Whether it is to pitch an idea to potential investors or to sell your products to customers, good presentation skills are essential in business. When planning a presentation there are a few things to consider.
Firstly, you need to decide what exactly you want to get across to the audience. Decide on the key points and think of a clear, concise way of saying it. Make sure you use an appropriate amount of detail for the audience. If what you are saying is too complicated for the target audience they will not understand yet if you dumb it down too much you may patronise them.
You must also consider the length. A good presentation is usually no longer than 20 minutes. Any longer and people may start to get bored and lose interest. However you need to make sure it is long enough to get your point across. The last thing you want is your first question being “˜What was that about?’ It is sometimes appropriate to outline what you will talk about at the start. This can make it easier to follow, especially if it is a complicated topic.
It is also a good idea to think about the different ways in which people learn and take things on board. Some are audible learners and learn by listening. These people will understand exactly what you mean just by listening to you. However, others are visual learners and find it useful to have something to look at or read. You might want to produce a slide show to accompany your presentation. However only you should only make a slide show if you feel it would enhance the presentation, and remember only to add short, snappy bullet points. If there is too much text all people do is real the slide and they will not listen to you.
If you do not feel a slide show is necessary but feel some form of visual aid would help, you could create hand outs with the main points for people to remember. You could use a printer from Paragon Document Solutions to create these.
Having planned the presentation, all you can do is practice it. Make sure that when you practice your presentation it is a minute or two longer than you want it to be, as when it comes down to the real thing, you will most likely go through it faster. And remember, practice makes perfect.
About the Author: The article is written by Ralph Pontain.