Whether we like it or not, at some point in our lives we will have to conduct a presentation. You most likely had to do presentations throughout school, and they teach you the basic skills on creating and delivering a presentation. However, there are many steps one must take in order to master the art of presenting. Whether it is pitching an idea to your boss, delivering data, or a persuasion presentation to a client, having the necessary skill of comfortably presenting in front of an audience is exceptionally important.
Generating, as well as delivering a presentation is an art form. It is not easy to be comfortable giving a presentation, so it is important that you take the necessary steps to make yourself feel as confident as possible before stepping into the boardroom.
Prepare
The most important thing you could do before stepping into a presentation is prepare. By practicing your presentation you will not only feel more confident, you will also appear more confident and credible. Preparing is also a great way to reduce your nervousness, as well as allow yourself to become familiar with the information and where it is located on your paper or slides.
Organize Your Material
Organize your points in a way that makes the most sense not only to you, but also to your audience. Make sure your thoughts are not all over the place and you clearly distinguish what your point is before you begin presenting. It is important that your audience is aware of the presentation topic and it is easily identifiable to anyone in the room.
Visual Aids
Keep your audience engaged with visual aids. By using colour, pictures, and text in a PowerPoint presentation, or any other software which provides visual aids, you are increasing the level of engagement. Visual aids have the ability to keep viewers interested as well as guide them through the presentation to make sure they are on the same page as you.
Ignore the Nerves
Whatever method you need to get rid of the nerves – find it. This is hard to do because everyone experiences some type of nerves while presenting. Don’t worry… it’s normal! Practicing your presentation will help reduce your nerves, but it’s important to find some type of method that will help you during the actual presentation.
Eye Contact
When presenting, if you don’t make eye contact your audience will notice and lose interest. Eye contact portrays engagement, credibility, reliability, and interest, and these are all important traits that you want to demonstrate to your boss or client.
Presenting is a hard skill to achieve. Being a comfortable public speaker takes time, and it can be achieved through practice and dedication. It’s a great skill to attain, and you never know when you will need it. By following these steps you’re on your way to becoming a presenting pro!
Sources: http://www.skillsyouneed.com/presentation-skills.html
