How to improve your Presentation Skills?

Knowing how to present an idea or information is a key to your success in any role.

How would you feel looking at nervous presenter whose is not dressed properly, has unimpressive body language, not using proper words, unclear presentation, fonts are not legible, presentation colours make no sense etc?

And

How will you feel if the presenter is confident, energetic, expressive, is clear on his ideas and message that he wants to share, interactive, dressed appropriately and is comfortable with using visual aids like ppt. Wouldn’t you admire him and want to be like this presenter?

If your answer is yes, then you are going to love these tips to soon find yourself in the 2nd category. I feel there are 2 key components to presentation – content and delivery.

Preparing the Right Content

As a good presenter, you must prepare your content in a way that is engaging and interesting for the audience. Here are a few pointers that will help you prepare the right content for the right audience.

Define Purpose of the Content

The first step in preparing the right content lies in defining the right purpose of the content. The content that you intend to present should answer the following key questions:

• What is the objective of your presentation?
• When and where will you deliver it?
• Who is your target audience? Knowing your target audience and their needs will make your comfortable during delivery of right content for them.
• How are you going to deliver the presentation? Are you using PowerPoint or some other visual aids?

Answer to these questions will help you define the purpose and also find out effective ways to present the content in an effective and engaging manner.

Design Content Outline

The second step in preparing the right content for your presentation lies in designing the outline of the content that you want to present. You can design content outline using the following steps:

• Step 1: Brainstorm the content ideas
• Step 2: Structure your Content into Opening, Body and Conclusion
• Step 3: Prepare headings, sub-headings and titles for key points
• Step 4: Choose the right presentation template and fill in the presentation details
• Step 5: Format the content using right and uniform font side and text alignment
• Step 6: Finalize the presentation i.e. choose the right colours, backgrounds, animation, transitions, photos, videos and hyperlinks in your presentation

Delivery of Presentation / Content

Merely preparing the right content is not going to help you become a good presenter. In order to deliver an effective presentation, you must also work on the delivery of content / presentation. One of the key points in presentation delivery is taking care of kinesics which means movement, and refers to the study of hand, arm, body, and face movements. These include: Posture, Gesture, Eye contact, Facial expressions and Appearance.

The following tips will help you improve the delivery of your presentation:

• Posture: You are the leader throughout the speech, be comfortable and show authority.
• Gesture: Have purposeful gestures; use right hand gestures to emphasize your words such as when you bring both your hands together is a gesture of combining, it shows two things coming together, showing collaboration.
• Eye Contact: Maintain eye contact with every person in the room rather than just one, respect people who are uncomfortable, practice speaking in front of mirror or friends, for every next sentence move your eyes to next person.
• Facial Expressions: Your face says it all, be aware of your real emotions such as joy, surprise, sadness etc. while delivering, have smiling face.
• Appearance: Wear a well-tailored suit of high-quality fabrics. Keep it simple, but not boring. Wear neutral colours. Women can wear a few well-placed accessories. Make-up should be as neutral as possible. Try to look healthy and rested.

Other Points to Keep in Mind

Apart from the tips discussed above, you can also consider the following tips to add more value to your presentation and improve your presentation skills:

• Show your passion
• Start impactful
• Be open to questions and discussions
• Keep it short and simple
• Use presentation remote if available
• Utilize ‘B’ key in your keyboard - if you press the “B” key while your PowerPoint slide is showing, the screen will go blank. This is particularly important if you want to interact with audience in between and avoid them focusing on slides.
• Be courteous, gracious and professional

These were the few important tips that can help you improve your presentation skills and emerge as an effective and engaging presenter. For more tips, tricks and information to improve your personality and professional skills, visit www.jagranjosh.com.

About the Expert:

Ms Piyush Mahajan is a certified life coach and soft skills facilitator. She has over 11 years of experience in the GeoSpatial industry where she worked as a senior data specialist. Having found her life’s calling, she gave up a promising career as a Data Specialist and decided to become a life skills coach.