Essential Presentation Skills At Work
You must be wondering what’s so important about having good presentation skills in your career or when doing business. Why do we even need it? Well, the present day requires many of us to not only have certain paper qualifications but also soft skills. Especially so if you are managing staffs or subordinates.
In recent years it has become common to have more than just certificates and degrees. Having the right soft skills in any workplace have been gaining importance and it doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon.
Among those soft skills, one of the essential skills to have is good presentation skills. Think about it. Let’s say you have a brilliant and valuable idea but you fall short because you were unable to deliver it effectively – you may have just lost a great opportunity whether it’s getting new business or even a promotion.
Hence, in order to avoid losing any more opportunities, we need to spend some time working on how we present ourselves effectively. So what does it mean to have good presentation skills?
In general, you will need to build your morale and be organized! Developing these two important points are essential to form the foundation of any good presentation. Doing so will greatly boost you moving forward towards building better confidence.
Then, together with a good sense of organisation and having the self-esteem to take a brave first step, will you start to see greater opportunities.
Why Does It Matter To Be Well Presented?
It is important to be well presented wherever you are. Try and picture yourself at work. Maybe it’s a presentation, or maybe a discussion with colleagues or potential clients. Will they consider your points if for example you started slurring or mumbling in your speech?
If you care about your career and it matters to you, you have to develop your presentation skills. Opportunities will present themselves to those who are brave and who are vocal enough.
Confidence is key in any workplace. Just like how the saying goes “Fortune favors the bold”.
Therefore if you want to have the advantage and be on the better side, polish up on your public speaking and just give it a shot. With time it will get better.
Supervisors tend to notice employees who are more confident in the workplace. Individuals who perform well at work may go unnoticed if they keep to themselves and not articulate their approaches confidently.
These soft skills like presentation and public speaking can be learnt. Even the most introverted person, with effort and commitment, can learn to present themselves with confidence and charisma.
8 Steps To Effectively Present Like A Pro!
It’s part of every job out there! All working professionals need to present themselves as part of their job. Sounds straightforward? Not really – statistics have found that at least a third of the population have a fear of public speaking.
Some people even have difficulty speaking to small groups and it may have quite the impact towards their work. So what are the areas that are essential in any workplace, with respect to presentation skills?
1 – Know Your Audience
Before you start, you need to understand who your audience are and what are their needs. Understanding what they want to get out of the presentation is the first step to crafting out you plan.
The idea and outcome is to add value to the audience and not come around disappointing them by not meeting their expectations. Plan ahead so that you can exceed their expectations and give them what they came for.
If you’re giving a talk as part of a conference, try to attend some of the earlier talks by other presenters to scope out their presentation skills and get some context.
This shows respect for your fellow presenters while also giving you a chance to feel out the audience. What’s the mood of the crowd? Are folks in the mood to laugh or are they a bit more stiff?
Are the presentations more strategic or tactical in nature? Another speaker may also say something that you can play off of later in your own presentation.
2 – Plan Your Presentation
If you fail to plan, then you’re planning to fail. Keep in mind and consider how exactly you want to execute your presentation. Think of how you want to engage your audience throughout the presentation so that they won’t lose focus and get bored.
If you really want to sound great, write out your speech rather than taking chances winging it if you get nervous about speaking, a script is your best friend.
With the right structure, your presentation should flow smoothly so that your audience can follow and receive the information well.
3 – Make The Presentation Interesting
Long presentations are a killer for anyone’s attention span. If you want to keep the audience from feeling bored and dissatisfied, be sure to include a little slice of yourself in the presentation. Include some interesting points and know when to push and pull with the audience.
Naturally, you’ll want to rehearse your presentation multiple times. While it can be difficult for those with packed schedules to spare time to practice, it’s essential if you want to deliver a presentation that won’t put audience to sleep.
Important pointers should be highlighted and spoken with a more formal tone and when you want to capture their attention you should speak lightly in a more casual and friendly tone.
4 – Dress The Part
More often than not, people judge a book by its cover. The first impression you give isn’t when you start talking. In fact, people are already having their thoughts about you the moment you enter the room, so dress to impress! The way you look in the workplace matters.
Confidence is an essential trait to succeed in business as it opens up opportunities. Even if you’re an introvert, taking your presentation skills to the next level can help you stand in front of an audience and convey your message effectively.
One way to feel confident is to dress the part! The way you dress up or suit up will take your confidence level up a notch.
Not only are you meant to be a thought leader in your chosen presentation topic, you are also in competition with others wanting to advance. If you are not well presented, with respect to grooming, people will notice and it will have an impact to how you are received.
5 – Show You Care
Your body language is important. The way you present your topic and how enthusiastic you are can be felt by your audience. It is important to show some enthusiasm when presenting to show your audience its value.
Your audience will be able to easily pick up on the mood of the presentation so be mindful of the way you choose to engage them.
People love to talk and make their opinions heard, but the nature of presentations can often seem like a one-sided proposition. It doesn’t have to be, though.
Asking the audience what they think, inviting questions, and other means of welcoming audience participation can boost engagement and make attendees feel like a part of a conversation.
It also makes you, the presenter, seem much more relatable. Consider starting with a poll or survey . Don’t be put off by unexpected questions instead, see them as an opportunity to give your audience what they want.
Do note that lack of rest and sleep will affect your mood during the day too. Have proper rest and stay hydrated so that you will not feel lethargic.
6 – Organise The Flow Of Your Presentation
Just like a good book or movie, it has been well planned out and organised so that the audience can enjoy it without being confused. That’s right. If your presentation is unorganized, people will get confused and frustrated if they don’t understand the direction of where your presentation is going.
Yes it may not always be perfect and it’s absolutely fine. Your audience will understand if there are minor changes here and there, but if you are unorganized you will appear unprofessional and may seem to not have given any effort.
7 – Discuss Unresolved Issues
There will be times where things don’t go as planned. Maybe some technical difficulties popped up or you said something wrong. What you need to do is to acknowledge the problem, apologize and move forward.
Don’t leave the issue unaddressed or the audience will keep thinking about it and not focus on your presentation. Discuss the issue and get it over and done with so you can move on with what really is important.
Yes, your presentations should be full of useful, insightful, and actionable information, but that doesn’t mean you should try to condense a vast and complex topic into a 10-minute presentation.
Knowing what to include, and what to leave out, is crucial to the success of a good presentation. I’m not suggesting you skimp when it comes to data or including useful slides), but I am advocating for a rigorous editing process.
If it feels too off-topic, or is only marginally relevant to your main points, leave it out. You can always use the excess material in another presentation.
8 – Get A Grip On Your Nerves
Handling nervousness and building confidence is important. Everybody gets nervous once in a while. How people deal with it – is what sets them apart from the rest. You will struggle to get your message across if you struggle here.
When you’re nervous, it’s easy to speed up your presentation and end up talking too fast, which in turn causes you to run out of breath, get more nervous, and panic!
Don’t be afraid to slow down and use pauses in your speech. Pausing can be used to emphasize certain points and to help your talk feel more conversational. If you feel yourself losing control of your pacing, just take a nice pause and keep cool.
The key is to practice, practice and practice. Nobody turns into a pro overnight. In fact, practicing often will also improve your muscle memory like posture and hand gestures.
9 – Be Entertaining And Light-Hearted
Even if your presentation is packed with useful information, if your delivery bombs, so will your session.
I find that including some jokes and light-hearted slides is a great way to help the audience (and myself) feel more comfortable, especially when presenting them with a great deal of information.
However, it’s important to maintain a balance after all, you’re not performing a stand-up routine, and people didn’t come to your presentation with the sole intention of being entertained.
That said, don’t be afraid to inject a little humor into your talk. If you’re not sure about whether a presentation is too much, run through it for a couple of friends and ask them to tell it to you straight.
Conclusion
Being mindful of how you present yourself at work will really help with your interactions with colleagues and clients. This will ultimately impact on whether you get that important raise, or that desired new job.
All in all, you just have to start practicing, with time you will learn the craft and find your own style and character to present in a confident and organized manner.
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