a presentation. People need to be able to understand and hear you and if they are sitting in the room - a loud and clear voice will help to convey your message.

Eye contact

People do not want to watch someone who is giving a presentation with the head facing the floor or looking far off. Eye contact helps to create a connection between you and the viewers and lets them know that you are committed to your presentation.

Engaging approach

Creating and giving a presentation which is engaging is very important. If people lose interest in your presentation, they will not be taking in the information and your presentation will be a failure. Learning how to do a PowerPoint presentation is a very useful tool to utilise as the use of images and visuals from presentation slides can help in engaging with the viewers and it gives them something to focus on. Nobody wants to listen to someone talking endlessly as people's attention usually get distracted easily.

Confidence

Although you are not confident, you should always appear so. It can help to you have authority and gain respect from your colleagues, which in turn will make them listen and pay attention to you.

Timing

Timing is very important during a presentation. You do not want to have finished way before your allocated time, neither do you want to go well over the time limit, as sometimes you will just be cut off at the end, even if you have not given all the information you wanted to convey. Practising beforehand will help in solving this problem.

Research and knowledge

At the end of a presentation, you will normally be asked questions. If you know about your topic, you will have no problem in dealing with all the questions being asked to you and you will appear to be very knowledgeable, which is always credited.