Top Ten Business Presentation Tips

1. The most important point is the one which everyone will tell you: be prepared. Of course, preparation is by no means everything, as an overly-planned presentation can sound wooden and unnatural. Just know your material and the order in which you’re presenting it, and practice (preferably in front of other people).

2.Don’t provide too much information and confuse your audience. It can be easy to try and fit in too much information, especially if you know a lot about the topic or if you haven’t been given a lot of time for your presentation. Remember, simplicity is key to making your point and will ultimately help to keep your audience more engaged.

3.Keep your slides clear and engaging. Overcrowded slides can confuse and frustrate your audience, especially if there is not enough time to take in all of the information. Keep the layout simple, with a few images and short, simple sentences or bullet points in a large readable font, with key words or phrases emphasised with a different colour. The more concise your information is, while still retaining meaning, the better. The majority of your points will be made and clarified in the spoken part of your presentation.

4.Constructing a narrative is a good way to keep your presentation focused and interesting. Rather than just making a number of loosely connected points, try to know exactly where you want to begin and end. Then the main body of your presentation can follow a clear path of development, filling in the important details along the way. This is a very good way to keep your audience interested and is much easier to follow than an unstructured collection of slides.

5. Make sure that you are familiar with the general topic, not only the information included on the slides, as this will allow you to speak more naturally about the subject and go ‘off-script’ with more confidence. There is nothing more likely to bore your audience than just reading the slides out word for word.

6. Be sure, where possible, to have a little time to prepare beforehand. Go through the material one more time, to jog your memory and warm up your voice. Check that the room is set up correctly. If you are using facilities with support staff, such as London meeting rooms, make sure that the staff know what you need. Finally, give yourself a little time to relax and take your mind off of the presentation – obsessing about it right before you’re due to talk will probably just make you more nervous.

7. It can be easy to forget that movement is important when you’re giving a presentation. A few hand gestures here and there or pointing to a particular diagram or graph can make a big difference to presentation. Someone who stays still is harder to watch for a long period of time and looks less comfortable on stage than a presenter who moves around a little.

8. Remember the power of silence. A brief pause appears much more professional and authoritative than filler words, like ‘um’. Short pauses can actually draw your audience in, creating an air of anticipation.

9. A few good jokes will always help a presentation. In the end, you’re trying to inform people above anything else, but a bit of humour is a great way to keep people interested and get them on your side.

10. Lastly, remember that it’s not the end of the world. Audiences are always more sympathetic towards mistakes than you imagine – after all, they’re only human themselves! Worrying too much about things going wrong will make you more likely to make mistakes. If you mess up, acknowledge it and carry on – that way, you will be in control of the situation.