Sweaty palms, shaking hands, squeaky voice — if this is what happens to you during a presentation, you are not alone. Many people get nervous when presenting in front of large groups of people.
One way to feel at ease during a presentation is to control your content and make sure your presentation will dazzle, instead of put your audience to sleep. Having a strong PowerPoint presentation to help tell your story will do wonders to help calm your nerves.
While preparing for a recent client meeting in which we were presenting PR results, a colleague sent me an article from Ragan.com called “5 simple ideas to make your next presentation sizzle,” by Jon Thomas. The article provides some good guidance. I’ve incorporated these and my own experience in developing presentations to come up with five tips.
Consider the following five simple ideas to impress your audience:
- Tell a story. There is nothing that keeps an audience engaged like hearing a good story. Identify the story that is at the heart of your presentation or pepper anecdotes throughout. This will help keep your audience interested. For example, if you are giving a presentation about safety in the work place, tell a story. Provide examples of someone who was injured when they did not abide by the safety standards.
- Focus on one idea. Pick one idea or theme that you want your audience to remember. Once you select the idea you want your audience to take away from your presentation, make sure that your content reflects this theme. For example, if you want your audience to remember to lock the doors to the office at the end of the workday, create a slogan and provide examples that focus on locking the doors or what could happen if they don’t lock up.
- Create a new template. PowerPoint offers a variety of templates and backgrounds, but many are restrictive. Make your presentation unique by creating your own background or breaking out of the regular template. Does the logo have to be on every slide? Does each slide need two columns? Don’t be afraid to mix things up. Some companies have brand standards in place, so you might be even more restricted, but be as creative as you are able.
- Use images. Visual stimulation is essential when presenting. By using vibrant images to bring your presentation to life, you’ll not only have a better looking product, but Thomas suggests you’ll have a visual cue that “your audience’s brain can attach to your message.” Sometimes, all you need is an image in the slide to help explain your message.
- Give your ideas room. One of the most common mistakes is to put too much information on one slide. Because people innately have trouble focusing, try spreading the presentation out so there is one idea per slide. You’ll spend less time on each slide, but it will be easier to follow.
By creating a dazzling PowerPoint presentation you can feel confident in your content and, with adequate preparation, you’ll be totally ready for the presentation… For more tips on how to prepare for any public speaking event, see our previous blog post. Good luck!