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Education and Communications
Presentations

How to Deliver Effective Presentations

Last Updated: April 27, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Maureen Taylor . Maureen Taylor is the CEO and Founder of SNP Communications, a leadership communications company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been helping leaders, founders, and innovators in all sectors hone their messaging and delivery for almost 30 years, and has worked with leaders and teams at Google, Facebook, Airbnb, SAP, Salesforce, and Spotify. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 584,980 times.

Delivering presentations is an everyday art form that anyone can master. To capture your audience's attention, present your information with ease and confidence. Act as if you are in a conversation with your audience, and they will pay attention to you. To get this level of fluency, write an engaging narrative, use more visuals than text in your slides, and practice, practice, practice.

Rehearsing Your Presentation

Deliver your summary to them in friendly, direct language, as if you were telling the story to a friend in a bar.
In fact, you can tell the story to a friend in a bar. However, telling a colleague over coffee can work just as well.
Get them to tell you what their takeaway was. If they can summarize your message accurately, that's a good sign.

Step 2 Practice your speech in front of a colleague while you're still developing it.

Ask them to be your coach.
Give them your presentation once or twice and let them ask you questions and give feedback.
Ask them to point out moments that are dull or confusing.

Write down what you're afraid of. What exactly worries you when you give a speech? Looking foolish? Being asked a hard question? Write down your exact fears, and then consider them each individually.
Think about what you will do in each situation. For instance, if your fear is, "I'll forget what I'm saying," you can prepare a plan like, "If I forget what I'm saying, I'll pause, scan my notes, and find the next important point I need to make."
Catch your negative thoughts, and calm them. If you think, "I'm going to get nervous and sweaty," replace it with, "I have important information to deliver and everyone is going to pay attention to that."

Give yourself extra time if you plan to take questions, or if you anticipate lots of digressions.

This doesn't mean sticking to a strict script every time. Instead, when you rehearse, improvise freely. Deliver your main points, but include quips and anecdotes that occur to you as you go. You'll remember the best ones when you actually deliver the presentation.

Delivering Your Presentation with Confidence

Remind yourself that your audience likely can't see your nerves.
Take a deep breath and exhale before you go on stage.

If there are too many people to really see faces, just look boldly into the crowd.

Move your hands as you speak. Don't wave them, as this will make you look nervous. Instead, try calmly gesturing with your palm out when you make a point. If you describe a shape, draw it in the air with your hands.

Crafting a Compelling Presentation

Step 1 Think of your presentation as a story.

Have a clear through line that runs through all parts of your presentation, leading to your main point.
Include stories that put your listeners into a situation. Get their energy with tactile details (sound, sight, smell, taste, touch) and descriptions of an emotional state.
Include moments of reflection in which you share how you felt or feel.

Step 2 Make your slides as visual as possible.

As always with humor in a work setting, remember that humor varies widely between cultures. Avoid making any jokes that make fun of anybody's sex, gender, race, class, or ability. Remember to "punch up"—if your jokes take someone on, take on someone with more power than you, rather than less.
If you get nervous, try starting your presentation with a simple joke or a funny story. It will put you and your audience at ease.

Step 5 Find ways to make your presentation interactive.

Ask the crowd to consider something or imagine something, and hold a moment of quiet while they do.
Interactive moments make great pivots from one section of your talk to another.

Will these be experts, or newcomers to your ideas? If they're experts, you'll need to present them with specific, technical, and new ideas. If they're newcomers, plan to introduce them more generally to your topic, and avoid technical terms.
Will audience members be on your side from the start, or will they need persuading?
Will you have a large, faceless crowd, or a small group? If you're working with a small group, you can include them in parts of your presentation through questions, personal digressions, and conversations.

How Should You End a Presentation?

Expert Q&A

↑ http://firstround.com/review/This-Advice-From-IDEOs-Nicole-Kahn-Will-Transform-the-Way-You-Give-Presentations/
↑ https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/rehearse-your-presentation
↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/speech-anxiety
↑ https://www.unr.edu/writing-speaking-center/student-resources/writing-speaking-resources/speech-anxiety
↑ https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/speaking-audience
↑ https://www.toastmasters.org/resources/public-speaking-tips/gestures-and-body-language

About This Article

If you're worried about delivering an effective presentation, go over your notes again and make sure your presentation is telling a story with a distinct beginning, middle, and end. This type of structure will make it easier for people to follow along, and when you finish your presentation, they'll be more likely to remember what it was about! If you're still unsure, try practicing in front of other people before the big day. By rehearsing your presentation in advance, you'll not only feel more comfortable when you present it in front of an audience, but you can also get helpful feedback from your peers to make your presentation even better. Alternatively, if you're feeling a little nervous, identify what exactly you're afraid of happening during your presentation, and then come up with a plan for each scenario so you're less stressed about it. For example, if you're worried about forgetting what to say next, you could make a list of all the important points you need to make and have it with you during your presentation. For tips from our Communications co-author, like how to appear confident during a presentation, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Make a Presentation

Last Updated: October 4, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Vikas Agrawal . Vikas Agrawal is a Visual Content Marketing Expert & Entrepreneur, as well as the Founder of Full Service Creative Agency Infobrandz. With over 10 years of experience, he specializes in designing visually engaging content, such as infographics, videos, and e-books. He’s an expert in Making content marketing strategies and has contributed to and been featured in many publications including Forbes, Entrepreneur.com, and INC.com. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 51,982 times.

Presentations can be nerve-wracking to give. You’re far more likely to walk into a board meeting with confidence if your writing and visuals are compelling. Take time to carefully compose your story, practice and make a slideshow that will impress your audience. Thankfully, there are plenty of modern tools and programs that provide beautiful presentation templates.

Writing a Presentation

Step 1 Create an outline before you start writing.

Creating Visual Aids

Step 1 Pick your platform strategically.

The more you visualize the text and information available in the presentation, the better impact it is going to create on the audience's mind.

Step 7 Use photographs that are relevant.

Using Presentation Tools

There are many more web-based services that you can use to develop your presentation. Some of these allow you to make and edit the presentation from a tablet or phone.

Step 2 Make your slideshow into a movie.

What Is The Best Way To Start a Presentation?

Expert Q&A

Things You'll Need

Desktop computer, laptop, tablet or phone

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you'd like to learn more about making effective presentations, check out our in-depth interview with Vikas Agrawal .

↑ https://www.comm.pitt.edu/oral-comm-lab/audience-analysis
↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/oralcommunication/guides/how-to-engage-your-audience-and-keep-them-with-you
↑ https://www.washington.edu/doit/presentation-tips-0
↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
↑ https://libguides.wilmu.edu/presentations

About this article

To make a good presentation, use a lot of visuals, like graphs, charts, and infographics, to make your presentation more interesting. Also, if you're presenting a slideshow, avoid using a lot of text in your slides since it could overwhelm and bore your audience. Instead, leave plenty of white space and focus on one key point per slide. When you're giving your presentation, take time to explain why it's relevant to your audience or how it affects their lives, which will make them more interested in what you're saying. For tips on how to choose a presentation tool, like PowerPoint or Prezi, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No