Presentations are an important part of a huge number of jobs. A kind of a presentation might even be present in your interview for the job. If you want to impress your audience, deliver an information the best way possible or try to convince your boss, that you need a raise, follow these simple rules on making a presentation. Be successful with Jiji!
- Don’t let your appearance distract from your presentation. Dress smart, but don’t overdo it. Let the focus stay on your words, not your looks. Create the perfect style with Jiji.
- Act naturally confident. Smile, don’t be too uptight, don’t be afraid of hand gestures and/or walking around a little bit. Greet the audience in the beginning and thank them for their attention in the end
- Speak clearly. Choose your pace right – too quick speech will be an indicator of nervousness, too slow will make the audience bored. Don’t talk in a monotone. Use pauses to emphasize your points.
- Keep it within the time limits. No one likes people, who unnecessarily steal their time. But don’t make your presentation too short, as it may seem like you don’t have enough information on the topic you discuss.
- Hold the attention of your audience. Direct eye contact is a great start. Don’t be too focused on your notes, look at different members of the audience from time to time. Try asking them questions or make a joke.
- And again – don’t look at your notes too much. Make a small card, filled with bullet points for your speech and try to memorize the whole thing in the way, that this card would be enough for you.
- Practice at home in front of the mirror. This won’t help with the fear of the public, but you’ll be able to critically analyze everything you do. Just don’t be too harsh on yourself, we tend to pay attention only to bad staff. Even better idea – have a run with a friend.
- Sometimes it’s a good idea to have your visual cues printed out for the whole audience – the computer could fail you and this will show your attention to details. This works, if you present in front of small group of people and your visuals have enough quality in the first place.
- Structure your presentation properly – have an introduction, the main section, and conclusion.
- The introduction is the best time for a joke – it should capture the attention.
- Break out middle part into sections and use jokes and/or ask questions in-between them. People have an attention span of approximately three minutes, so you need to re-capture it.
- Summarize your point and answer questions in the conclusion. Try to end your speech on a positive note – that is the part people will remember the best. In psychology, this is referred to as “the last impression effect”.
