How to give a good Presentation?

So, you have an upcoming presentation and you want to nail it. Presenting your topic while keeping audience engaged is a skill that you should learn at the earliest. In case, you haven’t completed the earlier step of preparing the presentation, do check our article, ‘How to prepare a good presentation’. So, now you have the presentation slides ready and it’s time to gear yourself up for it.

1.    Introduce yourself, your name, designation and your topic. Be slow and clear.

2.    Give a brief outline of your presentation, so that your audience is aware of what the shall be expecting in the upcoming slides.

3.    Explain your topic, you can gain everyone’s attention if you will introduce your topic with a short story (a real one), what inspired or motivated you to take this topic, any conversation with your colleague that worked as the seed of the idea.

4.    Give audience a reason why they should listen to you, tell them how they’ll be benefitted.

5.    Explain the technical terms, acronyms every time you use it for the first time.

6.    Talk about statistics wherever necessary, use graphs and charts, explain your concepts with facts and figures.

7.    Your non-verbal communication is equally important, use hand gestures only when it comes naturally.

8.    Know the time allotted to you beforehand, set the timer, practice in front of a mirror.

9.    Do not rush in hurry, speak at a slow pace, clearly and loudly.

10.    Ending early or very late is not good, you don’t want to talk into the next speaker’s allotted time. In case you finish early, utilize the remaining time to address the questions in the Q&A session.

11.    Take a moment, pause for a bit while moving to every new topic in the slide. Give time to the audience to digest the provided information.

12.    Practice on someone you trust, get feedback, adjust, repeat until you are confident.

Remember, it is absolutely normal to feel nervous and feel the racing heart, give your best and do not think too much about your presentation. Take a deep breath, make a power-pose where nobody is seeing you and smash your presentation successfully.