Someday, would you like to give a presentation like Steve Jobs? The answer would be yes!
Everyone has to give a presentation in his or her life in some or other form.
If you are in college, then you have to give presentation for the final project, if you are a working professional then also you have to give a presentation to the management or board members.
Therefore, rendering a presentation is always going to be an important part of your life. It is better that you start learning to give an effective presentation from now on.
A presentation can never be perfect, hence you have to keep on improving by giving more and more presentations.
Here are 10 simple tips to give an effective presentation.
Objective of Your Presentation
Whenever you are giving a presentation on a particular topic. You must know why you are giving it.
Whether your presentation is to inform the audience or you are giving to convince them. You need to prepare your presentation according to both factors.
A presentation for giving some information is quite different from a presentation to persuade the people.
While persuading, you need to know what you are presenting. It means you must have done thorough research and homework. Every necessary material that is required for the presentation must be with you.
Therefore, know the purpose or objective of your presentation before you render it.
Know about Your Audience
After you recognize the objective of your presentation, you need to know more about the audience. You will be giving presentation to people who have come to get some information.
Your presentation will only be successful if you are able to convey the message to the audience. And you can only convey the message if you know everything about your audience.
First thing to know is the demographics. What is their age and profession? Why they have come for your presentation. Are they coming for only information or they want something more?
You need to know, what is their basic level of understanding or you can say their educational background. In short, to make an effective presentation ascertain as much as about your audiences.
Overall Appearance and the Body Language
The next tip is your overall appearance and body language while you are giving a presentation. The first thing that audience will notice is your overall appearance.
How you are carrying yourself? People will observe you very carefully. Your dress should match your personality and take care of other things which are easily overlooked but matter a lot.
Moreover, your body language should be positive and people should get a feeling that you have really some great stuff to present.
A great body language and appearance is not achieved in one day, you have to learn every day. Hence, it is advised that you should give presentations more occasionally.
Facial Expressions and Eye Contact
Apart from appearance and body language, you must give an attractive facial and eye expression.
During the entire presentation, your facial expression would stand out from the rest. People will stare at your face constantly.
Hence, you should get a facial expression that could attract people to be tuned in for your entire presentation.
Always have a smile on your face and do not show signs of frustration or confusion on your face.
The second important thing is eye contact. You should have eye contact with your audience. Gaze at every person equally, do not stare at the person alone in the entire audience.
Facial expression and eye contact are essential for an effective presentation.
The tone of Your Speech
What is the best tone for giving a presentation? Well! The best tone should be relaxed at the same time severe and engaging.
Your tone should be perfect while you are pitching the presentation. It should not either too loud or too soft. It must be in between.
Never sound confused or scared, your tone must sound confident and convincing.
If you are giving a presentation to your managers or boss then it must be serious however if a presentation is for a college seminar then it can be casual.
Hence, develop a tone which is perfect for rendering presentations of any kind. A right tone could decide whether your presentation is bad or good.
Volume and Pace of Your Speech
After setting the right tone for your speech, you have to focus on volume and the right pace.
A presentation can only be effective if you speak loud enough so that everyone can listen. Not that loud, because you will have mike to speak.
Next thing is the pace of your presentation. Pace must not be too fast as well as not too slow. You should achieve a right pace for the presentation.
You must pause wherever it is necessary, because you might have to clarify some point that your audience or listeners may not understand.
Action and Movement of Your Body
Next great tip to make your presentation more effective would be incorporating actions and body movements while you render a presentation.
Use your hands and fingers to emphasize on a point that you want to make. Words combined with actions is always a great way to make a permanent impression.
Using actions or movement of your body is very important to make a good presentation.
Using Inflection and Avoiding Fillers
As I said earlier, keep changing pace of your presentation and the best way to do is using inflection.
You must know where you can raise your pace and where you have to slow down. The best way to learn is to practice and give more and more presentation.
Then next big thing to avoid is using fillers like “Ahhh,”, “Ohhh” etc. Using too many fillers would suggest that you do not have any knowledge about the subject.
Hence use inflection and avoid fillers.
Be Ready for the Questions
A presentation or a speech is never complete unless you take some questions from the audiences.
Hence, while rendering a presentation always expect questions from your audience. Do not get agitated if they are throwing too many questions at you.
You must prepare yourself to answer all the questions in advance. If you are able to answer all the questions and satisfy the audience then your presentation would be successful.
Introduction and Closing of Presentation
Last tip is your introduction as well as closing of the presentation must be perfect. We have talked about the introduction.
Here I will say about closing of the presentation. Your closing should be such that audiences are left fully content. Everything should be clear in their mind.
Simply it means, they must have got the message that you wanted to convey through your presentation.
Conclusion
Finally, in conclusion I would say learn and implement above mentioned 10 tips, if you want to render an effective presentation.
To become perfect, give more presentations to overcome your inner fear.
