Do You Have the Skills to Deliver a Killer Presentation

Your ability to deliver a presentation will be highly valued by all employers. There are very few jobs where presentational skills are not required. You may even have to give one at an interview to get a job. Therefore, it is important that you brush up your skills and make sure that you know how to deliver an outstanding presentation. Here are some pointers to help you develop your technique and become more effective in your presentational skills.

Show your passion and not your nerves

The best presenters are enthusiastic and honest. Being nervous is not going to help. Use some techniques such as thorough preparation and relaxation to calm your nerves before you start the presentation.

If you are worried that your English skills may be getting in the way of delivering an effective presentation you can find out how to speak English fluently and deliver your message more clearly. There is plenty of help here on fluency and pronunciations. Brushing up on these skills will help your presentation flow and will keep your audience engaged.

Don’t overcomplicate things

A presentation is not the best place to get into very complicated concepts or ideas that take a long time to explain. It is best to summarize subject areas and delegates can discuss it in more detail later if they wish. You only have a short time in which to deliver the presentation so it is best to focus on a few key messages and get them across.

It’s not just what you say that matters

You can get your audience on your side before you open your mouth and utter a word. Enter the room with a smile on your face and make eye contact with as many people as you can. Exchange a few words of greeting. Try to lift the energy of the room with your demeanor. This is very important if you are talking about a heavy subject that can get a little boring.

Stand up straight and face the audience. If you are feeling nervous, having a pen in your hand to fiddle with can help. Don’t forget to project your voice and never mumble. The worse thing that you can do is rush. You may want to get it over and done with but you will stumble over your words and this will make your words even worse.

Start with a strong statement

The worse thing that can happen is that you start talking and nobody notices! Bang the table or do something to get everyone’s attention and then start with a very strong statement. It could be a rhetorical question or a controversial statement. You need it to make people stop doodling on their notepads and sit up and take notice of what you have to say.

Tie-up your presentation with a brief summary of what you have said and some guidance on where people can get further information if they wish. If you have done your job properly that will go away with a clear idea of what your message was.