10 Tips for a Killer Presentation
- Written by Neil Patel on September 1st, 2007
- 33 Comments »
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Presentations are something that we’re all familiar with. Whether you are watching a presentation or giving a presentation, chances are you know what sucks and what doesn’t. However, in case you don’t know the suck from the not, here are ten tips to help insure you are giving a good presentation:
- Don’t abuse your visuals - Usually your visuals are posters, charts, or even a PowerPoint presentation. Whatever your visuals may be, keep them simple and don’t put too many words on them. The audience isn’t there to read your slides, they are there to listen to you present.
- Look at the audience - If you ever wondered where you should be looking when presenting, the answer is right in front of you. Don’t just single out one person, but instead try to make eye contact with numerous people throughout the room. If you don’t do this then you aren’t engaging the audience, you are just talking to yourself. This can result in an utter lack of attention from your audience.
- Show your personality - It doesn’t matter if you are presenting to a corporate crowd or to senior citizens, you need to show some character when presenting. If you don’t do this you’ll probably sound like Agent Smith from the Matrix. Nobody wants to hear him present. (If you do, you are probably an agent yourself and we will find you)
- Make them laugh - Although you want to educate your audience, you need to make them laugh as well. I learned this from Guy Kawasaki and if you ever hear any of his speeches you’ll understand why. In essence, it keeps the audience alert and they’ll learn more from you than someone who just educates.
- Talk to your audience, not at them - People hate it when they get talked at, so don’t do it. You need to interact with your audience and create a conversation. An easy way to do this is to ask them questions as well as letting them ask you questions.
- Be honest - A lot of people present to the audience what they want to hear, instead of what they need to hear. Make sure you tell the truth even if they don’t want to hear it because they will respect you for that and it will make you more human.
- Don’t over prepare - If you rehearse your presentation too much it will sound like it (in a bad way). Granted, you need to be prepared enough to know what you are going to talk about but make sure your presentation flows naturally instead of sounding memorized. Usually if you ask experienced speakers what you shouldn’t do, they’ll tell you not to rehearse your presentation too much because then it won’t sound natural.
- Show some movement - You probably know that you need to show some movement when speaking, but naturally you may forget to do so. Make sure you show some gestures or pace around a bit (not too much) on the stage when speaking. Remember, no one likes watching a stiff. People are more engaged with an animated speaker.
- Watch what you say - You usually don’t notice when you say “uhm”, “ah”, or any other useless word frequently, but the audience does. It gets quite irritating; so much that some members of the audience will probably count how many times you say these useless words.
- Differentiate yourself - If you don’t do something unique compared to all the other presenters the audience has heard, they won’t remember you. You are branding yourself when you speak, so make sure you do something unique and memorable.
This entry was posted on Saturday, September 1st, 2007 at 12:29 pm and is filed under General. You can follow the blog through the RSS feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Great post Neil. Apart from being a copywriter, i’m also a visiting faculty at a college and i believe these points even apply to that profession. I read your posts regularly and each time you come up something great. great work, keep it up. oh btw, i’m from ahmeedabad, Gujarat
It can definitely apply to that profession. Personally I think these tips can apply to any profession.
definitely, it gives a better way of thinking to present the presentation to the professional.i also apply this & i found the best result…..i m from ,Nagpur
great post, as usual, Neil.
2 more tips:
11) Tell stories. I’ve found that it breaks the monotony of a talking head, and we can even share anecdotes of key leaders in the room.
12) Record yourself. Its amazing how much we can learn from reviewing an audio recording of our presentation. We can also re-use that content on our blogs, audiobooks, etc.
Ttys
~ Vikram
PersonalBrandMarketing.com
The other thing to note about stories is that they can be very effective if you tie in life experiences. Usually when speakers do this, I always seem to remember them.
I have used this technique a few times and every time I see certain people they are for some reason compelled to comment, its a great way to break the ice or lighten peoples moods as well.
Excellent blog entry. I love when presenters use visual aids, and I especially love when they be themselves.
Great tips, well presented!
Posted this to Charchaa: http://www.charchaa.com/10_tips_for_a_killer_presentation
Great tips.
I particularly liked number 7: don’t overprepare!
Two thoughts:
1) Re: #7, hear hear! Over-rehearsing is a good way to drive your natural enthusiasm for a subject right out of your presentation. But practicing is crucial. I’ve found that making sure your presentation is well-structured and then rehearsing that structure (the order of points, where questions will fit, etc), rather than the detail of each point, is a great way to stay fresh.
2) There’s several strong points here about focusing on the audience. Here’s an additional thought - focus on the decision that you want the audience to make. Thinking about what they’re trying to decide, and what you know that can help in their decision, is a great way to clarify for yourself what goes into the presentation and what should be left out.
I couldn’t have explained point 7 any better. When I practice, I usually think about the overall message and flow instead of memorizing the speech word for word.
Great post! I really like these 10 essential and straight forward biullet points. However I’ve got something to add (I’m lecturer @ university, so its my own experience)
ad (1) don’t abuse but use visualization as tool: For instance use black slides as effect (L. Lessig), use big pictures visualizing your ideas and surprising your audience. This is one arena where you can score by good preparation.
Don’t try (4) too much. You will hurt your - hopefully good image - with bad jokes. If it doesn’t work then definitely don’t try harder. No jokes are better than bad ones.
As for (7): Don’t over prepare your talk but do prepare questions you might be asked within or after your talk and the respective answers. Especially with scientific topics questions are an instrument to test the professional knowledge of the speaker.
And another point (11 .. uh!): Review your talk critically afterwards. Ask friends who listened about your performance as soon as your talk is over. Watch video recordings and write down things you want to optimize next time to remember them before your next talk.
Thanks for bringing a professor’s perspective.
All great points! This seems to be a popular topic lately as there was a WikiHow posted on Wired’s How-to Wiki lately.
Re: visual images.
I read somewhere that a nice tactic is to put up opposing visuals, something that contradicts what you are saying. If “information should be free”, an image of a jail perhaps, that kind of thing.
I admit that I look to the presentations Steve Jobs does, and the style of the ’slides’. Simple, big words and pictures.
Final tip (not mine): If you ask your audience a question, and want a count of raised hands as a response, raise your own. Nobody likes to be first so you can lead the way. Worked a treat for me recently.
Jobs is a great presenter… my guess is that there are people at Apple to help him create the perfect presentation.
I have been teaching people how to give speeches for over 12 years, and I heartily “second” all the items on your list.
Here are a few additional tips:
Beginning: Your presentation begins the moment that you stand up and start moving toward the podium/stage space. Don’t blow your first impression by adjusting your belt or some such. Also, those first moments when you begin to speak will be the moment that most people decide if they will try to pay attention, or will politely space out. So say something good.
Only give a presentation you’d like to listen to. If you are not interested in part of your presentation, then you can hardly expect your audience.
Plan on your technology breaking down. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it will. What will you do? Will your presentation still make sense? I always feel confident if I know my presentation can stand on its own.
Thanks for a great post!
Thanks for this advice. Your readers might also be interested in this similar article I wrote entitled “More Schmooze, Less Snooze: How to Deliver “The Most Talked About” Conference Session”. It’s got advice for moderators, panelists, and even audience members. You can download a PDF there too.
Some more presentation tips: engage your audience
I came across this great post by Neil Patel. I can relate to these tips and it’s worth reading. Keeping up all these principals across days of training is not an easy task, but it’s the only way if you
Very cool!
I think that public speaking is about the most unnerving thing that a person can go through. I’ll have to review your info again before my next meeting.
I would add the following to the list:
11. Show Enthusiasm. Display enthusiasm for your topic and your presentation. Excitement is contagious and engages the audience.
This is a fantastic blog.
I have to do a presentation next week as part of a job interview and I will be putting all of these tips into practice. I will let you know how I get on.
Good luck with your presentation!
10 Tips for a Killer Presentation
Presentations are something that we’re all familiar with. Whether you
are watching a presentation or giving a presentation, chances are you
know what sucks and what doesn’t. However, in case you don’t know the
suck from the n…
10 dicas para uma boa apresentação
O texto é do site Quick Sprout. Vale a pena ler o original. Apesar de ser focado em apresentações corporativas, serve também para a sala de aula.
Aqui, postarei apenas um breve comentáro de cada uma.
Não abuse do visual: as pessoas estão lá pr…
Great list of classic tips! Here’s one I share with my (public speaking coaching) clients that I don’t see on your list or mentioned by commenters: Save your closing until AFTER the Q&A.
You want to leave your audience with your memorable last words and a feeling of motivation to DO something as a result of your talk - not with some random question from an audience member that may be completely off topic. Q&A drains energy from the room, so be sure to plan a strong closing to inspire your audience and get your message back on everyone’s minds.
Check out more tips on my public speaking blog “Speak Schmeak!”
Simple, Keynote.
Great list. I’d add ’slow down’.
People tend to rattle through presentations unless they pay attention to how quickly they’re talking, partly because they’re nervous and partly because they can’t accurately judge how time is passing when they’re presenting.
When people ‘um’ and ‘err’ it’s because they’re afraid someone else will fill the silence if they pause for thought but a presentation is the one time you don’t have to worry about this.
Neil, superb post! I am posting it to my blog!
cool….its help all to become when they preseting the things on front of others…nice keep it up…….
massive thanks for these precious informations Neil
Thanks for the motivation. I’ll try to post more often.
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