Presentation Skills: 15 Tips for a Successful and Effective Presentation

Presentation skills are among the necessary skills that we need in more than one occasion to make an effective, distinctive and successful presentation.

You may need to make a presentation and speak in front of the audience, present your research to one of your professors and fellow students, make a presentation to convince a client of your idea, or perhaps a proposal to convince your manager to make adjustments to the company’s strategy and many other situations.

In such situations, we are exposed to two types of challenges or pressures to make a successful and distinctive presentation:

 

The first challenge: is how to properly design the presentation on any of the different programs such as PowerPoint, Prezi, or any other alternative of presentation design programs.

The second challenge: is how to overcome the tension and anxiety when presenting the presentation to the audience while presenting it appropriately to convey the basic idea required of the presentation.

 

In this topic, we will review 20 ideas and tips to improve your presentation and presentation skills and make a distinguished presentation in sequence starting from thinking about making the presentation, the steps of its work, and even the skill and method of presenting it successfully.

# 1 - Plan your presentation on paper first: What do you want from the presentation?

Thinking on paper has always been better than thinking on a computer or the software itself. This process is known as Wire-framing.

 

So, try to use paper to create an outline of the required presentation right before you start working on the PowerPoint.

 

By the end of the planning, you should reach clear answers to some questions such as:

 

What is the purpose of the show? Is the goal clear? Who will be showing (target audience)? What is the exact period of the presentation?

# 2 Think of the audience first, not the show

One of the most important presentation skills are the power of the content itself. Put yourself in the crowd's shoes and ask yourself a simple question: What will I benefit from this show?

 

If you find the answer is clear, then this presentation is successful and effective, as many neglects the main purpose of the presentation and thus the attendees leave confused without any real benefit or understanding the message and purpose of the presentation.

# 3 Practice with your voice on the show

When you practice with voice - especially the first try - it reinforces your remembering of the points of view and associating the sound with the image together.

 

At the design stage of the presentation, you may think that everything you write is important and cannot be deleted, but when you experience the presentation with sound, it is possible that you will find some problems that need to be modified, such as excessive padding, duplicating content in different formats that are not needed or rearranging some elements and shortcuts.

# 4 Show in front of a mirror

It may sound silly, but it is not! When you practice performing in front of a mirror, you see all your movements and emotions on your own, and this is of course what the audience will see.

 

So it will be the judgment for you, is your performance balanced? Boring? Maybe fast?

 

Of course, you will evaluate yourself and all your movements and identify defects to be addressed before the date of the main show

# 5 Get on the scene early

One of the good things are that you reach the place of the presentation early before attending, because of the many benefits involved, as this helps in getting used to and getting used to the place where you will stand and make the presentation on it.

 

Also, arriving early to prepare all equipment without tension, such as connecting the laptop and experimenting with the microphone - if any - and other equipment results in reducing a large part of anxiety and gradually breaking the fear.

# 6 Turn anxiety and nervousness into excitement!

Fear, anxiety, or perhaps nervousness affects your performance in a great way. There are different ways to avoid these negative symptoms and even turn them into enthusiasm and energy during the performance.

 

Listening to music out loud helps a lot, but it differs from one person to another. Some people may listen to Motivational Speech and many more.

 

But there is necessarily something that motivates you and turns fear into a positive motive. Where different studies have shown that the enthusiastic presentation has better results than the eloquent and quiet presentation.

Remember: Excessive enthusiasm or excessive calm during the performance are two aspects of his work, and their results are counter-productive.

# 7 Drink a lot of water

Anxiety is a major cause of dry mouth and the body as a whole (dehydration), and the resulting stickiness of the lips and difficulty speaking clearly in front of the audience.

 

Try to drink a lot of water before the show, and keep a bottle of water close to you during the show in case, you need it.

# 8 Take a deep breath

As the show time approaches, it is normal for your heartbeat to start racing, tension and anxiety increases, and it may reach the point that you hold your breath in the face of tension.

 

In fact, you need to do exactly the opposite by taking a deep breath at a slow rate as the entry of oxygen into the brain helps relax muscles and significantly reduce stress.

# 9 Form friendly bonds with the audience before the show

Interacting with the audience before the show, whether your colleagues or the audience, helps a lot in creating a friendly bond between the presenter and the recipient.

Get to know the audience and important communication, ask them simple questions and be friendly and smile, this helps you to get to know your audience and the nature of their thinking and may inspire you to use some different methods during the presentation.

# 10 Ask the audience questions

People always like to express their own opinions, but presentations can always appear one-sided.

Involving the audience in the presentation helps a lot in turning the presentation into a group discussion and increases the chances of the audience focusing with you and reducing your stress. 

They may be simple questions, but they excite the minds of the audience and help them express their opinion on this topic, being a part of it.

# 11 The audience is always sympathetic

Perhaps one of your biggest fears is facing the crowd and fear of involuntary hand tremors and tension or making mistakes in front of them, thinking that the audience is waiting for your mistakes and they explode laughing at you.

Fortunately the majority of the crowd is the exact opposite! Most of the recipients are sympathetic to the proposer, especially if it shows signs of stress and anxiety and all they are waiting for is to see the exhibitor succeed in concluding his presentation correctly and with confidence. 

If you start to get nervous, remember that the audience is always sympathetic, never against you.

# 12 Use body language to improve your presentation skills

Body language is one of the most effective presentation skills that helps the model to present successfully.

Exercising to develop body language helps a lot in reducing stress when the body is ready, the mind is in its best state of mind before and during the presentation.

Signs of correct body language during the presentation enhance your self-confidence and audience confidence in your speech or the opposite may happen by forming a wrong image of you. (Do not tell the truth, your words are not convincing and many more).

# 13 Be positive and smile

In the preparation stage, you should practice smiling, as smiling is one of the most important presentation skills that have proven successful.

Smiling helps the secretion of endorphins, or the so-called happiness hormone, and the consequent effect of reducing tension and relaxing the body. 

Smiling in front of the audience boosts self-confidence and helps convince the recipients of what you are showing the most. 

You should be positive in your talk, even if the topic of the presentation is about a problem, people are waiting to hear a solution to the problem and hope for a solution, not the end of the world scenario!

# 14 Don't read the show directly from the screen!

What is the importance of display without preparation? In fact, the audience will not accept the presentation or accept you personally if you are reading from the presentation directly.

Avoiding this method is one of the most important skills of effective presentation, as your reading of the presented slides indicates that you are indifferent to the presentation or to the audience and that you are performing an obligatory duty whether it is a general audience or your professor at the university or otherwise.

Try to prepare well and to have your eyes on the audience on most occasions, and just look at the presentation to find out the next point of the conversation.

# 15 Watch other presentations and take notes

No matter what level of presentation skills you have, whether you are a beginner or a professional, attending various shows is very healthy.

This helps you to take advantage of the different presentations as each viewer differs in the way it is displayed (Presenter) and also in the quality of what it displays (Presentation) 

Take notes of what you saw. Was the show good? Are there new presentation techniques and skills that you need to try and practice? 

Ultimately it is a good opportunity to assess yourself and your level of presentation.

Extra tips!

Professional use of fonts (fonts) in presentation design

One of the most important mistakes that many make is the use of the default fonts included in the operating system (Windows / Mac), which results in a modest traditional display (Generic).

Turn off phone and any electronic devices

It is preferable to ask the audience to turn off the sound of their mobile devices or turn them off completely to ensure that the focus is maintained and that there is no distraction or distraction, whether for the exhibitor or the audience.

In the end, be you and do not pretend to be someone else's character, do not prolong the presentation, do not present undocumented information, do not be boring, be cheerful, smile and do not be nervous and make sure to communicate your goal, and accordingly, your presentation and presentation skills need continuous training and Various experiences to reach the required level of professional presentation and presentation.