How to make your next presentation a hit
Great business presentations have the power to motivate your listeners to action. They can convince investors that you have an amazing idea or persuade customers to purchase new products. Unfortunately, a boring presentation is more likely to put people to sleep than get them excited about the topic. How can you breathe life into your material and boost your reputation as an amazing speaker? Follow these six business presentation tips:
1. Communicate the Goal of the Business Presentation Right Away
When you start any business presentation, tell your audience what the purpose is. Choose a title that makes this goal clear, such as “How To Be a Better Team Leader.” Mention the presentation’s focus in your opening remarks as well, such as by saying: “Every manager can be more successful when they know how to lead effectively. The goal of this presentation is to show you how.”
Goals are important for several reasons to grab attention:
- Help you develop a convincing argument
- Make it easier for your audience to focus
- Show people why they should care about the topic
- Grab their interest from the very beginning
You should also have a goal in mind when preparing your business presentation. Knowing what you’re trying to accomplish helps you determine what points to cover to convince people. For example, if your goal is to sell a product, your main points will probably focus on its benefits.
2. Pair Your Main Points with Powerful Images
It’s true that a picture is worth a thousand words. Colorful images can have a profound effect on people. If possible, you should always choose a dynamic picture for all of your main points. Here’s why:
- Images help your audience to remember the takeaways later
- Pictures can provoke an emotional response
- Visual material is helpful for illustrating complex ideas
- Colorful images are more exciting than dry statistics
The correct image does several things at the same time. It can generate enthusiasm for products, show how they make a person’s life better and provide examples of the topic in real life. In addition, pictures are impossible to ignore. This is one reason that infographics are so popular. They combine the best aspects of important statistics with lively images.
If you’re not sure how to turn JPEG images, vector graphics, PNG files and other image types into a format you can use throughout a presentation, your safest bet is to convert them to PDF with a PDF Editor. PDFs are easy to work with and compatible with any laptops or smart devices you need.
3. Keep Takeaways Simple and Clear
Don’t overcomplicate things. It’s good to provide enough supporting arguments to convince your audience, but you also want them to remember the main points clearly. It’s usually best to stick to three points max in each section. For example, if you’re talking about product benefits, don’t list 15 different benefits. Concentrate on three or four and show how amazing they are.
4. Use Questions Effectively
Questions are great for getting your audience involved mentally. Even if you’re not waiting for an actual answer, they still get listeners thinking about the topic. Instead of introducing the main point with a boring slide that says “The Right Equipment Increases Efficiency by 15 percent,” switch it to an interesting question: “What Effect Can the Right Equipment Have on Efficiency?”
If you use this kind of question before every main point, you can hold your audience’s attention from the beginning of your presentation to the end. Of course, you need to think about your listeners to know what questions they will find interesting.
5. Practice Out Loud
One of the best tips for an incredible business presentation is to avoid winging it. You don’t have to memorize specific phrases, but you do want to get your brain working on the ideas you’re going to consider. If possible, ask a friend to listen as you give your presentation. That way you won’t be as nervous going in.
6. Get Ready for Q&A Sessions Ahead of Time
People usually have additional questions related to products or ideas. They may wonder about possible negatives, such as whether a product has any downsides. Part of your preparation should be thinking about the questions people are likely to ask, and deciding how to answer them in a way that generates a positive reaction. Here’s an example: “It’s true that this product costs more, but we believe that quality should always best the most important factor.”
Leave a Reply