10 Things To Do To Improve Your Presentations

What is the purpose of your speech or presentation? Are you trying to inspire? Inform? Persuade? Entertain? Is there a certain action you want your audience to take at the conclusion of your presentation? If necessary, write down your purpose, then refine it. It should not take more than one sentence to express your purpose. If you are unable to whittle it down to a single idea, you need to divide this presentation into multiple presentations. Be sure to put it in terms not only of what you want to accomplish, but also what you want the audience to gain. A presentation is a form of selling yourself or your ideas, and in sales, it is all about the WIIFM. What is in it for your audience?

Is this a 5-7 minute Toastmasters speech? A 10-minute standup comedy showcase? 20-minute keynote? A 1-hour informative session? Know what your time limits are before you start writing. Will you need to add extra cushion for someone to introduce you at the beginning or save time for Q&A at the end? Add time for pauses for laughter? Think through the timing of your speech before you begin. Keep in mind that TedEx says that the ideal time limit (the sweet spot) is 18-minutes. If your presentation will be longer than 18 minutes, you will need to build in mental breaks through pauses, humor, stories, and audience interaction to help the audience reset and not fall victim to information overload.

The type of introduction you use will vary depending on your time limits and your audience, but regardless you will want to captivate your audience from the moment you step on stage (or even before). Will you start with a question that engages the audience? A story that entertains? A Powerpoint slide or overview that conveys what your audience will gain by listening to you? I love questions and stories, because they keep the audience in the now instead of allowing their thoughts to drift. I also try to make the audience laugh within the first minute. When I give longer informative presentations I like to start by focusing on the "why" before I go into the "what". Why am I here? Why is this topic important to me? As them to think about why they are here and what they hope to gain from this session. Sometimes I will use this as an opportunity to ask the audience what they hope to gain so that I can tailor my presentation to meet this audience's objectives.

This is where you plan out your speech, the same way you would plan a trip. Where will you start? Where will you end? What are the important stops along the way? I don't get bogged down in the exact words I will use unless I am

- making a joke where timing and exact phrasing can make or break the punchline

- quoting someone else

- conveying an important statistic or fact that cannot be misrepresented

Otherwise, I have bullet points of the important information to be covered and an idea of the transitions I will use to move from one idea to another. Remember that no one knows what you were supposed to say, so unless it is crucial that you share something verbatim, an outline can help you to be more conversational and interactive with your audience. It allows you the flexibility to change course or improvise if necessary. It also allows you to insert new stories, quotes, or questions without disrupting the whole flow of the presentation.

This is one of the major benefits of joining Toastmasters or another speaking group. Toastmasters has a dedicated "Ah Counter" at most meetings to help its members eliminate the use of filler words such as "um, ah, and, so, like, and you know". Even if you aren't a member of a group that can help you in this way, start paying attention to your use of these words in your conversations. Listen to how other people use them (or don't). You will find that the individuals who come across as the most confident during conversations are the individuals who have learned how to overcome their propensity toward filler words. If you can eliminate them in everyday conversation, you will be less likely to incorporate them into presentations. Become your own "Ah Counter".

Body language is an important part of conveying confidence to your audience. I have been encouraged to stand with legs slightly apart in a stance that is comfortable. Practice standing in such a way without rocking or shifting your weight. Then practice keeping your hands at your sides unless you are making a meaningful gesture. Since you most likely won't want to stand in one spot the whole time you are speaking, now is where you go back to your outline and plan your movements. Will you start in the center of the stage and then physically transition to a point on the left as you transition into the first idea of your speech? Do you have 3 main points? Will you need 3 different points on the stage and then conclude in the center again? Are you giving a powerpoint or Zoom presentation where your movements will be more confined to a single area? How will you incorporate movement in this instance? Can you tell a story that doesn't require a slide and allows you to move away from the lectern? Will you act out a conversation that allows you to look left and then look right to break up the monotony of the Zoom call? Will there be an intimate moment or an important point to drive home where you can move forward toward the camera and allow your audience to connect with your eyes?

Find the opportunities in your presentation to incorporate changes in pitch and speed. Where could you get really loud and enthusiastic? Where could you be slow and solemn? Where will you pause for dramatic effect? Where will you pause for laughter? Will you tell any stories where you could imitate the voice of one of the characters? Where will you stop and use silence to bring your audience back to the now? We've all sat through monotone presentations. Your voice is the tool that helps your audience pay attention. Listening is work. Make it easier for your audience by incorporating planned variety in pitch, tone, and speed. Honestly I find opportunities to shout on stage in my introduction. It gets the audience's attention and helps me to get over my fear of being loud right at the get go. It also breaks the ice and lets them know I don't take myself too seriously. This may not be appropriate in a formal work setting and you will want to practice the acoustics of it when doing a Zoom presentation, but just something to consider. Just how loud can you be within the confines of the presentation you are giving? You might surprise yourself.

This one seems a little antithetical. If I'm going to be talking, why would I need to improve my listening? Well, take a look at the best trainers and the best comedians. The ones that are the best are the ones who interact with their audience. At the very least, they are listening to their audience to hear laughter and know when to time their pauses. Tony Robbins is such an amazing example of listening. I have only ever watched a Netflix special of his, but I was amazed. I thought that this well-known amazing "speaker" would spend more time doing exactly that. But Tony is down with his audience, asking questions, and LISTENING. This is why he is so WOW! Anyone can stand on a stage and talk at you, but it takes real talent to stand on a stage and listen. Within the confines, timing, and purpose of your presentation, where could you talk less and listen more? One of the lessons I learned in sales is that if you want to be sure you closed the sale, get the other person talking. Let them sell themselves. How could you incorporate listening into your presentations?

There are a few rules of thumb to follow for humor. The first is, try to incorporate something humorous on average once per minute. In a 20-minute presentation, you will want about 20 funny moments. Also, if your topic is serious or sad, you will want a humorous moment that equally counterbalances the heaviness of the what you made your audience feel with the serious or sad. Self-deprecating humor is the easiest, because you are the least likely to offend your audience or refer to something with which they are unfamiliar. Puns can be an easy way to get a laugh. A story with a funny ending. Once again, begin with the audience in mind. Also, how will you turn any comedy fails into comedy wins? If a joke doesn't land, how will you recover? A simple, "guess that didn't work the way I planned" said with confidence and a smile can give the audience the outlet for laughter that the failed joke was unable to provide. No use of humor is better than a bad use of humor. Humor is the trickiest to incorporate because when it is done poorly, it has the highest likelihood of alienating your audience. However, it also has the biggest payoff when done well. Keynote speakers who effectively incorporate humor get more callbacks and make more money. Humor is also memorable. I still have people who know me as "the girl who gave the fart speech" at a Humorous speech contest. When I was teaching SAT vocabulary to high school students, I would tell them to draw funny pictures and create funny stories to help them remember difficult vocabulary. To this day, I still remember that "perspicacious" means "having insight and understanding" because I made up a story about nerdy Percy with huge glasses who knew a lot of things. Find The Funny and your presentations will improve.

How are you going to conclude? Think through what you want your audience to feel when you are done speaking. How can you include a call to action? Even if this isn't a persuasive speech, you still want your audience to feel, think, or do something a little different at the conclusion of your speech, otherwise, why did they bother listening to you? Remind them of the main points of what you told them. Remind them of their why. Tie it back to your intro so it feels like a gift that has been wrapped up with a bow and presented to them. What will be the WOW factor of your conclusion that makes your message memorable? Follow these 10-steps and you will be!