7/29/2019 10 Tips for Better Presentations

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10 Tips for Better

Presentations

1. Know Thy Audience- Why areyou speaking? Who are youspeaking to and what are their

concerns?

2. Use Notes for Preparing Your

Presentation- By using notes ornote cards, you can easily review,

organize, and reorder yourthoughts. You can also refer to

them later.

3. Dress Appropriately and Smile

if Possible- Before you get achance to speak, your audience

will make several judgments

about you and your abilities bythe way you look. Smile if it is

appropriate.

4. Deliver a Strong Introductionand a Strong Conclusion-

Introductions get their attention

and conclusions reinforce yourmain message. By memorizing

these key parts, you can reallyfocus on your body language

during delivery. And when

speaking from memory, your

mouth is in auto pilot. Thisallows you to start formulating

your next point.

5. Establish Credibility- regardlessof what you say, if your audienceis skeptical about your

credibility, your message willhave less impact. Try to establish

yourself as being a credible

source of information so thatyour audience is more inclined to

really listen.

6. Reinforce Your Walk AwayMessage- Even if you gave adynamite presentation, your

audience will only remember afew things you said one month

later. Decide what you want themto remember when they walk

away. Reinforce this message

throughout your presentation.

7. Be Prepared, Organized, andHave Smooth Transitions-Make sure your presented

information makes sense. Ifyou start with a strong statement

you need to support it. If you startwith various facts, make sure it

leads to a main point. Does yourpresentation correlate to time or

to location? Keep it consistent.You are responsible for making

transitions between main pointsvery obvious to your audience

(yes, its called hand holding).8. Keep a Sense of Humor- whileeveryone says it is good to have

one, be aware that everyone hasdifferent senses of humor. So

use this tool, but use it carefully.

9. Avoid PUDing Around- P or

pauses can show uncertainty ifnot used deliberately. U or

uhms can easily distract youraudience and make them losetheir attention. D or double

words can sound like you arestuttering. For example, when

we look at the, the way that(The is the doubled word).

10. Perfect Your Timing- Start ontime and end on time because if

an audience feels you dontrespect their time, they will not

listen. Also start your conclusion

on time because a rushedconclusion will not convincingly

reinforce your main message.