There aren’t many people in the world who like to give presentations. But they still have to be made. Whether you are faced with the impending doom of a speech at your local Chamber of Commerce, or you are cursed with the fate of having to deliver a sales presentation at a business, whatever the reason, here are a few tips to help you deliver a great presentation.
- To use PowerPoint or not? PowerPoint is often used in presentations but unfortunately, it is not always used effectively. Resist the urge to use different types of fades from one screen to another. Stick to just two fonts: a sans serif font (like Arial) for headlines and a serif font (like Times New Roman) for text. Avoid too much reading per slide; marketing guru Seth Godin suggests that you don’t use more than 6 words per slide. Your slides should support and highlight what you say, not speak for you. If you are speaking, don’t use flashy, moving text or anything that might distract your audience from listening to you. PowerPoint is good but your ultimate rule of thumb should be restraint.
- Know what you want to say and only say that. Although you may be nervous and wish you didn’t have to speak, many people have the reaction of speaking far too much in long and rambling sentences when they are nervous. The result? A presentation that is difficult to follow and usually longer than necessary. Ultimately, you should know the things that you want to talk about: don’t “wing it!”
- If possible, don’t use notes. Yes, you shouldn’t “wing” your presentation, but you should avoid using notes. Notes are a crutch and the most successful speakers avoid them. When you know what you want to say and you leave your notes behind, you will be freer to interact with your audience on a personal basis. Your presentation should be written out and practiced, but it shouldn’t be memorized and you should try to enjoy speaking from your heart about your topic rather than being tied to your notes. Few speakers realize how freeing it is to get rid of those notes until they try it. I’ve never seen a speaker go back to using notes once they stopped.
- Have one thing that you want them to remember. If the prospect of being in front of everyone without notes scares you, all you need to do is have one thing that you want your audience to remember and drive it home again and again and again. This will help to free you from using notes but it will also help your audience to remember what your presentation was about. Find a clever way of saying what you want to say and use that line over and over. If you’re doing a sales presentation to a buyer, find the one benefit that differentiates you from the competition and just keep talking about it during your presentation. Yes, you’ll hit other points, but keep going back to that primary point of difference.
- Provide a takeaway. There are a few things you can do to leave an impression on your audience. A “takeaway” in most cases is a page of notes or a printout from a PowerPoint presentation. However, if you’re speaking to a large crowd and there are other speakers who are also speaking, you may want to consider something else as a takeaway; can you provide them with a small, useful resource like an informative mini-poster they can put by their computer that has helpful information (and your contact information)?
Knocking knees and shaking hands will disappear when you get up on stage, take your first breath and start to speak. Those “symptoms” will diminish over time when you gain experience in public speaking. Until then, use these ideas to help you create a great presentation.
