Presentations are all part and parcel of being in business. Whether you’re making a pitch and presentation at a significant networking occasion or event, delivering a pitch of your product or service at a sales call, or making a speech at a conference, you have to take the time to prepare your presentation to make it a success. You want your audience to appreciate what you have to say, and you want to engage them and make them interested in your product or service. If you want to have a memorable and effective presentation, here’s how to do it right.
Prepare in advance
It’s essential to prepare well in advance of the presentation date; don’t leave it until the very last minute just because you think you have an ‘easy’ topic. Once you know you will be doing a presentation, begin thinking about your topic and the actual content.
Know your audience
Another key to having a memorable and effective presentation is to know your audience. Who will be attending your presentation? You should base your presentation on your audience and what you think they would like to hear. Your approach should depend on your audience; if you have an audience of bankers, talk about something that interests them in their industry.
Know your goals and objectives
When you are making your presentation, determine your goals and objectives. Why are you making the presentation in the first place? Do you want to increase sales? Do you aim to share your experiences and expertise? Make sure to determine your goals and objectives so you can develop the proper presentation.
Determine your limit
You should also determine your limit when it comes to time. It wouldn’t do to go on and on about a topic and not be able to finish your presentation because you only have 30 minutes allotted to you. When you know your limit, you can create a presentation that adheres to this limit and allows you to say everything you have to say.
Make use of visuals and other tools
Most presentations today are done in PowerPoint, and this is a handy tool to make your message more impactful. But whilst you can certainly make use of PowerPoint to enhance your presentation, don’t overdo it. Your slides should contain just the right amount of information; focus on just one or two key points per slide rather than writing down all your points on all your slides. You should also make use of other tools to enhance the effectiveness of your presentation and make it more memorable. These include handouts such as brochures and folders which contain the information your audience needs about your products or services, as advised by experts in brochure and presentation folder printing. Your handouts should be professional and organised, so they can augment your presentation and not detract from it.
Don’t forget to practice
There’s a lot of truth in the maxim ‘practice makes perfect.’ Practice as much as you can before the big day. Run through your presentation’s content and see if you are within the time limit. You can even record yourself to see if you can find anything to improve upon when you make your presentation, such as your tone of voice, your enthusiasm, your body language, and so on.
