by Gilda Bonanno LLC
Effective presentation skills, for both in-person and virtual presentations, are a key component of your success, whether you’re an individual contributor, leader, manager, entrepreneur or student.
Here are 24 ways to upgrade your presentations skills in 2024:
1. Focus on the why. Why are you giving this presentation? How is it connected to your overall strategy?
2. Have a clear message and make sure that all your statistics and stories support it.
3. Stay within your time limit. (This is a simple way to be a better presenter, yet most people don’t do it!)
4. Think about your topic from your audience’s point of view – what do they need to know?
5. Make sure your body language (on camera or in person) matches your message.
6. Smile. Unless you are delivering bad news, a smile is a great way to demonstrate warmth and engage your audience.
7. Practice more than you think you need to, especially if it’s a high-stakes presentation.
8. If you don’t have enough time to practice everything, practice your opening, closing and transition between points.
9. Practice out loud (because just looking at your slides and notes is not practice).
10. Stay in the moment, focused on your audience, rather than fixating on any negative thoughts in your head.
11. Breathe. It helps to calm your nerves and gives you a chance to think about what comes next (and it helps send oxygen to your brain!).
12. To eliminate overuse of pause words like “um” and “ah,” speak in complete sentences. Finish a thought and put a period at the end of the sentence before moving onto the next sentence.
13. If you’re using slides, include high-quality images rather than just bulleted long lines of text.
For virtual presentations:
14. Position your camera at eye level so it’s easier for you to make eye contact with your audience.
15. Actually make eye contact with your audience by looking at the camera more rather than looking at the videos of audience members on your screen.
16. If your software allows it, move the videos of your audience on your screen to right below your camera so you can easily switch between the camera (you making eye contact) and their faces (you looking at their reactions).
17. If you need notes, position physical or digital Post-its on your screen so you can easily read them without needing to look down.
18. Set up good lighting from behind the camera so your face can be seen.
19. If you have to sit in front of a window, close the blinds, shades or curtains to block the light so you are not backlit.
20. Wear glasses? Angle the lights so they are not directly pointing at your glasses and causing glare.
21. Make sure your microphone allows your voice to be heard clearly and loudly enough.
For in-person presentations:
22. If you’re presenting in a large room or to a big audience, use a microphone so you can be heard easily.
23. If you’re using slides, use a remote control so you’re not tethered to your computer in order to advance the slides.
24. If you’re using slides, face the audience and speak to them rather than turning your back on the audience and talking to the screen onto which your slides are projected.
Bonus - and most importantly:
25. Be confident. Once you’ve done your preparation and practice, trust yourself to do a good job.
© Gilda Bonanno LLC - Gilda Bonanno serves as a trusted advisor to executives and entrepreneurs to transform their communication, presentation and leadership skills. She has worked with companies on 4 continents, from Chicago to Shanghai and Rio to Rome. The instructional videos on her YouTube channel have received over 1.5 million views and her e-newsletter has reached subscribers in over 45 countries since 2008. For other articles or to receive Gilda's e-newsletter, visit www.gildabonanno.com